Everyone could use the smarts, positivity, energy, and music in their lives that junior Mackenzie Protos has. She takes AP classes, performs in the musicals and plays, and keeps up with it all while having a positive attitude. She is very bright and talented, too. Protos is a friend to all; the one to go to for help with homework, music tips, social well-being, and really anything you need.

“I always try to make others feel the way I want to feel and to treat them the way I want to be treated,” said Protos. “It’s awesome that it means something.”

Not only is she kind to everyone, she has many other defining traits. Protos is the kind of girl who has very out of the box type thinking, which you’ll find out by just having a simple conversation with her.

“She always had a mind and style of her own. She would always crack us up with her creative stories, costumes, and sense of humor,” her mother, Mrs. Protos said

Mrs. Protos and freshman Nicholas Collins shared a couple stories about Protos that confirm her very creative mindset.

“When Kenz was little, she wanted to be an artist living in Hawaii in a trailer on the beach with a dog,” Mrs. Protos said. “She was probably in kindergarten or first grade.”

“I walked into Chambers one day, and Kenz asked me to shake her like a rag doll,” Collins said.

Protos uses her creativity in her acting. If you haven’t come to see the musicals in the past years, you haven’t got to experience the amazing talent and performance of Protos. She has been singing around the house and doing musicals from a young age.

“I fell in love with theater when I saw Knoch Highschool’s Dirty Rotten Scoundrels in 7th grade,” said Protos. “That was the moment I knew I wanted to do the musicals. I kept doing them because of the fun and the community.”

She is a very musical person. Protos is always singing. If you were to ride with her in her car, she sings the whole time. Everyone I interviewed told me how powerful and wonderful her voice is. People obviously recognize her talent, because Protos has gotten into the PMEA district choir every year since 5th grade. That is a very difficult thing to do, and it definitely shows off her incredible talent.

“It feels so good to have the opportunity to sing with other kids who are talented and passionate about making music,” Protos said.

It seems Mrs. Protos might have been the first to introduce music and singing to Protos.

“I used to sing to her as a baby every night before bed, and eventually she joined me when she was able,” Mrs. Protos said.

Furthermore, Protos is a very intelligent individual. She wants to go to college as an English Major and have a Minor in Theater and finish with a Masters in Education. She is always there to help her friends with their homework.

Sophomore Ava Breese said, “Kenzie has definitely helped me with my homework, especially with English and writing papers for it. She is super smart, and I’m so lucky she helps me out when I need it.”

Mrs. Protos told me that Protos has always been very smart. She might’ve even been more advanced than most kids. When she was little, she would even correct the speech of adults.

“She would say stuff like ‘the plural of cactus is cacti, not cactuses,’” Mrs. Protos said.

Protos doesn’t have a hard time making friends. As her friends, Breeze and Collins, said she is, “one of the sweetest, funniest, absolutely craziest people” they know and is “a natural leader with a powerful voice for singing and reaching out to others.”