Cocalico High School

Cameron Bibbus

Senior

National Honor Society, Tri M, pep band, symphonic band, and Choralaires: these are just some of the things that Cameron Bibbus is involved in that make him a valuable member of the Student Spotlight crew. 

When he is not involved in these extracurriculars, he is spending quality time with his pet turtle, Shellby. 

In his senior year of high school, he is taking Concert Choir and Wind Ensemble, Spanish IV, Physics, and Service Learning. 

He does not know exactly what he wants to do after high school, but he knows that he wants to make a positive impact on our ever-changing world. 

In his free time, he tells his peers his hilarious jokes about bicycles. His favorite movie, Spongebob Squarepants the Movie, inspires him to be the best person he can be every day of his life and to continue to do so. In times of hardship, he can think of the movie and hear the words, “I’ve been through a lot… and if I’ve learned anything during that time, it’s that you are who you are.” And when that does not lift his spirits, he thinks of Danny DeVito, whose wise words were, “We could be in a turtle’s dream in outer space,” which reminds him of his cute little turtle who is his number one cheerleader in life. 

Good luck to Cameron in his life after graduation!

Written by: Gwen Zecchinelli

Bethany Elmore

Senior

Bethany Elmore is a conscientious, studious student currently in her last semester at Cocalico High School. She has gotten accepted to Brigham Young University, which is not surprising based on her outstanding course load. She has taken AP Language and Composition, AP Statistics, AP Literature, and Calculus AB. She is currently taking AP Microeconomics, and Calculus BC. On top of all of these rigorous classes, she has been on the 4.0 honor roll every single year of her high school experience. 

Bethany is also very active in the school. She has been the treasurer of the Class of 2022 since her freshman year, along with being the treasurer of Student Government this year. She also got accepted into National Honor Society here at the high school during her junior year, and this year she is the Vice President of it. This prodigious curriculum vitae is leading her to her dream job of being a speech pathologist. 

Even with this robust course load, Bethany still has time to do some activities she loves. She has played tennis for many years. This year she made it on the varsity team in the 5th ranking spot and played doubles with her favorite partner Hanna (me). Mother Teresa once said, “Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” While Bethany does do great things, she also proves this by finding time to carry out relaxing activities, despite her busy schedule. She likes crocheting, reading, and practicing her piano playing skills. Between her accomplishments, participation in school, and her finding time to still do the small things in life, Bethany will no doubt do amazing things in the future. We all wish her luck next year at Brigham Young University!

Written by: Hanna Weller

Jack Lesher

Senior

Jack Lesher is a hardworking, determined student attending Cocalico High School. When he is not managing Dunkin’ Donuts, he is taking a heavy course load. This course load includes AP Microeconomics, AP Biology, AP Government, AP Calculus, AP Physics, AP Language, AP Statistics, and Chemistry 2. This year he has also participated in HACC dual enrollments where he has taken the classes World History and Sociology. On top of participating in all of this, he is also in the Environmental Club here at Cocalico. His tough course load has earned him interviews at many colleges, such as University of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts Institution of Technology, Duke, and Dartmouth. He has ultimately decided to commit to Haverford College. He wants to major in astrophysics to become an astrophysicist. This may help him fulfill his life time dream of getting the opportunity of going to space.

If he never gets that chance though, he also wants to travel the world. He would love to go to Bali because of its all-around inexpensive beauty. Closer places would be good for him too just because of his huge love for all cars and driving. Right now, a lot of his travels are to Dunkin’ Donuts. He has worked there for about a year and a half, and this hard work led him to become the evening shift leader and then the manager. As Nikola Tesla says, “The present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is mine.” Even though everyone seems to love the savory bacon egg and cheese bagels and the sausage egg and cheese wraps at Dunkin’, Jack cannot eat them. He has been a vegetarian his entire life. He has never had any meat besides seafood, but he seems like an adventurous guy. Maybe during his travels of the world, adventures to Bali, and his expeditions to Dunkin’, one day he will try it.

Written by: Hanna Weller

Jilian Musser

Senior

From the stage to the pool and the rest of her fascinating life, Jilian Musser will never shy away from a possible adventure. When she is not giving announcements for Cocalico High School, she is singing her heart out in the countless productions she has been involved in since she was eleven years old. This year she plays Emma in Cocalico’s musical Emma, and she wants everyone to come see her and her hardworking castmates and crewmates shine this December. Her other stage is a swimming pool. She works as a lifeguard at the Denver Pool during the summer, and she is part of the Ephrata Tidal Waves Club. If that is not enough, she is also currently competing on the school’s swim team. 

Miss Musser spends her free time hanging with her family and friends, shopping, and collecting vinyls, which has become a beautiful and varied collection. Her classes for her senior year include Choir ll, TV Production lll and IV, Independent Study with TV Production, Applied Music Performance, AP Language and Composition, Digital Filmmaking, LifeLong Personal Communication Skills, and Service Learning. Her extracurriculars are being a leader in Student Government, Tri-M Music Honor Society, National Honor Society, Choralaires, and Worship Team at her local church. With all her commitments keeping her busy, it is nice to take a break and spend some quality time with her dog, Millie, her Betta fish, Michael Phelps, and her goats, Pop-tart, Spot, and Twinkle. After high school, she is attending Point Park University in Pittsburgh and will major in broadcasting. She will shine bright like the star she is and blow the world away and will look to her role model, David Bowie, along the way with his wise words, “I don’t know where I’m going from here, but I promise it won’t be boring.”

Written by: Gwendolyn Zecchinelli

Aubrey Haldeman

Senior

Aubrey Haldeman is an involved and very diligent student at Cocalico High School. Not only has she shown her smarts at Cocalico but Aubrey has also shown them at CTC, where she is in N.T.H.S (National Technical Honor Society), and she has made the honor roll. Aubrey has also been in N.H.S for two years. Aubrey participates in several other activities at Cocalico, such as varsity field hockey and softball. She has played field hockey for six years and has played softball for five years. 

Outside of school, Aubrey is involved in her youth group and church choir. An inspirational quote for Aubrey is Jeremiah 29:11: “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” 

Aubrey’s biggest academic accomplishment is her 3.8 GPA. She is using this GPA to go to the Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences to pursue her goal of becoming a nurse. Her sweet, passionate personality makes it clear that she will succeed in this field, and Cocalico wishes her all the best!

Written by: Jordyn Smith

Kiera Tran

Junior

Kiera Tran is an incredibly intelligent and involved student at Cocalico High School. Not only will she be completing AP Language and Composition, AP United States Government and Politics, and AP Statistics, but she is taking a multitude of college preparation courses on top of that. Kiera juggles all of this while also being in Student Government, Global Scholars, and the Leo Club. Recently in the Leo Club, Kiera participated in a Trunk-or-Treat and brought smiles to many children’s faces on an early Saturday morning. She is also very involved in the music department at CHS. She spends her own free time playing with the band or singing her heart out with Choralaires. Kiera wants to work in the genetics or medical field and eventually earn her doctorate. If you think all of these things are impressive, you should ask her what she does outside of school.

Kiera has been in dance since she was only three years old. She has an incredibly rigorous dance schedule. Despite this schedule, she also finds time to teach three dance classes of her own. She has not always been an incredible student and a dance prodigy though. When she was the age of the children she teaches, she was a television star. Kiera starred in a heartwarming promotion about children with peanut allergies. Kiera shared her uneasiness about people finding out about her child star career, but as her idol Harry Styles has said, “I think you should not be scared of embarrassing yourself. I think it builds character.” Kiera’s travels for all of these activities sparked her love for exploring, and she has decided she dreams of exploring Europe. Who knows… maybe she will re-spark her acting career in the process?

Written by: Hanna Weller

Cameron Nye

Junior

Cameron Nye is nothing short of exemplary. When he is not taking romantic walks along the beach, he is jamming away at the many instruments he has mastered. His instrumental talents include the guitar, ukulele, piano and his favorite, the saxophone. He spends much of his time in the music department playing with the symphonic band and marching band along with being voted into the role of Drum Major for the marching band, which allows him to lead the marching band to all of their lovely performances. Two of his other leadership roles include being the Junior Class Treasurer in Student Government and being the current Tri-M President. He has also been in many shows throughout his middle and high school careers.

Aside from his many extracurriculars, he is enrolled in college preparatory classes, such as AP U.S. History, AP Language and Composition, Applied Calculus, Spanish III, AP Statistics, Physics, and Chem II. He is preparing to become a doctor once he leaves high school, and he has been doing a great deal of work to get there. His personal role model, Taylor Swift, has inspired him to live the life he wants and accomplish all of his goals. During his interview, he emphasized his favorite quote of hers: “I could build a castle out of all the bricks they threw at me.” While on this earth, it is one of Cameron’s dreams to go skydiving to conquer his fear of heights. He also wants to travel across the country to visit all of the national parks the United States has to offer. His love for history and his hunt for knowledge will never end as he grows and experiences life, and he would not have it any other way.

Written by: Gwendolyn Zecchinelli