Earth Day at Burnett Bayland Park

As the Hispanic Community Development Senior Manager for Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council, I regularly witness the power of community-centered programming to inspire, connect, and uplift girls and their families. Our council’s recent partnership with Houston Audubon, Commissioner Leslie Briones at Burnett Bayland Park, and Madres del Parque is a beautiful example of what’s possible when culture, language, and environmental stewardship come together.

This event was led primarily in Spanish by Girl Scouts’ dedicated Hispanic Community Engagement volunteers, ensuring families felt welcomed, included, and empowered. We welcomed 84 Girl Scouts — from Daisies to Ambassadors — alongside 13 volunteers and four staff members. The beautiful spring day was filled with hands-on learning and meaningful exposure to nature. Girls worked collaboratively to beautify the community center’s garden, with younger Girl Scouts creating a thoughtful rock garden while older girls prepared soil, primed and painted the garden base. Together, they planted and organized the revitalized space and installed six new insect hotels for the community.

Experiences like this are at the heart of Girl Scouting. Through our programs, girls explore and identify their power within. They build leadership skills, develop environmental awareness, and grow in confidence as they take action in their communities. By observing native birds through binoculars and advocating for their preservation, the girls connected with nature and practiced being good stewards of the environment—an essential part of becoming engaged, responsible leaders.

For many of our Hispanic families, participating in programming in their primary language creates a deeper sense of belonging and pride. It allows girls to fully participate, express themselves, and see that their voices matter. This event didn’t just beautify a garden; it cultivated teamwork, leadership, cultural connection, and a lasting commitment to caring for our shared spaces.

We are grateful to Houston Audubon and our partners for helping us advance our mission of building girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place.

If you know a girl in grades K-12 who would enjoy new adventures and developing life skills while making new friends, visit www.gssjc.org/join.

This story was featured in the 2026 edition of The Warbler, Houston Audubon’s Annual Spring Recap. Read it here.