On Saturday, Sept. 24, the annual Girl Scouts G.I.R.L. Fest took place from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Pinecrest Gardens. The 2022 G.I.R.L. Fest at the Gardens marks the event’s 100th anniversary for the Girl Scouts of South Florida.

The event offered an abundance of fun for girls of all ages; the event hosted booths, activities, crafts and more. Vendors and community partners who provide Girl Scout programs, as well as troops from Miami-Dade County and Monroe County, had booths set up at the event. G.I.R.L. Fest is hosted to kick off the new Girl Scouts year, where troops from all over the community collaborate and provide service to the city. 

“It is really to bring our Girl Scouts together, to have fun and to highlight what girls in Girl Scouts can do in the coming year. So we have a bunch of our partners in the community who do programs for Girl Scouts like Miami Dade County Parks Eco-adventures, the Frost Science Museum, and the Children’s Museum,” Girls Scouts Chief Mission Delivery Officer, Lori Ross said. 

Girl Scouts’ mission is to build girls with courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place. Events like these allow young girls’ traits and efforts to make an impact on the community. 

“It really just strengthens the female empowerment in young girls that helps with their confidence, and honestly, it can help them grow into stronger individuals who are able to make a difference in their community,” Miami Palmetto Senior High junior and Girl Scouts Ambassador, Isabella Reale said. 

The event’s purpose serves to work as a gateway for girls of all ages in the community to find their power and niche, allowing them to make their community a better place. 

“I definitely think that it is a great experience for younger girls because it opens them up to a whole other world of possibilities, and giving back to their community and just getting involved to make a difference; being a Girl Scout is so much more than like selling Girl Scout cookies,” MPSH sophomore and Girl Scout Senior, Aayana Baid said. “It is a way to be involved and solve any problems or issues that you see happening around you.” 

The fest focused on outreach to the community and representing what Girl Scouts is all about. Guest presenter Colonel Rojan Robotham from the company “AstraFemina” attended to speak on her role in the United States Air Force as the Senior Materiel Leader of Space Capabilities. 

“Rojan is responsible for leading a team to deliver space capabilities for the U.S. Throughout her career, she has had some amazingly cool assignments, including writing code for a satellite program, conducting satellite experiments, working on a launch vehicle to deliver a satellite into space, working on the Predator unmanned aerial system as well as several assignments in the Pentagon,” Ross said. 

Rojan is also a Girl Scouts alumni and used the event to speak about how Girl Scouts helped her to find her path to her career.

The acronym G.I.R.L. is Girl Scouts’ honorable phrase standing for who and what they are. 

“G is go-getter, I is innovator, R is risk taker, and L is leader. That is basically the foundation of what Girl Scouts represents and Girl Scouts means those four words. It is our motto that is the building block for everything that comes after being a girl scout,” Baid said. 

Troop booths were made to encourage a younger generation of girls to develop an interest in making their mark and look forward to becoming powerful female leaders. 

“The fest is a good representation of Girl Scouts because I know that every troop has their own table with different activities, and I think it really portrays the types of lessons that we are trying to teach young girls. And I think that it’s really inspiring because every girl can kind of see what they can grow into, like how much they can learn and I know that they definitely show a lot of leadership skills, independence and being strong women,” Reale said.