Caity Tremblay is editor of the student paper at Sonoma Valley High School and is interested in bookbinding. She bound the book she is holding. Press Democrat photo by Jeff Kan Lee

By PAUL PAYNE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Caity Tremblay wears many hats at Sonoma Valley High School: Newspaper editor, honors student, thespian. But she’s mostly identified by an unofficial role.
“People know me as that singing girl,” said Tremblay, a senior who will attend UC Davis this fall. “I walk around singing out loud. It’s something I’ve been doing since preschool. People get highly annoyed.”
Tremblay doesn’t put a lot of stock into what other people think.
In three years at the Dragon’s Tale newspaper and during a stint leading the school’s literary magazine, she’s proven herself a strong leader and a skilled student journalist.
Tremblay was one of six winners of this year’s Richard Torkelson journalism scholarship given by the newsroom employees of The Press Democrat.
“She’s a great kid, one of those who will always succeed,” said newspaper adviser Alison Manchester. “She knows her own mind and is very forthright. She’s not one to bend to peer pressure.”
When she’s not on deadline, Tremblay is likely pursuing her passion of singing. She often strolls the halls, belting out show tunes at the top of her lungs.
“A lot of people are shy about singing,” Tremblay said. “I am not at all. I know it surprises people.”
She has serenaded audiences at school productions of “Fiddler on the Roof” and “South Pacific.” This year, she’s been on various school choirs and became the only young person on the Sonoma Valley Chorale.
But she doesn’t plan on pursuing it beyond high school. And you won’t soon hear her three-octave range on “American Idol,” she said.
“Frankly, I don’t watch the show,” she said. “It turns music into competition. And that’s not what it’s all about.”
Instead, Tremblay is more focused on the written word.
She’s one of the few students to start writing for the newspaper as a sophomore and has climbed the ranks from features editor to the top spot.
Tremblay said she was inspired by her grandfather, who was a San Francisco photojournalist. She plans to major in communication or graphic design at UC Davis.
“I really feel like journalism connects people and gets them involved in ways they wouldn’t otherwise be,” she said, noting past stories have exposed her to divergent issues, such as the cosmetics industry and woodshop machinery.
She said education is big in her family. Her mother, Lisa, is a math teacher at Altamira Middle School in Sonoma and her sister, Ginny, is an Oakland art teacher. Her dad, Gary, is a postal worker.
“We’re passionate about learning,” she said.
For her senior project, she chose to do something with her hands. She selected book binding, taking a cue from her sister, who does it as a hobby.
“It’s very satisfying to make something as opposed to just thinking about things,” she said. “I wanted to rebind my Harry Potter book. It came out wonderfully. I’m also rebinding some old books that are falling apart for my English teacher.”

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com.