Flagstaff siblings Matthew and Emma Hirning recently became the first brother-sister pair in the city both to earn the rank of Eagle Scout in the Scouts BSA.
Emma finished her Eagle requirements May 17 with a video on her school鈥檚 anti-bullying anonymous alert system. Matthew had constructed a tiny library for a retiring teacher at Cromer Elementary to earn the rank in 2020.
While Matthew has been in the Scouts most of his life, Emma had to wait until 2019, when Scouts BSA was first opened for girls to participate.
鈥淚 had been following my brother Matt around in his scout career, seeing him go to these awesome camps and have all this fun," Emma said. "I was like, 鈥楾hat seems awesome, I think I鈥檇 like to do that.' So the first day girls were able to join, I did, and it's been awesome.鈥�
Matthew said it鈥檚 鈥渟till a little weird, but pretty cool also鈥� that his sister is also an Eagle Scout.
Matthew has been her 鈥渂iggest cheerleader.鈥�
鈥淚 know I can always come to him for advice, and he鈥檚 always there to help and push me to achieve this awesome award. And now it's pretty cool to say we are the first brother and sister in Flagstaff to get our Eagle Scout,鈥� she said.
To become an Eagle Scout, scouts at the Life rank need to earn 21 merit badges on topics ranging from cooking to environmental science as well as develop and complete a project that shows leadership and gives back to the community.
Emma said the hardest part of earning the rank was 鈥渙rganizing all the busy people I was working with.鈥�
In addition to actors from schools across Flagstaff Unified School District (one of whom was Emma herself), she worked with Zachary Fountain and Coconino High School Principal Stacie Zanzucchi, so 鈥渕aking all the schedules line up鈥� was the hardest part.
For Matthew, the hardest part was executing the project, because construction鈥檚 鈥渘ot really my forte.鈥�
鈥淚 definitely stepped out of my comfort zone with this project,鈥� he said.
He decided to build a tiny library because he loves reading and wanted a project 鈥渢o reflect the values I believe in.鈥澛� While he didn鈥檛 attend Cromer himself, the school is their troop鈥檚 chartered organization.
鈥淚 believe reading is important for all students, everybody,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 what I want my project to really symbolize.鈥�
Completing his project during the early days of the pandemic was 鈥渄efinitely very weird,鈥� he said, 鈥渂ut made me feel proud that I could overcome a difficult challenge that was going on at the time.鈥�
Matthew's favorite part of scouting, he said, has been his experiences at summer camp and spending time with friends.
He graduated from CHS last week and plans to attend Coconino Community College in the fall. He鈥檚 hoping to earn an associate鈥檚 degree in Creative Writing and become a writer, likely of fantasy novels.
Emma鈥檚 project also has to do with a personal cause. After being physically assaulted at school, she wanted to find a way to improve things for other students.聽
鈥淚t really opened my eyes to how much bullying and harassment was going on at the school, and I felt like there needs to be a change to that.鈥�
She reached out to Zanzucchi to see how she could help and was told about the district鈥檚 anonymous alert system, which wasn鈥檛 being used due to misconceptions about its anonymity and a general lack of awareness.
鈥淚 decided to make a video about it to bring awareness that it鈥檚 OK to speak up about things that you鈥檙e going through,鈥� Emma said. 鈥淚 personally was told by multiple people that I shouldn鈥檛 speak up about what I was going through, and I don鈥檛 think anybody should have to feel like they have to be silent about an issue they鈥檝e experienced. I feel like using the anonymous alerts app will help others get the help they need from school administrators without all the drama.鈥�
The one-minute video will be shown to FUSD students in the early fall, Emma said.
She is also working on another video as a project to earn the highest rank in Girl Scouts, the Gold Award. The video, meant to encourage students to reach out to family and friends and ask for help when needed, will be shown across Arizona sometime in the fall.
A rising junior, Emma said her next step involves an athletic training internship at CHS under athletic director Eric Freas.聽
Her favorite part of scouting has been the life skills she鈥檚 learned as well as the friendships.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I could鈥檝e done this without my brother,鈥� she said of becoming an Eagle scout. 鈥� ... He鈥檚 truly pushed me to accomplish every one of my dreams. I am so grateful to be allowed in the Scout program with him. I鈥檓 going to cherish the memories we鈥檝e made in scouting forever.鈥�