Whiz Kid

Whiz Kid: Dan Bromberg

Swampscott High School senior Dan Bromberg has a bright future, and will use the skills he's acquired in class, on the debate team and as the student representative to the Swampscott School Committee when he heads off to college next fall.

  Swampscott High School senior Dan Bromberg has an extremely bright future ahead of him, all of the colleges he’s interested in, are interested in him. When The Patch caught up with the 17-year-old, he was waiting at Panera Bread to talk to a representative from Cornell University, about the possibility of heading to upstate New York for his college career. “All the schools I’ve applied to are giving me interviews,” Dan said. “Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth, M.I.T., it would be great to go to M.I.T., my dad works there and I did an internship there for two years while I was in high school.” The Brombergs live on Sherwood Road, and Dan has lived in town his entire life, his mom and dad and older brother came to Swampscott over 20 years ago from…

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Whiz Kid

Whiz Kid: Alexa Baldacci

The senior is a whirlwind, slicing through the water in the pool and kicking high on the dance floor.

  Alexa Baldacci moves. The Swampscott High senior’s energy and enthusiasm bound and spill forth on land and water. She captains her school swim team. She started swimming as a freshman and discovered she was pretty good. “So since then I’ve been swimming like crazy,” she said. Alexa, an NEC all-star, swims sprints — 50- and 100-yard freestyle sprints. The events fit her personality, straight ahead and energetic. On the dance floor, her excitement pours forth, says Swampscott High Dance Team Coach Danielle Lannon. “She completely lights up on the stage; I could watch her dance all day!” Alexa has danced all four years of high school.  “I have watched her grow into a beautiful, confident young woman and a very talented dancer and leader,” …

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Whiz Kid

Whiz Kid: Trevor Whelan

The high school senior sets his sights on goals and takes the steps to reach them.

  Trevor Whelan sweats the small stuff. He's organized and chases goals, too. It's minutes before the Swampscott High senior and indoor-track captain joins teammates for practice the first week in January. He's wearing spotless boots, neat rolled-up jeans and a wrinkle-free jersey. Nearby, on the field house's rubber track, teammates train — doing sprints, runs and distance running. Some look over and smile when they pass Trevor. He has never run a 5-minute mile in his four-year track career. “I’m hoping to break five," he says. That would make him the fifth miler on the team to break that barrier. He ran his best time the day before, a 5:06, so he needs to shave seven seconds to join the Big Blue mile club. Trevor runs distance races …

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Whiz Kid: Bobby Barbaro

His initials are B. B., and those two B's could stand for Bobby Barbaro or Base Ball, the seventh grader's passion and favorite sport.

  Swampscott Middle School seventh grader Bobby Barbaro is certain about at least two things, he loves baseball and he hates the New York Giants. Sitting in his living room in his family’s home on Burpee Road last week, Bobby, in his Rob Gronkowski jersey, said the Pats are going to win next Sunday, and he’s game for a game of baseball any time of year. The 12-year-old suited up for the Brewers the past two seasons in the Swampscott Little League. The Brew Crew lost to the Phillies in the championship round in 2010, and lost to the eventual champs the Dodgers last season. Bobby plays winter baseball at the SportsPlex facility on Route 1 in Danvers while he’s waiting for the upcoming Little League season. “I like playing indoors and I like …

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Whiz Kid

Whiz Kid: Dennis Averin

The high school junior's connection to conservation has taken him far, wide and high.

  Swampscott High junior Dennis Averin has traveled broadly, much of it inspired by his connection to the natural world and conservation. That connection began at a young age on hikes with his father in the Presidential Range in New Hampshire's White Mountains. And it has continued. This past summer he joined students from Texas, Ohio and New Hampshire on an internship in Dinosaur National Monument in Utah. They slept in tents and rose early for days of swinging pickaxes, shoveling earth and marking trails — protecting critical environments from the trampling feet of lost travelers. The national park is home to river canyons, desert and ancient stone formations. Deer and small mammals roam the territory. They saw a bear. "It was beautiful…

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Whiz Kid

Whiz Kid: Robert Serino

Swampscott High School's Robert Serino is continuing an athletic and community legacy set down by his uncles, his dad, and his grandfather here in Big Blue Country.

  Big Blue junior Robert Serino couldn’t hide his disappointment when Swampscott fell to Marblehead on Thanksgiving Day, knocking the football team out of the playoffs. “It was tough, really tough, but me and the other returning juniors told the sophomores and freshman that this is never going to happen again, we’re going to move ahead, work hard and change the ending next time,” Serino said."We start working right now." Robert lives on Burpee Road with his mom and dad and his younger sister Callie, a freshman at Swampscott High School. His uncles, his dad and his grandfather have all been involved with sports in town, youth baseball, hockey and youth football for many years. Robert’s little sister is a cheerleader for the freshman …

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Whiz Kid: Elizabeth Kirby

Seventeen-year-old Elizabeth Kirby has had her focus on getting good grades and rooting for the home team since her mom introduced her to cheering when she was 7 years old.

  Swampscott High School junior Elizabeth Kirby took a break from rooting for the home team to tell the Swampscott Patch about her ride to the sidelines at Big Blue football and Big Blue basketball games. Elizabeth lives with her mom and dad, Diane and John, in a beautiful home on Bay View Drive, her older brother John, is a freshman at Providence College, and her younger brother Miles is a freshman at Swampscott High School. Elizabeth was minding her own business, she was 7 years old, when her mom came into her room and asked her if she would like to get involved with cheering. Elizabeth’s mom, Diane, was a cheerleader at St. Mary’s in the late 1970s, where she and her future husband first met. Diane was a cheerleader, and John Kirby was …

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Whiz Kid: Gia DiLisio

Swampscott Middle School student Gia DiLisio recently performed three roles on the stage during the Northeast Youth Ballet's holiday performances of the Nutcracker.

  One of the great holiday traditions is seeing a performance of The Nutcracker, and recently, Swampscott’s Gia Dilisio took the stage to perform in the holiday classic as a member of the Northeast Youth Ballet.  DiLisio is a fifth grader at the Swampscott Middle School. Hundreds of people jammed the Lynn Memorial Auditorium earlier this month to see DiLisio and the rest of the cast dance their way through the story of Clara, a young girl in Germany in 1835 who makes her way to a magical palace of sugary sweets in a winter wonderland. The Swampscott 11-year-old had a number of roles in the performance, and was nervous the first few times she took the stage, but now she takes each role and each show in stride. “I was nervous at first, for …

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Whiz Kid: Kelsey Lombard

The Swampscott High School class of 2014 is in good hands with Class President Kelsey Lombard who leads her classmates with dedication and respect for her position.

The Swampscott High School class of 2014 has not had to make a change on the group’s stationery listing the president of the class since 2007, because Kelsey Lombard has been the choice of her classmates since she was in fifth grade. “I enjoy running for office at school, I like to meet people and find out what kinds of things they need and how we can make our class better,” Lombard said. “When I started running for class president, I really needed to improve on my public speaking skills, and listening too, so that’s what I’ve done.” “I’m very grateful that my class thinks that I have what it takes to be president and I’ll work my hardest to be a good class president,” Lombard said. Lombard and the Class of 2014 just knocked their most …

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Whiz Kid

Whiz Kid: Sam Gold

Swampscott senior goes about his business as a leader on the offensive line and in the locker room for the Big Blue football team this season.

Swampscott High School senior Sam Gold goes about his business leading the Big Blue football team as one of the 2011 co-captains, working the trenches on the offensive line. If Gold and his fellow linemen don’t do their jobs, the Big Blue backs can’t do their jobs and the team won’t be successful on the field. Gold and his teammates are doing just fine this season, the Big Blue has raced out to a 7-1 record and they sit atop the NEC/CAL League 2 Tier at 3-0 after Saturday’s very impressive win over Beverly. “I’m on the field for the offensive series, I just try to give it my all and do my best, make holes and protect the quarterback,” Gold said. Gold began playing football in third grade and has been with the high school program since his …

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