Eagle Scout anti-bullying advocate crowned Miss Florida’s Teen 2024

Ireland Harkins knows how it feels to be bullied.

She’s experienced it herself.

There’s a phrase she likes: “Make them wonder how you’re still smiling.”

It became the focus of her Eagle Scout project, and, someday, she plans to make it the focus of her own non-profit organization.

It’s also part of what has helped her get to where she is now: Eagle Scout; anti-bullying advocate; accomplished dancer and dance choreographer; NRA-rated expert in rifle and sharpshooter in pistol; and, most recently, Miss Florida’s Teen.

Yeah, Ireland’s been pretty busy, and she says the skills she’s learned in Scouting have helped guide her along the way.

“I absolutely think that the skills I have obtained through Scouts BSA have shined their way into my life,” she says. “By learning how to effectively lead and communicate with all different types of people, I have developed cognitive speaking skills, as well as personable and authentic manners throughout my Scouting journey.”

Ireland, 18, just aged out of Troop 4208. All she’s doing now is teaching dance at two different studios, working as a social media manager and marketing coordinator for a mental health organization, and getting ready to attend college at Florida Gulf Coast University this fall, where she’ll major in marketing while participating in the university’s competitive dance team.

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Becoming a Cub Scout

Ireland’s Scouting journey began when her brother joined Cub Scouts many years ago, and she started attending Cub Scout events with her family.

“I went to every single meeting, trying to participate in whatever I could,” she says. “I did every single Pinewood Derby and Raingutter Regatta race.”

Soon after winning a race with her “completely bedazzled” Pinewood Derby car, Ireland became an official member of Scouts BSA. She served in a handful of leadership positions, including senior patrol leader (four times!), and says her favorite memories are of attending summer camp with her fellow Scouts.

“I met some amazing people and earned many merit badges,” she says.

She also developed a proficiency at target sports, becoming the first in her class to earn the Archery merit badge. Eventually, she volunteered at the camp’s shooting range, teaching other Scouts how to participate in target sports safely.

Becoming Miss Florida’s Teen

Miss Florida’s Teen is part of the Miss America program, and the events that make up the Miss America process are not beauty pageants but are instead scholarship competitions.

It’s called the Miss America Opportunity, and it’s actually a long-running program designed to empower women to lead. Community service has been a part of the program since the 1980s.

Ireland was named Miss St. Augustine Teen before becoming Miss Florida’s Teen.

Along the way, she’s used the opportunity to develop and promote her anti-bullying program, which was also her Eagle Scout service project. There’s that phrase again – make them wonder how you’re still smiling.

She called it a MTWHYSS Workshop, in which she gathered fellow Scouts and some of her Miss Florida sisters to talk to local children about how they can recover from bullying incidents and other life struggles by focusing on healthy coping mechanisms.

The project included working with members of her community to help them get access to therapy and counseling services that otherwise might not have been available to them.

During the workshop, the participants made MTWHYSS bracelets, which they took home with them to remind them that they can “progress past the hurt that bullying places upon us.”

“My Eagle Scout service project was absolutely the most rewarding thing I have ever done,” Ireland says. “To have achieved the rank of Eagle Scout while staying true to myself and advocating for something that I am so passionate about was a dream come true for me.”

Photos courtesy of the Harkins family