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Arts and Smarts: Six Northshore Grads Who Give Their All
by Karen B. Gibbs
photography by Abby Sands Miller
To those in the arts, education means more than books. It means discovering your total self and developing your hidden talents. The following six graduating seniors are not only excellent students, they are also artists, actors, vocalists, musicians and dancers—dynamic individuals who are not content merely watching life’s parade. They want to be the parade itself.
Emily Rodriguez
St. Scholastica Academy
Dancer
Walking through SSA’s library looking for a place to interview Emily Rodriguez, we meet Emily’s religion teacher, Amanda Schneidau. When she hears that Emily is one of six northshore teens to be featured in Inside Northside Magazine, she is quick to endorse our choice. Complimenting the talented senior, Mrs. Schneidau remarks, “Knowing Emily is the biggest blessing. She’s very intelligent, sweet and a great leader. She shines from the inside out.”
Shine she does! At 17, Emily is the captain of St. Paul’s dance team, the Golden Blues; president of Hearts for Purity, the school abstinence club; vice president of the Key Club; secretary of the class for Student Council; on the Alpha honor roll and graduating with honors. And there’s more.
An accomplished dancer—she’s been taking dance lessons since she was 2—Emily is not only captain of the Golden Blues, but she is also on the elite competition team for Northshore Academy of Dance. Between both commitments, the energetic dancer devotes around 20 hours a week to practicing. “On weekdays, I start doing homework around 9:45 p.m. To be so involved, I had to understand what I needed to do and stay with it,” explains Emily.
Emily credits her self-discipline and work ethic to her parents, Don and Janine Rodriguez. “My dad is really strong and a good role model. He taught me how to manage my time and work hard. My mom helped me learn dedication. She is my encourager, always at my events. She inspires me to keep trying.”
Quick to credit those who have helped her succeed, Emily regards Ms. Lydia Pond King, owner of Northshore Academy of Dance, as her mentor. “She is amazing. Always there for us. She teaches us that all we do is through and for God.”
Under the direction of “Ms. Lydia,” Emily has emerged as a top-notch competitive dancer. As a member of the elite competition team, Emily has won many scholarships to dance events, the latest being to the nationals in Las Vegas this July. One of five dancers selected at the last competition, Emily will compete with 300 dancers from across America. The highlight of the competition will be performing a group dance with Pat Benatar singing.
Despite her talent in dancing, Emily is pursuing quite a different path this fall when she enters Fordham College in Queens, N.Y. on a partial scholarship. Following in the footsteps of her uncle, Dr. John Hunt, Emily aspires to be an emergency room physician. “Dancing as a career is a real wish, but I know it is very hard. So I decided to get a good education instead and dance on weekends.”
Emily reflects this common sense approach to life in the advice she has for high school students. “You have to find what you really enjoy, and then you have to work for it. Stay motivated and surround yourself with like-minded people.”
Teens of today, listen to these words of wisdom from Emily Rodriguez—a talented beauty who dances through life with her feet planted firmly on the ground.
Eliza Pirosca
Northlake Christian School
Vocalist, musician and composer
She possesses the peace of a saint. She sings like a choir of angels. She is Eliza Pirosca, 18-year-old Romanian citizen and Northlake Christian senior. Two years ago, David Diamond, Northlake’s principal, met Eliza while he was on a mission trip to Romania. He learned that Eliza’s father had recently divorced her mother, a pharmacist, leaving her to support their six children on her meager wages. (In Romania, just about everyone, including pharmacists, receive low pay.) Seeing their need, Diamond offered Eliza a music scholarship to Northlake Christian for her senior year.
Eliza credits her musical talent as coming from God, but acknowledges that her father had a huge influence in her musical life. When she was only 4, he took her to her first piano lesson. At 7, she began learning the violin. She went on to teach herself the guitar and mandolin. By 13, the young prodigy began composing music, and within the next two years, she composed two Christian music CDs.
“If I don’t sing for God, what good is it?” Eliza explains. “God works through my CDs. Churches invite me to sing, and while I sing I can see the faces of the people changing as they hear my music.”
While her father may have passed on his love of music to Eliza, his leaving when she was only 12 and divorcing her mother 4 years later, came as a very painful shock. Through it all, her mother was “righteous and trusting. She is my hero, a most beautiful soul,” Eliza states. “She said not to let hurt take me from God. He heals so smoothly and gently. I am thankful for this hurt because it drew me near to Him.”
“My family prayed and I accepted this offer to come to America because it was God’s blessing to us. It was hard for me to leave my family, but I pray that they will come to America one day and we can all be together again,” says the soft-spoken student.
Remarkably, part of that prayer was answered before Eliza arrived in America. Her older sister, Estera, 21, received a computer scholarship to Southeastern in her junior year. The two visit each other about once a week, and that makes Eliza happy. “Estera is big influence in my life, a second mother. She is beautiful inside and out. I love her and she is my best friend here,” Eliza says, her English perfect and fluent.
With her sister nearby and her host family, the Keiffers, offering their support, Eliza easily settled into the routine of American academics. Maintaining a 4.1 GPA, she applied for scholarships to universities. Berklee College of Music in Boston offered her a full-tuition scholarship; she is also under consideration for the Presidential Scholarship, which would cover all expenses—tuition, books, residence and food.
Upon completing college, Eliza dreams of being conductor and leader of her own orchestra and choir. She would also like to accompany Estera on mission trips to places such as Brazil, South Africa and India. “She can talk and I can sing,” Eliza beams. Another dream is about to come true this summer when Eliza returns home to Romania to record her third CD, “The Soul of a Child,” with her five brothers and sisters. Her ultimate goal? “To fulfill God’s dream in my life. That is my happiness,” she smiles sweetly, having just shared the secret of her serenity and wisdom.
David Hogan
Slidell High School
Artist, actor and musician
David Hogan greeted me with a cheerful “Hello!” as I entered the coffee house for our interview. Meeting this Slidell High senior for the first time, I was immediately impressed with his outgoing confident manner. We sat down to talk, he with a coffee and chocolate chip cookie, me with a luscious Vienna coffee.
“Tell me about your art,” I began.
“I love charcoal…the way you get into it with your hands. You make a stroke then rub it …” He demonstrated the movements on an imaginary drawing on the table. Continuing, he listed the other mediums he’s worked in—clay, watercolor, acrylics and oils. “I’m working on an oil painting right now. It’s made up of geometrical shapes in warm colors,” he added, his hazel eyes softening.
Recently chosen Teen Artist of the Month—an honor he’s received several times—David is president of the Slidell Art League for Teens. He is passionate about his art and happily shares that talent with the community by doing face paintings, finger painting and marble painting with kids at citywide events such as the Heritage Fest.
“Your mom mentioned that you’re in the school play right now. How’s that?” I ask.
Without missing a beat, David exclaims, “It’s GREAT!” His entire face lights up like the footlights at the Saenger. “I wish I would have gotten into drama earlier in my high school years.”
At his mother’s suggestion, he tried out for “Les Miserables” and got a small speaking part. Shaking off opening day jitters, he stepped out onto the stage and gave it his all. “That was the most fun I ever had,” he relates.
Playing Harvey Johnson in the latest senior play, “Bye, Bye Birdie,” David describes his character as a real nerd. “I’m into that part, too,” he says. “Tape on my glasses, suspenders…It’s so much fun.”
Far from being a nerd, David is “a great guy, well-rounded,” says his mom, Pam Hogan. “He’s on the soccer and tennis teams and plays bass guitar in the orchestra at Grace Memorial Baptist Church. He also plays piano, flute, acoustic and electric guitar—and he has a beautiful bass voice. I’d say he’s pretty neat,” she adds, button-bustin’ proud of her youngest son.
When asked the reason for his broad interests, David credits his parents. “My dad (Tracy) got me interested in hands-on things such as working on cars and dirt bikes. We also like to go hunting. I like bow hunting. Once I got a rabbit from 30 feet,” he beams.
David’s mom instilled in him a try-it-all attitude. “What’s that expression she says?” he asks himself. “Oh, yeah. Don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it.”
It’s this advice that David says he’d like to pass on to other teens. “Try everything. Get involved in as much as you can at school, because the more involved you are, the better off you’ll be.”
David plans to begin his studies this fall at Southeastern in Hammond and transfer to LSU in his junior year to major in communications. His goal is to earn a master’s degree and work in television broadcasting. Given his record so far, David Hogan will find himself before an audience once again, shaking off first-day jitters and giving his all to his role as news anchor for NBC—only this time, it won’t be pretend.
Allyse Gillen
St. Scholastica Academy
Actress and vocalist
Entering the office of St. Scholastica Academy in Covington, I make my way past a bevy of young ladies to the front desk. “I’m here to see Allyse…,” and before I can finish, an enthusiastic voice calls out, “GILLEN. That’s me, Allyse Gillen.” The bright-eyed teen shakes my hand, smiling a great big welcome. Upstairs to the library we go for our interview.
“So, you enjoy acting?” I query, turning on the digital recorder.
“I LOVE it so much,” the pretty brunette exclaims. “I want to do it for the rest of my life!”
There it was—that intangible quality that lights up the stage, that captivates an audience from the moment an actress appears. Star quality! Allyse Gillen has it. She is believable, passionate and genuine. She is confident, animated and full of life.
“I devote all my time to theater,” she goes on. A theater chameleon, Allyse admits to unconsciously undergoing behavior changes to suit the role she’s playing. Recently her friends asked her why she was being so silly. Once they attended her current play and Allyse came out acting the part of a wacky airhead, they had their answer.
Unlike that character, Allyse is focused, especially when it comes to theater. “I usually learn my lines in four to five days,” she states unpretentiously. “I have a really good memory, and once I read a page, I usually have it memorized.” This talent is also most useful in school!
An “A” student, Allyse has been in the National Honor Society for three years. She is vice-president of the Spanish club, a lieutenant in the Color Guard and a class officer in Student Council. While she admits that excelling in both academics and theater is hard at SSA, she wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
The support and cooperation of the teachers is invaluable, especially during the 4-10:30 p.m. dress rehearsal weeks.
While Allyse enjoys the limelight, she is quick to acknowledge the role her family plays in her achievements. “My mom is my encourager, my role model. She’s not a pushy stage mom, but one who is very supportive and offers constructive, honest criticism. She and dad are behind me 100 percent. My dad gets so excited. When I finish one show he says, ‘Okay, what are we doing next?’”
“My older sisters are always interested in what I’m doing, too,” she adds. “They were both competitive dancers. Observing them on stage, I learned from an early age that you just keep on trying, no matter what.”
It was only natural that Allyse wanted to dance, too. So at 2 years old, when most kids are just beginning to run, Allyse began her fourteen years of tap, jazz and ballet lessons. At the age of 8, she began voice lessons, training her mezzo-soprano voice with selections from classical opera to show tunes (her favorite). To develop her talents further, Allyse studied musical theater at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts from the summer of her sophomore year through the summer of her junior year. If an opportunity was there, Allyse took advantage of it. And she is grateful to her parents for making it all possible.
The finest learning experience, however, came from actually being in plays. Even as a young child, Allyse would scrutinize the actors on stage, learning from them. She acknowledges her talent is God-given and wants to make the most of this gift by staying focused on what’s important.
Allyse has been accepted as one of only ten students in the musical theater program at the University of Alabama. As of this interview, she is awaiting word from other universities before deciding where she will attend college. Wherever she goes, it is certain that Allyse Gillen will once again shine—a star in every sense of the word.
Cassie Carreras
Archbishop Hannan High School
Vocalist, valedictorian,
National Merit Scholar
Cassie Carreras, Archbishop Hannan High School’s talented vocalist, is wrapping up her photo shoot with our photographer when I meet her. Posing amid the lush greenery and blooming pink azaleas on the grounds of St Joseph’s Abbey in Covington, she is relaxed and unassuming. With her long light brown hair and twinkling brown eyes, the pretty Hannan High senior is the poster teen for wholesomeness.
As we stroll back to the classroom buildings, Cassie talks enthusiastically of her days at NOCCA studying musical theater. She auditioned not realizing she was to be taking classical opera classes there, and learned to sing in Italian (“I butchered French, so they assigned the Italian songs to me,” she laughs.) She loved singing and being on stage but in her junior year, she made the decision to leave NOCCA and focus on becoming class valedictorian. “I didn’t want to sacrifice that for a real small chance I’d be great as a singer,” admits the petite coed.
Giving up one dream to achieve another shows the self-discipline, direction and confidence that are characteristic of Cassie. Encouraged by her mother, Pamela, Cassie and her twin sister, Cady, have learned to stick to a task and have confidence in their abilities to perform. “My mom is our role model and mentor. She tells us to do our best, no matter what grade we get. It just so happened that A’s were our best,” says the National Merit Scholar.
Such excellent grades and well-rounded approach to school activities earned Cassie the Presidential Scholarship to the University of Southern Mississippi. While the all-expense-paid ticket to college is a blessing, Cassie finds herself torn between her two passions—arts and science.
“I’m geared toward biology; it leads to so much, such as stem cell research to find a cure for cancer. But I love being on stage—not for the adulation, but because it feels so good to do what you love. It is fulfilling in a way that is hard to find in other fields. When I’m singing, it’s just me and the song. I love it and have so much fun,” she explains.
Figuring out her major is a small problem compared to the blow she and her family suffered with Hurricane Katrina. Their home in Violet took on 13 feet of water, and the family lost everything. After being uprooted for three weeks in Nashville, they moved to Hammond, where they have lived ever since.
“We are all sacrificing—our dad doesn’t get home from work in Chalmette until 7 p.m. My sister and I share a car and commute 40 minutes each way to school. We have to be cooperative and can’t fret about little things. We miss our older sister, Danielle. She evacuated to Alabama and has a job there. My mom is dealing with SBA loans, being there for all of us, going for a degree in Elementary Education—I don’t know how she does it,” reflects Cassie.
But out of all this came blessings. “We value our school and the time we have here. And we have a gorgeous campus. Have you seen the church? It’s fantastic!”
Cassie Carreras lost her home and her school in Katrina, but she has triumphed over it all. Valedictorian of her class, National Merit Scholar, winner of USM’s Presidential Scholarship, talented vocalist—she has flowered amidst destruction like the fragrant azaleas of the Abbey, brilliant and beautiful—a sign of new life and a promise of hope.
Taylor Marrs
Northshore High School/NOCCA
Actor
Even though the day is sunny, the smile on Taylor Marrs’ face lights up CC’s coffee shop where we meet for our interview. “Mrs. Gibbs, I’m Taylor Marrs,” says the Northshore High senior, extending his hand in introduction. His confidence and poise are refreshing, his cheerfulness engaging.
We find an empty table in the back and settle in for a nice chat. “It says here that you were recommended for this article by your teachers at NOCCA,” I begin, referring to the school for talented artists that Taylor has attended since his sophomore year.
Taylor’s smile illuminates his face again as he launches into the story of his career. “I love musical theater and was in my first play, “Annie Jr.,” in 5th grade. I played Daddy Warbucks. The director couldn’t find a bald cap small enough for me so he convinced me to shave my head for the part. I loved my hair, so that was traumatic,” he says, smoothing his dark hair unconsciously. “I remember that summer at Boy Scout camp my head got sunburned,” he laughs.
Hearing that unbelievable anecdote, I’m convinced that Taylor is devoted to acting in way few people ever are. Obviously, he handled that trauma quite well because he has acted in musical theater non-stop since then—20 plays in eight short years!
Rhea, his mother and greatest supporter, introduced Taylor to his first play, “Cinderella,” when he was just a young child. Years later, Taylor played the part of the Prince in that very same play when, in an interesting turn of events, he acted in “Cinderella” while a Katrina evacuee in California.
“Coronado School of the Arts offered to pay for my flight out to San Diego and my tuition. They found a host family to house me and provided any supplies I needed for school,” Taylor recounts. “I lived there nine months—the entire school year.” His mother, meanwhile, had to remain in Amite as principal of a high school there. Knowing that this would be an excellent opportunity for Taylor, she supported his decision to spend his junior year away from home.
“I became independent during that year,” he continues. “My host parents worked late, so I’d eat out on my own. I took care of getting what I needed, taking a bus into town to shop. I grew up then. It was a blast.”
(Katrina was not the first time Taylor faced serious hardship. When he was only twelve, Taylor lost his father to a massive heart attack while they were on a canoe trip in Mississippi. For the two hours it took for his mother to get to the hospital, Taylor sat alone in the ER waiting room not knowing his father’s fate.)
This year, in addition to NOCCA, Taylor is active in Northshore High School’s Student Council, serving as a delegate. In March, he closed two shows, acting in “Once on This Island,” at the St. Mark’s Community Center, with the After the Storm Foundation, and in “Jane Eyre” at NOCCA. What does the talented senior do when he’s not in school or doing a show? “If I’m not doing a show, I’m seeing a show. Theater is all I do,” he admits.
Such dedication is integral to achieving the young actor’s dream of working in professional theater. “After college, I plan to entertain on a cruise line for a few years, and then go to Broadway,” Taylor says with conviction. And I believe he’ll be there, commanding the stage and smiling…always smiling.
Six shining stars in the northshore sky—a constellation called “Gift” for all of us.
