MONROE — For the first time, four girls eager to camp, fish and shoot archery in a Boy Scouts troop had their first meeting with Troop 114 at Abe Lincoln Elementary School April 1. 

Girls are now able to join the Boy Scouts of America in Monroe, with one caveat; they are separated from their male counterparts and sequestered into their own group. The meeting was even split in two, with the girls in one room and the boys in another.

“They get to do everything the boys get to do,” said Craig Coulthard, cofounder of the troop. “Everything the boys are doing the girls are mirroring.”

The girls will start out at scout rank and will memorize the oath, law and pledge, as well as talk about what the flag means to them. Girls were allowed to join Cub Scouts last year, but girls 11 to 17 were out of luck. Now, the former “Boy Scouts” program has been changed to “Scouts BSA” to be more inclusive. 

Coulthard, along with Marci Severson — both longtime members of the organization — started the troop. Coulthard said he has a 3-year-old daughter he hopes will become involved with BSA in the future. 

Although they will be doing the same activities, Troop 114 will stay separate from troop 101 except for pack activities. 

“It doesn’t really make sense because we have Venture crews and those kids are 14 and it’s co-ed,” Coulthard said. “We think eventually down the road they’ll start mixing the troops together.”

Baily Brown, 11, Darlington, was involved in Girl Scouts, but was frustrated because she never got to campout. She was constantly wondering what her 7-year-old brother in Cub Scouts was doing and eventually joined him. 

“I asked my mom if I could switch and I guess I kind of liked it better,” Brown said. 

Maggie Beardmore, 11, Monroe, was interested in joining after seeing the kinds of things her 13-year-old brother Jack got to do with Troop 101. She said she’s looking forward to archery, games and camping.

Beardmore’s parents, Ben and Jesse, were glad Beardmore was able to join BSA.

“It was really exciting for her,” Jesse Beardmore said. “We’ve always done a lot of camping and outdoors stuff as a family.”

Emarie Fritzenmeier, 10, and Kira Schmidt, 11, both of Monroe, had similar experiences when they attended Girl Scouts — neither were fans of crafting.

“We were always doing something with glitter,” Schmidt said. “I don’t really like glitter.”

Now, Schmidt says she’s glad she gets to go camping and learn about the history of scouts as well as U.S. history.

Schmidt’s father, Tracy, grew up involved in BSA and is the leader of Troop 114. Tracy is an Eagle Scout, the highest rank a scout can achieve, and is looking forward to watching Schmidt experience it for herself. 

Schmidt said she is most looking forward to becoming an Eagle Scout like her father.

The Monroe Lions Club is the pack sponsor. Coulthard said the troop will have a booth at Monroe Middle School on Easter, where more girls can learn about the program and sign up to join.