Who is Leilani Schoonmaker? by Emma Schoonmaker
Leilani Avril Schoonmaker is a junior here at Saugatuck High School who has been attending Saugatuck Public Schools since she moved from New York in 2020. She was in 8th grade her first year here. Her name is pretty cool because “Leilani” is Hawaiian, and means “heavenly garland of flowers.” “Avril” is French for April, and “Schoonmaker” is Dutch. If you’re having a hard time pronouncing her name, you can always just call her “Lani” for short. Or, if you want to say her name correctly, here is the phonetic spelling: lay-lah’-nee.
Aside from her unique name, Leilani has many qualities worth mentioning, such as her love for running, as she is on the cross country and track team, her everlasting interest in Formula 1, and her growing passion for photography. Having said that, she is also a very involved PAL, a member of the Be Nice and Interact Clubs, and part of the group that helps out with leadership at the elementary school. Before we get into all of that, though, here is a snippet of what life was like for her before she moved to Michigan. First, she was born in Virginia Beach with three of her siblings. Her family lived there in Virginia until she was around 4 years old, which is when they moved to New York. In New York, Leilani was homeschooled from kindergarten to 1st grade, attended public school for 2nd and 3rd grade, homeschooled again for 4th and 5th grade, and then finally attended a Christian private school from 6th grade up until COVID-19 happened. In August of 2020, she moved to Michigan.
Leilani started running the summer before 8th grade, joining the cross-country team as they conditioned at the state park. Since then, she has come a long way in the world of running, not only physically, but also mentally and emotionally. She has become a valued and memorable team member on both teams and was one of the key factors that brought the cross-country team to the state finals this year.
As for her Formula 1 fandom, Leilani was first introduced to F1 by her friend Mallory Hass, and for that, Leilani will be forever grateful. Leilani has not just one F1 t-shirt, but two. You will often see her wearing both the Ferrari Scuderia t-shirt and the F1 t-shirt.
Photography has come to be one of the myriad ways that Leilani can express herself through art. She started photography with her dual enrollment class at Kendall College and found herself enjoying it even more than she thought. Thanks to this, Leilani brings her camera bag with her practically everywhere she goes, and has even qualified for state and national photography competitions. Taking pictures for the cross country team, track team, basketball teams, and hopefully more teams this spring, Leilani finds a way to bring joy to herself while also contributing to the student body.
When asked what her favorite band is and why, she said, “Coldplay because they’re timeless and I’ve been listening to them since I was three years old and I still love them.”
When asked what her dream car is, Leilani said, “My unrealistic dream car is a dark red Porsche Carrera GT. My realistic dream car is a light blue or white BMW M6 Coupe Sport.”
Aside from her unique name, Leilani has many qualities worth mentioning, such as her love for running, as she is on the cross country and track team, her everlasting interest in Formula 1, and her growing passion for photography. Having said that, she is also a very involved PAL, a member of the Be Nice and Interact Clubs, and part of the group that helps out with leadership at the elementary school. Before we get into all of that, though, here is a snippet of what life was like for her before she moved to Michigan. First, she was born in Virginia Beach with three of her siblings. Her family lived there in Virginia until she was around 4 years old, which is when they moved to New York. In New York, Leilani was homeschooled from kindergarten to 1st grade, attended public school for 2nd and 3rd grade, homeschooled again for 4th and 5th grade, and then finally attended a Christian private school from 6th grade up until COVID-19 happened. In August of 2020, she moved to Michigan.
Leilani started running the summer before 8th grade, joining the cross-country team as they conditioned at the state park. Since then, she has come a long way in the world of running, not only physically, but also mentally and emotionally. She has become a valued and memorable team member on both teams and was one of the key factors that brought the cross-country team to the state finals this year.
As for her Formula 1 fandom, Leilani was first introduced to F1 by her friend Mallory Hass, and for that, Leilani will be forever grateful. Leilani has not just one F1 t-shirt, but two. You will often see her wearing both the Ferrari Scuderia t-shirt and the F1 t-shirt.
Photography has come to be one of the myriad ways that Leilani can express herself through art. She started photography with her dual enrollment class at Kendall College and found herself enjoying it even more than she thought. Thanks to this, Leilani brings her camera bag with her practically everywhere she goes, and has even qualified for state and national photography competitions. Taking pictures for the cross country team, track team, basketball teams, and hopefully more teams this spring, Leilani finds a way to bring joy to herself while also contributing to the student body.
When asked what her favorite band is and why, she said, “Coldplay because they’re timeless and I’ve been listening to them since I was three years old and I still love them.”
When asked what her dream car is, Leilani said, “My unrealistic dream car is a dark red Porsche Carrera GT. My realistic dream car is a light blue or white BMW M6 Coupe Sport.”