Profiles of Excellence

A Star in the Spotlight 

A sophomore at Mater Dei High School and alumna of St. Mary’s, Kaelie Mann dreams of becoming a classical ballerina.  At the age of three, Kaelie begged to be a part of the group Tiny Tots.  Not long after, she was the star of the class and her vision was born.

At age 11, Kaelie began her competitive career placing in the top 12 in the pre-competitive division at the Youth America Grand Prix and took first place at the Kids Artistic Revue.  She also attended a summer session at the Kirov School of Ballet in Washington, DC in 2005. 

Today the aspiring ballerina trains with the Dmitri Kulev Classical Ballet Academy in Aliso Viejo.   

As a St. Mary’s student, Kaelie helped choreograph musical productions and is thankful that St. Mary supported her talent and demanding training schedule.  She was always challenged in the classroom, but never felt overwhelmed.  She always felt St. Mary was on her side.

One important lesson Kaelie learned at St. Mary’s was good writing techniques.  Writing with the highly respected MLA (Modern Language Association) format has been invaluable with her high school papers and assignments. Kaelie was surprised to hear that other classmates at Mater Dei did not have the same background and suffered when it came to writing papers.  She is very grateful for the lessons learned at St. Mary’s.

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