C RISING STARS APE COD TIMEScdn.gatehousemedia.com/custom-systems/ghns/files/Gwenn... · 2015-12-17 · ing during his internship and with Mass. Science Fairs. He ran track and cross

CAPE COD TIMES

RISING STARS

2 R I S I N G S TA R S

BY GWENN [email protected]

est assured, the future is in good hands, and we have proof.

Leadership and academic excellence are the words that come to mind for the 104 high school seniors nominated as Rising Stars this year.

But it’s more than that. Members of the class of 2014 are saavy. They are decisive about what they want and willing to take risks. (Rising Star Joe Bergeron applied only to MIT, figuring he’d have to scramble getting other applications in if he didn’t get early admission. But MIT agreed it was the place for him.)

Although national surveys find most don’t work part-time in high school, Rising Stars buck that trend. Nauset Regional High’s Stephanie Nicole Bassett not only vol-unteers and works two jobs, she’s also gotten a financial

planner and has an invest-ment plan.

Many of the good works done by those nominated as Rising Stars have already been written about in the pages of the Cape Cod Times. Falmoth High’s Jake Barry raised $50,000 over three years to rehabilitate his neighborhood playground. Sandwich High’s Michael Kristy has created videos of his school and community posting them on his own YouTube channel.

From the volunteer judges, I consistently hear two things: “This is so hard!” and “Thank you for asking me.” I understand both of those feelings.

I’m glad I’m not a judge. But it’s kind of nice that

it’s difficult because it shows what a great group of teens you – parents, teachers, employers, siblings – nomi-nate.

Our thanks to this year’s judges:

Jennifer Eames of Marion Family Chiropractic, earned her Doctor of Chiropractic degree as the top clinician in her class from Sherman College of Chiropractic in South Carolina. Before that, the Marion native attended the University of North Carolina where she was a member of four NCAA championship teams in women’s soccer and became involved in team handball, eventually competing on the U.S. national team in that sport. She’s played flag foot-ball on a team in the Cape’s Barnstable League for six or seven years. She splits her time between the SouthCoast and the Cape, where she and her young son, Grayson, enjoy many activities.

Thomas G. Kerr, PhD, is a lifelong educator and school administrator who served suburban Philadelphia schools for 40 years before retiring to the Cape with his wife, Gayle. He received

advanced degrees from Temple and Penn and was appointed as a Visiting Practitioner at Harvard. Kerr founded the Leadership Institute to train aspiring school leaders and created the first computer magnet school in the nation to assist with desegregation efforts. Today he serves as a consul-tant on reform issues.

William Mills is the edito-rial page editor of the Cape Cod Times, where he has worked as a reporter and edi-tor for nearly 25 years. His editorials have won the Allan B. Rogers Editorial Award

three times in eight years. As bureau chief and special projects team leader from 1992 to 1998, he won several national awards, including the Edward J. Meeman Trophy for environmental reporting, the Benjamin Fine Award for education report-ing, and the Investigative Reporters and Editors Award. Prior to joining the Times, Mills was a correspondent for The Boston Globe, an edi-tor at the Charlotte Observer, and communications director for an international refugee relief organization based in Geneva.

RISING STARS

EDITOR Gwenn Friss

DESIGN Nora DeVita

ON THE COVER Hannah Depin

PHOTO BY Christine Hochkeppel

www.capecodonline.com /risingstars

3M a y 1 2 , 2 0 1 4

BY DICK TRUSTCONTRIBUTING WRITER

his has been quite the year for Joe Martin.Not only was he selected by the staff

of Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School as its “Outstanding Vocational

Student of the Year,” he is also this year’s president of his school’s chapter of the National Honor Society.

This past summer, he attended the Washington Leadership Training Institute through SkillsUSA where he received the Statesman Award for leadership.

“Joe is extremely down to earth,” writes

guidance counselor Jennifer McGuire. “He is funny, friendly, approachable and outgoing, and seems to be able to get along with every-body, including peers and instructors. I would imagine these traits are why he is selected and elected for so many things.

“He’s able to manage multiple activities and do well in school at the same time. The balance that he achieves seems to come naturally to him. I’m not sure he realizes what an accom-plishment it is to be able to do so well at so many things.”

Susan White, director of curriculum, writes that Joe “is a hard-working young man who is kind to others and dependable, qualities he exhibits with a maturity beyond his years. He is polite and friendly, and he usually has a smile on his face as he comes through the school door at 7:15 every morning.”

A student in the Health Technology program at Upper Cape Tech, Joe works part-time as a certified nursing assistant at Forestview Nursing Center in Wareham. This fall, he will pursue his bachelor’s degree in nursing at

Fitchburg State University. “Going to go to Upper Cape, I initially

wanted to be a baker,” Joe says, “But getting into health services, I thought I could go some-where with this and I love (nursing).

“So it’s important to take yourself outside of your comfort zone and take chances. If you put yourself out there, it allows you to try new experiences and exposes you to more opportu-nities.”

Such was the case when the Sandwich resident went on a mission to El Salvador in Central America for 10 summer days in 2012 through the Episcopal Youth Leadership Academy.

“It was the most eye-opening, interesting, crazy experience I ever had,” Joe says. “It was a mission not to build houses but to build rela-tionships with El Salvadoran teens and see what their lives are like and how much we take for granted.”

The greatest lesson he learned? “(It) probably was that Salvadoran teens are

not so different from American teens.”

UPPER CAPE COD REGIONAL TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL

CHRISTINE HOCHKEPPEL/CAPE COD TIMES

Joe Martin of Sandwich, in the Health Technology classroom at Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical High School, had planned to be a baker but found he enjoyed the health field. He now works as a certified nursing assistant and will pursue a nursing degree this fall.

Philosophy: “It’s important to take yourself outside of your comfort zone

and take chances.”

4 R I S I N G S TA R S

By SARAH BRENTYNCONTRIBUTING WRITER

annah Depin hasn’t graduated from high school yet, has but has already been

published and spoken out for homeless people in her com-munity. She plans to combine her love of writing and interest in social issues to become a journalist. Hannah says, “I see journalism as a way to reach out and make a difference.”

Hannah’s desire to help others and learn about cur-rent events inspired her to join her high school’s Human Rights Club in her freshman year.

“I have always been inter-ested in social issues,” she says. She likes studying world politics, but says that “with local issues, you can make a difference.”

She has worked to raise awareness about homeless-ness on Cape Cod by team-ing up with the nonprofit organization, Homeless Not Hopeless.

When Hannah was a junior, she wrote an insight-ful and inspiring speech in which she noted that “it’s interesting to look at the kind of issues people pay attention to, and the issues they over-look.” She discussed some headlines about Halloween costumes and breakfast cereal and pointed out that 15 homeless people died that year. The Cape Cod Bear, she wrote, was much bigger news than these deaths. Hannah read her speech at an event for Homeless Not Hopeless, and Cape Women Online published the speech in their Holiday 2012 issue. The

magazine then approached Hannah to write a follow-up piece, “Offering Hope to Cape Cod’s Homeless,” which they published in 2013.

Guidance counselor Annette C. Bowes says Hannah’s writing is “phenom-enal.” Bowes says, Hannah is “never speaking just to hear herself but to make construc-tive, intelligent contributions.”

In addition to receiv-ing top marks on her AP exams, Hannah excelled at what Bowes calls “the most demanding academic pro-gram available in our school.” She admires Hannah’s abil-ity to handle academics and extracurricular activities with grace, being dedicated to each endeavor without becoming overwhelmed or trying to draw attention to herself. “She is involved in everything,” Bowes says, “but never looking to show off in any way.”

Hannah’s leadership abili-ties are evident in the activi-ties she chooses to pursue. Supervisors praise her matu-rity and reliability.

At her dance school, Hannah is in her fourth year as an assistant teacher. She enjoys instructing others and was recently stage man-ager for a production by the Mattacheese Middle School’s drama program. Hannah is also a counselor for Kids Klub at Red Jacket Beach Resorts. As far as keeping up with academics while being involved in her many activi-ties, Hannah says you have to “work hard and have a bal-ance.”

Advice: “Work hard for what you believe in. You want to be successful but also

follow your interests.”

DENNIS-YARMOUTH REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL


Hannah Depin is in her fourth year as an assistant dance teacher. She has also worked with Homeless Not Helpless, writing a speech and an article drawing attention to the needs of people who do not have housing.

M a y 1 2 , 2 0 1 4 5

BY DICK TRUSTCONTRIBUTING WRITER

or Oliver Newman, halfway is no way.

The Swarthmore College-bound student is passionate

about his studies (he’s in the top 7 percent of his graduating class), about his music (he plays piano, viola and violin at the orchestra level), about his internship at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI), his work for the U.S. Geographical Survey and, well, you get the picture.

His passion academically is to understand the world around him, and then some.

“I’m very curious about things and I like physics because you learn how the scientific world works and how

you can make the world a better place,” says Oliver, who takes numer-ous AP classes and tutors younger students.

Guidance counselor Guy LoConte has enjoyed his association with Newman, commenting, “Oliver is always a complete gentleman with (everyone) he encounters.”

Oliver is president of his school’s Science National Honor Society, treasurer of Falmouth High’s Model United Nations, and a member of the National, Music, and Math honor societies. He has been awarded grants for further study through WHOI, based on the projects he is complet-ing during his internship and with Mass. Science Fairs.

He ran track and cross country for Falmouth High, but, as he puts it, “It’s

more than just a sport for me. You can almost call it an addiction. I run a lot. They say there’s an adrenaline rush in running. It’s true. I have so many things going on in my life and keep-ing track of them is a stressful factor. Running helps me get away from that.”

Running also sparked Oliver’s proudest accomplishment: qualifying for the state cross country meet last fall. With exemplary dedication, he dropped his 5-kilometer time from 18 minutes to 16:30.

Academically, LoConte says, “Oliver has excelled as very few others have at Falmouth High School. He has an inner confidence and modesty that allow him to excel and achieve in all that he pursues. His motivation is simply for the love of learning and

self-improvement.” Oliver’s cumulative grade point

average of 3.94 of a possible 4.00 is just one measure of his scholastic achievements.

Oliver has not yet chosen a major at Philadelphia-based Swarthmore, but says he’s leaning toward a career in education.

“I enjoyed my education and I’d like to replicate that in other people. I can touch those in other places here and around the world. That’s my ultimate goal. My family has done cultural trips; I want to do more traveling and spread the word of more quality edu-cation.

“Teaching would be a first step, but eventually I’d want to go into educa-tion administration, or reform.”

Future goal: “Education should be a priority all across this country and around the world.”

FALMOUTH HIGH SCHOOL


Oliver Newman was a leader on

Falmouth High School’s cross coun-

try team and will run on the Swarth-more College team

in the fall.

R I S I N G S TA R S6

BY SUSANNA GRAHAM-PYECONTRIBUTING WRITER

unning on the beach clears her mind and keeps her grounded, says Nicole Neville. She also loves those runs because, for

her, the beach is a big part of home. She has always lived here on the Cape, in Hyannisport, and the thought of leaving for college is a bittersweet one.

“I’m really close to my mom,” she says. “And my little sister too. It’s a bit hard to think about not being here all the time.”

Not only is leaving family difficult, but also leaving Barnstable High School where, she points out, stu-dents have spent the past five years together in the “’stable,” the affec-tionate name students use for their school.

However, sitting in a coffee shop in Hyannis, describing the new stu-dents’ weekend at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from which she has just returned, Neville’s very

blue eyes sparkle with excitement at the prospect of the future.

“(The MIT event) was reallycool,” she says. “There were over 600 activi-ties and events to choose from.”

At the time of the interview, Nicole’s first choice was MIT. But a visit late last month to Princeton University in New Jersey changed her mind.

“I really felt at home on the campus at Princeton,” she says, explaining that the more traditional setting with a green at its center appealed to her more than MIT’s city campus, which is sprawled along the Cambridge side of the Charles River.

“It was in the city and more spread out,” Nicole says. “There didn’t seem to be as much student interaction.”

Interested in math and science and looking for a way to use both, she plans to study engineering. She’s not yet sure where that route will lead.

“There are a lot of different kinds of engineering,” she says. “Maybe

chemical engineering.”She may try to add a minor in

finance, another area that interests her. Although she doesn’t plan to run track, she thinks she may join Princeton’s running club as an extra-curricular activity and possibly do some community service work.

Those who know Nicole describe her as a determined student with an admirable work ethic. In addition to being co-captain of the cross country team and an active member of the math team, Neville has volunteered at Cape Cod Hospital, tutors younger students and has worked for the past several years at Green Harbor Resort in West Yarmouth.

But school has been an important constant in Neville’s life, one that has helped her get through various chal-lenges.

“I think I’ve always been pretty self-motivated,” she says. “After my parents divorced, though, things were kind of difficult and the one thing

that didn’t change a lot was school and my activities there. I think I real-ly focused on that and it helped me.”

Neville says she really loves Cape Cod. She believes there is an unspo-ken understanding between the peo-ple here, who understand what is to live in a close-knit community. There is a rhythm here tied to the natural beauty of the place that unites the Cape’s residents. And, Nicole says, she likes the way people in the Cape’s small communities help one another. She says she likes to think of herself as someone who is willing to help others.

Asked to choose one word to describe herself, Neville said: “per-severance. I think I kind of relate it to running and endurance. It’s easy to do well if everything is going well. But it’s when things get hard and you’re still able to succeed, I think that is important. I think that’s some-thing I’m able to do.”

BARNSTABLE HIGH SCHOOL

Philosophy: “You can have all these great qualities, but if you’re not helping others, it’s really not much of anything.”

STEVE HEASLIP /CAPE COD TIMES

Nicole Neville was named most valuable player on Barnstable High’s cross country team in 2013, and as a team captain, mentored younger runners.

7M a y 1 2 , 2 0 1 4

BY DEBI BOUCHER STETSONCONTRIBUTING WRITER

or as long as he can remember, Colby Blaze has wanted to make an impact on the world. He sees his life through that filter, which is

one reason he has been class president for all four years of his high school ca-reer. Holding that office, he said, “put me in the best position to make an impact.”

To that end, he has worked to raise money to help the class “maximize our senior year,” from a lunchtime bowling trip to a local bowling alley to subsidizing prom costs, and he promises the class gift to the school will “immortalize the Class of 2014.”

Guidance counselor James F. Buckman writes, “Colby also sets a

leadership tone by showing class-mates and teachers manners, values, commitment and respect – values that are often overlooked by students today in a public school setting.”

Colby, who is on the football team, is captain of both the tennis team and basketball team, and is known for mentoring younger players. He is at the top of his class academically and doesn’t mind admitting he worked hard to accomplish that. “I’m so com-petitive, even with just myself, in the classroom I found I wanted to meet my expectations or beat my expecta-tions,” he explains. “I wanted to outdo myself.”

He had an enviable choice of col-leges to attend next year: he is decid-

ing between Harvard and Duke. He chose Harvard, because he can play football there. While he is still undecided about a major, he is most interested in math, economics and biochemistry.

Colby wrote his college essay about his experience growing up as the middle child in a family of five boys, with two older brothers and two younger brothers. “It’s an advantage, if anything,” he said of being in the middle. “I always had someone chal-lenging me. I had my two older broth-ers as examples to inspire me, and then when they went off to college I sort of took over the role of being a role model for my younger brothers.”

His parents also inspired him and

gave him opportunities to “find my own success,” he said. “I felt no pres-sure – they let me choose my own direction.”

He has also been inspired by people he caddies for at his summer job at Oyster Harbors Golf Club in Osterville. “It’s always fascinating to hear their stories.”

Colby believes the most important thing in life is to be happy, but equal-ly important, he says, is “to leave an impact, make a difference, do some-thing in your life that is beneficial to the world. You’ve got to pay your rent to the world,” he says. “You’ve got to serve in some way that is greater than yourself. I’ve always respected people that have done that.”

Philosophy: “Pay your rent to the world.”

BARNSTABLE HIGH SCHOOl

STEVE HEASLIP/CAPE COD TIMES

Colby Blaze, photographed

with Plato along Barn-

stable High’s walkway of great think-

ers, says being class president

has allowed him to have an impact at Barn-

stable High.


BY CINDY PAVLOSCONTRIBUTING WRITER

aley Currie realizes the oceans control the world’s climate, and she is impatient to learn more about ocean currents

and how climate change affects water patterns.

Growing up surrounded by the fragile ecosystems of the Cape, Haley showed early concern for the envi-ronment.

“I started refusing to have balloons as a child,” she says, already aware of the dangers of balloons and plastic for sea life. “Plastics are my biggest pet peeve.”

Hayley credits her mother for nur-turing this environmental conscious-ness. “My Mom sewed recyclable shopping bags before they were

popular.”Haley will study hydrology at the

University of New Hampshire at Durham next fall, but as an indepen-dent learner, she finds opportunities to pursue her passion for science out-side the traditional classroom. She attended evening courses for high school students at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, visited the Environmental Protection Agency as part of a summer science program at George Mason University, and traveled to California for a summer at sea program on Catalina Island where she took courses and spent 10 days working and studying aboard a research vessel.

“I want to do research and work in the scientific community after uni-

versity,” Haley says. But ultimately, “I want to teach environmental sciences to high school students. I want to be able to bring real-life experiences to my students, give them a world view.” And, she adds, “I would love to be a teacher on the Cape.”

There’s little downtime in Haley’s schedule. In addition to a full load of Advanced Placement and hon-ors courses, she competes on the Harwich field hockey team, runs cross-country track, plays the violin, works part-time, and never misses a chance to watch her younger brother and sister play hockey. Band class offers her only reprieve. “It’s the one class in my day where I don’t have to worry about messing up.”

Haley is also a member of the

school’s human rights club, STAND, which works to prevent genocide and other atrocities. With the club, she attended the “Hear Her Voice” conference in Washington, D.C. in February, and was overwhelmed by the experience.

“We met survivors from Darfur (in) Sudan and heard their stories,” Haley says. “I met people from all over the world. We lobbied Congress to place restrictions on conflict minerals and to protect women’s rights.”

After graduation in June, Haley will travel to the Dominican Republic with a school group for a week of building and community service. “It’s important,” she says, “to create equal opportunities for every-one.”

HARWICH HIGH SCHOOL

Philosophy: “I see the world as part of a system – everything is connected.”

MERRILY CASSIDY/CAPE COD TIMES

Haley Currie, on Nauset Beach in Orleans, plans to study hydrology and hopes to one day teach Cape high school students about the region’s fragile ecosystems.

9M a y 1 2 , 2 0 1 4


rowing up as the only son of a single mother, Kyle Pina felt it was his duty to work hard and be successful. His father

died before he was born, and he saw how his mother struggled, especially in those early years, to provide for him.

“Knowing how hard my mom worked, I thought it would be unfair if I didn’t work just as hard, and get an education and go to college,” he says. Because his mother has cared for him, he says, “I want to be able to take care of her.”

That drive led him to be the top-ranking student in his class at

Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School, even while playing on the football and basketball teams, serv-ing as student representative on the school’s Curriculum Committee and maintaining a part-time job that expands to full-time work in the sum-mertime.

Next year, he will attend MIT, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, majoring in mechani-cal engineering. Asked what he hopes to do with his education, Kyle say he hopes to some day invent things.

For the last two years he has been taking robotics classes at Dennis-Yarmouth High. While he works hard and excels in all his classes, he

especially enjoys math and science, and says it was an AP physics class he took last year that made him want to pursue engineering. “It was learn-ing how everything in my everyday life works,” he says. “I found it really amazing.”

Asked what he thinks is the most important thing in life, Kyle says it is balance. “It’s finding a happy bal-ance between work and school work and social life,” he says. Despite his rigorous academic courses and busy schedule, “I still find time to hang out with my friends and be with my girl-friend.”

Kyle says he was on the shy side in middle school, mostly keeping to him-

self, “But in high school I got more comfortable,” he says, and became more outgoing. “I guess I’m fairly quiet, I don’t say much but I say what I need to say,” he reflects. “I’m kind of friends with everybody.”

He serves as public relations offi-cer for the school’s chapter of the National Honor Society. He was hon-ored with the Atlantic Coast League Sportsmanship Award in basketball, and participates in football clinics to help mentor and inspire younger players.

Kyle says he has gotten a lot out of his high school experience, from aca-demics to sports. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

Most important thing in life: “It’s finding a happy balance between work and school work and social life.”


RON SCHLOERB/CAPE COD TIMES

Kyle Pina, working with robots in Chris Hansen’s advanced robotics class at Dennis-Yarmouth High, will major in mechanical engineering at MIT and hopes to one day be an inventor.


BY EMMA GAUTHIERCONTRIBUTING WRITER

he conversation with Molly Brennan requires some ex-plaining.

Biological engineering, simply put, is when “you take pieces of biology and engineer them to do something,” she explains, pointing to tissue engineering or working with viruses as examples.

Molly says it was through the work of Angela Belcher, PhD, who special-izes in viruses and how their genetic codes can create different things in the fields of renewable energy and medicine, that she was first exposed to biological engineering.

“I like biological engineering because you can look at nature and biological structures that already exist, learn how they work and apply that knowledge to solve today’s prob-

lems,” she adds. Since this is such a rapidly evolving

field, Molly says she’s unsure where her studies will take her in terms of a career.

“This is one of the things that excites me about it. I may not even be able to predict the type of research and the types of problems that will exist when I am skilled enough to tackle them, but I hope to make sig-nificant contributions to the field,” Molly says, noting that she is interest-ed in cancer detection and treatment.

While Molly is eager to begin studying in her field at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, this fall, biological engineering is only one of her many interests. At Sturgis East Charter Public School, she is involved in a multitude of academic and extra-curricular programs, all of which she

is confident will help her in future endeavors.

“There are many indirect benefits of different activities,” Molly says. “Whether in the strings group at school or in the drama club, STAGE, I have learned to work with others. My career will include working with others on projects where everyone contributes different skills, and those activities have helped me experience that.“

Additionally, she participates in Poetry Out Loud, a national poetry recitation contest, where she was a state finalist in her sophomore and junior years. In her spare time, she tutors her peers and is a member of the Key Club and her school’s Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam, a competi-tion where students and adult men-tors are given grants to invent techno-

logical solutions to real problems, as stated on the organization’s website.

During last year’s competition, Molly and her team “built a vehicle to help transport stranded dolphins. At a showcase in April 2013 in Natick, I gave a presentation on our device,” she says. Her experiences on InvenTeam helped “test my leadership abilities by working with others to found an engineering club at Sturgis East.”

Molly is especially thankful for her parents who always exposed her to math and science activities at an early age, and have been “incredibly supportive” in her exploring various interests.

“They have always encouraged me to do my best and take advantage of the opportunities given to me without pressuring me,” Molly says.

STURGIS EAST CHARTER PUBLIC SCHOOL

Advice: “Don’t be afraid to try things out and take risks. Use whatever talents you have to connect with and help others.”

STEVE HEASLIP/ CAPE COD TIMES

Molly Brennan, in the math room at Sturgis East Charter School, will study biological engineering, a field that’s changing so quickly she’s not sure what real-world problems she’ll tackle after attending MIT.

11M a y 1 2 , 2 0 1 4

BY LAURIE HIGGINSCONTRIBUTING WRITER

regory Scalise has a calm and thoughtful presence that imme-diately puts others at ease.

Whether he is participating in a mock government at Stonehill College as part of the Massachusetts Boys State program, volunteering for mission work at Brewster Baptist Church or playing his trumpet in the jazz band at Nauset Regional High School, he completely immerses him-self in everything he does.

A Boy Scout since fifth grade, Greg’s proudest accomplishment is his Eagle Scout project that will be up for review this month. He built the Eddy Bay Trail in Brewster that goes from Lower Road to the highest wild dune in Brewster.

“There were a couple of old deer paths running through there and a couple of illicit trails from neigh-bors running through the Eddy sis-ters’ old land,” Greg says. “I worked with volunteers from the Brewster Conservation Trust and the Boy Scouts and we cleared a trail around a grove of holly trees and white pines and an old stone wall.”

The project was inspired by his love of nature and years spent hiking the trails of the Punkhorn and Nickerson State Park. The Eddy sisters, who gen-erously donated a lot of conservation land to the town during their lifetime, were members of Greg’s church. They attended his baby shower and were an influence in his life, so the trail was a way to honor them and to give

Advice to freshmen: “No matter how you

spend the time, the four years are going to

pass. Find something good to do, something

productive that you enjoy, rather than just

letting the years go by.”

NAUSET REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL


Greg Scalise stands at the Eddy Bay Trail which he built, with the help of volunteers, as part of his Eagle Scout project.

back to his hometown of Brewster.One of Greg’s other favorite things

to do in his free time is to read, and his reading list has included an impressive personal goal. When his grandfather moved the summer before he began his freshman year, he gave Greg’s family a lot of his old books, including his great-grand-father’s collection of the Harvard Classics, known as “Dr. Eliot’s Five Foot Shelf.” In the introduction, Harvard President William Eliot, who created the anthology, explained that if you read from them just 15 minutes to a half-hour a day, you would have a liberal arts education at the end.

“I decided to start reading them August 28 that year and I’m on vol-

ume 38 or 39 now out of 51 volumes,” Greg says.

That dedication caught the atten-tion of teacher Angelo Mosesso, Greg’s ninth grade honors English teacher and his senior AP English teacher.

“Greg continues to this day to ful-fill his goal of mastering both ancient and modern famous texts,” she says. “He not only memorized Eliot’s ‘The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock,’ but will be teaching it to our class after having completed his research paper on it. He is actively involved in class discussion, often enjoying going down ‘the road less travelled’ in his approaches.”

Greg’s love of literature also

extends to poetry and he won a first prize in The Clarence Althouse Peace Essay & Poetry Contest. He has worked on the NRHS Literary Magazine. His other academic inter-ests are math and music, and he has won multiple awards in both. His love of nature led him to be one of the founding members of the Nauset High Green Club, which initiated and implemented single stream recy-cling at the high school. This kind of recycling is usually more appealing because it does not require sorting recyclables.

Greg’s dedication to a wide range of interests will serve him well when he heads to Harvard University in the fall to study applied math.


BY COLLEEN PRESTONCONTRIBUTING WRITER

annah Andres has a list of accomplishments as long as your arm. And school counselor Shawn Kingman reels them off one-by-one, obviously proud of her successes. He talks about what

an outstanding student she is, her leadership skills, her commitment to the community and her athletic prowess.

But what really impresses him, Kingman says, is Hannah’s ability to put all of that aside and immerse herself in her inner creativity. “She stands out as an athlete, clearly,” Kingman says, “and academically she’s high achieving, very career- and goal-oriented. But she takes the time to step away from the scholarly stuff” to thoroughly enjoy the painting, sketching and drawing that she has come to love. “I’ve seen a num-ber of her pieces,” Kingman says, “and they are very cool.”

A member of both the National Honor Society and the Spanish Honor Society, Hannah agrees her art takes her away from it all and says the time she spends on her creative side is special to her. So spe-cial in fact, that when she goes to Springfield College next year, where she will major in physical therapy, she plans to make art her minor. Hannah notes that students encounter a lot of pressure to take all AP courses “but I always tell people you have to have a fun class – something you really enjoy.”

Hannah will graduate in June with a near-perfect record. “I got a couple of Bs this year in AP Calculus,” she laments about breaking her straight-A streak. “That was a little tricky for me but I’m okay with it.”

And, says Kingman, “What’s most impressive about Hannah’s academic achievements is that they have been accomplished in our most difficult courses.”

Her proudest accomplishment, Hannah says, was playing for the Barnstable Red Raiders, one of the winningest high school girls volleyball teams in Massachusetts history. The team, undefeated this year, has won the state Division I title for each of the past four years and Hannah was a part of it every time. “The girls I played with and the coaches I had were awesome,” she says, adding, “I was really proud to be part of a program like that.” She plans to continue playing volleyball at Springfield. “They have a really good team,” she says. “I am very excited to play there.”

Outside of school, Hannah continues to lead and excel. An accomplished ice skater since she was very young, she has now taken on a leadership role at the Cape Cod Skating Club to help younger skaters. She handles choreography, developing routines, planning, scheduling and even costume-making for each show of which she is in charge. She looks at skating as a way to express herself, and she loves being able to pass that philosophy on to those coming along behind her.

“It’s a great way to give back.” she says.

Philosophy: “Enjoy what you do and pour everything you have into it.”


STEVE HEASLIP/CAPE COD TIMES

Hannah Andres says her proudest accomplishment was playing for the Barnstable High Red Raiders, one of the winningest high school girls volleyball teams in Massachusetts history.

13M a y 1 2 , 2 0 1 4


athan Garran inspires every-one he meets.

Born with hemifacial microsomia with an expand-

ed spectrum of symptoms including a missing ear and cleft palate, he has turned adversity into a desire to live life to the fullest.

He had his first surgery when he was just six months old. In the winter of 2010 and 2011, he underwent seven surgeries to construct an ear. During that time, he missed a total of about three months of school and had to travel from his home in Eastham to Boston Children’s Hospital two to three times a week. Despite all the setbacks, he never let his schoolwork slide.

“I had a tutor come in every once

in a while, but for the most part I just looked at my homework online and worked in my hospital bed or at home,” he says.

Nathan jokes that he wears about five different hats during the year, and he actually does have a hat that represents each of his activities. In the summer, he proudly wears an Orleans Firebirds cap. For years, his family hosted a player from the Cape Cod Baseball League team and Nathan began working as a bat boy in 2005. For the last several years, he has served as an intern for the team, working on the website and roster in the off-season, and running the score-board and doing field work during the summer.

A lot of the other hats Nathan wears are for community service organizations that he has partici-pated in for years. He became a Leo,

the youth section of the Lion’s Club, when he was in seventh grade and continued until he turned 18 and could become a full Lion. He was inducted in January of this year. He has completed two of the three steps towards becoming a Mason at King Hiram’s Lodge in Provincetown and will be inducted this month. He says service is a family value that he embraces.

“When I was born, my father espe-cially was so moved by all the com-munity outpouring of support with all my birth defects,” Nathan says. “So he joined the Lions and he joined the Masons later on. He started doing a lot of community service so I grew up with it. We also do the (American Cancer Society’s) Relay for Life every year.”

Out of all of his activities, the thing Nathan is proudest of is earning the

rank of Eagle Scout. For his Eagle Scout project he constructed a handi-cap ramp for the office building of the Eastham United Methodist Church, where he is an active member. It was a fitting project: his family started attending the church because his Boy Scout troop met in the fellowship hall there.

Nathan’s engaging personality and hard work have won him many friends and admirers in the commu-nity and at his school. History teacher Michael McNamara sums it up best.

“Nathan is not a Rising Star,” he says. “He already is a star.”

Nathan will be going to the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth in the fall to major in accounting in the hopes of joining his father’s accounting firm when he graduates.


Advice to freshmen: “Don’t procrastinate. Nauset has so much to offer so definitely take advantage of the APs and the honors classes, but above all don’t procrastinate.”

MERRILY CASSIDY/ CAPE COD TIMES

Nathan Garran, an intern for the Orleans Firebirds, is photographed in their dugout at Eldredge Park. He has kept up with classwork through many surgeries to correct birth defects, including seven operations to construct an ear.


BY COLLEEN PRESTONCONTRIBUTING WRITER

f Lydia Dick wants to view the world through a global lens, all she usually has to do is look across the

dining room table. There she is likely to find Xue, a Chinese exchange student, or Gian Marco, another exchange student, from Rome. Both are seniors this year at Sacred Heart High School and Lydia’s family is hosting them as part of the School Year Abroad program.

And if they are not around, she can check in with her father, Henry, who is a senior scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and who often brings visiting sci-entists from around the world to the Dick home for some Falmouth hospitality. It is, says Cape Cod Academy col-lege counselor Mary Bellamy, “an intellectually rich envi-ronment in which Lydia swims.”

“From a young age,” Lydia says, “foreign countries were not an abstraction to me. I’ve always had the world at my doorstep.”

So it was natural when junior year rolled around for Lydia to also sign up for the exchange program and travel to Viterbo, Italy.

“She just embraced the experience,” says Bellamy, adding that Lydia formed a very strong bond with her host family there and came home with a pretty good han-dle on conversational Italian to add to her language skills in Latin and French.

Bellamy says Lydia is a “true Renaissance woman.” She is accomplished in so many areas. Her “Careers I am Considering” college questionnaire bears that out. Lydia lists “cell biology/anatomy, foreign relations, classics and musical theater” as possible career choices. Right now, she says she is leaning towards something in the biology field but that may change.

“Lydia,” says Bellamy, “has a thirst for knowledge that

is matched by few students I have known in a career of almost 30 years.” Following in her sister’s footsteps, Lydia will be entering Rice University in the fall.

“I can’t wait,” she says, and she jokes about how living in Texas will give her the chance “to get to know an entirely different culture” without leaving the United States.

But what brings her the most joy, Lydia says, are the intangible rewards she finds in drama, ballet and musi-

cal theater. “The bonds that you build through things like performance are the most positive aspect,” she says, and she thinks those bonds and friendships are what she will most remember.

Lydia has long been involved in the Cape Cod Dance Center and has played major roles over the years, both there and in school pro-ductions. She acts, dances, sings and is an accomplished violinist, now serving as concert master for strings in

the school’s orchestra. She also performs regularly in fundraisers, most recently in a coffeehouse benefit to raise emergency funds for dis-placed Syrian children.

Bellamy marvels at Lydia’s energy and ability to juggle so many things at once. She attributes it to good time management, a great sense of humor and an upbeat atti-tude. “Lydia is one of the most positive and cheerful students that I’ve ever worked with,” she says.

CAPE COD ACADEMY

Philosophy: “Try a lot of things. Stick with those that make you happy. Perspective is

everything.”


Lydia C. Dick of East Falmouth has played the violin for 13 years. Her diverse interests also include biology, foreign relations and musi-cal theater.

15M a y 1 2 , 2 0 1 4


lijah Eldredge places a high value on self-knowledge and being true to one’s self. That explains why he stuck with Boy

Scouts, when most of his friends had dropped out, and went on to attain the prestigious rank of Eagle Scout.

“If you know who you are and you’re happy with yourself, then you feel like you’re worth something, and you can accomplish things,” he says.

For his Eagle Scout project, he cre-ated a 640-foot historical trail at the Chatham Marconi Maritime Center, a project that often seemed daunting. “For me, making Eagle Scout was an ‘I made it!’ feeling, because I didn’t think I’d make it,” he says.

Elijah serves as patrol leader for his Boy Scout troop, a role he says has expanded his leadership skills – as has being president of his class.

He takes pride in being president of the last class that will graduate from Chatham High School, as the new Monomoy Regional High School, for Chatham and Harwich students, will open next year.

He is also president of the school’s Young Gentlemen’s Club, which does charitable work and also gets together with its counterpart, the Young Women’s Club. He is an active member of the Interact Club, which is focused on community service.

“Elijah is a quiet, respectful, unas-suming powerhouse . He ... interacts well with all in a positive, inclusive manner,” writes Elaine M. Aschettino, instructional leader in Chatham High’s humanities division.

He is production editor of the school newspaper, a role he took on in his sophomore year, when the newspaper unexpectedly lost

its production editor. Without any experience, Elijah learned to use the desktop program InDesign and began creating eye-catching page designs that helped “The Devil’s Advocate” win numerous awards.

Elijah says he enjoys his work as production editor, which builds on his interest in computer program-ming and design. He is an intern with clickcapecod.com, where he worked last summer, and loves his work there helping design and develop websites. “It’s kind of a hobby – I like designing things,” he says.

Although he is technically ori-ented, he excels in all subjects, and participated in a team video project that linked Henry David Thoreau and other Transcendentalists to places on Cape Cod.

“The DVD was so good that I sent it to the Walden Woods Project in

Concord for use as an exemplar project at the annual Approaching Walden summer institute for teach-ers,” Aschettino writes.

A member of the National Honor Society, Elijah has earned Academic Excellence and Outstanding Performance awards in eight sub-jects, and was named a John and Abigail Adams State Scholar for his high scores on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System or MCAS exams.

Still deciding among colleges, he has narrowed the field to Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Northeastern University and UMass Amherst. He is leaning toward Worcester Polytechnic because of its robotics program.

Elijah attributes his success to his parents, John and Susan, for being unfailingly supportive. “They’ve always encouraged me,” he says.

CHATHAM HIGH SCHOOL

On life: “If you know who you are and you’re happy with yourself, then you feel like you’re worth something, and you can accomplish things.”


Elijah Eldredge is the last class president at Chatham High School, which becomes Monomoy Regional High next year. An Eagle Scout, he built a historical trail at Chatham Marconi Maritime Center.



askia Keller grew up in Truro, and she says the surrounding arts community really had a positive influence on her life. She is a cellist who has thrived living so close

to Provincetown, with its influx of artists and musicians every summer. She takes lessons with accomplished cellist Arthur Cook when he is on the Cape in the warmer months, and during the school year she travels to New York City to con-tinue her lessons with him.

“Most people take lessons once a week but because I only have it once a month I have to really work by myself,” Saskia says. “But I like that. I like working independently. And you get more time to practice for every lesson.”

Not only does she take lessons herself, but she returns the favor by teaching younger kids in her hometown, trying to share her love of music with them. She has taught 10 students so far. Saskia finds teaching to be rewarding and a pos-sibility for a career, along with writing.

“I want to be a cellist, but I don’t want to only do that,” she says. “I’m really interested in some of the other aspects of music, like I’m really into the physics of music and it becomes intertwined with psychology because it’s all about how you perceive sound.

“I’m taking a physics class this year and we learned about how sound is created and how sound waves work and I find it almost philo-sophical how sounds needs a medium to be transmitted. There’s no sound in a vacuum. You need air or water and I find that really profound in relation to how music can need an audience. I’m also interested in the way the ear works, the physiology of it because it’s an instrument almost.”

In addition to music, Saskia loves math, espe-cially the more theoretical aspects of it. She has combined both passions into a study of writing music using mathematical patterns.

Her academic strengths are many, and it is no surprise to her teachers that she is the valedicto-rian of a senior class that has truly pushed GPA thresholds.

“Saskia is a student of life, from the academic to the artistic, the intellectual to the emotional,” says guidance counselor Katie Cameron. “While we have presented Saskia with challenges dur-ing her time at Nauset, I am confident we have

yet to scratch the surface of her potential.”That potential will be further developed at

Harvard University during the next four years. She’s really excited about the opportunities that await her.

“Boston has a great music community,” she

says. “You can’t major in music performance at Harvard, but it’s such a good location because there are so many opportunities for teachers and going to see concerts and performance opportu-nities.”


Advice to freshmen: “Just try everything. You rarely

regret saying yes.”


Saskia Keller takes monthly cello lessons, travelling to New York City to see her teacher during the school year, while she also gives free lessons to younger students in Truro.

17M a y 1 2 , 2 0 1 4

BY SARAH BRENTYNCONTRIBUTING WRITER

uidance couselor Nicole D’Errico says Michael Mor-lock is confident yet unas-suming – with a great sense

of humor – which makes other stu-dents comfortable approaching him for help in anything from basketball to math. Michael says he’s glad.

“I like to be able to express ideas to other people,” he says. “It’s nice to be able to share my knowledge and experience.”

Michael tutored an eighth grade math class. He coached basketball for seventh and eighth graders. When he works at Sundae School Ice Cream Parlor, Michael oversees and assists the younger employees.

This is all in addition to manag-ing a demanding course load and busy sports schedule while rankng third in his class.

He has taken nine AP courses during his junior and senior years and received the National Merit Scholarship Letter of Commendation and AP Scholar Award.

Michael has had a successful high school baseball career as well, playing varsity baseball all four years at Dennis-Yarmouth High and becoming captain in his senior year. He also pitched for Team Cape Cod. In 2013, his team won the New England Regionals and went to the Senior Babe Ruth World Series in Alabama.

D’Errico describes Michael as humble and says she’s not sure he thinks of himself in this way but “he is a leader. A definite role

model. The younger kids look up to him, both in classes and on the field.”

For the past four years, Michael has served as a religious educa-tion teacher’s aide at Saint Pius X parish as well as being involved in youth ministry.

Jean Kelly, director of religious education and youth ministry, has worked with Michael in what she

calls “social, spiritual, and service-related” activities and says “he’s a fantastic kid.” She also notes that Michael has worked hard to excel in both academics and sports.

Michael has been involved in numerous other activities includ-ing Key Club, prom committee, and Relay for Life. He admits that “it’s not always easy. It’s a balancing act.” He explains his full schedule

by saying, “I try not to waste time. I’m always doing something pro-ductive.”

Interested in engineering, Michael currently interns four days a week at SencorpWhite in Hyannis. He plans to study mechanical or electrical engi-neering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.



Michael Morlock played varsity baseball all four years at Dennis-Yarmouth High, becoming captain in his senior year. He also pitched for Team Cape Cod. In 2013, his team went to the Senior Babe Ruth World Series in Alabama.

How would your friends describe you? “Well, I

guess I can say how I hope they would describe me.

Hardworking, funny, pretty smart. Good at balancing and making time for fun.

Tries to make other people happy.”


BY SUSANNA GRAHAM-PYECONTRIBUTING WRITER

ameron Curtin is planning to attend Bentley College, where he hopes to study actuarial science, the discipline of using

mathematical and statistical methods to assess risk. This school, he says, is known for its program. And though he thinks it more likely he will wind up crunching numbers for risk manage-ment for an insurance company, he notes that sports teams use actuaries as well and, he adds with a grin, “that would be kind of a cool job.”

He has also been accepted to Cornell, Tufts and Johns Hopkins. He hasn’t ruled any of them out. He has been waitlisted at Dartmouth, which was his first choice.

Cameron loves numbers and has since he was child. For that, he thanks his mother. He said he got so excited in first grade with his first arithmatic class that his mother would give him trickier work at home to enrich his school experience. Everywhere he goes, he says, he notices numbers. He dreams, sometimes, “weird dreams that have all these number patterns in them.”

Tied for number one in academic rank, Cameron has also immersed himself in the the culture of his graduating class. Although he could call himself a leader – class treasurer and liason to the school committee – Cameron says he prefers to see his role as a partner, a trustworthy friend, but most of all, someone everyone

can count on.Guidance counselor James F.

Buckman writes, “Cam is the super achiever, but he’s also the guy who makes you laugh with witty one lin-ers. He can lighten up the mood in an instant, help you with your Hamlet essay, and tell you what the answer to the question of what the s of x is. He’s exceptional, more accurately brilliant, yet a regular, truly all around ‘good guy.”

Cameron credits this to his family.“I am very, very close to my fam-

ily,” he says. “We have family meals together. We like spending time together. My parents have always just taught me to work hard and look for the best in people. That’s how they are.”

And why does his think his parents are this way?

“It could be their faith. Our faith is important to us,” he says, describing how his dad’s father had wanted to be a priest, but met his spouse. His mom’s mother had wanted to be a nun, but met her spouse. Although love got in the way of his grandpar-ents’ callings, he says, it never shook their faith.

When asked how he hoped people might describe him, Cameron says, “I like to think I’m a little bit witty. I hope they would say that I made kids’ days better. That I was helpful. That if someone needed someone to talk to, they would think of me. That I not just listened to them, I really helped them out.”


Outlook: “I’d like people to say they can rely on me, that I’m there to give the assistance if they need it. That I’m kindhearted and the kind of guy who sees the best in everyone.”

STEVE HEASLIP/ CAPE COD TIMES

Cameron Curtin, at his Marstons Mills home, says he is close to his family, who share a faith that’s important to them, and who always taught him to see the best in people.

19M a y 1 2 , 2 0 1 4

CAPE COD ACADEMY

BY EMMA GAUTHIERCONTRIBUTING WRITER

enerally, teens groan at the prospect of reading classic lit-erature and philosophy in their English classes. But James

Schofield would actually prefer to reading the likes of Camus, Nietzsche, and Dostoyevsky – he hopes to chan-nel these world renowned minds as a foreign diplomat or ambassador.

“Knowing literature is very impor-tant. Foreign affairs often reference ideas in society, and one should see the broadest branch of ideas pos-sible,” James says.

Named an “intellectually curi-ous” student by his teachers, James reads and studies philosophy, and sometimes even writes his own; he

expresses these ideas through poetry and prose pieces. They enable him to work with an idea and try to figure out more about himself, specifically what he thinks and believes, he says.

While he aims to explore ideas and theories with people internation-ally, James also sees an end goal to those discussions: he wants to help people.

“I’d like to have a positive impact on society as a whole, (and do) something worth doing. It’s partly my own interest, but I would really like to have an effect on someone,” James says.

How exactly he wants to help society is uncertain, but he hopes to gain a better perspective on that at Columbia University this fall, where

he plans to study international rela-tions.

By no means however, are politics and philosophy his only interests. In high school, James has dabbled in Cape Cod Academy’s drama, cho-rale and musical theater programs, where he played the lead role in this year’s musical, “Kiss Me Kate.”

He started acting and singing in middle school, and has participated in various theater shows through-out his school career, performing everything from Shakespearean monologues to the role of Cogsworth in “Beauty and the Beast.” He also plays multifarious roles backstage as well as onstage, and mentions that the people he encounters make the experience worthwhile.

“There are so many different and great personalities. It’s a fascinating experience with people you normally wouldn’t get to know well,” James says.

He also attributes some of his suc-cesses in high school to his parents and teachers. James’ Latin teacher introduced him to philosophy and history though classical civilizations, while his drama and English teacher interested him in his AP Literature class.

James says he’s especially grateful for his parents.

“They’ve always been there for me, and encouraged me to pursue my curiosities,” he says. “I’m very happy to have the luxury of doing that.”

RON SCHLOERB / CAPE COD TIMES

James Schofield rehearses for the

Cape Cod Acad-emy production

of “Kiss Me Kate.” He loves theater

in addition to wanting to study

philosophy and eventually be a

diplomat or am-bassador.

On life goals: “I want to have a positive impact on society, I want to help people. It’s what a person should strive for. If we’re here, we might as well do the most good for society and the people around us.”



eople often praise Amanda Pomeroy for her work ethic in both academics and athletics, but she says,

it wasn’t always that way.Amanda was a passenger in

her mother’s car four years ago when it was hit by another car. Amanda broke her wrist, and with it, her ability to be one of the few freshmen playing as a hitter (“Yep, the spike people,” she confirms.) for the Bourne High volleyball team.

“At Thanksgiving break, I was really upset. I was saying, ‘Why did this happen to me? I wasn’t doing anything.’ Then I realized anything can hap-pen to anyone and everything can change in a moment. Ever since then, I’ve tried to make every moment count.

“That was the turning moment for me. Not a lot of people know that.”

At 5-foot-8 inches, Amanda was a natural for the basketball she started playing at age 4 and the Pilgrim Volleyball team she joined in eighth grade, at the suggestion of a family friend who coached. When coach Tim Acton was away recently, Amanda, hired as assistant coach, was in charge of run-ning practices for a dozen girls in grades seven through nine.

“It’s really been an eye-opener. As a player, you do one thing, focus on one position,” she says. “But as a coach, you need to be able to demonstrate all the plays.”

At Bourne High, Amanda is a three-sport athlete, on varsity volleyball, basketball and track teams. She also works with her school’s chapter of Students Against Destructive Decisions

and volunteers with the local food pantry.

“What impresses our staff and I above all with Amanda is her consistent ability to work hard, produce superb work, calmly lead by example, while also involving herself in a variety of groups and activi-ties,” writes guidance counselor Sean C. Burke.

Amanda says she’s chosen activities that are different from those of her sister, Abby, who is only one year younger, so they each have their areas in which to shine.

This fall, Amanda heads to the University of Vermont, UVM, in Burlington to study biology because it was the only one of her three top choices that had a hospital on campus.

“I hope to one day work in a hospital as a lab technician or pathologist,” she says.

Amanda credits her uncle, Dr. Greg Pomeroy, with spark-ing her interest in the field, but says she never wants to be a doctor because of the bedside manner needed. “I couldn’t imagine myself telling someone that their child was going to die,” she says.

AP biology class fed her passion for the field, says Amanda, who took several AP and Honors courses and, with a weighted GPA of 4.6, is first in her class of 125.

With her valedictorian’s address looming, Amanda fig-ures she has some interviewing to do.

“I’m very nervous. I’ve never done a speech in front of that many people,” she says. “I plan to talk to people about what graduation means to them. Then, I’ll write the speech.”

Philosophy: “I wanted to stress that life is what you make it. You can go to college for your

parents, get good grades for your parents, but at the end of the day, you have to do what you love

because it is your life.”


Amanda Pomeroy enjoyed playing volleyball through high school, and was a key player on Bourne High’s team, but imagines college will bring new challenges.

BOURNE HIGH SCHOOL

21M a y 1 2 , 2 0 1 4


oe Bergeron’s interest in composing on the com-puter started in sixth grade when he and his friends

remixed electronic music and sounds from video games.

From there, Joe – who stud-ied violin at age four, later adding jazz trumpet, guitar, bass and viola – found a whole new world, literally, of listeners when he expanded his interest and started writ-ing songs regularly at https://soundcloud.com/morning-sounds.

The site has nearly 4,000 followers from around the world, who listen, and com-ment on, compositions with names including “Tree,” “Tithe” and “Always.”

As you listen to the music and vocals, you can see the comments people have made at various points in the song. After one particularly haunt-ing vocal passage, a listener wrote, “Are you even human?”

Indeed, he is. And working on putting out an album to sell (songs on his website are free now.)

Falmouth High guidance counselor Joanne Holcomb writes, “Joe is a remarkable person and a talented person, but most important, he is a love! There may be people world-wide listening to his music online, but we have him here at FHS, at least till June 7!”

In the fall, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will have him, an early admission Joe says he was relieved to get since the Cambridge college was his first and only choice.

“It’s been my dream to go to MIT for as long as I can remember,” says Joe. “I really fell in love with the culture there. Every person is pas-sionate about what they’re interested in.”

Joe says for him that will be electrical engineering and computer science or math-ematics.

“I don’t really know what I want to do after college. I love building stuff so elec-trical engineering is pretty amazing to me. But mathe-matics is pretty beautiful and abstract.”

Joe says his dad, a mari-time engineer, had a lot of influence on his interests.

“He has a huge shop in the basement,” Joe says. “He’s always had stuff in the base-ment so I could take things apart and put them back together.”

Laura Bergeron calls her son a self-made man: “He’s pursued all these things purely because he wanted to. He took it to places we would never even dream.”

Falmouth High guidance counselor Susannah E. Cronin writes, “Joe is one of a kind. An old soul who has sought out anything interest-ing and new, he has been able to cultivate a world around him filled with culture and an awareness of all that has yet to be learned.”

One of those things is an elaborate form of origami.

Joe says, “I design crease patterns. ... I use tessala-tions, geometric patterns that repeat themselves.”

Joe wanted to be able to create more natural shapes, which he accomplished by

creasing the paper and then straightening the edge while leaving the inside pliable and able to form various curves.

“I started doing origami in fifth grade, but I started doing this organic origami fresh-man year in high school,” Joe says. “It took me a long

time to find the algorithms and mathematical formulas to make this work. It’s really a great way for little kids to learn math.”

But organic origami also took Joe outside the rules when he applied to MIT. Although the application said

not to include any enclosures, Joe sent along a three-dimen-sional model of the school’s logo he created with origami.

“I think it was OK because they had it on display at ori-entation weekend,” he says.

CHRISTINE HOCHKEPPPEL/CAPE COD TIMES

Joe Bergeron in his home music studio. MIT sent the tube pictured with his acceptance letter, asking each freshman to each make something. Joe is working on a motion-activated rain stick with lights that cascade and spell MIT.

FALMOUTH HIGH SCHOOL

On learning: “I think one of the trickiest things to learn is to think abstractly and think intuitively. Take math. High school

teaches you to use the formula and plug in the numbers. But with college math, you think

about why things work.”


BY CINDY PAVLOSCONTRIBUTiNG WRITER

roy Sherman is tied for first in his class at Harwich High School and may soon have a major speech to write – for

his second graduation this year. Last month, he composed a poem for his graduation from Okemo Mountain School (OMS). Since 8th grade, Troy has spent almost five months each winter at Okemo in Ludlow, Vt. While there, he skis and competes at a na-tional level, and excels in his rigorous academic courses, overseen by his Harwich teachers.

“Learning can be fun,” Troy says. “A sound mind without a sound body – it’s not good,” he says. “My athletic side rounded me – I’ve reached my own goals.”

Troy has staunch support from his family. His parents, Lisa and Glen, and younger brother, Garrett, drive up to Vermont almost every weekend. Glen works part-time as a handyman at Okemo Mountain School to help with Troy’s tuition there.

As a scholar commuting between schools and as a competitive athlete, Troy seems to have integrated these diverse elements – and more – into the fabric of his life. In addition to skiing, he is a runner and leader of the Harwich cross-country team. As a scholar, he maintains a full load of Advanced Placement and Honors courses and has prepared himself to apply to highly competitive universi-ties.

Troy plans to attend Cornell

University in Ithaca, N.Y., where he will combine his love of writing with, possibly music or art history in a dual major, and continue skiing.

Music occupies another important part of Troy’s life. He has built an album collection of more than 1,200 records.

“I have everything from Medieval church music to Biggie Smalls,” he says with pride, describing the plea-sure of handling records and reading album liners.

“It’s a different sound on vinyl; sometimes it sounds dusty or crackly – a CD is just not as connected to the music.”

In spring and summer of 11th grade, Troy landed an internship with Piero Scaruffi, an Italian music critic

and historian who lives in California and runs a multilingual music web-site.

Although Troy studies both Latin and Spanish, he does not speak Italian.

“Scaruffi writes in English now,” Troy explains, “but his early reviews were all in Italian. So I translated them, using Google Translate.”

Inspired by Scaruffi, Troy is about to launch his own music review web-site.

He is confident about his future goals.

“I want to move to the woods and write a book. I hope to still be skiing and running, but I also want to stimu-late myself intellectually. I have to take charge of my own education.”

HARWICH HIGH SCHOOL

Philosophy on life: “If you’re not having fun, there’s no point.”


Troy Sherman follows his interests, be it studying skiing part of the year at Okemo Moun-tain School or interning with an Italian music critic.

23M a y 1 2 , 2 0 1 4

Lea AdamsSandwich High School

Wilson AmezquitaChatham High School

Molly BaggFalmouth High School

Jake BarryFalmouth High School

Samantha BartlettBarnstable High School

Stephanie Nicole BassettNauset Regional High School

Stelliana Rose BensonBourne High School

Mia BergerSturgis West Charter Public SchoolHyannis

Jackie BeynorBarnstable High School

Colleen BradyBourne High School

Carolyn BrooksNauset Regional High School

Lucas Bernard Clatanoff BrownSturgis Charter Public SchoolHyannis

Chloe BrumfieldBarnstable High School

Kristan BuotteDennis-Yarmouth Regional High School

Marie ChamberlainNauset Regional High School

Maddy ChildsBarnstable High School

Matt CookHarwich High School

Quinn CoughlinSturgis Charter Public School

Kyra CrossmanSandwich High School

Anthony DianaCape Cod Academy

Adrian D’OrlandoDennis-Yarmouth Regional High School

Tessia DvorsackCape Cod Academy

Joseph EganBarnstable High School

Elizabeth EllsBarnstable High School

Catherine EtienneSturgis Charter Public SchoolHyannis

Joshua FordHarwich High School

Ross FrankelHarwich High School

Claire GauthierSandwich High School

Brianna GirouardBourne High School

Elizabeth GorrillBarnstable High School

Kallie HannonNauset Regional High School

Patrick HaweHarwich High School

Gabrielle HealySturgis Charter Public SchoolHyannis

Angela HuFalmouth High School

Tyler JohnsonNauset Regional High School

Lindsey KelleyHarwich High School

Chris KennedyBarnstable High School

Caroline KentBourne High School

Michael KristySandwich High School

Jarek LendaNauset Regional High School

Josephina LeveroniBarnstable High School

Lucas MartelliHarwich High School

Kathleen MasonPope John Paul II High School

Ian McCartneySandwich High School

Marissa Milkey Pope John Paul II High School

Colleen MorinBarnstable High School

Christa Mullaly Barnstable High School

Matthew Mullin Sandwich High School

Hayden MurphyBarnstable High School

Katelin OberlanderDennis-Yarmouth Regional High School

Nicole O’LearyNauset Regional High School

Dereck Pacheco Barnstable High School

Keturah PetersMashpee High School

Alicia Pierozzi Barnstable High School

April PooleNauset Regional High School

Maggie McLean QuickHarwich High School

Kayla RalstonDennis-Yarmouth Regional High School

Caroline RennieFalmouth High School

Lucas Repeta Falmouth High School

Sierra RobergeCape Cod Regional Technical High School

Meghan RubyCape Cod Regional Technical High School

Ryan RudewiczNauset Regional High School

Alexandra RudyakovSandwich High School

Caroline RugoBarnstable High School

Melanie SandersMashpee High School

Kevin SchofieldBarnstable High School

Holly ShanahanFalmouth High School

Cole Silva Sturgis Charter Public SchoolHyannis

Gabrielle SiroonianBourne High School

Alison SmithHarwich High School

Johnny Stanton Sandwich High School

Courcelle Stark Falmouth High School

Madeleine StidhamCape Cod Academy

Meredith SullivanSturgis Charter Public SchoolHyannis

Hannah TaylorSturgis Charter Public School

Matthew TrzcinskiTrinity Christian Academy

Emily TurnerFalmouth High School

Daphne VantineCape Cod Academy

Alexandra WallDennis-Yarmouth Regional High School

Robyn WhaplesSandwich High School

Christopher WingardNauset Regional High School

Jennifer WitzgallHarwich High School

Caylee WoodMashpee High School

Zheng WuCape Cod Academy

Ongie Wurfbain Barnstable High School

Documents

C RISING STARS APE COD TIMEScdn.gatehousemedia.com/custom-systems/ghns/files/Gwenn... · 2015-12-17 · ing during his internship and with Mass. Science Fairs. He ran track and cross