Overachieving Underclassmen is a column about underclassmen at LFHS by freshman reporter Peter Elliott
Etched across a well-weathered wall in permanent black marker is a name appearing for the first time.
“Celeste Tomaselli.”
It certainly won’t be the last time it will appear on the wall.
The freshman student is no graffiti artist, but wrote her name on the wall like many others did after completing this fall’s production of “The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon,” in which she assisted in the technical direction of the play as a member of the Tech Crew.
“You’ll probably see my name scattered across that wall at least six more times,” said Tomaselli, referring to the number of productions she hopes to oversee during the course of her time at Lake Forest High School.=
Tomaselli was drawn to stage production in sixth grade at Deer Path Middle School, when she assisted in the theatre department’s performance of The Music Man. “I was in charge of costumes, so I basically just dressed actors for quick changes and organized costumes after the end of the play,” she says. “It was really cool and I honestly felt really nervous even though no one ever saw me or what I was doing. The adrenaline is what got me hooked on tech.”
That adrenaline kept her involved with Tech Crew throughout her junior high career, as she practically became the go-to for any tech related events. She assisted in everything from managing the tech on insignificant presentations to much grander events, including the eight “big shows” she attaches her name to. Class of 2017 Deer Path graduates may remember her frantically running onstage during the Talent Show and single handedly curing the audio problems that were plaguing a perplexed student’s guitar.
Just part of the job for Celeste Tomaselli.
“I really enjoyed it though, it made me feel really important,” says Tomaselli. “Tech crew at DPM helped me grow in becoming a leader and handling big responsibilities. I also got better at learning how to manage my time.”
In between those productions, Tomaselli fills up her time adequately as a member of the school band. She has been playing in some sort of a school band since fifth grade, where she started out on a basic mallet and snare. The dedicated musician now counts the drums, piano and most percussion instruments as ones she has learned and frequently plays.
Tomaselli and her freshman percussionist cohorts are currently working on two challenging pieces for Percussion Festival which is in April. One piece is a mallet piece called Seeing the World and the other is a drum piece called Breakdown.
Balancing her extracurricular responsibilities can be challenging she says.
“There is quite a lot of overlap. I’m lucky enough to be involved in two things that are very flexible with my schedule and allow me to still be a part of both tech and music.”
Tomaselli is easily identifiable in the hallways of Lake Forest High School, either by the unmistakable pink flair in her hair, her footwear, and bright smile.
She certainly has a lot of calling cards.
