This Week's Student Spotlight: Alexis Jimenez

School: Senior at Albertus Magnus High School
Age: 17

Alexis' calling is in the Arts.  As a member of the drama club for four years, she has played major roles in three plays; 45 Seconds to Broadway, Death By Dessert and The Man Who Came To Dinner and four musicals; Guys and Dolls, Back To the 80's, Bye Bye Birdie and this year's Hairspray.

In this month's production of Hairspray she will be playing Motormouth Maybelle.

After last year's performance in Bye Bye Birdie as Mama Mae Peterson, Jiminez was nominated in the Outstanding Comedic Performance category, by the High School Theater Awards. This award ceremony started in 1998 in order to spotlight local talent from Rockland, Westchester and Bergen counties. The actors and actresses are chosen by select judges and honored at an annual awards ceremony held at the Paramount Center for the Arts in Peekskill, NY.

"At the beginning of the rehearsal process for Bye Bye Birdie my director had announced that we were entered into the Metropolitan High School Theatre Awards. For the awards a judge is sent to each performance and chooses a person to enter into each category. I was chosen by the majority of the judges to be entered into the Comedic Performance category," said Alexis Jimenez.

Not only is Jimenez a talented actress but she has terrific vocals as well. She's been involved with Veritas, the Honor Choir at Albertus, since her sophomore year. Veritas is a competitive club that sings at festivals, masses, naturalization ceremonies as well as competitions.

"My most memorable experience with Veritas was our first competition in May 2010. We were all very nervous and had no idea what to expect. After we sang we spent the entire day in Hershey Park. It was on this trip that I bonded most with my fellow "Veritasians", as we call ourselves," said Jimenez.

She is also quite talented with the written word. She's been a writer for the school newspaper, the Magnus Monitor, for three years. Jimenez came up with and developed her own column about food.

"I began to think about what I enjoyed. I had recently discovered a love for cooking and I had always loved writing. I then thought to combine the two. The column "Recipe for the Season" is featured in every issue of the Magnus Monitor. I begin by considering what a certain season inspires in me and what I would like to eat at that time. The result is the recipe of the season," said Jimenez.

She has made the honor roll for the last four years and was admitted into the National Honor Society this year. She has taken two AP courses as well as been a part of the Red Cross Club and was published in the literary magazine. 

Her experience at Albertus Magnus has been a good one.

"I was always impressed by the compassion and understanding shown not only by the faculty but the student body of Albertus Magnus. Of course there are common high school issues such as bullying, the school isn't perfect, but the response to such problems has been very productive. Students are encouraged to speak out against bullying and report bullying if they see it. This year the school has required the student body to take a survey in which the questions ask about experiences in Albertus pertaining to bullying in order to seek improvement. Albertus is making great strides against bullying and it is a great improvement."

This year's musical will be Jimenez's last high school production and it is sure to be a hit. If you are interested in watching Jimenez and her cast mates perform the hit musical Hairspray, you can see the show March 23, 24, and 25, at Albertus Magnus High School. You can reserve your seat through the website.

Break a leg Alexis!