As a kid, Savanah Hancock watched as her older brother, Dakota, participated in Cub Scouts and waited eagerly in the wings for her own chance to take part.

When that opportunity came in 2019 as Boy Scouts of America rebranded to Scouts BSA, reflecting a policy change that allowed girls to join gender-specific troops, Hancock was ready — so ready, in fact, that by the end of her first night with her new troop, she’d achieved her first “rank.”

Earning a new rank usually involves showcasing what you’ve learned about scouting concepts and skills; the first rank, for example, is earned by demonstrating basic knowledge of scouting ideals and symbolism, along with several commonly used knots.

“I walked into the meeting with a trunk of stuff,” Hancock, of Baldwin City, told the Journal-World Thursday. “Ropes to tie knots, I had poles for (rope) lashings, I had so much stuff. By the time I left, it was like midnight — nobody else was there. I had my first rank, I had at least half of the second rank, so I had ‘Scout’ and part of ‘Tenderfoot.'”

The next day, she and her dad, Quinn, woke up bright and early at 5 a.m. to travel to Iowa so Hancock could attend a merit badge conference, an event where scouts can gather with qualified counselors to complete badge requirements.

Five years later, Hancock is now 18 and has been active in three councils — Heart of America, which covers 19 counties in eastern Kansas and western Missouri, including Douglas County, plus the Jayhawk Area Council and its Pony Express District, which serve neighboring counties — as a member of Eudora’s Troop 6064. Along the way, she’s completed all 137 Scouts BSA merit badges, received more than 120 scouting awards and even graduated early from Baldwin High School, all while spending three nights a week at group meetings and just about every weekend at camps.

photo by: Austin Hornbostel/Journal-World

Savanah Hancock shows off the back of her merit badge sash, fitted with all 137 obtainable Scouts BSA badges.

Hancock’s enthusiasm for scouting hasn’t faded one bit. It may have even grown stronger, as demonstrated by an achievement that became official earlier this month. Hancock is now the first scout in those councils to receive all three of the top awards achievable in Scouts BSA: the Eagle Scout rank, the Summit rank in the Scouts BSA Venturing program and the Sea Scouts program’s Quartermaster rank. Hancock’s family believes she may even be the only female scout to have earned all three ranks.

As decorated as Hancock is, though, her favorite part of scouting isn’t being the first to achieve anything — it’s been taking her peers along for the ride and helping them achieve just as much.

“I think the most interesting thing for me was teaching other people, other scouts, how to get to that destination, and how to really fulfill your joy through scouting,” Hancock said.

photo by: Contributed

Savanah Hancock and fellow scouts salute during a flag ceremony at a Scouts BSA camp.

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The Eagle rank is likely the most recognizable of those three awards to people who aren’t involved with scouting. As for the other two, Venturing is a youth-led program offered to older scouts age 14 through 21 who plan and participate in their own independent activities as part of a crew.

“It’s like your family camping trip but better, with people that you might not know (that) you encounter along the way, and you just share all your experiences,” Hancock said.

Sea Scouts is offered to a similar age group and is focused on boating skills and safety.

photo by: Contributed

Savanah Hancock, pictured on the right end of the back row, and others in her Sea Scouts group volunteer on Earth Day.

In all three programs, Hancock has been able to see and do her fair share of exciting things. She’s gone to major scouting destinations such as the Northern Tier Adventure Base in Minnesota and Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, two of Scouts BSA’s “High Adventure Bases.”

In New Mexico, Hancock described close encounters with a bear and lightning strikes. The trek up north was a more-than-50-mile portaging trip, which involves carrying a watercraft — in this case, a 70-pound canoe — over land between bodies of water, all while hauling a heavy backpack loaded with two hikers’ supplies.

photo by: Contributed

Savanah Hancock of Baldwin City — pictured here fourth from the right — and a group of scouts at Philmont Scout Ranch, one of Scouts BSA’s “High Adventure” camps in New Mexico.

“The thing I like most about Venture crew and Sea Scouts is it really focuses on leadership, communication is a big (focus), and just having fun,” Hancock said. “But they really teach you life skills — how to get up and talk in front of an audience. I’ve had to do that multiple times, and it’s really pushed me.”

Earning each of the three scouting awards also involves a separate project centered around community service. In Hancock’s case, all three were geared toward one of her biggest interests: shooting sports. She’s a capable instructor in archery, rifles, shotguns, slingshots and pistols.

For her Eagle project, Hancock put together active shooter trauma kits for her high school. The school previously had 5-gallon buckets filled with items like a hammer for breaking windows, gloves, a ladder and a rudimentary first aid kit. But to Hancock, that didn’t sound good enough. With donations from AdventHealth Shawnee Mission, she was able to more thoroughly stock the first aid kits, and she made the kits more portable by storing the supplies in backpacks instead. Ultimately, she said she put together 55 kits, one for each classroom plus other spaces like the library and cafeteria kitchen.

“That was motivated because I am a shooting sports instructor, so it really hurts me that active shooters are a thing in public schools,” Hancock said. “I was like ‘You know what? I’m going to do something about it.'”

The other two projects were completed for De Soto’s Mill Creek Rifle Club, where Hancock had volunteered and sometimes serves as an instructor. For one of them, she constructed “safe zone” tables for the outdoor gun range where people can go — away from areas people are actively shooting — to address a jam or other mechanical issue. For the other, Hancock built 12 benches to place at each of Mill Creek’s ranges.

• ••

For all those accomplishments, it hasn’t always been “rainbows and roses,” Hancock said. At that first merit badge conference in Iowa, for example, Hancock said she was the only girl in the room. Seated in the back of a church chapel, she described watching the ripple effect as, row after row, the other scouts seated in front of her turned around to look at her — some of them with a look of shock on their faces.

Hancock said she’s been told by other scouts — and even adults — that she doesn’t belong in scouting.

“I think people telling me that I can’t do something, it’s like now I’m going to prove you wrong, just because you said that,” Hancock said. “I’ve had a lot of people tell me that I don’t belong, and I’m like ‘I’m going to show you I do. I’m going to change your mind.'”

photo by: Contributed

Savanah Hancock participates in rock climbing and rappelling at a Scouts BSA camp.

By now, Hancock seems to have proven that point time and again. She said four or five fellow scouts have told her that she was the one who inspired them to achieve their Eagle rank, and Hancock is also now a regular fixture at “crossover” ceremonies for Cub Scouts entering the full Scouts BSA program.

All that mentoring has left Hancock with some good advice for new scouts. She said she usually encourages them to enjoy themselves and not worry about having to complete requirements too quickly — or at all, because it’s not only about the accolades.

As far as her own next steps go, Hancock is considering going to cosmetology school. But she’s also keeping in mind another lesson learned from her years of scouting.

“I think (scouting) really taught me a lot about what I want to do, and even if I figure out that I don’t want to do cosmetology, I can always figure out what I want to do next,” Hancock said. “… I think scouts has really given me the keys to unlock that door, where I’m like ‘You know, even if it doesn’t work out, that’s OK.'”