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Kayla Wright is a ground breaker.

In 2019, Scouting USA eliminated gender requirements as a condition of participation.

In that time, no female Scout has achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, scouting’s highest honor.

Now Kayla is set to break that barrier.

She is set to become Hamblen County’s first female Eagle Scout this year. A date of her Court of Honor ceremony has not yet been determined.

Kayla, a senior at Morristown-Hamblen High School East, is a member of Troop 294 which meets at First Presbyterian Church. She is the daughter of Ginger and Ben Wright of Morristown.

It was easy for Kayla to become a scout since her mother Ginger and her brother were already involved in the Scouting movement, Ginger as troop leader and her brother as a Cub Scout.

“My brother was in the Cub Scouts when I found out that I could join the Scouts,” Kayla said. “I was already volunteering each with his troop.”

Since Kayla decided to become a scout, that meant she had a lot of earning to do as far as badges. She has also volunteered for the last two summers at Camp Davy Crockett, the Sequoyah Council’s scout camp, in Whitesburg.

“I started from scratch like everyone else does,” Kayla said.

Some of the badges were earned in short order, such as first aid. Other badges, however, took some time to obtain, such as camping and cooking, which took months to accomplish.

“When I joined the Scouts, a lot of my friends and family were supportive,” she said. “My scout troop was excited that I could hang out with them.”

To get the hang of Scouting, Kayla was able to help two troop members on their Eagle Scout projects.

Kayla decided to take on an Eagle Scout project that would be unique to Morristown.

“The members of Girls Inc. reached out to Scout members to see if they would do an Eagle project associated with the mural installed on the Morris Boulevard side of the building last year,” Kayla said. “They told me to create plans for an organic landscape project which I completed Nov. 4.”

The project took a total of 150 hours to complete.

In addition to scouting, Kayla is already taking dual enrollment college classes through Walters State Community College, majoring in biology. She wants to transfer to ETSU for her four-year degree, but she is undecided on a major there as of yet. She is also a ballet dancer, a member of the East High Beta Club and the speech and debate team. She is looking to start a career in finance.

She started in the Girl Scouts, which she is still active in.

Kayla talked about her scouting experiences during the Hamblen County Good Scout Breakfast last May.

“We learned skills like how to start a fire, orienteering in case we get lost in the woods, which so far has been good,” she said. “I can’t say the same for the labyrinth that is the Walmart parking lot. We use the patrol method to create the vision system.”

She told about three consecutive Pinewood Derby car races in which she won all three, all racing against family members.

“The Scouts have been long known for being family-focused, even if it creates unsettling tribal wars,” she said. “Last year, our spring Camporee had the girls going up against their own brother. In the end, my troop ended up with a higher score. Everyone went home with a medal for Scout Spirit.

“I was able to get this far with support from everyone,” she said. “Scouts will always be there for me. During COVID-19, when everything else was shut down, Scouting was still going.”