The Alcona County Review | Mary Weber
By Mary Weber Staff Writer With determination and resilience, an Alcona County youth can now consider herself a trailblazer as the first female of the county to earn the Scouting America Eagle Scout rank, the highest honor a scout can achieve.
Miranda Roiter, 17, is the first female in both Alcona and Iosco counties to earn Eagle Scout honors. She was recommended for the rank in July by the Michigan Crossroads Council of Scouting America, formerly known as Boy Scouts of America. She will receive a court of honor this fall in front of Troop 7 in Oscoda.
She is the daughter of Mark Roiter of Mikado and Carrie Roiter of Greenbush.
Roiter, a senior at Alcona High School, has overcome many obstacles in her life. She joined scouting when she was 13. “My mom said to try it for a year and see if I liked it. I ended up loving it. I enjoy hanging around positive people who like to do stuff and try new things,” Roiter said.
In the last four years, Roiter mastered leadership, served her community and learned outdoor survival skills -- all Alcona's first female Eagle Scout Miranda Roiter while balancing schoolwork.
Roiter admits academics are challenging, but said earning scout badges was easier, thanks to support from her Troop 7 Scout Master Caryn Burns and mentor Dr. Pete Mapes, who gave her the confidence to succeed.
“I learn something from scouting every day. My first badges were easy, but Tenderfoot took me two years to earn. The hardest for me was the Personal Fitness merit badge. I’m not the exercise type and it was grueling. I could not have finished without Pete. We worked out every day for three months,” Roiter said.
She stayed with Mapes and his wife, Nona, that winter while they encouraged her to do push-ups, pull-ups, situps and build her stamina to run outdoors more than two and a half miles during northern Michigan’s most grueling months. The Personal Fitness badge is required to reach Eagle rank.
Her favorite part of scouting is camping at the Goshen Scout Reservation in Virginia, where she has spent two weeks each summer since 2021. “Camping is the most fun. We do survival training and more,” she said.
Roiter has completed the Scouting America National Youth Leadership Training and attended the 2023 National Jamboree.
She spent the last two summers in the Scout Aviation Maintenance Experience (SAME), a seven-week program at Oscoda-Wurtsmith Community Airport, which instructs scouts on how to rebuild airplanes. Roiter received a scholarship for SAME, primarily funded by the Mapes. Both Pete and Nona are retired Air Force Colonels and enjoy mentoring and helping economically challenged youth through the SAME program.
“The hours I spend here go toward my FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) Airframe and Powerplant technician certificate. I can also join the Kalitta Air Apprentice Maintenance Program, a paid apprenticeship.
“I like working with planes. It’s fun learning things not many people my age knows. I can now take apart and rebuild an engine, identify the right tools and handle wiring. I also have certifications in CPR and first aid.
“I have flown an airplane several times. I was nervous during my first flight at 13, but it got easier. Aviation was my first merit badge and my favorite,” she said. Mapes reminded Roiter that scouts in the SAME program can compete for a Jon Sheer Memorial Scholarship toward earning their FAA Private Pilot Certification, worth about $22,000.
Roiter picked up a small Lego plane toy and explained some of the SAME scouts recently went on a trip with Mapes to the national museum of the U.S. Air Force, located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, which is the world’s largest military aviation museum. “It wasn’t a free trip. We had to earn our keep and help Pete paint a house. I got this souvenir from the museum,” she said.
Still holding onto the toy, Roiter walked around the hangar and pointed out planes the SAME scouts were working on that included installing navigation light wiring, windows, antennas and engines. “We just cleaned the doors on this plane and used Alodine to prevent corrosion. One engine here has been a five-year project; most don’t take that long.
“Each plane has a name. That Moony Airplane is Kermit. There’s also Suzi-Bell, Fly Boy and Fly Baby. This one doesn’t have a name yet, but we’ll name it,” Roiter said, pointing to a half-finished aircraft.
Roiter explained they were working on the angle of attack (AOA) on one of the planes, a key factor affecting lift. The AOA is the angle between the wing’s chord line and the direction of airflow.
To earn Eagle rank, Roiter led a major community service project. “I chose to rehabilitate the AuSable Historic Cemetery. That included clearing brush, cleaning gravestones, raking leaves and arranging for the removal of dangerous branches.
“That cemetery hadn’t been touched in years. The last burial was in the 1980s. I spent over 151 volunteer community hours on it with help from my troop and others,” Roiter said.
She has earned 34 scout badges, 10 more than required for Eagle Scout, which earned her a Gold Palm. She has also earned the Bronze Palm and is on track for the Silver Palm if she completes two more merit badges before her 18th birthday in November.
Outside of scouting, Roiter enjoys time with family, playing video games with her brothers and spending time with her sister.
Roiter encourages youth to join scouting because it teaches life skills. “You’ll learn survival and navigation skills, first aid and how to tie knots. It’s also, in my opinion, very fun.
“Being a girl in scouts is no different than being a boy in scouts. We’re treated the same and all badges have the same requirements. Becoming an Eagle Scout shows the world you can accomplish anything you set your mind to,” she said.
While Roiter is still a little unsure of what she will do after she graduates high school next June, she is thinking she would like to apprentice for Kalitta Air Maintenance. Mapes, however, said she could reach much higher, as the rank of Eagle allows for many college university scholarships and early promotion if she decided to join an arm of the U.S. Military.
Mapes, though not affiliated with Scouting America, supports its focus on youth development and leadership. He said no one earns Eagle Scout without the ability to hold a vision and stick to a plan. “That is why Eagle Scouts are desired as employees, students and friends. They have grown up with a code of behavior, the Scout Law, that guides them throughout their lives. They know life isn’t fair but they strive to be fair in all their dealings with others.
“Miranda epitomizes this, while she has an inborn tendency to procrastinate, which is why she didn’t earn Eagle when she was 14, she has matured into a young woman of vision with skills that render her self-sufficient and able to help others. Her strength and her ability to lead a team will serve her well,” he said.
Scout Master Burns said, “Miranda’s superpower is that she always shows up. Consistency is half the battle to making it this far. She’s the first Eagle Scout in our troop and we’re very proud of her. She is amazing.”
Scouting America began allowing girls to join special interest posts in 1969. It expanded to co-ed Explorer posts in 1971 and opened Cub Scouts and Scouts BSA (Boy Scouts of America) to include girls in 2018 and 2019, respectively.