Katherine DeGennaro is a sensational writer. So, it seems only natural that the Huntington High School sophomore is taking on a new role. She will be contributing to the district’s website and other social media platforms during the 2016/17 school year.
The teenager’s mother is an English teacher in Locust Valley and her father majored in journalism at Marist College. Her sister interned in the district’s Office of Public Information last year and now it’s Ms. DeGennaro’s turn. She’s looking forward to the experience and has been collaborating on numerous items since last July.
“I decided to participate in this internship so I could get a taste of the public information field and gain more experience writing articles, something I haven’t really been exposed to before,” Ms. DeGennaro said. “I hope to develop new interests, improve my writing and become more involved with our school district through this internship.”
The teenager is well-respected by Huntington High School’s faculty. Ms. DeGennaro is considering studying either music education or English education in college in preparation for a teaching career. She’s already investigating a variety of colleges.
“Katherine is a mature and sophisticated student,” said Camille Tedeschi, a high school social studies teacher. “She has a terrific sense of humor and self-worth. I taught her in Global History 9 Honors and she was a lot of fun to teach and interact with. I love hearing her laugh and we always had so much fun in Global. She always had a smile on her face and put forth a tremendous amount of effort into our class. Her assignments were always in depth and analytical. I look forward to being her teacher again this upcoming school year in AP World History. Katherine is intrinsically motivated and has been invited to take an elective that is usually only open to upperclassmen. I know she will do great because that’s just who she is. Any teacher or student that gets to work with her is lucky.”
The sophomore has many interests. Ms. DeGennaro can play eight different musical instruments and even performed at last spring’s senior recital as a piano accompanist. She’s will be a Huntington High School band officer this year, serving as the junior band representative.
Ms. DeGennaro played soccer, tennis, basketball, volleyball and lacrosse at J. Taylor Finley Middle School and was on the Blue Devil varsity track and field team last spring. She was in several clubs, too. The teenager even found time to participate in the stage crew as a freshman.
An exceptional student academically, Ms. DeGennaro qualified for the high honor roll as a ninth grader. Her sophomore schedule includes AP World History along with all honors classes. She plans on traveling to the Galapagos Islands in February with EF Tours and several of her classmates.
“This year I want to engage in more of the activities the high school has to offer,” Ms. DeGennaro said. “I plan on continuing as a member of the Gay-Straight Alliance, jazz ensemble and wind ensemble and possibly join other clubs like Etcetera and AWOD (A World of Difference). I also want to get more involved with National History Day this year and have success with my project. I want to finish my sophomore year feeling like I didn’t waste any opportunities and satisfied with the work I produced and the memories I made.”
Ms. DeGennaro will be contributing articles to the district’s website and Facebook page as well as items for Huntington’s Twitter and Instagram platforms and helping with the YouTube page, too. She will also be performing copy editing, suggesting stories, providing background information, tracking down contact numbers and e-mail addresses and confirming article details.
“I am pleased that Katherine has expressed interest in serving as a public information intern,” Huntington Superintendent James W. Polansky said. “She is taking advantage of an opportunity that is relatively new, but one that will surely help augment her already well-established writing and communication skills. These skills will benefit her not only during the remainder of her high school years, but also in post-secondary academia and beyond.”