Sierra and Dayna Rohmann, 16, of Glenelg, Maryland, have made history as part of the BSA’s inaugural group of nearly 1,000 girls to earn the rank of Eagle Scout.
March 16, 2021 | The joys of Scouting (The Rohmanns with Kristi King)
‘The whole thing is about equality’ — Md. teens among the first female Eagle Scouts
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Sierra and Dayna Rohmann, of Glenelg, two of the first class of female Eagle Scouts.
(Courtesy Rohmann family)
Sierra and Dayna Rohmann, 16-year-old twins from Glenelg, Maryland, have made history as part of the BSA’s inaugural group of nearly 1,000 girls to earn the rank of Eagle Scout.
They come from a Scouting family.
“Ever since the girls could speak, it seemed like they were asking, ‘When can we be Cub Scouts? When can we be Cub Scouts like our brothers?” said their dad, Tom Rohmann, who said his boys, Tommy and Austen, are Eagle Scouts too.
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Sierra Rohmann at left and Dayna Rohmann at right. In the center is Katie Beuchel, who is also in the first class of female Eagle Scouts.
(Courtesy Rohmann family)
Sierra Rohmann appreciates how big a deal it is for her to be among the first female Eagle Scouts because of how hard she worked. But she wants achieving the rank to be just as special for everyone who follows.
“I think the whole thing is about equality and making sure that everyone can make Eagle and they can make a difference in the world,” Sierra said. “That’s why it was such a big thing to me — and especially because I get to give back to the community.”
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The Rohmanns with their finished Eagle projects at Holy Cross Lutheran Church. Dayna’s was a paved walkway and prayer area; Sierra’s, movable outdoor benches.
(Courtesy Rohmann family)
Dayna Rohmann didn’t think it was going to happen.
It can take nearly two years to meet all the requirements, and it has to be done before turning 18. And the girls have plenty of other things on their schedules: Sierra plays trombone in the high school marching band, is on the ice hockey team, just started cross-country, is in the book club and participates in the Scouts’ Venturing Program.
“I think it’s kind of sad that it took this long for them to let us in,” Dayna said. “But, now that everyone is allowed in, I think it’s a pretty great program, and I’m glad everyone has the opportunity to strive for Eagle and look at the different interests in merit badges that were only open to boys previously,” she said.
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At the beginning of the pandemic, the Rohmann family’s four Scouts celebrated Tommy’s Eagle rank. At right is Austen, who was home from college. With the boys at Maritime College, the four have not yet gotten together to celebrate Sierra and Dayna’s Eagle status.
(Courtesy Rohmann family)
Tom and Theresa Rohmann are proud of the “great job” done by the girls while earning their Eagle ranks, Tom said.
“I think they learned a lot along the way – I do project management now, and that’s really what the Eagle project is all about. It’s to teach them the skills of planning something out and then raising money for the project and then speaking with suppliers for materials and getting volunteers to help and then instructing them on what needs to be done to get the project complete,” Tom Rohmann said.
Both parents are engineers — Tom is a chemical engineer; Theresa, a mechanical engineer — and Dayna is leaning in that direction for her career.
“I’m not really sure which type of engineering interests me the most, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out,” Dayna said. “I genuinely do enjoy math and science and testing and troubleshooting different things, so I definitely want to go into that.”
“Definitely STEM,” Sierra said. “Engineering probably.”
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Troop 361’s first Eagle Scouts.
(Courtesy Rohmann family)
So what’s next?
“That is going to be a big question because there are a lot of opportunities out there,” Tom Rohmann said. “And I think they saw a lot of that through some of the merit badges they were able to take – it gives them a taste.”
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When Austen became a Cub Scout, the girls — and Tommy, in the center — were hooked, even though they were still too young.
(Courtesy Rohmann family)
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