Christine Powers is Still Excited
It was with a sense of excitement that Christine Powers walked into kindergarten teacher Kristen Thatcher’s classroom at Washington School that early September morning more than a dozen years ago.
The now senior remembers that her first day of school was also Mrs. Thatcher’s first day as a teacher in the district. Ms. Powers still has that same genuine enthusiasm that she displayed on her first day of school, even now as she prepares to graduate with Huntington High School’s Class of 2013.
The senior lives right down the block from Washington School, but she’s come a long way since she studied there. Ms. Powers is the president of the high school stage crew after serving as vice-president as a junior. The club means an awful lot to her.
“I have been involved in the stage crew since my freshman year,” Ms. Powers said. “That year I became the sound intern to learn how the school’s sound system works, although I cheated a little. I’ve been working with my aunt and uncle for a couple years before I started with the stage crew. My aunt and uncle own a sound company, so I knew more than the average intern.”
Ms. Powers interned for two years before the upperclassman she was working with graduated. Since then she has headed the “sound aspect” of the stage crew and is training her own intern.
“I truly love working with the stage crew, especially when it is comes to the week before the show,” Ms. Powers said. “We really get into my forte of technical work. I am truly going to miss the stage crew when I graduate, I have so many great memories that I will always remember.”
The teenager has also been heavily involved in Huntington’s Key Club chapter since her sophomore year. “My favorite part of Key Club is helping people, especially when we do the Sears shopping tour,” said Ms. Powers about an annual initiative sponsored by the Huntington Rotary Club at the Huntington Square Mall in East Northport. “We take kids from the Huntington area that can’t afford Christmas gifts and help them shop for clothes and toys.”
Ms. Powers was a player in the Blue Devil softball program as a freshman and sophomore, but she took a break last spring to focus on her studies. This year, she joined the yearbook club and is serving as co-editor of the sports section.
The senior’s academic schedule includes classes in physics, advanced photography, advanced algebra, African-American politics, theatre arts, orchestra and an internship with science teacher Rosanne Brienza.
Loves Photography Class
Ms. Powers has taken a special liking to the photography class she is taking with teacher Pamela Piffard. “Last year I took intro to photography and loved working with film and in the darkroom,” the teenager said. “This year we are working with digital cameras and Photoshop. Working with Ms. Piffard is great and she has really helped me fine tune my love for photography.”
Ms. Powers participated in a privately organized trip to Greece with Ms. Piffard and a number of other adults and students through EF (Education First) Tours last year. “That was one of the best trips of my life and I am looking forward to traveling again with her and EF Tours to Belize in June,” the senior said.
Theater arts with teacher Michael Schwendemann is another of Ms. Powers’ favorite classes. “I had Mr. Schwendemann my freshman year for English and loved his class and continued to work with him during the plays,” the teenager said. “It is really great to be in his classroom again having a great time.”
Ms. Powers has been playing the viola since fourth grade. She’s belonged to the high school orchestra for the past four years. “I will be sad to say goodbye to playing for the school when I graduate this year,” she said.
Enjoying Science Internship
The senior is thoroughly enjoying her internship this year with Ms. Brienza in a living environment class. “I have had Ms. Brienza as a teacher every year of my high school career,” Ms. Powers said. “In my freshman year I had her for Living Environment and then animal behavior the next year. Then I had her for chemistry as a junior and now I’m her intern. I loved Living Environment and now I’m happy to be taking it again and helping new freshmen this year. It’s also a nice biology review before I go off to college next year.”
Ms. Powers advises incoming Huntington freshmen “to work your hardest, don’t get sidetracked from your goals and always follow your dreams.” She sums up her philosophy by paraphrasing something President Theodore Roosevelt once said: “If it can be dreamed, it can be done.”
The senior plans to study nursing in college and hopes to become a pediatric nurse. Ms. Powers was recently accepted to her “top school,” Elmira College with a partial scholarship. “I am still waiting to hear back from my other schools to see how it goes, although it’s going to take a lot for another school to get me not to go to Elmira,” she said.