Julien Rentsch is a remarkably talented Huntington High School junior. He’s been one of the district’s brightest stars since beginning kindergarten at Southdown Primary School.
Mr. Rentsch has excelled academically as well as in sports and music. He even helped create an award winning National History Day documentary along with classmates Matthew Gennarelli, Paul Katigbak, Andrew Knowles. The work was screened at the Northport VA Medical Center before a crowd of dignitaries.
Huntington junior Julien Rentsch
Vice president of Huntington’s Tri-M Music Honor Society chapter, Mr. Rentsch has also been inducted into the National Honor Society, Math Honor Society, Science Honor Society, Social Studies Honor Society and French Honor Society.
Mr. Rentsch’s academic schedule includes classes in Advanced Placement Psychology, AP US History, AP Biology, AP Seminar, Pre-Calculus BC, French and Orchestra. He is on the Huntington High School High Honor Roll.
The teenager can play piano, cello and ukulele, “but the main thing I do is compose,” Mr. Rentsch said. “I’ve written a piece for our chamber orchestra every year since seventh grade.”
Mr. Rentsch hasn’t really begun his college search yet. “My top choice for careers would be Film scoring (making music for movies),” he said “I’m not sure about colleges yet because I want to find programs where I can study both music and something else.”
The teenager has managed to squeeze some traveling into his busy schedule. He has visited Greece, Switzerland and the southwest United States.
Mr. Rentsch’s closest friends include Abby Holmes, Nathan Soric, Justin Stevens and Casey Coleman. “The amount of work that Julien puts into everything he does never fails to amaze me,” Mr. Stevens said. “He’s so much fun and he never fails to brighten everyone’s day.”
The term “high achiever” fits Mr. Rentsch perfectly, but his qualities include many more than just sharp intelligence. “Julien is one of my best friends and he is so much fun to be around,” Mr. Coleman said. “His sense of humor and kindness makes him such a great person. He is incredibly talented and I know he will have much success in the future.”
When asked to choose his favorite faculty members, Mr. Rentsch indicated it would be difficult. “I like all my teachers,” he said. “It’s really hard to choose.”
Mr. Rentsch is very well respected among his classmates. “Julien is an extremely kind-hearted, compassionate person whose passion and drive will lead him to success,” Ms. Holmes said.
Mr. Rentsch’s advice to incoming high school freshmen is simple: “Keep a balanced schedule and work hard in school, but don’t let it take away from taking time to do what you love,” he said.
The junior still has much more to accomplish before his time in high school runs out. “I love Huntington and it’s given me so many opportunities to pursue what I love,” Mr. Rentsch said.
