Spotlight on: Chris Farrell
March 2025 Senior Student of the Month
The Student Council decides monthly student and teacher awards with a specific category each month. The category for March 2025 was the musical for students and “master of their craft” for teachers.
The Senior Student of the Month awards go to two seniors per month who are nominated and voted on by Student Council members in grades 9-11.
The High School Teacher of the Month award goes to one teacher per month who is nominated and voted on by Student Council members in grades 9-12. All Teachers of the Month become eligible to become Teacher of the Year in June.
The March 2025 Senior Students of the Month are Isabella Miller and Chris Farrell, and the March 2025 High School Teacher of the Month is Kathryn Lister.
Below is a Q&A with Chris Farrell:
Role in the musical (on stage or behind the scenes): on stage.
Q. What was your favorite part about being involved in the musical?
A. My favorite part about being involved in the musical is getting to spend time with some of the most amazing people.
Q. What did you learn from the experience?
A. Being in the musical teaches you a lot about getting along with others, which I think is a really good thing. I’m very introverted and it takes me a while to warm up to people but I think the experience has forced me to reach out to people in a good way. I’ve also learned a lot about confidence, when you are in a musical you are expected to try your best and commit to your part. Even if you have to do something you find embarrassing, you need to be confident in yourself.
Q. Do you have a favorite moment from rehearsal or performance night?
A. My favorite moment from a rehearsal was when Jilly and Arthur drew the hyperpigmentation drawing on our scripts.
Q. If you could play any role in any musical, what would it be and why?
A. I would play Damien from Mean Girls because I think it’s a very high quality show with great songs. Damien is sort of the comedy relief in the show so I think it would be a great opportunity to get out of my comfort zone and play a funny part.
Q. Who inspired you the most during the musical, and how?
A. Seeing the amount of talent that is present in Herkimer’s musical program is really what inspires me. Specifically, Landon Ploss and Maddy Collis are some of my biggest inspirations singing-wise. Their vocal control, pitch accuracy, and range is outstanding. But everybody in the program is impressive in everything they do. So I would have to say all my castmates are who inspired me the most.
Q. What advice would you give to someone thinking about joining next year’s production?
A. It’s a huge time commitment but worth it. All the energy you put into it makes the ending so much more fulfilling. So many people that take that leap and try doing the musical for one year end up coming back to be a part of it every year.
Q. What’s one song from the show you still can’t stop singing? 🎶
A. “I’m Free” is my favorite song from “Footloose,” and it’s definitely one I still can’t get out of my head.