For junior Matt Baldocchi, a typical day may involve anything from singing to schoolwork to scampering about in penguin costumes. He is extremely well-rounded and stays quite busy with his varying activities. Baldocchi was recently cast as the leading role, Frederic, in this year’s spring musical, Pirates of Penzance. He will also be performing as a second-year member of Prairie Ridge’s Madrigal singers. In the fall production of Up the Down Staircase, he played one of the dropouts in addition to holding the position of student director. Matt does not just participate in Fine Arts extracurriculars; he is a member of National Honor Society, Spanish National Honor Society, and the track team. While juggling an eventful after-school life, he maintains superb grades in rigorous courses such as AP Language and Composition, AP Calculus AB, Honors Physics, and Honors Accelerated Spanish III. As if this isn’t enough, Matt works as an intern at the Raue Center in downtown Crystal Lake.
Matt Baldocchi has been seen several times wearing a penguin costume around school, which he bought during his freshman year at a Halloween store. “I’ve worn it three years in a row,” stated Baldocchi. “I figured I may as well get some use out of it.” Some students were curious as to why Matt wore this costume every single day during homecoming week instead of following the standard dress-up days. Apparently, his good friend Bij Heydari bet him five dollars that he couldn’t wear it for five days straight, but Baldocchi proved him wrong and won the bet.
Obviously Matt has a great sense of humor, but he gets down to business and sets goals, as well. He hopes to major in film production or directing and minor in business. “That is my dream, to be a producer or a director,” he said. Northwestern, USC, and Michigan are his top three colleges at this point. He is working on building his resume, and already has several achievements to list. Matt Baldocchi is incredibly talented, intelligent, compassionate, and ambitious, and is well on his way to great successes in his life.
