By Aanya Jain, 2027
The Lookout Newspaper interviewed Class of 2024’s elected president, Cate Galante! We were able to learn so much about her and are excited to write to you about her many interests and unique personality.
Cate is involved in many different activities at BHS, especially the theater department. She was involved at every show in BHS during her past high school years. She played Mrs. Hubbard in Murder on The Orient Express, Tilly in She Kills Monsters, and she recently played Mama Matron in Chicago last year! She also assisted directed Twelfth Night this year. Cate has also written for the Playwrights Festival. Cate is also involved in two acapella groups here at BHS: Rolling Tones and Bellachords. She is also part of the Interact, Best Buddies, and the Student Atmosphere Committee clubs. Lastly, she has been elected president of her class for two years running!
Out of all of these, Cate says that the most challenging is being the senior class president. She talks about the pressure of creating a senior year that is great for everyone, like picking a good prom venue and planning fun fundraisers. Since it is the seniors’ last year of high school, Cate wants to do things that will make their year memorable. On a good note, she has booked a great prom venue for this year and hopes that people will like it. Cate definitely had to work hard for this election, especially in her junior year when 6 people ran for presidency. She says that it was a challenging race and is very grateful that she got elected and despite the pressure, she really enjoys being the class president.
Theater is definitely Cate’s main passion. She participates in this during and outside of school, and has been active ever since she was 5. Cate loves directing, writing, and acting, and loves the community BHS creates for theater.
Many things sparked Cate’s interest in theater. Cate grew up doing rec dance, and was always super big with her expressions and movements. She says that her parents knew she should go into theater. Fun fact: at her first ever dance recital, she had major stage fright, and her dance number even had to be stopped. But, as Cate found her voice and continued to become a big extrovert, comparing her first exposure to performing versus now, we can see how far she has come! She feels the stage as a second home to her. English is also Cate’s favorite subject in school, and she liked writing poetry and short stories, which sparked her interest for writing. Something that sparked Cate’s interest for directing is that in the past when she was younger and even now, she has been inspired by many directors, and has made it one of her goals to direct like them in the future.
Some of Cate’s dreams/goals are that she wants to go to acting school. She has already auditioned for some colleges. She had a great time participating in a film program over the summer, which helped inspire her to potentially minor in directing or creative writing in college. Although Cate has done a lot of stage acting, she also hopes to explore more film acting in college and experience the difference between the two.
Cate’s biggest role model is current BHS principal, her mom, Mrs. Galante. She admires her mom as a leader in and outside of school. She says how Mrs. Galante has created an amazing home environment for her and is someone who she can trust, confide in, and always knows how to make her laugh. She also supports Cate and is always front row in every show she is in. It is so special to see this close and loving relationship with her mom!
As we got to know more about Cate’s individuality, one thing she talked about was her strengths. Her biggest strength is her communication, through things like acting, writing and talking with people. She is super expressive, and loves forming relationships with people even if she isn’t super close with them, which is a great skill to have, especially to connect with other people. Some hobbies that she has is dancing, like doing jazz and tap. She also loves hanging out with her friends and going to the Cheesecake Factory with them to eat fried Mac and cheese balls, which she highly recommends. Something interesting about Cate that most people don’t know is that she really likes psychology, and she hopes to minor in psychology, sociology, or something social sciences related. Another thing about Cate is that she played lacrosse for 2 years. She went into her freshman year having never played before and ended up playing in her sophomore year too. She was even on the varsity cross country in her freshman year.
Cate also talks about some cool aspects of her family! She has a brother named Joe, a current freshman at The Fenn School. Joe is interested in the tech part of theater production, like lighting design and sound design, which balances Cate’s acting side of theater, and both siblings enjoy talking about them. She has a dog named Nellie, a Boston Terrier Pug mix, which Cate explains is not a commonly heard dog breed. Cate and her mom love watching TV shows together, and a show they watched together during quarantine was Grey’s Anatomy. Cate loves her family and is very thankful for her mom, dad, brother, and dog!
As the interview draws to an end, Cate shares about her time at BHS and some things for the future. Cate’s best memory at BHS was the talent show. Last year, Cate’s class started the staff and student talent show. One thing they did was a fun rendition of the Rihanna halftime show from last year’s Super Bowl, with Ms. Galante and Mr. Casey in red tracksuits like Rihanna’s, and Cate with her and some of her friends as the backup dancers in white suits. Many people came to the talent show, and Cate says how it was also a great fundraiser and lots of fun. Hopefully they do it again this year! Something she is looking forward to at BHS are the senior events like spoons, where you get assigned a spoon and tag other people. In the future, she is looking forward to life in college and the change in scenery. Some advice from Cate to BHS students is to enjoy high school because it goes by so fast, so make the most of it! She also mentions to get to know yourself and other people that you normally haven’t talked to in middle school, as many of her close friends currently were people she didn’t really talk to when she was in middle school. Lastly, Cate says that the best advice she has received is to dance like nobody’s watching, which is something Cate’s mom tells her before every show of Cate’s, and to not care what others think of you.
Cate was such a pleasure to talk to, and it was very engaging to hear about her deep passions that evolved over the years, while seeing her fun and caring personality. Cate is a force to be reckoned with and will definitely go on to do great things in the future! Thanks, Cate.
