Breah Banks used her talent for speech to bring awareness to important issues.
Breah Banks
If you’re ever looking for Breah Banks, look for the girl in a black suit and pearls––dressed for her next competition.
In seventh grade, Banks followed in her older brother’s footsteps and joined the speech team. She hoped to simply improve her public speaking skills; however, the activity soon morphed into an integral part of Bank’s life. “In seventh grade I was this small kid, running around these huge high schools trying to figure out what rooms I’m supposed to be competing in. Throughout the years, it turned into a passion about speaking on subjects in which I was passionate about,” Banks said.
Banks has used speech as a platform to bring awareness to issues that she cares about. Her sophomore year, she performed a piece based on the novel The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas, which shed light on police brutality. Junior year, she competed in a duo alongside classmate Noah Layton which tackled civil rights issues. This past season, Banks presented a piece that covered the education gap of African Americans. “I always strive to do pieces that are important to me and to talk about topics that are important to me or have an influence upon my community,” Banks said.
Banks also found a passion for mock trial during her time at BSM. While she was initially drawn to the team for food-based reasons, Banks grew greatly throughout her time in the sport. “I first got involved in Mock Trial because they were actually offering food for the first interest meeting…and that was obviously super intriguing as an eighth-grader. I was hungry, after school, waiting for my mom. But I really just fell in love with everything that it offered, especially the law part of it. That became a big interest for me and that led me to what I’m pursuing in college, with a political science major,” Banks said.
Along with mock trial, Banks has pursued her interest in law through multiple externships. During the summer going into Banks’s junior year, she spent four weeks with Honorable Mark J. Kapplehoff in Juvenile Court. “It was awesome to just sit, watch the proceedings, the motions, to be able to ask his clerks questions and to just be immersed in that area,” Banks said.
The next summer Banks entered under Honorable Susan Richard Nelson for three weeks in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. “I observed court proceedings, including trials, criminal proceedings, and motion hearings,” Banks said.
Next year, Banks has been offered a full-tuition scholarship and Spelman College in Atlanta, GA. There, she plans to major in political science and minor in psychology. “I hope to become a practicing attorney. As of right now, I’m interested in becoming a criminal defense attorney and working with wrongly-accused victims,” Banks said.
Favorite Restaurant: Chipotle
Favorite Food: Mac and Cheese
Favorite TV Series: Scandal
Favorite Song: “Radio” by Beyonce
Spirit Animal: Don’t have one
Favorite Activity/Sport: Speech
Favorite mMeme: Two real housewives fighting and cat
Favorite App: TikTok
Favorite Book: Becoming
Advice during online school/ quarantine: Keep the bigger picture in mind.
Ryan Kraemer
Senior Ryan Kraemer says that being a valedictorian shows how much he enjoyed learning about everything.
At the end of every school year, Benilde-St. Margaret’s recognizes those who have maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout their high school experience. Being named valedictorian is a high honor that few people get to achieve. One of the seniors this year to receive this award is Ryan Kraemer.
There are multiple reasons why receiving this award made Kraemer proud of himself. “I’m happy to have had so many good classes in my time at BSM, so being a valedictorian to me shows how much I enjoyed learning about everything. I think the root reason I made sure I did well in my classes since freshman year was that I look up to my siblings, who I think are all very smart and successful,” Kraemer said.
To be able to maintain a 4.0 GPA throughout high school, Kraemer had certain study habits to make sure he understood the materials. “I think my main form of studying comes from listening to teachers in class and making sure I understand the whole process. Like in math, I’ll make sure I have it down in class; I think understanding is the most important, over just knowing whatever formula. The same goes for English and everything. So every night, I do my homework for the next day, and if I have a test, I’ll look over my notes and make sure I understand every concept,” Kraemer said.
This accomplishment wasn’t always easy for Kraemer with certain classes pushing him more than others. “My two hardest classes were AP Human Geography and AP Chemistry. APGeo was my first AP, and I was a sophomore, so I had to get into the rhythm of making sure I knew everything. I had to develop a lot of reasoning skills for that class so I could understand cause and effect and then write about topics. For AP Chem, it definitely took the most understanding of things going on at microscopic level and trying to apply that to the formulas I had learned,” Kraemer said.
AP Chemistry teacher Lisa Bargas taught Kraemer through his difficult class. “He went through the materials with a fine-tooth comb and his attention to detail was unsurpassed,” Bargas said.
There are people along the way that helped Kraemer out on this path. “It was nice for me to have my parents recognize that I could be a bit more independent because I feel like if they were pressuring me to do my homework, I would be more angry about doing it. Otherwise, I’ve had amazing teachers in every subject during my time at BSM, and they make it very easy to enjoy the topic. When you enjoy the topic, it becomes a lot easier to do well,” Kraemer said.