Today marks the last day of Women’s History Month—a time to honor the contributions of women throughout history. 10 News introduces one local Girl Scout whose project aims to bring light to Women’s History Month.
Girl Scouts start by selling cookies, earning badges, and going on adventures. For many young girls, Girl Scouts is just the beginning of something much bigger.
“We’ve learned first aid, crime scene investigation, and wilderness exploration,” said Gabriella Brandow, a member of Troop 478.
As Girl Scouts grow through the organization, they take on community-driven projects to earn prestigious awards. For Brandow, that means working toward her Silver Award—a Girl Scouts initiative that encourages leadership and service. Her mission? To make Women’s History Month more than just a page in a textbook.
“My thing is to kind of get Women’s History Month and all the women throughout history who have done these amazing things recognized more,” Brandow said. “My problem is that Women’s History Month is in March, and I know that, but I didn’t until sixth grade when I heard it mentioned in passing.”
That realization sparked her project—creating posters, a video, and school announcements to highlight unsung women in history at Christiansburg Middle School and Wasena Elementary. The research and process took nearly 70 hours.
“She’s worked in neuroscience and she studied different animals to see how their brain works, which helped us to understand how ours do too, like human memory and everything like that,” Brandow explained while showing one of the posters.
Her work reflects what Girl Scouts has stood for for over a century—giving women the tools to use their voices, challenge norms, and advocate for change.
“A lot of people, when they think of Girl Scouts, they think of little kids and selling cookies and stuff like that. We do sell cookies, but it’s more than that. It’s also that we learn about almost everything at Girl Scouts that they don’t teach you at school,” Brandow said.
Brandow hopes to officially earn her Silver Award by next year, but her true goal is to educate and inspire, proving that Women’s History Month isn’t just about remembering the past, but shaping the future.
