Senior Isabella Lanfranco Has Very Big Dreams

Isabella Lanfranco is a creative young woman who loves experimenting and involving herself in the fine and performing arts. The Huntington High School senior is among the most talented members of the Class of 2023.

The teenager hopes to make the fashion industry her career, but she also has a strong passion for music. Ms. Lanfranco has been performing vocally since the second grade. She picked up piano as a nine year old.

The senior is interning with Huntington High School art teacher Kim Valerio who leads the fashion illustration and design program.

“Two teachers that I really made a connection with over the years are Mrs. Valerio and Mrs. [Kelly] Krycinski,” the senior said. “I’ve worked with Mrs. Valerio for all four years of my high school career and she is a teacher that I feel very comfortable with. This year, I have the pleasure of interning for her. I am also taking Fashion Portfolio with her as well. I absolutely love her class and always enjoy the assignments and I just think Mrs. Valerio does a wonderful job with creating a comfortable and creative learning environment.”

Ms. Lanfranco is equally effusive in her praise of Mrs. Krycinski’s impact as a teacher. “She is someone that I really feel I’ve made a connection with during my years here at the high school,” the teenager said. “I last had her freshman year in English 9 Honors and I was pretty shy, well more shy than I am now, and she is the reason I joined Key Club. In ninth grade, I found out she ran the talent show through Key Club and I remember after I auditioned, we made a connection as we both shared our love for music. Mrs. Krycinski is also another teacher that I just feel comfortable with and I love the way she teaches and how fun she makes class, which is why I decided to join her Bible Literature class this year so I could have her again.”

The senior wanted to be “more involved” in school this year “as it’s my senior year and for the past couple of years the world kind of stopped and I hadn’t pushed myself to be involved as I lost motivation,” she said. “This year, with everything back to normal, I decided to join a few new clubs, including the yearbook club where I am currently helping with the fashion page.”

Ms. Lanfranco is also enjoying participating the Art Honor Society, which pursues various fun projects around the building and even in the community.

“When it comes to college I am pretty confident on what I want to do,” Ms. Lanfranco said. “I am currently applying to colleges as a fashion design major, but I am also interested in the business side of the fashion industry, too. My plan is to take a brand management class or fashion marketing class in college to see which direction I want to head in, but right now I am interested in fashion design. I love creating and illustrating my own designs and sewing is something that I really enjoy doing in my free time.”

Ms. Lanfranco loves the Italian language “as it’s a part of my background,” she said. “I even qualified for the New York State Seal of Biliteracy and plan to study abroad in Italy in the near future.”

The teenager loves spending time with friends and family. She’s a people person at heart. Ms. Lanfranco is enjoying her classes and activities and having a great senior year.

“Some of my favorite courses are Bible Literature, Advanced Placement Italian, AP Government and Politics, Chamber Choir and my fashion portfolio class,” Ms. Lanfranco said. “I look forward to going to Bible Lit every morning as it’s just so fun and very interesting to learn about the different stories within the Bible and I love how Mrs. Krycinski starts off the class each day with a different interaction/activity for the first five minutes for a little fun break before we begin.”

The senior has also developed a wonderful relationship with veteran foreign language teacher Natalia Kopshti. “I love AP Italian as I just love Signora Kopshti,” Ms. Lanfranco said. “She is very kind and just a very fun teacher and I’ve learned so much this year. She’s been a very good italian teacher. I also enjoy AP Gov because of Mrs. Buchalter, as I find we have good discussions and class is interesting and sometimes entertaining and I find it very helpful. I really didn’t know much about the government before taking this class.”

Chamber Choir is another of the teenager’s favorites. “I love everyone who is a part of it,” Ms. Lanfranco said. “Everyone is so talented and fun to sing with and I also love Ms. [Victoria] Garbarino who is such a fun and kind chorus teacher and who I can tell really cares about us. She has given us wonderful opportunities to perform.”

Ms. Lanfranco said she’s glad she joined the Key Club “as I’ve had so much fun so far with the different community service events they’ve had such as the Target Tour.”

Vice president of the Chamber Chor and treasurer of the Italian Honor Society, Ms. Lanfranco is also having fun as Mrs. Valerio’s intern. Most recently she has been helping one of the students in the class with a portfolio she is assembling for college.

“I have loved my experience at Huntington High School and honestly can’t believe it’s my last year here,” Ms. Lanfranco said. “I’ve loved all the opportunities that the school had to offer for the arts and it was here that I was able to  further discover my love for fashion design. And as a musician I am grateful for all the opportunities I’ve had to perform, including at K-Factor all these years and even this year when our chamber choir had the amazing opportunity to sing at Radio City to open for the Rockettes show. I also love the staff here, I’ve never had a teacher I didn’t like while here at the high school, so I would definitely say I’ve had a good experience here.”

The senior is a very hard worker, but she also knows how to relax and rejuvenate herself. “Over the summer I really focused on enjoying myself and just spending time with my family and friends,” Ms. Lanfranco said. “I also traveled to Charleston, South Carolina over the summer for the fourth of July and it was absolutely beautiful. I loved all the pastel and old southern architecture in the city of Charleston. It was just a fun time. I also visited Savannah, Georgia, which was beautiful as well.”

The senior has been sketching out her future plans, including looking ahead as far as a decade out. “I am not completely sure, but I hope to be working at a big name fashion company,” Ms. Lanfranco said. “I have very big dreams and someday hope to be successful.”