Two Iowa teens join nation's first class of female Eagle Scouts
Two Iowa girls are being recognized as the first female Eagle Scouts in central Iowa.
Hannah Massey and Angelina Hemphill join young women across the country as the nation's first class of female Eagle Scouts.
Both young ladies completed service projects to earn their rankings in the Boy Scouts of America organization.
Massey, an Ottumwa Eagle Scout with Troop 219, donated homemade gifts to her local animal shelter.
"I've always had a soft spot for animals and I talked to the people working there and I found out that if I made them fleece blankets and toys that I would be able to help them,” Massey said.
Hemphill, a member of Eagle Scout Troop 188 in Ankeny, helped restore the Chichaqua Bottoms Greenbelt by removing an invasive species of plants.
"I had lots of volunteers from my troop, and it went amazing,” she said.
Both young women said the projects helped them learned to stand up and use their voices.
The pair said earning the rank of Eagle Scout was both challenging and rewarding.
"It's always been something I wanted, to get that rank, but I never thought that I could,” Massey said.
"I knew that from the beginning it was something that I wanted to become a part of, the smaller majority of people that have worked that hard, and I'm really excited I was able to achieve it,” Hemphill said.
Hemphill and Massey will join 170 young men from central and southern Iowa in becoming Eagle Scouts.