She motivated her peers and inspired her teachers with her work. Nadia Covelli (10) was an artist. She was in a school art class, but her expression really came to life in her work outside of school. Her main focus this year was to create murals in downtown Kenosha, something she worked on for months at a time.

“I just get an idea, and I bring it to life,” Covelli said.

Though she focused on outside work, she often brought her art into class.

“I kind of just let her work on whatever the heck she wants because she’s that advanced,” Ms. Allyson Neu, Covelli’s art teacher, said. “Whatever she’s feeling is what she’s working on.”

With her skills, Covelli brought a sense of maturity and talent into the classroom. She was able to set an example for other students and inspire their art.

“There are not enough good things to say about her, especially in my class,” Neu said. “I’m so grateful to have Nadia because it’s nice for the other students to see how talented she is and how she works, and she’s able to inspire them.”

She found inspiration in other works of art, as well. Her favorite piece was an oil painting of a girl standing in water. She got the idea from an example on the internet.

“I really wanted to paint some water, but I also really like doing portraits, so I just combined the two,” Covelli said. “I found a cool picture online, and that was my inspiration for it.”

Covelli not only set an example in the classroom, but also outside of it. She inspired others both through her art and through her personality and work ethic.

“Nadia is a walking inspiration because she puts so much passion into everything she does,” Kaden West (12) said. “Everything that she does comes directly from her heart. She never does anything that she doesn’t want to, or that doesn’t come from a genuine mindset.”

Though she was only a sophomore, Covelli was already thinking about her future. She hoped to attend art school after high school. Neu also had high hopes for her in the rest of her high school career.

“I am definitely trying to get her to take my Advanced Placement (AP) class, so I’m hoping she does that next year,” Neu said. “That’s why I’m kind of just letting her do her thing and watching how she works in art this year. As for aspirations for her future, she’s already got it, and she’s only going to keep getting better and better.”