School spirit and dedication earn Sydney Throop recognition 

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]f senior Sydney Throop were listed in the dictionary, it’d probably have an entry similar to this: Sydney Throop (proper noun): a quirky 5’ 2’’ costume designer obsessed with dolphins and princesses. Can often be found in the drama room during breaks, completing homework or studying hiking trails. Sydney Throops are easily identifiable due to their unique yet trendy style, extreme dedication, love for the planet, and kind heart.

Throop is an all-around pleasant person, and if that weren’t enough, she’s also dedicated and hard-working. Throop has helped develop the drama department, received a Girl Scout Gold Award, been a keynote speaker at the Madonna Inn, and was elected the 2013-2014 Homecoming Queen–All while maintaining a 4.0 GPA.

Throop has made many contributions to the drama department through her behind the scenes work as an assistant stage manager and/or costume designer for the school productions Dracula, Seussical, Check Please, Guys and Dolls, Our Town, Once Upon a Mattress, Robin Hood, and then head stage manager for the most recent school musical Hairspray.

Migrant education resource teacher and head costume designer Ruth Enriquez-Bague recognizes Throop as a major influence in the drama department and will miss her leadership after she graduates.

“Sydney has a gusto for life that is contagious, she is kind and very generous with her time, her commitment to all she chooses to pursue is to be admired, she is respectful, she is a diligent student, she is responsible, and lastly she puts all others above herself yet she is confident and ready to take on the world! From the get go she made it a point to learn all she could about theater by completely immersing herself in the program…Her creativity,  organizational skills and ability to work well with others are aspects of her personality that have contributed greatly to the program” Enrique-Bague said.

One of Throop’s major achievements has been reorganizing the costume warehouse.

“[The costume warehouse] was gross. There was trash–and moldy costumes. There were rats and leaks in the building. It was all dirty and dusty because we share it with the track barn. It was just not clean. It was super chaotic, and things were on the floor, and it was just not organized at all,” Throop said.

Throop devoted over 130 hours to reorganizing the mayhem and now thanks to her dedication, the new costume warehouse in the 500 building is well-organized.

“When I reorganized the costume warehouse, I had to make sure that the system I designed [for pulling and returning costumes] was easy to understand, and I could pass on what I’ve learned over the past four years to new kids next year. It was a lot of hard work and organization because we had to move all the costumes from the track barn into our new facility. It’s worked out pretty well: we’ve used [the new system] for two shows now,” Throop said.

Senior Logan Ferry believes it’s Throop’s dedication to the drama department that has helped grow it in to what it is today.

“I see Sydney as one of the founding members of what Paso High Theatre Co. has become right along-side Mrs. Goodnow. The progress she has made in the department has made it what it is today. She does a lot of work that many people will never see or know about, but she still does it because she loves it. Overall, Sydney is the kind of person that I feel everyone should strive to become. And I am so glad that she is being recognized for who she is,” said Ferry, who was been involved in drama with Sydney since their freshmen year.

It was her hard work in the drama department’s costume management that lead to her receiving a Girl Scout Gold Award, a gold, sun shaped patch and pin that features the traditional girl scout symbol in the center. This award is the highest achievement in girl scouting, according to girlscouts.org, and it requires that a young woman in 9th-11th grade develop a project that solves a problem in their community. She must dedicate at least 80 hours to their project. Throop has more than met that standard.

On April 5, Sydney was a keynote speaker at an annual Girl Scouts of the Central Coast meeting at the Madonna Inn, a specific council of the Girl Scouts that contains 10,000 of the 2.3 million total members. During her speech she discussed her Gold Award and her dedication to drama and the arts as Girl Scouts from Los Angeles to San Francisco listened supportively.

“The gold award is the highest level award you can get. It’s what many girl scouts strive to get before they age out and it’s a pretty big honor. When I was chosen to be a keynote speaker I was excited. I’m really proud of my project [her work organizing the costume warehouse] and the fact that I got to talk about it was really cool. I ended up getting a standing ovation” said Throop, who’s been a girl scout since theage of five.

Besides devoting many hours to fix an issue in the community, inspiring others is also a requirement that needs to be met in order to receive a gold award. Many, including senior Melanie Moretti and sophomore Isabella Marziello,believe Sydney’s constant positivity and school pride motivates others around her.

“I think she has had big impact on PRHS. She is constantly spreading her love for everyone and the planet and you can always count on her to make you smile. Seeing her smile truly makes a day at school more enjoyable” said Marziello, who became very close to Throop through their involvement in the 2014 Fall play Robin Hood.

Moretti also agrees that Throop’s positive attitude that has impacted PRHS.

“Sydney is one of the greatest people I know. I think Sydney brings a lot of positivity to our school. She has a lot of school spirit and supports everyone. She also makes everyone feel welcome and spreads happiness. She leaves her mark and spreads her love around to everyone she meets” said Moretti, who’s been close friends with Throop since their freshman year biology class.

It’s clear that Sydney Throop has left her mark here on PRHS through her improvements to the drama program, and through simply spreading her positivity. After high school she plans on pursuing an education in environmental science with a focus on conservation biology at Northern Arizona University, becoming a field researcher, and later becoming a teacher.

“I want to be a teacher later on because I’ve had a bunch of really good teachers here like Mrs. Goodnow, Mrs. Neely, and Mr. Dimaggio and I want to inspire kids like they’ve inspired me. I want to take all my favorite qualities from each of them and use them to become one super teacher,” Throop said.