Maddie Skaris is a senior this year at BPHS. She participates in marching band, TLC, and National Honors Society, all while keeping an impressive 4.0 GPA.

This year Maddie is taking on her fourth marching band season, as the saxophone section leader. 

When asked about what she likes about being a section leader, she said: “Being a section leader is one of the most rewarding experiences. I love working with my section on the music and seeing them succeed as a group. As section leader, you get to know everyone in your section really well, and they all become some of your closest friends.”

Being in charge of a total of 18 other musicians, Maddie has been faced with several challenges. One is the saxophone not being her primary instrument. She has only been playing the saxophone for five years.

Maddie plays the bass clarinet as her primary instrument. She has been playing it for seven years.

“I started on the clarinet, and my band teacher at Neil Armstrong, Mr. Knell, told me I would be really good at bass clarinet. I practiced it and I fell in love with the instrument,” said Maddie on why she chose the bass clarinet. 

She plays the saxophone in Jazz Ensemble and plays the bass clarinet in symphonic band.

Her favorite instrument to play is the bass clarinet because she loves how low in register it is and how genuinely fun it is to play.

This year, Maddie will be participating in her second year of TLC. TLC is a program for high schoolers who have an interest in mentoring incoming freshmen.

“I love being a part of TLC. Being able to meet the incoming freshmen girls is an amazing experience because they know that you are a friendly face that they can talk to. You have an effect on them and you can give them reassurance about high school while having fun playing games and dressing up,” Skaris said about her experience so far in TLC.

Although Maddie is sad to leave the music program and all her activities behind, she has a bright future ahead of her. She is committed to IUP (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) for nursing.

The decision to go into nursing was an easy one for Maddie to make.

When asked why she wanted to go into nursing, Maddie said: “I wanted to become a nurse because ever since I was 2 years old I’ve been around doctors. Especially when I was in the hospital I struggled a lot mentally. The nurses that were kind and went above and beyond for me helped me to get through that hard time. They inspired me to become a nurse because I want to have that same impact on my patients.”

In her free time, you can find Maddie practicing her instruments, listening to music, and walking her dog.

Maddie has a dog named Hulk, a guinea pig named Taylor, and two birds named Luna and Tweetie.

Maddie’s biggest inspiration is her mom because of her sacrifices and what she has been through.

A quote that inspires Maddie is, “You were given this life because you are strong enough to live it” by Ain Eineziz.

Maddie’s favorite TV show is “Grey’s Anatomy.”

Her favorite color is purple.

A food she could eat for the rest of her life would be ice cream.

“Any song written by Taylor Swift because her songs always help me get out of a bad mood,” said Maddie when asked what her favorite song is.

Her biggest accomplishment is recovering from a major life-changing spine surgery when Maddie was younger. 

“It is the hardest thing I ever had to overcome. I struggled a lot mentally and physically. Mentally I was struggling to accept the fact that my life is going to change and how much I would have to adapt,” Skaris said on her biggest accomplishment.

Maddie Skaris is genuinely an amazing student, friend, and leader, who deserves recognition for all her hard work over the past four years at BPHS!