Fine Arts Student of the Week: Yearbook brings out senior's creativity

Mari McGraw

Grade: Senior

Age: 17.

Art focus: Brainerd High School Brainonian.

Adviser nomination: "Mari does a great job as a yearbook editor. She has a great attitude and is always willing to help others. Her pages are very organized, informational and always done before deadline. She provides leadership support to students who need assistance with their pages and helps with other tasks when asked."

Artist most admired: Monet.

Memorable fine arts achievement: "Getting a poetry about my dad published in seventh grade."

Your role as editor: "We have four editors and we are all assigned our own pages and we can work on our pages together. We personally get pages we have an interest with. I've done pages on the foreign exchange program, girls tennis, boys and girls hockey, boys basketball, golf, Interact Club. The sport I like to do the most is hockey or swimming. I like doing the layout for sports because there are more photo opportunities and more content to work with."

What do you like about yearbook: "I like how you get to go out and meet new people you wouldn't have met before. I also like how creative you get to be and that we get to do photography and writing. Each student has to go to three events each semester."

Tell me how you stay organized: "I do what is the hardest page/project for me to do and the most difficult first and then start working on the easier ones. For instance, if there is a club who just met one time to take a group photo we have to make sure to get that done before it is too late. "I make sure everyone gets their stuff done on time and make sure they write down all the names right, so they don't get messed up."

Where are you guys at with the yearbook: "We are about a third of the way done. We finished the big senior section and are working on our February deadline, which is the winter sports and clubs ... We have one major deadline each month."

Favorite page: "I like how the foreign exchange page turned out as I was able to incorporate the different flags. I had more leeway on this page to add more stuff, where I was able to ask kids more questions."

Your strongest skill: "Working with people and making them feel comfortable."

After high school plans: "I want to be a nurse practitioner, but I'm not sure which field I'm going to go into. I plan to attend College of the Redwoods in Eureka, Calif. I used to live in California. I lived here three years. That is where I feel most at home."

Hardest thing to get used to moving to Minnesota: "It's been a big change. The weather was the toughest. We moved here because my stepdad has a son here."

Favorite TV show: "Grey's Anatomy."

Favorite book: "Pride and Prejudice."

Favorite subject: Human biology.

Favorite movie: "10 Things I Hate About You."

Favorite band: Sleeping At Last.

Clubs: Yearbook Club.

Favorite food: "Sushi. I love it. "

Places you've been "I'm going to London for spring break. I went to Ireland and England, as family trips. I'm going to Costa Rica for a month this summer, we haven't been there for like 10 years. That is where I was born. I lived in Costa Rica for 10 years before moving to California.

"We moved to California because of education. The public schools were not good in Costa Rica and the nearest private school was four hours away."

Favorite winter activity: "I haven't done much. I went ice skating for the first time and it was very hard and cold. I miss the ocean, my friends and the food in Redwood the most in California."

Parents: Jessica Stokes and Jimmy Callian of Baxter.

Honorable mention: Stefanie Mans, senior, mock trial: "Stefanie plays a witness on the Mock Trial Team. In our first competition, Jan. 11, she earned a perfect 10 for her performance. She was prepared for all the questions, and she played the part with enthusiasm and animation. She was really fun to watch."