As one of the first female Eagle Scouts, Clearwater teen proud to carry on family legacy

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Sianna Eldert stands proudly among the towering trees at Camp Soule. It's a perfect backdrop for a teen soaring to historic heights: Sianna is one of the first females in the country to become an Eagle Scout.  

"It is the most rewarding thing I've ever done in my life," she said.  

Fierceness runs in her family. Sianna is a fourth generation Order of the Arrow member with the Boy Scouts of America, which is now referred to as BSA.

"My uncle [and] dad are both Eagle Scouts. I am the first girl Eagle Scout in my family. My grandmother actually cried when she saw my Eagle ceremony," Sianna said with a smile.  

She always had her eyes on Eagle and finally joined local Troop 339-B on February 1, 2019. That's the same day BSA began allowing girls in the program.

"Getting to Eagle was a very hard process, it was not for the faint of heart," said Sianna.  

It took Sianna two and a half years and hundreds of hours of volunteer work, including a project to help raise awareness about dysautonomia. Sianna was recently diagnosed with the nervous system disorder and says it's often misdiagnosed.  

"I made doctors aware by giving them books and gift baskets full of information about my disability," said Sianna. "I actually got to sit down and talk with the doctors and they said, 'This is amazing. You're really going to help us diagnose this.'"

Leadership, responsibility, and service are the cornerstones of the BSA program, which are qualities Sianna says she'll carry with her forever.  

"I am a marked woman now. I will have people looking up to me, I will have people watching me, I will have eyes everywhere," she added. "So if I make a mistake it's gonna show. I refuse to make mistakes. I will wear this badge with honor and glory that I completed it."