Girl Scouts Focus on Hispanic Heritage

September 25, 2003

By Ursula Castrillon, staff writer

Latina Girl Scouts around the country will celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month with festivities that honor their varied and rich culture.

Tradition Continues in Texas

In San Antonio, Texas, Girl Scouts will stand tall at a September parade. Hosted by the Avenida Guadalupe Association, a prominent Latino community organization, the parade started as a celebration of Mexico's independence from Spanish rule. Today, it has expanded to celebrate all Latin American countries.

Although Girl Scouts have participated in the parade for 11 years, this is the first time they will greet the crowds from a float. On it, girls will display flags representing Girl Scouts in Latin American countries. Mexico, Venezuela, Chile, and Argentina, among others will be represented in the two-mile route.

Girls in the parade are from Avenida Guadalupe Girl Scouts, a center at the heart of a Mexican American neighborhood that reaches 600 Girl Scouts and their families. According to April Alcoser, who works with the San Antonio Girl Scout office, the center has become a critical resource in the community and a place for girls to get help with homework, school, and home life issues.

"The Girl Scout volunteers at Avenida Guadalupe are role models for these girls," says Alcoser, "and the center provides services especially needed by single parents in the area."

Parents and friends unable to attend the parade will view the televised event airing in states along the southern border and in northern Mexico.

Hispanic Heritage Month: A Modern-Day Lesson

Central New Jersey boasts a Hispanic Heritage Month celebration and with activities in September, Girl Scouts will learn Hispanic arts, traditions, language—and tolerance.

A theatrical production created by teen Girl Scouts will highlight the life of a new immigrant teen who speaks no English. After the performance, girls will discuss the topic of tolerance and learn ways to befriend someone from a different culture.

"The goal of the event is to embrace differences," says Regis Donovan of the Rolling Hills Girl Scout Council. "Even within the Hispanic culture there are many different foods and customs and for Hispanic Heritage Month we want these young girls to explore all of them."

Girls will learn the history of music from South and Central America, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. Piñatas will provide color and sweets from Latin America; foods will range from Colombian arepas to Spanish paella.

While Hispanic Heritage is a month-long celebration, Girl Scouts are inspired by the power of Latinas every day of the year. Learn about Latina board members and what Girl Scouts means to the Hispanic community in the fact sheet Girl Scouts of the USA: ¿Quiénes Somos? (PDF, 126KB).