Jenna Bird – Oxford High School

Text and Photos by Steev Riccardo

OXFORD – Oxford High School senior Jenna Bird seems to have had the best of both worlds in her high school career. 

Ranked sixth in her class and a member of the National Honor Society for the past three years, Bird has been an academic star, but once classes were over, she has spent all four years cheering for the Pirates football team.

“I had such a good high school experience at Oxford and I’ve loved it,” said Bird.  “It added so much fun and got me so much more involved in my whole high school career, it’s been such an important part of it. It has brought me a lot closer to my friends.”

In fact, Bird said most of her closest friends have also been cheerleaders at Oxford the past four years and even though there haven’t been enough girls to keep the cheerleading squad together for basketball season, they still can be seen cheering on the boys team at every game.

Bird is going to miss her fellow cheerleading friends when she graduates. “Four of us have been together all four years and we have stuck together.”  She also credited her coach Meredith Powers for her the tremendous support she has received.

Cheering is not the only thing Bird has been doing in high school. Along with her NHS duties, she has been on the Student Council for four years and that has kept her involved in many fundraising events and community service activities.

She has also been involved with the very successful “Best Buddies” program at the high school and has also been a member of the spirit squad the last two years.  If that wasn’t enough she also played on the girl’s softball team for the past three years.  

When she is not in school and involved in all these activities she somehow finds the time to work at Shaw’s supermarket in Webster and at a day care center in Oxford.

As far as careers go, Bird made an interesting discovery last year that has led her to pursue her career choice. “I didn’t think I would ever become a nurse but I took a class in anatomy last year and it really made me realize that is what I want to do and it’s such a rewarding career.”

She has applied to nine nursing programs at area colleges and so far her results have been perfect with six acceptances already in.  One of those acceptances is from her first choice, Endicott College in Boston. “Its gorgeous, it was the first college I visited and it’s my dream college.”

Bird has also been accepted to Curry College and the University of New England in Maine, which remain high on her list as well.

“I want to stay close enough to home, but I definitely want to go away to college and have the full college experience. I feel like it’s so important.” 

She will miss high school but it’s time to move on. “I am ready to go to college, I’m excited, it’s been such a good school experience. I feel like I’ve tried to tell everybody to get involved and in many ways I succeeded.” Yes, she has.

Born in Webster, Bird has lived most of her life in Oxford with her parents Chris and Rick and her brother Anthony, who is a freshman at Bay Path Vocational in Charlton.

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