Every year, a small ceremony is held on the football field behind Scituate High School. Speakers laugh, onlookers cry, and the seniors dressed in gowns of blue and white wave goodbye. But what happens after the summer ends, and the cars drive away from Scituate to universities across the continent, packed to the brim with boxes? We decided to contact five SHS graduates who are majoring in arts-related fields and find out what they’ve been up to since they left, what they plan to do in the future, and who or what from Scituate helped shape their path.
Class of 2010
Nicole Adduci
An Acting major at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Nicole Adduci will begin her senior year next year. In the future, she hopes to stay in Canada, possibly working at the Shaw Festival or the Stratford Festival- . Her long term “big dream” is to create a non-profit center for children to come and do their homework and participate in all forms of the arts; everything from singing to dancing and acting to the fine arts, including painting and sculpting. “That way, the kids would have somewhere to be creative and let their imaginations run wild and artists would have the opportunity to work a steady job while directly benefiting their communities,” Adduci said of the idea.
Shoutout: When asked, Adduci said that “SHS played a huge part in getting me where I am today.” She said that the SHS English department, particularly Mrs. Wall, Mrs. Berg, and Mrs. Kalla, have aided her analytical skills tremendously, and help her today to develop characters, adding that she think of them “every time I pick up a script.” Furthermore, Ms. Fanelli, served as her role model, supporting her “every step of the way in my decision to take on an acting degree.”
Katie Jacobsen
Katie Jacobsen, a rising senior at Simmons College in Boston, has done a lot since her time in the hallowed halls of Scituate. She is double majoring in English and Women and Gender Studies, with a minor in Cinema and Media Studies, while working in the group sales department at the Museum of Fine Arts. Additionally, this past year she was both the Poetry and Layout Editor of Sidelines, the Simmons literary magazine. She was also recently accepted into the Hazel Dick Leonard Interdisciplinary Seminar on Gender, which is a fellowship consisting of only ten undergraduate and graduate students across different fields at Simmons that provides intensive and interdisciplinary workshopping for the independent projects of its fellows, in addition to $2,000 for the purpose of research. “My specific project will be the creation of two conference papers on the translations and representations of queerness and masculinity in film adaptations of Tennessee Williams plays,” Katie explained. She hopes to submit at least one of these papers to the annual Tennessee Williams Literary Festival and Conference in New Orleans. In addition to this fellowship, she also plans to apply to graduate school for the Fall of 2014.
Shoutout: When asked, Jacobsen said she owed much of her “ability and creativity” to the English Department at SHS, specifically Ms. Gacic, Ms. Berg and Ms. Shanley. Having taken English courses at the CP, Honors, and AP level at SHS, Jacobsen attested that students are challenged at all levels, and said that “I now realize what an incredible and unique feat that is. There’s so much knowledge I gained at SHS, in the classroom and working on the Scituation and Fathom, that really put me ahead of my college peers right off the bat.”
Another shoutout: As far as her future endeavors, Jacobsen thanks Ms. Heffernan, Ms. Melone-Hickey, and other staff and administration members “who work so hard to keep SHS safe, open, and inviting.” Jacobsen said of her involvement in GSA and ADL that it “gave me so many of the tools, courage and strength to work hard for the wellbeing of myself and those around me. Safe spaces are an essential part of my self care and ability to function as a human being, and my experiences at SHS created those foundations.”
Class of 2011
Alexandra Morton
Since graduating from Scituate High School, Alexandra “Alex” Morton went to Paris to live and work as an au pair and a student of the French school for international students; Morton said of the experience that she “had the time to focus on what I really love; writing, reading, and learning… It was a time of exploration, learning, and I am so happy I was able to do it.” She is now a rising sophomore at Parsons The New School for Design and plans to major in Communication Design, Branding and Marketing. Morton said of the school that “Parsons is a very competitive school and I don’t sleep very much, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. The setting and talent of my professors and fellow peers is unbeatable. I am in love with New York and the city’s creative energy.” Morton is currently applying for an internship at Milk Studios, a New York and LA based design firm. After graduation, she would like to start off working for a design agency in New York. Eventually, Morton would like to art direct and manage the production of all visuals for one company, rather than create them.
Shoutout: Morton said that Ms. Hickey, or Ms. Melone as she knew her, helped to encourage “all of my creative endeavors from the very start of my time at SHS. She was always there to listen and never deterred me from my artistic experimentation.” Ms. Wachta, the former AP Art teacher at SHS, played a similarly encouraging role in Morton’s development. “She was never quick to criticize, but always there to help me make good decisions in regards to my artwork. Most of all, the art department at SHS gave me confidence in myself and my abilities.”
Class of 2012
Andrew Lemieux
Member of last year’s senior class, Andrew Lemieux, just finished his Freshman year studying Acting at The Hartt School, “one of the major up-and-coming theatre schools in the country”, as he describes it. I’ve gotten to work backstage on numerous main stage productions, including some directed by broadway actors (like Terry Layman, who just understudied in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Scarlett Johansson). I just finished stage managing a musical of my own, Bat Boy: The Musical. During his sophomore year, he will actually get to start performing, and he will start performing for the public in addition to studying Shakespeare for a semester in London in his junior year.
Of his high school experience, Lemieux says that he learned to “always be yourself, and to scoff at anyone who tells you otherwise or puts you down because of it.” Since then, he says that college has taught him that “You ARE enough.”
John Ohrenberger
John Ohrenberger, member of last year’s graduating class, now attends Bard College as an art history major, and works at Bard’s Center for Curatorial Studies Library & Archives, as well as on the staff of Lux Literary Magazine, and other arts collaborations on campus. Additionally, he plays clarinet in the Baroque Ensemble, and also works for the Art History department on various projects.
This summer he’ll be working in the Library and Archives at Plimoth Plantation, working on documenting Dutch genre paintings for the Decorative Arts Curatorial staff, as well as other archival projects and support to the curatorial departments. He’ll be returning to Bard in the summer for training as a Peer Counselor, and continuing his academic work related to contemporary art history, deconstruction, and critical theory.
Shoutout: Ohrenberger thanks the “truly inspirational music and art department…who have helped me get where I am today,” specifically, Jennifer Gilman, Sally Tucker, Bill Richter, Julia Hickey, and Julia Berg “for their encouragement, collaboration, and guidance” during his high school career. “All too often, schools ignore the arts in favor of standardized testing, a euphemism for the reproduction of bland, ‘legitimate’ thinkers” Ohrenberger said. “Under the careful tutelage of these brilliant artists, I was always encouraged me to pursue modes of inquiry beyond the classroom. I feel their influence in everything I do.”