TOHS senior exemplifies all that's good with young people of today

Ariel Downs Every high school graduating class has its bad boys, mean girls, science wizards, computer geeks, star athletes and popular kids. They also have lots of amazing young people who are just plain nice.

Ariel Downs represents the nicest of the nice, a person who stands by her convictions and volunteers her time to a variety of causes, principal Tim Carpenter said.

"She is a quality, quality, quality young lady who represents everything that is good about the youth today," he said.

Her classmates seem to agree. Inside her yearbook they express their feelings about the 17yearold senior with words such as, "Your smile has meant so much to me," and "You'll never know how much it has meant to me that you would always say hello to me."

Ariel will take that book of memories to college in the fall. She was awarded the Presidential Scholarship and the Vocal Scholarship to attend the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash.

"I felt like I was home as soon as I got there, and it's gorgeous," Ariel said, describing the liberal arts college.

Ariel has many talents. She plays the piano and has placed high in several piano competitions. She also sings opera and studied at the Boston Conservatory during a two-week intensive training session.

Though she sings like an angel, it's her angelic actions that set her apart, her mother, Mary Ann Downs, said.

"People tell me it's her sense of kindness and joy that touches them."

Carpenter agreed. As her principal at Redwood Intermediate School and at TOHS, he's known Ariel since she was in sixth grade. He said even when she was young Ariel had strong convictions and a kind heart.

"She was fun to watch grow up," Carpenter said.

Ariel has served on the school site council since seventh grade and was a student leader on the council in her junior and senior years.

In high school she enjoyed participating in the choir, where she won awards for her outstanding voice, until class scheduling made it impossible for her to continue, she said. She then enjoyed musical theater productions. She played Cinderella in the school's "Into the Woods" production.

Ariel has been involved in PTSA all four years of high school and has helped with compassionate service projects such as food drives for the hungry and making hygiene kits for the poor. She also sings and plays the piano at retirement homes and helped with a family dance benefit for the Red Cross.

After college she hopes to go to graduate school, study abroad and travel the world.