GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — A local teen is proudly taking her spot in the inaugural class of female Eagle Scouts across America.
Ava Van Straten of Green Bay joined the Boy Scouts of America in February of 2019 and is one of the first females to earn the honor of Eagle Scout. She said she watched her brothers go through the scouts and wanted to learn some of the skills they had learned.
As part of her Eagle Scout project, she wrote and published a book called, "Parkers Path," to promote empathy awareness.
"I noticed this decrease in empathy that resulted from the increase of technology use, especially among children," said Ava. "So I knew that I wanted my project to tackle that issue and I thought what better way to tackle that issue than in a children's book."
She distributed the book to Wisconsin schools, libraries, scouting troops, and non-profit organizations supporting youth, free of charge.
Ava is a member of both Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts of America and hopes to inspire other girls to join the scouts.
