Jean Marie Blackman-Harlow: an all-around talented student

“There’s so many different things because I do dance, girls scouts, and acting. There’s a lot of different accomplishments. Even the little ones, they still count,” Jean Marie Blackman-Harlow (10) said.

Blackman-Harlow participates in many activities outside of school. Some of her hobbies include: dancing, participating in girls scouts, acting, and singing. She has been doing dance, as well as gymnastics, for almost 11 years. Blackman-Harlow dances at two studios: Diva Dance and Wendy’s Shooting Stars. The studios both focus on many different types of dance, so she has knowledge about the various forms. She also goes to competitions, and her team is going to the 2018 nationals in Utah. The dancer has won many first place awards, as well as qualifying for the Junior Olympics. Blackman-Harlow is also in the top group at Diva Dance.

“I qualified for the Junior Olympics, but they weren’t doing dance anymore. I haven’t made the All-American team yet, but there is always a chance,” she said.

As well as dancing, Blackman-Harlow enjoys singing and acting. She has been in a choir since she was three years old, and she first got into acting when she was participated in a nativity scene for her church. When she was around ten years old, she decided that she wanted to be an actress.

“I was watching Star Trek late one night, and I realized that [acting] can be a profession,” she said.

Blackman-Harlow had the opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C. when she was ten years old.

“I was nominated for the Junior National Young Leaders Conference, and that was my first main step outside of Idaho. That’s when I was like, “Yes, I want to travel the world!” And I wanted to do things and teach people,” she said.

As well as doing amazing things outside of school, Blackman-Harlow also enjoys school. She plans on studying astrophysics on top of acting and dancing. She enjoys math, science, and Spanish classes, and she wants to study at the university of Colorado Boulder.

“I want to study [there] because they have really good Ph.D. astrophysics programs, as well as acting and everything. It’s really hard to find a college that offers both science and performing arts,” Blackman-Harlow said.