Gold Award Spotlight: Flute Therapy

Chesapeake Girl Scout Natazzja has earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor and achievement in Girl Scouting. For her project, Natazzja organized a music program to unite youth and people who reside in local nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

Natazzja, who plays the flute, recruited fellow members of the band at Indian River High School to plan and carry out 17 musical performances at six nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Chesapeake, Elizabeth City and Norfolk. During the performances, Natazzja and fellow musicians played a variety of music, including patriotic and spiritual songs.

“Through Girl Scouts, I have been visiting nursing homes since I was in first grade, but not all youth have been in nursing homes or around the elderly on a regular basis,” Natazzja said. “My project has helped to connect youth and the elderly.”

Natazzja also created a manual with instructions about how to plan and carry out her music programs so that students from the band, orchestra and chorus at Indian River High School can continue to host musical performances at local nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Her manual includes contact information for the facilities where she performed, tips for rehearsing for a performance and information about selecting songs to perform.

The Gold Award requires girls to identify an issue in their community and carry out a Take Action project to address the matter through leadership work. Nationwide, less than 6 percent of eligible Girl Scouts earn the Gold Award, which adds Natazzja to an elite group of female leaders across the country with the honor.