The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest honor a Girl Scout can receive, and can be awarded to Scouts in their senior or ambassador year. Earning the award involves completing an 80+ hour service project that has a lasting impact on a community, with an initial proposal and final report that must be approved by the local Girl Scout Council.
The first year of Beyond the Notes was my Gold Award project. From the time I started Girl Scouts in fourth- grade, I aspired to be a Gold Award Scout, spending hours at camp brainstorming alongside my troop about what my project could look like. When I finally decided to start Beyond the Notes as a professional development program for musicians, I knew it was the perfect combination of my personal strengths as a musician and organizer, and the Girl Scout values of leadership and altruism.
Working on Beyond the Notes, I got the opportunity to meet and mentor twenty student musicians and their parents. From teaching students in the classroom, to playing with them on their first paid gigs, it’s been amazing to develop them as professionals. In the program they learned free of charge how to practice effectively and create a practice routine; how the circle of fourths apply to jazz progressions and ear training exercises they can implement; the top summer jazz programs and how to audition for them; how to manage finances and market themselves digitally; and how to get involved with the local scene and booked for gigs. More than that though, they learned that playing music professionally is accessible for them in the daunting jazz industry.
It wasn’t just the students who gained from the program. Leading this program taught me how to engage with students and coordinate resources. From the first session to the last, students went from having to sit listlessly through a 90-minute lecture to participating in activities, volunteering to share, and avidly writing notes because of the supplements added to the lesson plan. As a coordinator, I went from being able to plan club meetings to organizing partnerships with venues and bringing in guest speakers regularly.
All in all, this Gold Award project has been an amazing educational experience, and I’m so thankful that I was able to achieve my fourth-grade dream.
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