By Maya Tadross ‘19
It is 5:15 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon, and sophomore Kerrin O’Grady is sitting with her teammates in the auditorium anxiously awaiting the results of the day’s Speech competition. After arriving at school at 8 a.m. and successfully performing her oral interpretation pieces four times, Kerrin lets out a well deserved yet content yawn.
“I just love being involved in my school and meeting new people, as well as doing the things that I love like singing, speaking, teaching and sharing my faith,” reflects Kerrin, who is involved in a total of 11 clubs and activities at Kellenberg Memorial.
Kerrin participates in a diverse selection of clubs, including PREP, Gregorian Consortium, XLT Band, Firebird Swing, CROSS, Communications Club, Social Media Club, Drama Club, Speech and Debate, SALT and SMART.
“Because I am in so many activities that do not revolve around the same topic,” Kerrin expresses, “I get to meet so many different people with various interests.”
Although Kerrin planned to eventually join most of these clubs upon entering the Latin School in seventh grade, she would not have joined Gregorian Consortium or Firebird Swing if it had not been for her good friend Emma Carmody. When they were freshmen, Kerrin accompanied Emma to Mr. Basile’s office for her Gregorian Consortium audition.
“Mr. Basile asked me if I was going to audition too, and I hadn’t really thought about it before then,” Kerrin related. “About a week later once I prepared a song, I went back and auditioned and now I am in the club.”
Kerrin joined Firebird Swing in a similar way. The night before the audition, she was unsure whether or not she should try. However, Emma, who was already in Firebird Swing and knew how much Kerrin loved singing, encouraged her to audition.
“Emma came with me to the audition to support me, and now I love being in Firebird Swing!”
According to Kerrin, many of the clubs in which she is involved have a time commitment of only an hour after school once a week plus some work on the weekends. She is most dedicated to the activities with larger time commitments, such as full days on weekends and even school breaks. These are PREP, Communications Club, Speech and Debate and Drama. Spending so much time with her fellow club members, Kerrin has formed some strong friendships over her five years at Kellenberg.
Kerrin concludes, “My favorite thing about all the clubs and activities I do has to be the relationships I make.”
Senior Christelle Pascal agrees that clubs “are a great way to make friends.” Upon entering Kellenberg as a freshman, Christelle strategically chose to join all the music related clubs and activities due to her passion for singing. “Every activity I do means something to me,” refects Christelle.
Over her four years at Kellenberg, Christelle has performed various roles in Drama productions such as Fannie in Mary Poppins, Sebastian in The Little Mermaid and Elsa in the Sound of Music. You can also find Christelle belting out solos as a member of Firebird Swing, Gregorian Consortium and XLT Band. As a member of St. Cecilia’s Recording Studio as well, Christelle has recorded two singles this academic school year: “Noel” and “You Say.” Christelle’s interest in singing expands to public speaking as well. She has been a member of Communications Club since her sophomore year and became a producer of morning and afternoon announcements her junior year. As a dedicated member of Blue and Gold, she has been chosen as a Blue and Gold Narration Leader this year too.
“The best thing about all I do at Kellenberg is making a difference in the school community and touching people in any way I can through music,” Christelle explains with a big smile.
Thunderous applause resounds from homeroom 8D during A.M. Announcements after hearing that their Marianist Mentor Colleen Moulder ‘19 has led the Girls Varsity Basketball team to yet another victory. A three season athlete and recent winner of the Bernie Ward Commitment Award, Colleen is well known for her commitment to the Girls Varsity Basketball, Lacrosse and Volleyball teams.
“I enjoy the feeling of being on a team, and I love each sport in a different way,” Colleen reflects. I am also a very big competitor, so they each give me a great chance to seriously compete.”
Every sport Colleen plays practices for two hours six times a week, not including the games on weekends. These heavy time constraints have allowed her to form great time management skills, so she is even able to partake in clubs on top of sports.
“All of my coaches and club moderators are very understanding and want us to be able to participate in as many things as possible,” explains Colleen, who is also a Eucharistic Minister and member of SALT, Social Media Club, Athletic Retreat Staff, Sacristans, PREP and CROSS.
Through her three sports and various clubs, Colleen has been able to meet and work with a lot of different people inside and outside of the Kellenberg community, which she deeply values.
“I think I have been able to get a lot out of my four years at Kellenberg because I did so much,” Colleen reflects. “I do love sports a lot because I probably invest the most time in them, but I absolutely love being a Marianist Mentor because I get to interact with an amazing homeroom and do many different things, like the trip to Philadelphia, that a high school student would not have been able to do.”
Senior Kerry Skinner, likewise, has found opportunities at Kellenberg that might not have been discovered elsewhere. Kerry has found a special connection with the people in every club she has joined, and emphasizes that these friends have become part of her extended family. As a member of SPICE, SMART, Blue and Gold, and most importantly to her, Stage Crew, Kerry especially enjoys spending time with her Stage Crew family over long breaks when they build the sets for the Drama productions.
“When I first heard about Stage Crew my freshman year I wasn’t interested in it,” Kerry admits, “until my friend who was a junior at the time persuaded me to join. I immediately loved being part of this happy family, and today we share so many fun memories and inside jokes.”
Kerry has been dedicated to Blue and Gold as a member of the Gold Team since freshman year too. This year she is especially excited to be a leader for Gold Entrance and hopes to inspire the underclassmen to become a part of the Gold family.
While Kerry is hard at work with Stage Crew, senior Tyler Martinus is in the Lab.
“At the recent States Tournament I did Circuit Lab, Chem Lab, Fermi Questions and Experimental Design,” recalls Tyler, who has been a dedicated member of the Kellenberg Science Olympiad team since his sophomore year of high school.
Science Olympiad is notorious for its time consuming schedule, and Tyler spends the majority of his days after school and some weekends in the Lab.
“It’s demanding, all right!” Tyler admits. “However, I’m still able to participate in a few other clubs I’m really interested in, like Academic Quiz Bowl, Model United Nations, SAINTS, and orchestra.”
Kerrin, Christelle, Colleen, Kerry and Tyler may all participate in different clubs and activities, but they all have one important quality in common: their fervent passion for what they have dedicated themselves to.