'She is a great ambassador'

BATAVIA – Batavia High School graduate Hallie Gaitsch said she enjoys learning inside and outside of the classroom.

In addition to her school studies, she also has been doing astrophysics research at Fermilab in Batavia. Her work includes scanning the skies for signs of dark energy and dark matter as part of The Dark Energy Survey,

“I love that aspect of science, and that’s kind of been my gateway into the sciences,” Gaitsch said. “What is exciting about science is that there always is so much more to learn.”

Gaitsch, who graduated at the top of her class with a 4.375 grade point average, was scheduled to give the academic address at Wednesday’s Batavia High School graduation ceremony at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.

The Kane County Chronicle is highlighting local high school students this week for a five-day series celebrating graduating seniors.

Gaitsch plans to attend Yale University in the fall and will major in molecular, cellular and developmental biology. She said she eventually would like to do medical research.

Gaitsch chose Yale after being admitted to several schools, including Princeton University, Northwestern University and the University of Chicago. For Gaitsch, learning is fun.

“When I get into a subject, I will really get into it,” she said. “I’ll read up on it on my own, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be within the confines of a school day. And I would say that was what I was most looking for in a college, a place where learning was appreciated and where that was kind of above all else.”

Music also is an important part of her life. She played the viola in the Batavia High School Chamber Orchestra, as well as the Batavia High School Philharmonic Orchestra. Gaitsch also performed in the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra.

She was president of the Tri-M Music Honor Society chapter at Batavia High School.

“Music has given me so many opportunities,” Gaitsch said. “I would say that is probably where I first gained most of my confidence as a sixth-grader.”

As a private music teacher, Gaitsch has passed on that love for music. She has been teaching viola and violin lessons since her freshman year.

“I guess I saw how far music has taken me and how it allowed me to grow as a person,” Gaitsch said. “And I wanted to pass that along to other kids. I think it is also such a great experience to teach something that you yourself are pretty good at, to someone who is just starting out, because you realize how hard your teachers worked to teach it to you.”

Batavia High School Principal JoAnne Smith said what impresses her the most about Gaitsch is how she has been able to strike a balance between getting straight A’s in the challenging classes she has taken (including five Advanced Placement classes this year), along with being a musician and her work at Fermilab.

“She is a great ambassador for Batavia High School,” Smith said. “It’s pretty exciting to have one of our students go to Yale, of course, and continue her ambassadorship of Batavia High School there. It will be exciting to see where she takes all of this great talent she has.”

Gaitsch had some advice for her fellow graduates and incoming Batavia High School freshmen.

“Take every opportunity that’s given to you and seek out new opportunities that you didn’t even think would be available to you,” she said.

Know More

The Kane County Chronicle’s annual series profiling local graduates continues today. This year, we are featuring a total of 10 seniors from local high schools.

On the Web

Go to KCChronicle.com to watch a video interview with Hallie Gaitsch and see photos from Batavia High School’s graduation ceremony Wednesday.

Batavia graduation

Photos from Batavia’s graduation appear on page 2 of today’s Kane County Chronicle.