She Joins Brothers in Earning the Rank
Macomb High School Senior Jaquelynne “Jackie” Rouse has earned her wings in the organization formerly known as Boy Scouts of America. On Oct. 23, she became the first female Eagle Scout in the Inali District of Scouting America. The district comprises McDonough, Warren, Knox and Stark counties.
The district is part of the Illowa Council, which covers 13 counties in Illinois and Iowa. Rouse is the eighth female Eagle in the council.
“I decided I wanted to be an Eagle Scout once I learned that they let girls in,” Rouse said. “I was on track when I was 14 or 15, but life got in the way of being super busy. There was a point when I thought I wasn’t going to make it. But I always knew that I was going to put in the work and get as close as I possibly could.”
Rouse completed her Eagle Scout project – the final requirement – on Sept. 21, four days before her 18th birthday, the deadline for earning the distinction.
“This is a big achievement,” said Zach Beuthien, assistant scout executive for the Illowa Council, based in Davenport, Iowa. “It’s pretty rare for a female, although the number in the council is growing.”
Females in Scouting America The Boy Scouts of America began in 1910 after Robert Baden-Powell started the scouting organization in 1907 in the United Kingdom. The name was changed to Scouting BSA in 2019 and then, in early 2025, to Scouting America to reflect the inclusion of females in its programs. However, females have participated in Scouting for decades.
When Cub Scouts began in 1930, only women could serve as den mothers, leaders of small groups of boys in second through fifth grades who were part of a larger group called a pack. Men were allowed to become renamed den leaders in 1967.
In the 1970s, Scouting America introduced coeducational Venturing and Sea Scouts programs for youth ages 14 to 20. In 1988, women began holding scoutmaster positions for Boy Scout troops for boys ranging from 11 through 17 years old.
The Cub Scout program began accepting girls in 2018. One year later, when the organization’s name changed the first time, girls began joining a club that had been open only to older boys for 112 years.
Taking a New Path
Rouse participated in Girl Scouts for a few years, but she said it didn’t appeal to her.
“I wanted to go the Boy Scout route because of my brothers,” she said. “I was the kid that was dragged to my brothers’ meetings so I did all the things Boy Scouts would do. I was an outdoors kid. I’m hands-on. I want to be outside. I want to go hiking. When I was allowed to join Scouting America, I could see that it was a thing I enjoyed more than most other things I could do at that time.”
As Rouse was beginning her Eagle dream, her brothers were completing theirs.
Jordan Rouse and Jacob Rouse became Eagle Scouts in 2021.
Although girls may participate in Scouting America, the organization doesn’t allow mixed-gender troops.
When Rouse joined, there weren’t any female troops in the area so she became an independent scout affiliated with former Troop 330 in Macomb. To help her daughter achieve her goal, Jennifer Rouse became the founding scoutmaster of female Troop 1343 in Bushnell, which is now under the leadership of Erin Von Kannon.
48 badges
Eagle Scout candidates must earn at least 21 badges, including 14 required badges. Rouse has 48 on her uniform’s sash.
“I went for a range of different badges, and most of them involved creating and creativity,” she said. “When I picked a badge, I thought, ‘Is it going to be fun?’ Because I I’m not going to do a badge that was going to be miserable, that I’m not interested in.”
Some of the badges she chose to earn are animation, photography, robotics, engineering, space exploration, music, sculpture, astronomy, sculpture and woodworking.
“It’s the curiosity to find something new,” she said. “Because all of the badges that you can do set you up for something that you might not have known.”
Rouse credits her work in earning badges for helping her choose a future career.
“Scouting is a really big reason why I want to go into engineering,” she said. She has an eye on creating animatronics for The Walt Disney Company or working for NASA. Being an Eagle Scout may help her pursue her dream. According to the National Eagle Scout Association, “Being a Eagle Scout means you are a person of good character, caliber, and trustworthiness who can finish long and complicated steps to achieve a goal.”
Rouse completed most of her badge requirements during summers over the last six years so she would have time for other activities during the school year. They include National Honor Society, cross-country, ecology club, thespians club, band, choir and student council.
“Scouting has given me responsibility skills. It has given me leadership skills. And it has made me a better leader and more responsible for the leadership positions I have held in my other activities,” she said. Rouse is co-captain of the cross-country team and color guard for the band this year.
Eagle project
Rouse’s Eagle Scout project consisted of landscaping the grounds of the Wesley Foundation near Western Illinois University and painting lines for parking stalls in the newly paved parking lot. She coordinated a volunteer crew to do 150 hours of work in about two weeks.
“When I painted this parking lot, I spent time online finding how big each one of the spaces had to be, the minimum length and width,” Rouse said. “And then we measured it all out, and we used a spray painter wheel with all-weather paint.”
The technique was different than the one used when she helped her brother Jacob with his Eagle Scout project in the Wesley United Methodist Church parking lots four years ago.
“For my brother’s project, we repainted the lines with hand rollers,” she said.
As she has done throughout her years in scouting, Rouse is painting her own path.
The final step
After competing her Eagle project and securing the required letters of recommendation before her birthday, Rouse took a break from scouting before taking the final step – participating in a board of review, which must be completed soon after turning 18.
But it wasn’t a restful break. With the MHS marching band, Rouse led the color guard at home football games and during competitions, helping the band win first place in the small school category at the Western Illinois University Marching Band Classic Oct. 25. She also helped the cross-country team earn a berth in the upcoming sectional meet. Rouse won’t be participating in the meet, however, because she was chosen to sing at the Illinois Music Education Association district musical festival on the same date.
During the board of review on Oct. 23, Rouse was recited the Scout Law and Scout Oath Law, and explained her Eagle Scout project. She also shared how she will carry the principles she has learned in scouting throughout her life.
“I was kind of nervous because I had a fear of letting my younger self down. But at the same time, I was like, ‘I know everything that I need to know’,” she said. “I’ve wanted this highly honored rank for so long.”
Rouse and her family are planning an Eagle Court ceremony to celebrate her achievement.
