Senior Spotlight: A leader in fencing, lacrosse, and scouting

Throughout senior Henry Tessman’s career at the Morgan School, he has been a standout athlete and leader. Balancing his passion for lacrosse and fencing while earning the Eagle Scout rank. Tessman had been in Boy Scout since his youth.

Fencing Success and Leadership

Fencing has been a defining part of Tessman’s high school experience. After years of dedication, he achieved First-Team All-State and First-Team All-Conference this season. This was a goal Tessman had for himself coming into this year. “I’ve been fencing all four years of high school, and this is what I’ve been working for,” he shared. “It felt great to get my name on the banner.”

As a captain of the fencing team this past season, he embraced leadership responsibilities. He learned how to motivate his teammates while working on his improvements. Though fencing is an individual sport, Tessman showed the importance of teamwork through his leadership. “Your teammates have to win for you to win,” he explained, “I had to work on my teamwork as a captain, and that experience helped me grow as a leader.”

Balancing Fencing and Lacrosse

Tessman was not just on the fencing team; in his junior year, he decided to join the lacrosse team, a sport he had never played before. “Last year was hard with lacrosse and practicing fencing, and this year it was hard with winter league lacrosse during fencing season,” Tessman said. Despite the challenges, like driving from winter league for lacrosse, and driving to Morgan for Fencing. He found it easy to make sure he balanced both sports

The Eagle Scout Journey

Outside the gym and off the field, Tessman achieved one of Boy Scouting’s highest awards by becoming an Eagle Scout. This journey took half of Tessman’s life now being 18. Henry started at the age of 9. To get the Eagle Scout badge and honor, Tessman had to complete one last project, however, the project was very challenging and took a year to complete. The project was to make a sign for Saint Mary church in Clinton.

“The guy I was working with to build the sign was a little out of touch and not very easy to work with,” He said, “I had to break the news to him that I wasn’t going to work with him anymore and find a new way to complete the project with the time limit I had.” His determination and problem-solving skills helped Henry complete the project before he turned 18. This was a requirement to earn the Eagle Scout rank.

Being a Boy Scout played a huge role in shaping the way he led, the fencing team, which carried into his being a captain. “That’s definitely where most of my leadership experience comes from,” he said. “I got some young leadership experience and had some great role models in scouting.”

Future Plans

As Tessman prepares for his future after Morgan, he is still deciding on a college. In Tessman´s search for his match, he’s looking for an affordable college, that has good academic programs, and a nice campus. “I don’t want to be in debt for the rest of my life, so I’m taking scholarships into account, but I also want a good education,” he said.

As he reflects on his high school years, one of his favorite memories has been in the school pep rallies, specifically lip sync battles. “Those were tons of fun,” he said. “Shoutout Josh Nobitz,” a senior at the Morgan School who he performed them with.

With Tessman’s strong leadership skills, athletic ability, and determination for his future, there is no doubt he has a bright future ahead.