Following in her brother’s scouting footsteps, Jenna Mason is now a trailblazer.

The Sequim teen joined Scouts BSA — formerly Boy Scouts of America — in 2019 after watching her older brother and tagging along to some of his scouting events.

“As soon as girls were allowed to, I joined immediately, because I thought it was awesome,” Mason said.

Four years later, she’s the first girl from Clallam County to earn the rare Eagle Scout ranking.

Mason, of Troop 7498, and Sequim’s Dean Rynearson of Troop 90, joined the ranks of Eagle Scout May 13, an achievement that Troop 90 scoutmaster Rene Nadon notes that just 5 percent of scout participants earn.

Like other Eagle Scout candidates, Mason had to complete a community project. She chose to make picnic tables for the YMCA of Sequim.

“They’re pretty fancy looking,” Mason said.

Jenna Mason’s mother Marilyn said that through her daughter’s Eagle Scout project Jenna was able to get a job at Carlsborg-based Copper Creek Fabrication, after the owner helped her with the picnic tables.

Photo courtesy of Marilyn Mason / Jenna Mason stands by picnic tables she had created for the Sequim YMCA, for her Eagle Scout project.

“He was just so impressed with her work ethic and her abilities that he offered her a job and she ended up earning the CTE [Career and Technical Education] award for the senior class this year,” Marilyn Mason said.

Troop 7498 scoutmaster Amber McCarter said Mason is “a poster child” for what scouting is about. In addition to mastering all of the outdoor skills that scouting provides, the Sequim youth embraced the social and leadership aspects of the program as well, McCarter said.

”We talk a lot about ‘Scout Spirit’ within the program — enthusiasm, cooperation, moral integrity, and a non-judgmental approach to life being among the qualities comprising this — and she embodies these not just in attendance at scout meetings and activities, but in her life outside of scouting as well,” the scoutmaster noted.

One of Mason’s favorite things about Scouts is the different skills she learned. With all the hiking and backpacking skills she learned, she can now hike on her own.

“We’ve learned a lot of First Aid, which luckily I haven’t had to use that much,” she said. “But, in case of an emergency, I know how to handle things.”

Mason said that one of her favorite adventures she got to go on in Scouts was a backpacking trip at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico.

“The weather down there, it would change all the time. There’d be lightning storms and then like 10 minutes later it would be super sunny,” she said.

Mason is a member of the first generation of females admitted into the BSA program, McCarter said, and has been a key and active participant in all of the transitions that has involved BSA as a whole, working to integrate both boys and girls into a previously 100-percent boy-centered program.

“We are very proud of her for doing so! I am very much looking forward to her continuing on with us now as an assistant scoutmaster for the troop, as she is not only a great resource and inspiration to the other girls, but also just a quality individual.

Mason said she was excited to earn her Eagle Scout ranking.

“I’d say there was definitely a sense of pride and accomplishment,” she said. “ I was happy to have completed it after all the struggles.”

McCarter noted that, after earning this distinction, Mason’s service is hardly completed.

“I am very much looking forward to her continuing on with us now as an Assistant Scoutmaster for the troop, as she is not only a great resource and inspiration to the other girls, but also just a quality individual,” McCarter said.

Developing a leader

Rynearson joined Scouts in 2016. Jane Rynearson, Dean’s mother, said she put him in scouts after her husband heard about it from some friends.

Dean renovated the veterans memorial at Pioneer Memorial Park for his Eagle Scout project.

Photo courtesy of Jane Rynearson / Dean Rynearson joined scouts in 2016 after his parents heard good things about it from friends.

“Whenever I have a scout that makes Eagle I’m excited for them and happy for them because being an Eagle Scout can mean so much more in their lives,” said Nadon, Dean’s scoutmaster. “They know how to lead.”

Dean joined the U.S. Marine Corps and left for boot camp in June.

Jane Rynearson said she felt proud of her son when he finished up his work and got his Eagle Scout rank. She said a highlight was watching him develop leadership skills.

During a National Youth Leadership Training, she said, Dean “learned a lot of good skills on how to deal with people and how to lead others.”

Nadon said that Dean was always passionate and participated in activities.

Photo courtesy of Jane Rynearson/ After completing the requirements, Dean Rynearson takes the oath to receive his Eagle Scout ranking.

“Dean is a hard-working young man; he’s got goals and he’s accomplishing them,” Nadon said.

According to Jane Rynearson, the military recognizes the Eagle Scout ranking and rather than him starting as an enlisted private (E-1) he was able to start at the rank of PFC (E-2).