SEABROOK — Seabrook Middle School’s Youth to Youth group is made up of about 12 students and is led by advisors Grade 6 languagearts teacher Alyssa Dowe, school counselor Hayley Parsons and student assistance counselor Megan Poirier.
For the past 10 years, students in the group have created a PSA to educate their peers about the dangers of substance misuse. This year’s PSA, “Happy Birthday,” premiered at the 12th annual Granite Youth Alliance Film Festival at The Music Hall in Portsmouth on June 9.
The Granite Youth Film Festival, which is supported by Granite United Way’s Greater Seacoast Region in partnership with the Granite Youth Alliance, empowers student leaders to create films that raise awareness about preventable health problems they face in their community. In the process of creating films, students experience the full process of film production, from budgeting and pitching their films to producing and premiering them.
This year, Seabrook students chose to focus on substance abuse in their short film. In the film, students can see the impact of substances on a young teen and his peers’ mental health as he relives the same day over and over again until he confronts his issues with substances.
View the PSA on the Seabrook Youth to Youth YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3_5vMBgDPQ.
EXETER — The Rockingham Choral Society has selected Coe-Brown Northwood Academy senior Tessa Tenasco as the 2025 recipient of the Dr. Henry Wing Memorial Music Scholarship.
The $1,000 scholarship is named in honor of former music director Dr. Henry Wing, who served as the Artistic Director and conductor of the choral society for 30 years. Among his many achievements, he instituted a policy of choosing the vocal soloists from the membership and hiring the best orchestral players from Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine, including faculty and students from the UNH Music Department.
Tenasco has participated in music in a variety of ways throughout her youth. Learning clarinet in middle school inspired her to transfer to a school with more musical opportunities. In addition to being a member of the Coe-Brown Northwood Academy concert band and pop band as a clarinetist, and the jazz ensemble as an alto saxophonist, Tenasco is a soprano in the school’s chorus. She was selected for the All State Chorus the past two years and is part of Coe-Brown Northwood Academy’s invitation-only Honors Treble Chorus.
Tenasco is an award-winning vocalist, having been named a top three finisher at the New England Music Festival over the last three consecutive years. She also plays guitar, piano and ukulele.
In addition to her musical accomplishments, Tenasco is a member of the National English Honor Society and the French National Honor Society.
Tenasco plans to attend the University of Hartford in the fall to pursue a bachelor of music with a focus on vocal performance.
