Marblehead Students Will Spend Their Summers In Unique Ways

Remember back to your old school days, when summer meant relaxing at the beach and maybe babysitting or mowing lawns?

The lazy days of summer are anything but for many Marblehead High School students.  Marblehead Patch caught up with several of the "rising seniors"  this week to find out how they'll be spending their vacation before their last year at MHS.

Andrew DiMare will tough it out at the State Trooper Program, a type of summer bootcamp for students. It is held at the Massachusetts State Police Academy in New Braintree. "I'll be living in the barracks, riding with troopers, learning about equipment and police tactics," said DiMare. He's being sponsored by a local VFW post.

Think 'academic bootcamp' for Olivia Pennock. She's heading to Johns Hopkins University for an intensive course in sociology and immigration. "I'm a history buff, so it really interests me," Pennock said. She'll be living in dorms on campus -- good preparation for college, she added.

 Rachel Henige is traveling to New Mexico to do some advanced hiking. "My dad's into hiking, so that's how I got into it," she explained. She'll be climbing  with a full pack, sleeping out each night and doing her own cooking. She's traveling with Marblehead teacher Gigi Breed.

It'll be a creative summer for Rebecca Ness, who is taking classes at the Art Institute of Boston, which is affiliated with Lesley College. "I'm interested in illustrating children's books, and in political cartoons. I'd also like to work in advertising, doing graphic design," she said. One of her favorite artists is Shepherd Fairey who designed the famous Barrack Obama HOPE poster.

Rebecca Xiarhos is working with Best Buddies, an international  nonprofit run by the Kennedy family that helps people with developmental disabilities. She'll be traveling to Indiana University for a week-long conference on how to run a Best Buddies chapter at Marblehead High School.

Katelyn Rein will be exploring the law as a possible career when she works with a North Shore attorney. "I'll be shadowing her in court and helping with paperwork in the office," Rein said. "I'm an actress and I like arguing ... even issues I don't necessarily believe in. The law interests me."

It will be a summer on the Charles River for Sophie Doughty. She's in Boston's Community Rowing program, steering the boys varsity boat as coxswain. She'll also be shooting photographs for Patch.com in Boston too.

It's also a summer on the water for Brian Felsenthal, who will be a sailing instructor at the Boston Yacht Club in Marblehead. "I'll be working with kids. I was practically born into it," he said. "My parents are avid sailors."

And Kalliopi Thanos is busy with three jobs: life-guarding at the teaching private swimming lessons at the JCC and babysitting. But after all that, she gets to spend a couple weeks in Athens, Greece, where her grandmother and extended family live.