March 8 is International Women’s Day, and it’s worth reflecting on the contributions of women and girls to the island overall.

This week’s edition of The Beachcomber is full of them, such as the efforts of Vashon’s Girls to Girls club to befriend and empower their counterparts in Taita-Taveta, Kenya. These global connections open up the world for our students, and are a valuable way of teaching how the greatest, lasting joys in life come from learning about and serving others.

We also feature the work of island leaders, poets and activists including Suzanne Greenberg, Jenna Riggs and Merna Ann Hecht, who are now pouring their energies into coalition-building around harmful policies being pursued by our current presidential administration.

And how could we forget to mention the woman who blazed a trail for so many female journalists to come after her — Agnes Smock, who became owner and editor of the Vashon Island News-Record in 1928, raising three children while working full-time and pioneering an all-women staff of reporters who fanned out across the island to share the stories of Vashon’s many communities.

Agnes’ legacy is as vital now as it ever has been.

Her support for the Japanese American community, despite a national climate of xenophobia, is instructive for our modern situation. Her critical eye toward government and public projects is needed for the healthy functioning of our society.

In their own ways, and facing their own challenges and news stories, the women who have come to edit Vashon’s newspapers after Agnes have applied these same principles.

From healing our divisions and inequities, to fearlessly telling the truth, to creating art that expresses and reveals, this week we thank all the women and girls of Vashon for their contributions.

How to honor, uplift and support them? We have a few suggestions.

Attend a family-friendly fundraiser on March 16 for Women Hold the Key, a vibrant nonprofit organization and community center on Vashon, on March 16.

Marvel at three new exhibitions of artworks by women at Vashon Center for the Arts, and also attend “Women: A Creative Force,” a full day of art, community and theater at VCA on March 8.

Don’t miss two theater events: Vashon Repertory Theatre’s Incubator Series of new plays by Northwest women playwrights, running March 6-9 at VCA, and Jeanie Okimoto’s endearing new play, “Trouble on Harmony Hill,” which will be brought to life with an ensemble of her own creation, the Golden Oldies Players, on March 15.

Head to Vashon Bookshop and seek out books written by local women authors — including new works by frequent Beachcomber contributors Susan McCabe and Cindy Hoyt.

And also plan to attend an author event on March 14, at the Land Trust Building, to hear John Osbourn, an islander and physician affiliated with Vashon’s Medical Reserve Corps, read from “Moving Mountains: Creating the Nurse Practitioner and Rural EMS,” a memoir he has co-written with his remarkable, trailblazing mother, Marie Osbourn.

All these events are detailed on the pages of this issue of The Beachcomber. Read about them, and marvel at the difference that women make in our community.