Burlington’s Class of What’s Next
A scholarship, an orchestra, and a travel award: Three Burlington residents are being celebrated for following their passions.
The end of the school year marks a transition for three Burlington residents who are looking ahead to big next steps after seasons of hard work.
The Music of Life
Antonio Casarano has music coursing through his veins – though he didn’t realize it until the sixth grade. “When I was in third grade, I picked up the violin because I thought it looked cool,” said the BHS sophomore. But he didn’t spend much time practicing that year, nor the next, when he traded the violin for a viola.
Even now, Antonio can’t say exactly what it is that called him to the cello. But from the time he first ran a bow across the strings in the first year of middle school, he was hooked. He returned to viola and violin as well, finding them much easier to approach than he had in elementary school.
Since then he has made a name for himself on social media and around the Boston area arts community as a budding classical music star. His talent and hard work have earned him a spot in the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, where he practices every Sunday, and most recently a six-week trip to Tanglewood to practice and perform with the Young Artists Orchestra alongside some of the best young musicians from the U.S. and abroad.
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Antonio is humble about his success, but BHS Chorus & Orchestra Director Elizabeth Holmgren isn’t surprised, and neither is his mother, Amanda Blake. “It’s like he can’t help it,” said Holmgren. “It makes him feel funny if he’s not playing.” She also emphasized the hard work behind his achievements, in addition to his obvious talent. Antonio said his schoolwork, music, and tennis keep him busy but he doesn’t have trouble balancing them. Blake agreed, saying adding that he manages his home responsibilities well and is a wonderful big brother to his younger siblings.
Blake is no stranger to the stage herself. She and her husband used to perform together – her singing while he rapped. She has watched her son’s impressive work from Just Dance performances and playing alongside Alicia Keys songs on the piano at age four, to composing a cello part for a song written by his uncle for his wedding, to earning prestigious honors today. “I would think, ‘It’s just in him. He’s just got it.’ You see it there from when he was a toddler.”
In May, Antonio started a crowdfunding campaign to support his Tanglewood tuition. It took little more than a week to reach his $6,400 goal. “There’s just something about him,” said Blake. “Everybody that meets him wants to help him.”
For Antonio, Tanglewood represents the opportunity to develop lasting connections with other young artists and professionals that will support his future as a student and musician. He hopes to continue playing throughout high school and eventually attend Juilliard.
From Struggling to Thriving
Four years ago, Ava Pazzia would have told you high school was a struggle. Today, she’s planning to attend Merrimack College in North Andover on a full academic scholarship.
Ava is one of three high school students in the nation to receive Merrimack’s Augustinian Scholarship. This four-year full academic scholarship is awarded to students graduating from secondary schools affiliated with the Order of St. Augustine.
Ava, who attended Francis Wyman Elementary School and Marshall Simonds Middle School, enrolled in Austin Prep for high school and immediately felt the pressure. “In freshman and sophomore year I struggled a lot. At first we thought it was anxiety,” she said, but testing revealed a different root: attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
With support from her mother, Jacki, and her school counselor, Ava got a diagnosis and began a treatment plan that helped her move toward her goals. “I realized that to go to one of my dream schools I needed to put a lot more effort in and focus on myself and not my surroundings,” she said. Shifting her attention from her peers’ success to her own paid off, improving her focus, grades, and self-confidence.
Her routine looks different now, and she’s having a much easier time staying on task, pursuing her goals, and balancing her coursework with activities outside school – including fall cheerleading, a team she helped lead to a state championship this school year.
After applying to Merrimack, Ava received an email from the admissions office about the scholarship opportunity. Merrimack and Austin Prep share the same patron Saint, St. Augustine, and the scholarship is awarded to a student that embodies the Augustinian values of unitas (togetherness), caritas (love), and veritas (truth). When asked why they chose Ava, the Merrimack College Admissions Office said Ava’s commitment to these values shines through in “her leadership skills, community service, and enthusiasm for involvement.
Ava is committed to the cheer team at Merrimack, and her experiences in high school shaped her professional goals. “I’m going to major in psychology, and I want to be a clinical child therapist,” she said, adding that she loves working with kids and was inspired watching her school counselor support her classmates.
For Ava, success beyond academics is about being true to herself. She advises students experiencing similar struggles to seek support and stay focused on their goals.
A Lifelong Learner
Lifelong educator Denise Porcello is looking at the path from a different vantage point – the end of a 33-year career in teaching that was as impactful to her as it was to her students. Her retirement was made a little sweeter when she was named a runner-up for the Road Scholar’s Educator Legacy Award.
“I was born saying ‘I want to be a teacher,’” said Porcello, who has lived in Burlington for 28 years. And what better profession for a lifelong learner?
While teaching third grade at Dracut’s Brookside Elementary School, she went to an unusual place seeking hands-on learning opportunities for her students: a paleontology dig in Montana. “It was literally life-changing,” she said.
By the time she returned home, she had an idea for the children’s book Dinogirl: Young Paleontologist, which she wrote and published along with illustrator Clarissa Koos, a 12-year-old who had been on the dig with her and was involved in the discovery of the Clarissasaurus in 2013. Koos is now a professional science illustrator with a degree in paleontology.
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Porcello’s goal has always been to inspire and motivate her students – especially the girls. “I tried to educate myself so I could bring those experiences back to the classroom,” she said, to kids who don’t always have access to museums and similar opportunities.
This initiative is one of many that led Road Scholar to name Porcello one of five runner-ups for their Educator Legacy Award, which comes with a $1,500 travel stipend. She easily named all the things she loves about teaching — the spark of understanding in a student’s eyes, the joy of seeing former students return for a visit — but acknowledged that great teachers aren’t always recognized for their work.
“That’s why this award was so nice,” she said, “to have someone recognize you and what you’re trying to accomplish.”
The learning isn’t finished for Porcello. She still volunteers in her daughter’s second-grade classroom and serves on Burlington’s Historical Commission. And that travel stipend? She’s already booked a vacation to the Grand Canyon later this year.
Eye on the Prize
These Burlington residents are proving, each in their own way, that the right time to follow your passions is as soon as you are ready. The Buzz is looking forward to what the next step holds for Denise, Antonio, and Ava.
