Nicole Peterson: Skater, Student, Catechist, Color Guard Captain

Nicole Peterson

Age 16: East Haven High School, senior year begins in September.

Activities

Nicole’s passion is figure skating. She has been skating for almost twelve years and is currently at the Silver Intermediate level for USFS (United States Figure Skating), and participated for many years in Shoreline Figure Skaters. She has taken many tests to achieve her current level of skating, as well as being an assistant coach for the last three years. After three years in the Color Guard for East Haven High School’s Yellow Jacket Marching Band, she is the 2011-2012 Color Guard Captain.

Other Interests

While being active in all that she does and still having time for family and friends, Nicole is also an avid reader. Her favorite book is ‘Matched’ by Ally Condie and the book shelf in her room is lined with others from this author as well as many others. Nicole is also active in her church community, and has been an altar server at Our Lady of Pompeii (OLP) for nine years.

Nicole also has a passion for teaching children, and through her church has been recognized for helping to teach ‘Family Faith’ classes to kindergarten students. She has also served on the committee for OLP’s annual carnival as a volunteer, and participates in fund raising for the Yellow Jacket Marching Band and Color Guard.

When it comes down to being serious about school, Nicole said “my favorite classes are the medical career classes I take with Ms. Tipping at EHHS; especially ‘Medical Career Fundamentals’ which I took in my junior year. She makes the classes fun and interesting at the same time, helping me to prepare for my future.”

She added “spare time for me is going to the rink and working on perfecting my skating skills, when I’m not doing that, it’s practicing for color guard.”

Future Plans

“Presently, I am looking forward to all of the senior activities coming up at school in the fall, like the prom and the homecoming committees; I think my class is going to do a great job. After three years in the award winning Color Guard with the Marching Band at EHHS, I am also looking forward to making ‘National Color Guard Champions’ at Allentown Pennsylvania this fall.

Nicole plans on going into the medical field when she graduates from EHHS, and has been paving the way for that through classes he’s been taking so far. “I have been checking out colleges to apply to said Nicole, and I am planning on a future in radiation therapy, and am also interested in respiratory therapy as well. I still intend to work on my figure skating in my spare time.”

Accomplishments

In 2009 and 2010, Nicole received awards in Fine Arts for her leadership skills and community service. She graduated from JMMS with honors and has so far received honors for the last ten semesters at EHHS. Additionally, in 2007 she was cited by JMMS in the Leadership program, received the Marie Carbo Service Award in 2008, and in 2009 was the recipient of an Outstanding Spanish Performance award.

To add to Nicole’s awards and successes in 2010, the State Board of Education presented her with CAPT (Connecticut Academic Performance Test) certificates in reading and writing across the disciplines.

Through the Greater New Haven Diocese and the Shoreline Deanery of DRE’s, OLP Church has also awarded this young lady as a catechist and youth volunteer for her years of working with younger children in the parish.

Aside from Nicole’s accolades in skating and receiving awards for her service to her church, she has also received many awards for her academics with honors, but the biggest one of them all is her recent award from ‘The United States Achievement Academy’, receiving the U.S. National Leadership and Service Award, enabling her for a possible $10,000 scholarship to the college of her choice. Nicole was nominated for this prestigious award by Michael A Martino, Jr., the former band director at EHHS.

This past spring, Nicole was also awarded a leadership award by HOSA (Health Care Occupations, Students of America) for her excellence in the health courses she has achieved high grades in. To find out more about HOSA, go to www.hosa.org.

When Nicole was asked what she believed her greatest achievement is so far, she commented “my National Leadership Award, it’s HUGE!.”

Key to Awesomeness

When it comes to being awesome, Nicole’s mom, Tina said much of her daughter.

“I think what makes Nicole so awesome is her personality, and the way her grandparents have helped me to raise her while I was  at work. My daughter is a very loving person, and she was always an extremely happy child.”

Sitting in the kitchen with Nicole and Tina, was Tina’s mom, Maryann, and she chimed in with “being an altar server has definitely contributed to Nicole’s key to awesomeness. She’s a great kid and is always so kind.”

According to Nicole, “being an altar server has given me a little holiness to survive these high school years and put me on the right path.” She added “I think that working under pressure and putting long hours into skating and Color Guard are part of my success, I am really dedicated to what I do.”

Nicole Peterson was nominated as a Whiz Kid by her mom, Christine (Tina) Peterson of East Haven. She is the ‘apple’ of her grandparents’ eyes: Maryann and Ed Peterson.