Philadelphia Daily News from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 5

May SI, 1977 Phila. Daily Newg i Karen Parenti: Bartram Concetta Lilly: Gratz and time into it," smiled Sherrie, content to concentrate and devote her life to music. Sherrie has no steady boyfriend, which is "not a major catastrophe," has little interest in rock music, which "is not complicated," and doesn't take "much musical talent" to play, but enjoys jazz and classical music. Has Sherrie ever thought about what might have been if the school hadn't run out of violins? "1 probably would not have gotten to the point 1 she answers. And maybe she wouldn't have to keep explaining that mark on her neck.

"He's every teacher's dream. A marvelous student any teacher would give a right arm for." Who's this dreamboat Central High School Principal Dr. Howard Carlisle is making waves about? David Reich, that's who. a 17-year-old academic superstar. David is one of 25 high school students in the state selected to participate in the Penn State-Jefferson Medical Program, an accelerated program that allows students to finish four years each of college and med school in five years.

That means when David completes his studies at Jefferson Medical College he'll be all of 22, the youngest doc to don a stethoscope since Young Doctor Kildare. When did it all start? "Since the 2d grade I was interested in science," 5 Reich: Central Lee: Girls' the News' All-Scholastic Team A team member in every sense, Conn ia is a fitting selection for the anchor spot. She captains and anchors the girls' bowling team at Gratz with a 16S average. Connie is awaiting word on sever al scholarship applications. Sha wants to major in business administration interests but also wants to keep in tune with the food industry and horticulture.

"I like plants," smiled Connie, "but I like business best." Jerome Ruderman, head of the Social Studies Department at Gratz, said Connie is a fine straight-A social studies student, "well thought of and respected by her class." CONNIE BELONGS TO her church choir and works after school as a clerk-typist. With so many activities and work, when does Connie find time to study and maintain her B-plus average? "Whenever I can," Connie answers. "Usually late at night and on Sundays." Sometimes she has company. "I have a boyfriend," smiled Connie. "When I have a lot of home work he comes over to my house and watches television." Because she has no set hours for home study, Connie said her parents sometimes complain she doesn't do it.

"I do my own studying," said Connie. "My mother says she never sees me doing my homework. I do it. She just doesn't know It. But when I bring home tny report card," ContiU added, "they know it." hours of practicing for perfection.

Sherrie, a 17-year-old senior at Northeast High School, is a violist who, said her music teacher, "should make it (as a professional musician) very easily. She's devoted her life to it." Sherrie, who has passed up two scholarships in hopes of receiving one from Temple's College of Music, began playing the viola in 4th grade. "I wanted to play the violin, but they had none left. The teacher said why not take a viola? I didn't know exactly what it was. They said it was the same as a violin, only bigger." In 9th grade she began thinking seriously of a music career, but "I really didn't put all my effort into it Until 11th grade." That's when she became a member of the Youth Orchestra of Philadelphia, one of several she belongs to, and began attending summer music school in Maine.

Though Sherrie intends to make music her career, she doesn't know exactly what route she'll take. "A LOT OF my friends don't know exactly what they're going to do after high school," said Sherrie. "They say 'wow, it's great you know what you're going to But I don't. I'm not actually sure. The main thing I want is to perform.

Then maybe be a teacher." Sherrie says she practices 3Vi to 4 hours a day "when I have time." "I put practicing before my school-work," said Sherrie, who for the past three years has gotten As in music, but Bs and a few Cs in other subjects. "I could get As if I put more effort Continued from Page 4 hours a week on homework, excluding weekends. Because of her "nagging parents," home study is not a grind. "For as long as I can remember I had to get my studying done before I could do anything else. They said they were making me study for my own benefit.

Turned out they were right, of course." Throughout her high school days Karen was a straight-A student. "I was working for collegeI knew what I had to get to make it easier financially for my parents and myself. When you have $4,000 in tuition looking you in the face you work," said Karen. Karen feels academically superior students are sometimes resented by students whose lack of effort was reflected in their school work. "They get straight Ds for four years then want a scholarship for college handed to them on a silver platter." And when they don't get one they become a little resentful.

"But they didn't work for Karen said bluntly, naturally. On the left side of Sherrie Norwitz' neck is a mark; Hard to the touch, curious to the eye. "Sometimes it's mistaken for a hickey," laughed Sherrie. It's not. It's the mark of excellence.

A mark left by endless 4VX mm David Andrea answers David, who fills our foreign languages position. I read a book on the weather. It was the first book I ever read. After that I cleaned out the Mayfair science library. Must have been about 20 books." IN 3D GRADE David was "bored.

It was a little slow for me." And "for reasons I'm still not sure of," David skipped 4th grade. Though he did well in elementary school, his intellectual resources weren't tapped until he went to Central. "I really changed when I got to high school," says David. "I became an entirely different person. It's hard to say what changed me, maybe the atmosphere." Whatever It was, David says he's seen nothing but hundreds in the past four years.

"It's done by hard work," David said. He studies an average of two hours a night, but that time doubles if he's preparing for a tough test. And there have been weekends on which David did nothing but study for a "really hard test." Despite his study habils, David doesn't "feel 1 hit the books a lot. I don't feel I work very hard. My parents think I do, but 1 don't." David admits he sometimes cuts evening Hebrew class to study.

When he's not studying, David likes to play piano and read. "Sure, I take out girls," David said, answering the obvious, I find the time." David will attend Penn State and Jefferson on a merit scholarship. Concetta (Connie) Lilly, whose strong suit at Simon Gratz High School is social studies, rounds out Ronald Summers: Washington.