The Boy Scouts of America aim to foster independence, leadership and life skills among their young participants, and at 13, Alexandra "Sasha" Jepson of Lakeside already has those qualities in spades.

On Feb. 21, she’ll officially earn her Eagle Scout rank during a virtual ceremony for the inaugural class of female Eagle Scouts.

Jepson is among just a handful of other girls across the state who have reached the prestigious Eagle Scout rank since the honor was opened up to female Scouts in 2019.

“It feels exciting,” Jepson said in anticipation of the upcoming ceremony.

But getting to the front of the pack is nothing new for the Lakeside teenager. Jepson has become pretty used to striking out on her own—she’s operated as a Lone Scout for the two years it’s taken to complete her Eagle Scout qualifications.

Jepson’s mother and mentor, Gina, admitted Lone Scouts are a somewhat “obscure” branch of the Boy Scouts organization. “It’s definitely its own thing,” she noted.

Originally introduced for overseas military families with no access to a nearby troop, Lone Scouts have evolved to provide an option for participants in a variety of circumstances that make it challenging to be a part of an established troop.

Gina said it was “tricky” for the Lakeside family to get together with other local Scouts, especially when the family’s four children were being homeschooled. So mother and daughter found a way for Jepson to earn the rank by herself.

“They operate pretty much on their own,” Gina said of the Lone Scout program. “There’s a lot more independence.”

JEPSON HAS had plenty of good company along the way, though.

Most of the times she’s undertaken projects or earned merit badges, Jepson has enlisted friends and family members to work with her, forming a sort of informal troop. “There are still opportunities for leadership and growth,” Gina pointed out. “It’s worked out really well for us.”

And it was the support and influence from her family’s long line of Eagle Scouts that first inspired Jepson to pursue the Eagle Scout position.

Jepson said she wanted to start Scouting after watching her two older brothers, Jeremiah and Jacob, complete the program under her mom’s guidance as Scout Master. She’s proud, too, to join her father and two uncles in the Eagle Scout tradition as well. “It’s a big deal because I’m the only girl in our family who got this,” Jepson observed.

The family legacy is on full display in Jepson’s Eagle Scout project at the West Shore Library, which drew inspiration from her brother Jeremiah’s earlier project there.

Jepson built a bench and two planters for the library exterior this fall, after Jeremiah built library bookshelves when he became an Eagle Scout in 2018.

“We use the library a lot, so I decided I wanted to give back,” Jepson said.

To complete the project, Jepson got some help from her family, including her grandparents, who traveled from California to lend a hand, as well as Sliters Lumber and Building Supply, which donated the materials to build the bench.

Both Jepson and her mother agreed it’s pretty rewarding to drive past the library every day and point out Jepson’s creation.

“It’s cool to see it in person,” Jepson noted.

Even with her Eagle Scout project under her belt, Jepson still has a lot of big plans for her future.

Outside of scouting, she likes to keep busy playing basketball and snowboarding on Blacktail Mountain. When she’s old enough, she expects to join her mother and brothers working at Blacktail Mountain Ski Area.

She’s also thinking about teaming up with her brother Jacob to form a local Sea Scout troop — an organization that applies the Boy Scout idea to water-based activities such as sailing and kayaking.

And as a true testament to the family legacy, Jepson said she’s already looking forward to her 11-year-old sister Arya, currently a Webelos, following in her footsteps.

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at 758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.