Junior Tracie Pettus jokes with friends during marching practice about everything from upcoming competitions to the latest books they’ve read. She then returns to her position in the formation, relishing the feeling of being with her friends and doing what she loves.

Musician
“I chose band over tennis and other extracurricular activities because I have a bunch of friends in band.  Band is much more sociable than other things I’ve been in because of the amounts of people. I really enjoy the atmosphere. “

Reader
“I’m in literary criticism where we read interesting novels.  I have a passion for reading because I can put myself in a book and the characters are often different from those I see in everyday life.”

Volunteer
“I’m in a program called Youth Leadership Arlington where we do community service as a group to better the Arlington area and to become educated about the city we live in. It feels good to be able to give back to the community.”

Melting Pot
“Mrs. Kamphaus once called me ethnically confused because I’m five different races. When filling in the ethnicity bubbles on standardized test I never know what to put. I love that I come from various different backgrounds, it makes me unique.”