Mary Holohan doesn’t hesitate when asked if she’s a natural leader.
“It’s been a pretty consistent thing throughout my life,” said the Northview High School junior. “I am very open and empathetic. … I love to talk but I love listening to people, and interacting has never been intimidating to me; it’s just fueled who I am.”
Besides playing on the volleyball team in the fall, Mary is part of a new group this year of a half-dozen students who travel to the district’s elementary schools as “Camp Wildcat.” They write and perform skits around themes being taught in the buildings such as kindness, safety and caring.
“It was an idea, and we turned it into this actual thing, which was a really interesting process,” Mary recalled. “Going to the schools and performing, and having the kids get into our chants and mottos, it’s like the best thing.”
She also takes part in SEALS, a class that puts high school students into elementary classrooms for leadership and mentoring. Every day she spends 45 minutes at Field School, helping out with kindergartners and first-graders.
“We learn all about ways to deal with certain situations, IQ and EQ and aspects associated with teaching and working with kids, which is really interesting to me,” Mary said.
Nose for News
Betsy Verwys teaches 10th-grade English and is adviser to The Roar student newspaper, which typically appoints seniors as editors. Mary joined in 10th grade and is co-editor. Verwys recalled Mary “had this ability to bring out the best in people, something that’s not always evident in high school sophomores.”
To hear Mary tell it, the credit goes to “being in class with an amazing group of role models.”
It was during her second semester on the Roar staff that Verwys approached her about applying to be an editor.
“Historically this has been a position held by seniors, but as a sophomore she exhibited such great leadership skills that I opened it up to her,” VerWys said. “And she has exceeded my expectations. She meets writers at their level, casts a vision for the direction of the paper, works hours on her own time to make that all a reality.”
And she does it all, added VerWys, with “a servant’s heart.”
Mary admits “it blew my mind” to be asked to consider the newspaper’s top spot.
“But I was ready for the challenge because I really got to fall in love with the art of telling people’s stories,” she said. “And every day in that class we talk about something that’s real in the world. I think that’s very meaningful.”
And while honing her writing and editing skills and becoming a more savvy news consumer, she said, she also realizes the value of deadline pressure.
“It’s very interesting to have that ongoing pressure that’s not necessarily tied to an immediate grade,” Mary said. “Most things we do in high school is for a grade. In this class we are consistently putting out something that is impactful.
“The skills I’m learning right now are going to be with me throughout my whole life no matter what I do, and I’m very grateful for that.”
