BETHEL — When Gabby Groves was a sophomore, she and three friends, M.J. Johansen, Keaton Chapman and Janna Botka, started the Civil Rights Team at Telstar Regional High School to address hate crimes and bullying.

“I have a big passion for everything civil rights,” said Groves, 18, of Bethel. The Telstar senior recently received the 2023 Principal’s Award, sponsored by the Maine Principals’ Association, chosen by Telstar Principal Mark Kenney in recognition of a high school senior’s academic achievement and citizenship.

In his announcement, Kenney wrote, “Throughout her years in the district and at Telstar, Gabby has proven herself to be a leader in and out of the classroom.  A member of the Civil Rights Team, Student Council and the National Honor Society, as well as putting in dozens of hours each week at the dance studio, Gabby finds herself involved in many aspects of our community. She very much deserves this recognition out of this senior class.”

Groves said she was excited to win the award.

“It was a really big honor for me,” she said. “Mr. Kenney is someone that I have looked up to. He is a great administrator. I was thankful that he saw all of the effort that I have put in. I felt really honored.”

The Telstar Civil Rights Team has grown to about 10 students who meet every Monday. They have organized many events, including hosting OUT Maine, a Rockland group that supports LGBTQ+ youths. Members came to do training with teachers.

For the second year, they have held a “Day of Welcome,” during which they educate others on all of the parts of the civil rights wheel: disabilities, national origins and ancestries, sexual orientation, religion, race and skin color, and gender. This year they hope to do a Bethel Pride event.

The group’s adviser is guidance counselor Kristen Powell.

“Sophomore year, not only did we start the Civil Rights team,” Groves said, “I also was going through a hard time mentally, so I became really close with Miss Powell. If I needed a break from class, I would say, ‘Hey, can I come sit in here and do my work?’ We have all kinds of tapestries and things that make it feel like my bedroom, very welcoming and calm.”

Through her work with the group, Groves discovered that she is passionate about the women’s studies aspect of the civil rights wheel. Her major at the University of Maine will be women, gender and sexuality studies. After she receives her degree, she hopes to work at a nonprofit.

“I really want to be helping people and know that what I am going to do in the future is going to help people and affect people in a positive way,” she said.

Through Facebook, Groves met her UMaine roommate. Together they discovered that they both like Harry Styles’ music. She cares about other people, said Groves, who has also scouted out all of the dance clubs on campus. Because her greatest passion, she said, is dance, something she does nearly every day.

On Mondays she has musical theater, pointe, and LAHB (lyrical, acro, hip-hop and ballet, an advanced class). Tuesday is tap and acro (flips, flexibility, etc.); Wednesday is lyrical, and Thursday is lyrical and hip-hop.

She dances nine to 12 hours a week at her grandmother Marianne Jordan’s studio in Bethel. Jordan bought Toe Tappin’ Jazz Dance Studio before Gabby was born. After many years of dancing at Toe Tappin’ Jazz, her last show with the group will be held May 4 at Telstar.

Groves is part of the community-service-based Interact Club, whose members rake and stack firewood for people, among other chores. They have done community cleanup days with Sarah Southam and are starting a church youth group with a teenage drop-in center. She loves her job at Gemini Cafe, too.

On the day of the Principal’s Award luncheon, Kenney was stuck in Chicago because of tornadoes, so Dean of Students John Eliot drove Groves to the event. At the luncheon, they spun a wheel with all of the students’ names in a random drawing to award 10 students with $1,000 college scholarships. Groves was surprised and happy to be one of the 10.She said she feels most at home in Powell’s room on the second floor of the high school. The room is inviting with soft lighting, a large beanbag chair and a banner that reads, “Welcome.”

“Gabby is a superstar and she will be greatly missed next year,” Powell said.

Turning to Groves, she said, “It feels good to know that you are ready to launch to do your next thing and whatever it is you choose to do, people will be lucky to have you with them.”

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