Valencia County teen becomes first woman to earn Eagle Scout rank
By Peyton Spellacy
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ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (KOAT) — Changes came to the Boy Scouts in 2019 when the organization rebranded and opened its doors to girls. This year, it became Scouting America.
Now, Valencia County has its first young woman to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout.
Seventeen-year-old Gabrielle Montoya earned the honor after five years of dedication, leadership, and community service. To reach the highest rank in scouting, she completed a major project that turned old tires into dog beds for the Valencia County Animal Shelter.
Her uniform sash carries more than 40 merit badges, each marking a skill she has mastered, from first aid to space exploration and shotgun safety. Those skills, Montoya said, have prepared her not only for life but also for her dream career as a veterinarian.
“One of the things that I want to do with my life is help those animals and help other people who love them in the same way that I do,” she said. “And part of the reason that scouting sort of has assisted me in this way is because, you know, you learn a thing or two from merit badges like these, and you learn how to, you know, be the best person that you can be throughout this journey.”
Montoya also takes pride in the patches displayed on her uniform.
“This is my patrol patch. We’re part of the Frosty Flippers. And the patrol is basically a leadership group within the troop. So kind of like a bureaucracy if you think, like, different levels of government, we’ve got the same thing in the troop,” she said. “This is a Journey to Excellence Award. And what this represents is a couple of things that our troop had to do in order to take the step up and be a step above, and maybe like an average Scout troop.”
She pointed out one patch in particular.
“This patch right here is particularly important. This is in memory of one of the scouts in our brother troop, who actually was an Eagle Scout named Evan Strickland, who passed away during an Osprey accident in service. So we wear this in memory for him and in memory for his family as well,” she said.
Other patches on her uniform represent the High Desert Council, the troop she helped found, her role as a junior assistant scoutmaster, and her Eagle Scout rank. She also wears patches for completing polar bear plunge activities and for her membership in the Order of the Arrow, scouting’s honor society.
Montoya said scouting helped her grow as a leader and as a person. Her advice to other girls hoping to follow in her footsteps is to take the leap.
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