By Serena Carpino
Alyssa Faro, a junior at Smithtown High School West, recently received the Eagle Scout Award, the highest honor bestowed by Scouting America. Faro is a founding member of Troop 539G in Kings Park and the first female from the Smithtown school district to be presented with this award.
Although Faro was originally a girl scout, she became interested in joining Scouting America after observing her brother and his troop go camping, hiking and learning more about nature. She, too, wanted to take part in these activities and became an official member of the Scouts in 2019.
At this time, Faro was also still a part of Girl Scouts and even earned the bronze award while in the program. However, the rest of her troop dropped out after the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, she also left the organization and, from that one point on, was solely a member of Scouting America.
According to Faro, she preferred this and explained that “in [her] experience, Girl Scouts weren’t fundamentally organized or scout led.” Furthermore, they focused on arts and crafts rather than life skills, much to Faro’s displeasure. In contrast, with Scouting America, she was able to camp, hike, shoot and take historical trips to several cities, including Washington, D.C. and Boston.
For Faro, Scouting America provided the opportunity to learn valuable skills, which was a significant reason why she continued with the program. Her passion for the Scouts motivated her to earn numerous merit badges, with her favorite being the lifesaving badge. She noted, “I loved [this] badge because it challenged me to learn lifeguarding techniques and CPR skills that I had never done before.”
Her commitment and passion for the Scouts is ultimately why Faro was given the Eagle Scout Award. To receive this honor, scouts must demonstrate their dedication to leadership and community service, including earning over 21 merit badges and completing a service project. For her project, Faro held a soccer clinic at the Smithtown schools. She hosted a bake sale and, with the help of some of her soccer teammates, raised enough money to purchase equipment for the clinic, which she then donated to the school.
Faro has certainly accomplished a lot during her time as a Scout. However, her journey has not been without challenges. In particular, some believe that girls do not belong in Scouting America, despite the organization having been co-ed for decades.
“The main challenge I’ve faced has been ignoring the comments about girls not belonging to Scouting,” she said. “The leadership, communication and collaboration skills I have gained from Scouting are priceless and I believe that both boys and girls should have the opportunity to learn these skills. My gender doesn’t make me any less qualified to pursue desired achievements, many of them being through Scouting.”
Her mother, Vanessa Faro, also addressed these challenges. She noted that some within the Scouts still believe that it is a “father/son bonding experience.” However, she clarified that, luckily, it is only a small minority who still believe this. She emphasized that the Suffolk County Scouting America Council is committed to ending any persisting discrimination. Faro’s mother hopes that, within the next few years, girls interested in joining the Scouts will not face the same challenges that her daughter did.
As a rising high school senior, Faro has one year left in the Scouts before she ages out. Once this happens, she can opt to continue volunteering for the organization as an assistant Scout leader. She has yet to decide whether she will occupy this position due to the potential time constraints of college.
Regardless, the Scouts have no doubt been an important part of Faro’s high school career. She has left an important legacy in the Smithtown school district and is an inspiration for other girls to follow in her footsteps.
She offered the following advice to other young girls interested in joining the Scouts: “There’s always going to be people that don’t want to see you succeed, but don’t let their insecurities block your potential to accomplish amazing things. As my AP Chemistry teacher would say, life takes effort. Don’t hold back because things get hard, they are meant to challenge you.”
