Girls dominate this North Jersey town's Cub Scout pack, still standing as others fall

PROSPECT PARK — Cheerful and obedient, the members of Cub Scout Pack 2 listened closely to their leader in the cafeteria of the local elementary school.

They stood in a circle, and as they reached across their bodies, each left hand latched onto a left hand, and each right hand a right. Then, as everyone was set, they attempted to undo the knot they created without letting go of their grips.

It was a futile assignment, and in the end, there was only one thing to do. They laughed.

Only six years ago, the same children would not have been able to try such a problem-solving exercise because most of them are girls, and back then, girls could not be Cub Scouts.

Although it may seem like an anomaly that girls now rule the pack, longtime Cubmaster Lisa Esteves said gender does not influence how the children behave or how much they value each other’s company.

“They’re not making the Cub Scout program more girly,” said Esteves, of Hawthorne. “It’s still the Cub Scout program.”

Boy Scouts of America first welcomed girls into the program in June 2018, departing a nearly nine-decade tradition of exclusivity.

The involvement of young women in Scouting dates to April 1971 when they were admitted to the Exploring program in which teenagers join niche posts specializing in careers that they wish to pursue.

The number of girls in area Scouting programs on the whole continues to climb each year, said Rebecca Fields, the chief executive officer of the Oakland-based Northern New Jersey Council, overseeing activities in Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Passaic counties.

Last year, Fields said, one in every 10 Scouts in North Jersey was a girl.

The Cub Scout group in Prospect Park is a “great example of how we all win,” Fields said, “when our units are open to every child.”

The local pack recently celebrated a milestone when two 10-year-old girls “crossed over” to the next level of Scouting. It was the first time that a female graduated from the group, which was established at St. Paul R.C. Church in April 1950.

Isabella Rivera and Sophia Rodríguez joined the pack when they entered kindergarten, and they are now in fifth grade. They said they became interested in the Cub Scout program because their brothers were in it. One said she learned how to use a pocketknife, and the other can tie a square knot.

“My mom couldn’t leave me at home, and she took me with her,” Isabella said, recalling how she was introduced to the group. “I thought it was really cool.”

Sophia, of Fair Lawn, said she did not mind being in a pack with boys, though she added that the blended group tends to get — ahem — lively.

“It’s a little chaotic,” Sophia observed.

Since graduating from the pack, the girls joined a Scouting troop in Glen Rock because Prospect Park does not have a unit for children their age. They said they intend to stay in the upper-level program through high school.

“I want to get to Eagle Scout,” Isabella said, “so that I can make Miss Lisa proud.”

Mia Mischuk-O’Brien, the director of communications for the Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey in Riverdale, would not comment directly on the effect that wider acceptance in Scouting has played on her organization.

However, Mischuk-O’Brien said: “We know that girls are the future of U.S. leadership. We see their potential, and for 112 years, we provided the best leadership experience for girls because they’re at the center of everything we do.”

Volunteers are sparse

Although the Cub Scout group in Prospect Park is holding its own, packs in nearby towns are caving in due to a combination of factors.

Fields, the Scouting executive, said groups folded in Hawthorne and in North Haledon amid the pandemic and that they have yet to reorganize with different leadership. “Scouting isn’t unique in its need for more volunteers,” she said.

According to a joint study released last year by AmeriCorps and the census bureau, the rate of volunteerism fell in every demographic category during the COVID lockdown.

People like Esteves are part of a vanishing breed.

“I’ve never been able to cultivate other leaders,” said Esteves, who is in her 28th year as the local cubmaster.

Richard Malizia Jr. was successful in resurrecting Cub Scout Pack 85 in Hawthorne, but he conceded that it was not a simple task. He said the group, which includes two girls, will resume meetings with a new leader in September following a three-year pause that started amid the pandemic.

“You don’t have a lot of unicorns, out there, who volunteer for multiple things,” said Malizia, also an EMT. “Our biggest challenge has always been Scouts versus sports.”

The Hawthorne pack and its associated troop are sponsored by Rea Avenue Reformed Church, and Malizia, their scoutmaster, said they have a relatively strong enrollment with 25 members.

The group that folded in Hawthorne, Cub Scout Pack 30 at St. Anthony R.C. Church, did so as a result of the COVID outbreak, said Jai Agnish, the director of communications for the Diocese of Paterson.

Agnish said its associated troop carried on for as long as possible before a difficult decision was made to also suspend its activities.

“Scouting is most welcome” at the church, Agnish said.

But as an institution, Agnish added, Scouting faces “stiff competition from many other options available to boys and girls.”

“The number of youth sports options has grown,” Agnish said, “and the expectation from coaches that their sports are year-round commitments has made it challenging on Scouting and all non-athletic options.”

Esteves said she is proud that participation in Cub Scout Pack 2 is still a choice for children in Prospect Park.

“I absolutely love this program,” Esteves said. “I believe in this program. Not every kid can play sports, but every kid can be a Cub Scout.”

The dedicated cubmaster paid out of her own pocket last month to hang a banner on an outfield fence at a North Haledon ballfield. She said she hopes that the advertisement will entice parents to sign up their children for her group.

On a recent Wednesday night, Esteves and the pack met in the lunchroom at Prospect Park School No. 1 on Brown Avenue.

The topic of their lesson was something that everyone appreciated: The “power of air.”

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The children, including Isabella and Sophia, hummed into plastic kazoos, and they flew paper airplanes made out of church stationery. They also tried to bounce semi-inflated basketballs.

After the thuds against the floor and the buzzes of the musical instruments, the only sound that could be heard was the laughter coming from the chorus of boys and girls whose arms were tangled in a human knot.

Philip DeVencentis is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: [email protected]

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Girls outnumber boys in Cub Scout group in Prospect Park NJ