The junior at Plymouth High School found another mentor at Jefferson too.
“I sang ‘Concrete Angel’ at the talent show and Mrs. (Beth) Webster told me how good I was and really encouraged me after that,” she said. “She had been a choir teacher and from then on whenever we sang the National Anthem she’d stand next to me so she could hear me sing.”
She recently had another bit of great news because she had broken out into song.
“We had our state competition in choir and I was one of the soloists,” she said. “I thought I had done well, but I got a perfect score. Mrs. (MaryPat) Glaub and my mom and I started freaking out.”
Her love of music led her to start “Club Choir” at the Boys & Girls club. She encourages others who have her love of music.
“We teach the basic steps of music,” she said. “We go out and sing at nursing homes, mostly patriotic music.”
Known as Shelly by her friends (“My grandma first called me that, she thought it might be easier for everybody…”), her Mexican/American Heritage has led her to another passion – for the Spanish language.
“My father is from Mexico and my mother is from Knox,” she said. “Spanish is another thing that I’m very interested in. I don’t know if I want to go into teaching or not, but I love the language.”
Involved with Spanish Club, AFS, Multi-Cultural Club and a four-year member of the Crimson Connection at PHS, you can find Shelly most days at the front desk of the Boys and Girls Club, helping out.
“I’m really like most teenagers,” she said. “I’m very family oriented. My family always comes first. I love horses, I play softball and I’m in 4H and I do tube painting.”
College is also in her future.
“I’ll be the first in my family to go,” she said.