Hanna Broback

Peninsula High senior an academic who will follow two passions: music and sustainable agriculture

Hanna Broback is an accomplished scholar who is equally interested in sciences and the arts. She plans to follow both her passions for music and sustainable agriculture in college, and she dreams of owning her own sustainable, eco-friendly farm.

Broback has a 3.958 grade-point average and a dozen advanced-placement and honors classes under her belt. She has been described by teachers as having an impressive work ethic.

Although she doesn’t live on a farm, Broback has been interested in eco-agriculture for several years. She has been gardening since she was a young girl, and she said she has a “real connection with food and the Earth.”

Having been raised by a family active in nature and the outdoors, she said she learned about the importance of preserving the environment from her parents.

“I think it’s important to have an awareness of where your food comes from,” she said.

Broback has been volunteering at Orting’s Mother Earth Farm, which is part of the Emergency Food Network. The food grown at the farm is distributed to poor people in the area.

“It’s an amazing place,” said Broback, who hopes to work with farmers in undeveloped countries in order to help them improve their farms.

Broback has dedicated much of her community service to environmental issues. At Peninsula High, she is the president of the Environmental Club. She is active in the Crescent Valley Alliance, an organization dedicated to preservation, and she has volunteered for the Montessori Farmhouse school, developing and teaching outdoor curriculum for a summer camp.

Broback also is an artist who draws and paints. When she was young, she envisioned herself becoming an artist. But she realized she can help more people by going into agriculture.

“It is evident from Hanna’s accomplishments that she is a dedicated, hard-working individual,” Peninsula High teacher Mary Lyssand said. “She takes on any challenge and always succeeds at a very high level.”

Broback plans to either minor or double major in music while she’s in college so she can continue to share her passion for music with others. She fell in love with music when her grandmother took her, as a little girl, to ballet and symphony performances.

Broback has been a member of Peninsula Youth Orchestra for nine years, and she’s played in trios for the past six years. She has practiced every day since she was 7 years old.

“Music is an interesting way of communicating emotions,” she said. “I feel the violin can communicate emotions that nothing else can.”

Hanna Broback

Education: Senior, Peninsula High School

GPA: 3.958

Parents: Saralee and Steve Broback

Activities/achievements: AP Scholar with Distinction; Masonic Lodge Outstanding Achievement Award; Congressional Student Leadership Conference; National Honor Society; Montessori Farmhouse School guest teacher; Young Chamber Players Leadership team; Business Week CEO; Environmental Club president; Peninsula Youth Orchestra concert master.

Favorite teacher: Billie Thorson “because she taught AP Biology in an enthusiastic way and I became interested in it. She inspired me to study science and become a scientist.”

Best thing about high school: “The AP classes challenged me and inspired me to work hard and look ahead; I found lifelong interests like history and biology... The teachers are wonderful—teachers like Mrs. Thorson, Mrs. Duffy, Mr. Mhyre, Mrs. Herrera inspired me.”