WVCSD Artist of the Week: Naomi Valentino

Warwick Valley senior Naomi Valentino wants you to come see the WVHS Drama Club’s fall production of Puffs, or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic, on November 8th or 9th. Her role in the comedy marks Naomi’s eighth year as a troupe member in one of the district’s drama clubs, a nearly uninterrupted streak that began when she was at Sanfordville Elementary.

“With the exception of fifth grade, I’ve done drama club every year since elementary school,” Naomi said. “My first play was Peter Pan, and I did Shrek the year after that. I just auditioned for the fall play, Puffs, so I’m doing that in November.” 

Naomi finds performing to be a freeing practice, something that she said comes easier to her than even talking with people when she’s not on stage.

“I just love the Drama Club here, and being up on stage is like a boost of confidence, especially when I’m singing. I can just be someone else, I’m not trying to think of the right words to say,” she explained. “It’s a very, like, almost therapeutic experience for me. I know it’s really helped with my confidence levels overall, especially in the past couple of years.”

Naomi also started doing community theater a couple of years ago, performing with both the Warwick Center for the Performing Arts and Warwick Reformed Church troupes. 

“My first community theater performance was two years ago; I was in the ensemble for High School Musical with the Warwick Center for the Performing Arts,” she recalled. “The year after, so about a year ago, was my first show at the Warwick Reformed Church, and that was Camp Rock.” 

Naomi said that what began as a way for her to stay busy and have something to do over summer breaks, has grown into her now being involved with the two groups’ spring productions as well. 

Naomi has always loved music and has been deeply involved with Warwick Valley music program throughout her school career. She played in the middle school band for a few years, but her main musical love is singing. In fact, if there is a choral group to be joined, Naomi is in it!

“I’m actually the treasurer for all three of the choirs this year – Bel Canto, Treble Choir and Meistersingers,” Naomi said. “Oh, and I also do the Jazz Choir, so we basically just get together and sing during lunch on Wednesdays.”

Her involvement with choral groups is what ultimately led to her to drama club. When she’s not on stage, you can find Naomi at the Wildcuts Salon, studying her other passion, cosmetology.

Naomi’s goal is to become a stylist, a path she discovered through the WVHS CTEC program. She said she’d been feeling the stress of an impending college search and application process, and choosing a post-high school path as far back as her sophomore year. Then, she caught wind of an informational session about the high school’s popular in-house cosmetology program. 

“I was like, you know what, let me just check this out,” she said. “I’ll go listen to what the teacher tells us about the course and see what I think of it. It sounded interesting, like something I might enjoy.”

On the first day of class in her junior year, Naomi felt instantly welcomed and supported by cosmetology teacher Kathleen Bettello and fell in love with the cosmetology program, which is part of Warwick Valley’s unique in-house CTEC program. 

“I really see [being a stylist] as another art form,” said Naomi. “Immediately, it was something I felt naturally good at, like it felt easily understandable to me. Ms. Betello is such a great teacher – and just an amazing person all around for us – and it’s become something that I just… something that I really like being good at!” 

Naomi loves all aspects of the class, hair to nails, cutting to styling.

“Everything,” Naomi enthused. “When I found cosmetology, it was like, ‘you know what? This is something that I could do.’ So, once I graduate high school, I can just go get my license and start working if I want to.”

And that’s her plan! So, we wondered what makes Naomi more nervous, standing on stage for a monologue or vocal solo, or standing next to a salon client about to make that first pass with the scissors?

“Well, probably at this point, cutting hair, but only because I’ve been performing for so much longer,” Naomi said with a laugh. “But honestly, at this point, neither of them makes me super nervous.”

As the old saying goes, do something you love and you’ll never work a day in your life. Having discovered her passion in the cosmetology program, Naomi is quick to encourage other students who may have some anxiety about the future, or who are searching for their own ideal career, to explore all of the options available to them at the high school.

“If something is stressing you out, even just thinking about it, don’t do it,” she said. “That’s what was happening with me about college; I found a solution, something that I enjoy so much. So, something I’ve learned in the past couple of years is to just do what makes you really happy!”