Danielle Schultz Never Tires
of Adventure
Danielle Schultz has come full circle as the Huntington High School senior prepares to graduate and head off to college in the fall.
Ms. Schultz attended kindergarten in the district at Washington Primary School before studying for the next eight years at Long Island School for the Gifted. She returned to Huntington as a high school freshman and has enjoyed a sensational four year run, filled with rich academic and co-curricular experiences.
The senior attended LISG with Melanie Grossman, who also returned to Huntington for high school. "We were not very close there, however leaving a small private school and entering a much larger public high school with each other brought us closer and now she is one of my best friends," Ms. Schultz said about her classmate.
"While the transition revealed many differences between the two schools, it was not very difficult," Ms. Shultz said about her return to the district. "I participated in Girl Scouts from fourth through sixth grade with other girls in the district, so I knew other students when I finally came back to Huntington. They introduced me to many other students and helped make the transition much easier."
As a LISG student, Ms. Schultz was engaged in classes that were advanced by at least one year. "So when I was a freshman, I spent most of my time with sophomores," she said. "I was in tenth grade honors English, social studies and Spanish and my math and science classes (honors living environment and accelerated geometry) were with freshmen, but they were still advanced.
Since Ms. Schultz completed twelfth grade social studies and Spanish last year, she is free to take other courses this year. The teenager is currently enrolled in AP English Literature and Composition, AP Environmental Science, AP Calculus AB, advanced photography, psychology, philosophy and women's studies.
Since entering Huntington High School, Ms. Schultz has been very active. She's been a member of the school's Gay Straight Alliance for the past four years and served as the organization's treasurer as a junior, served on the yearbook staff since her sophomore year and has volunteered with Huntington's Habitat for Humanity chapter.
Relay For Life Looms Large
A member of the National English Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, Science National Honor Society and the National Honor Society, her "biggest extracurricular" over the past two years has been Relay For Life.
"When I first heard about it last year, I immediately wanted to participate," Ms. Schultz said about the sprawling American Cancer Society fundraising enterprise. "I captained a team with my friends and we named it Team Kevin for our teammate's brother who passed away from cancer. We organized the Jonny D's fundraiser last year, where a portion of their earnings from one day went to my team. In the end, we raised the third-highest amount of all 60 teams and I raised the third highest amount of all the participants."
Near the conclusion of the overnight Relay For Life at Huntington, Ms. Schultz was summoned by organizers to stand before the crowd. "It was an amazing feeling being called up on stage at the event last year," she said. "I knew my team and I helped to make a difference in the fight against cancer."
Ms. Schultz is on this year's Relay For Life planning committee and chaired the kickoff committee, working with event co-chairs Gabe Goldman, Molly Prep and Nikki Smoot, faculty advisor Joe Cohen and Alyssa Knudsen, the American Cancer Society staff partner assigned to Huntington, to plan the recent school-wide assembly that marked the beginning of the Relay For Life season.
"I am captain of another team this year; Team C.A.D., which is named after my aunt Carolann who passed away from stage four brain cancer," Ms. Schultz said. "She played such a big part in my life and I wanted to honor her this year."
Favorite Teachers
Ms. Schultz's favorite high school teachers have been Deborah Beck, Craig McKee, Peter Crugnale, Lauren Desiderio, Joann Ferazi and Kelly Quintero. "I was in Mrs. Beck's AP Biology class and it was definitely my favorite class out of the past four years," the teenager said. "She really taught the class how to work and study and prepared us for college. She made learning a blast and has very funny jokes."
Mr. McKee's AP Environmental Science class has also been fun for Ms. Schultz. "Besides the interesting topics we cover, Mr. McKee provides us with comic relief every day while still doing a great job of teaching," she said. "I have known Mr. Crugnale since my sophomore year, however this is the first I have him as a teacher. I just finished his psychology class and am now in his philosophy class. These classes are very different from others I have taken and he provides us with new perspectives to look at the world."
Ms. Schultz has established many strong relationships with Huntington teachers. "Just like Mr. Crugnale, I have known Ms. Tedeschi, but have not had her until this year," she said. "I am in her women's studies class. She is very genuine and I am so glad to have formed a great relationship with her. She is very sweet and funny and really cares about her students."
The senior said that Mrs. Desiderio's Global 10 honors class "was one of the most interesting classes I have taken." Ms. Schultz has long had a love for history, "but she made it a very unique experience with interactive ways of learning and different activities and projects," the teenager said. "I learned so much in her class she made sure we all worked very hard."
Ms. Schultz was a student in math classes taught by Mrs. Ferazi for two years "and she actually made math enjoyable," the senior said. "I never really liked math, but her easy going disposition, care for her students, and great teaching skills made her class fun."
The teenager also has a great deal of admiration for another one of Huntington's teachers. "This is the second year I have Mrs. Quintero as an English teacher and she is simply lovely," Ms. Schultz said. "I have never met a teacher that cares so much for her students and is so generous and understanding. She provides me with so much advice, not just for school, but for whatever situation I may be in."
The senior has been a peer mediator for the past two years. "I was selected in the spring of my sophomore year and underwent training during my junior year," Ms. Schultz said. "I thoroughly enjoy being a mediator because it is a unique way to help other students with any problems they may be having. The training was a two day process and was a lot of fun. I became closer with the advisors, Mrs. [Bernadette] Walsh and Mr. [Paul] Caleca and I got to know my fellow mediators much better."
A World Traveler
While her deep involvement with Huntington's Relay For Life has kept Ms. Schultz busy, she's set aside time to explore the world and engage in typical teenage pursuits. "I have enjoyed traveling to Greece and Turkey in tenth grade, Peru in eleventh, the prom and spending time with my friends," she said. "I have always loved traveling with my family and when I found out that I would have the opportunity to travel to Greece, I could not say no. I begged my parents until they said yes and before I knew it I was on a cruise around the Grecian Islands with my friends."
Sponsored by Education First Tours, the private trip included many high school students and several familiar teacher leader-chaperones. "I am so lucky to have traveled with an amazing group of teachers," Ms. Schultz said. "We traveled to Mykonos, Santorini, Rhodes, Patmos, Crete, Athens and spent a day in Ephesus, Turkey. We visited the Temple of Poseidon, The Acropolis, a volcano, shops and tried a lot of amazing food."
Unique Trip to Peru
The trip to Greece whetted Ms. Schultz appetite for adventure. "I signed up for the Peru trip for the following year and that was a trip like no other," she said. "The Greece trip was a lot of sightseeing, which is like most other vacations I have taken, however Peru was not much of a vacation; it was an adventure. We spent a few days in Cusco and went sight-seeing like most trips, but after that it was a whole new world. We spent the remainder of the trip in a small village outside of Machu Picchu and in the jungle. The village was filled with shops with handmade crafts and restaurants with local delicacies, which included guinea pig. We went to a hot spring, spent two days at Machu Picchu and visited other historical sites. When we went to the jungle we stayed in small houses, almost like huts, and went on hikes through the jungle, visited Monkey Island and went to a Caiman feeding."
Ms. Schultz has clearly fallen in love with traveling. "These trips have been such amazing experiences not just because of where we went and what we saw, but because I became closer with my friends and made new friends," she said. "The group of about 40 students becomes almost like a big family over the course of a week and everyone has fun together. Shortly after graduation, I am traveling with EF Tours again to Belize."
Last year's prom was another memorable experience for the teenager. "Getting dressed up with my friends for the prom was a lot of fun," Ms. Schultz said. "I love spending time with them. I have amazing friends who know how to have fun, but who are also there for me."
The past four years have passed quickly and Ms. Schultz is looking forward to her final months at Huntington High School, including the prom, Relay For Life, AP exams and more traveling.
Excited about College
"I am really looking forward to college," Ms. Schultz said. "I cannot wait to meet new people, take interesting classes and open up a new chapter in my life. I applied to a whopping seventeen schools, but have only heard back from four. I really want to go to school out of state; however three of the four schools I got accepted by are the only local schools I applied to. Go figure."
Ms. Schultz has been accepted by Stony Brook University, University of Pittsburgh's Honor College with a $5,000 scholarship, St. John's University honors program with a $21,000 scholarship and Hofstra University with a $23,000 scholarship.
"I cannot wait to hear back from the rest of my schools," the senior said. "I have my eyes set on Tufts University, Northeastern University and George Washington University. I plan on double majoring in biology and international relations. I know they are two different areas, but I am very interested in both. I am not sure what I want to do for a career, but I will most likely end up picking one that only fits with one of my majors. There are very few jobs and careers that use both areas, but I may get lucky and end up finding something that uses both, such as public health or working for non-governmental organization (NGO)."
Ms. Schultz advises incoming Huntington freshmen to take advantage of all the many opportunities that come their way. "There will be chances to make friends, join clubs, take challenging courses and just have fun," she said. "Don't spend high school sitting on the couch. The four years go by very fast and it is important to be yourself, study, and meet new people."