John Krinjak of WABI TV5 joined us to learn about some of the great things happening at John Bapst. His story is below; there is a fantastic video at the link: http://wabi.tv/2014/01/09/high-school-students-bangor-excel-beyond-classroom/
High School Students in Bangor Excel Beyond Classroom
John Bapst High School is home to some extraordinary students. From theatre to singing to public speaking-these kids’ educations extend way beyond their classroom walls.
Denver Powell started taking singing lessons at age ten. Six years later he applied to a student program at Carnegie hall.
“And Early October I was told I was in the program. I was on cloud nine,” said Powell.
Along with hundreds of other students–he’ll be performing live in New York next month.
“I’ll be like, where am I, where is my mom? I don’t think I’ll be able to really process what’s going on until I finish a performance,” said Powell.
Stephanie Colavito performed in her first musical at age 9.
“From that point-I counted the other day, I think I’ve done like 37 shows,” said Colavito.
In 2012 she was cast in her first lead role-Cinderella, which just wrapped at the Penobscot theatre. Now the sky is the limit.
Does she see Broadway lights in her future? “In the dreams I do, in reality I hope to see Broadway lights eventually.”
Not only is the school home to tremendous musical talent, but one student is looking to grow an information sharing phenomenon.
“TED was a conference that began in the 80s in San Francisco, and their slogan was ideas worth spreading,” said Diego Grossmann, a junior.
Grossmann was inspired by a TED talk that his father gave on telemedicine, and decided to organize a TED Youth Conference in Bangor this weekend.
“All the speakers are from Maine and they’re all directing their talks to Maine youth-giving them ideas, giving them inspiration, going out and making a difference in their community, or just giving them a better idea of what they want to do when they grow up, said Grossmann.
Administrators say there’s an energy at John Bapst that helps students achieve at this level.
“Diego, Denver and Stephanie are outstanding kids, but I think as a school we have a community of teachers and students who are really excited about these things they are doing.”
High school kids achieving at a level well beyond their years–and who knows what the future might bring.