Meet Sydney Read ...
School: Holy Cross High School
Parents: Bronwyn and Frank Pero and Byron Read
Plans: To attend Temple University, where she has been accepted into the Honors Program and plans to major in cellular and molecular neuroscience.
Sydney Read maximizes both the logical and creative sides of her brain.
An accomplished pianist, the Holy Cross High School student from Old Forge has performed twice at Carnegie Hall, won a prestigious piano award, and plans to become a physician in either transplant surgery or obstetrics.
Regarding pursuing a medical specialty, Sydney said, "I just think it's going to be more interesting to me, and I'll be working with both sides of my brain to figure out more complex things."
Named to the Distinguished Honor Roll during all four years of high school, Sydney is a two-year member of the National Honor Society and Student Council. A four-year member of the Environmental and Foreign Language clubs and two service clubs, Sydney also earned first-place awards in regional and state Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science competitions.
A basketball cheerleader for four years, she was captain of the varsity basketball cheerleading team last season. She also has volunteered as a middle-school cheerleading coach the past two years, contributing more than 100 hours.
She began playing piano 11 years ago and was selected by the Northeast Pennsylvania Music Teachers' Association for her Carnegie Hall performances. In June, she was awarded the Paderewski gold medal for having performed a memorized repertoire at Piano Guild Auditions in front of judges at a superior level for 10 straight years.
"It was a long and hard journey to receive it, and I had to put countless hours of practice time in, but it all paid off in the end, and I couldn't be prouder," Sydney said.
She was encouraged to play piano by her maternal grandmother, whom Sydney most admires.
"She goes above and beyond for my family, and I couldn't thank her enough," Sydney said. "She is the most selfless person I know, and I aspire to be someone like her."