Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech)  has many talented students with a wide range of hobbies and interests. One of these students is the sophomore class president of 2023, Naomi Schwartz ‘26. Even though she is only in her sophomore year at Foothill Tech, Schwartz is an active member of the Foothill community. From working hard in ASB to plan student events to fulfilling her duties in The Foothill Tech Garden Club, Schwartz is always ready to help the Foothill community.

 As well as being an amazing student, Schwartz is also a skilled aerialist. Aerial is not a very well-known sport that involves using aerial silks and hammocks to essentially perform gymnastics in the air. Schwartz states, “I think that a very common misconception about aerial is that it’s an easier sport and I wouldn’t necessarily say that it’s harder than any other sport, but it definitely requires a lot of upper body strength. And then at the same time, flexibility and the ability to be graceful and draw in the crowd.” Schwartz has been doing aerial on and off since she was in elementary school, but for the past three years, she has been doing it consistently. Schwartz stated that this was because “[she] had an aerial coach who really influenced me to stick with the sport.” 

Schwartz does aerial at The Aerial Studio in Ventura, Calif. and while aerial is important to her, she states, “I don’t plan to pursue aerial as a career. It’s just something that I enjoy doing that helps me stay in shape and meet new people. But I think throughout life, I’d like to take with me the ability to persevere and stay determined), which is something that I think aerial has really helped me grow in.” She also believes that “doing aerial is important [because she thinks]it really helps to build confidence and increases your ability to persevere through difficult tasks. And then also it’s just a very positive […] environment within the sport which I feel like is an area that some sports kind of struggle with.”

Recently Schwartz had a performance at The Ojai Raptor Center. She states that these performances have, “made me more confident, especially in front of an audience, which has helped me, like in school, even when I’m just doing a simple presentation. I think in addition to that it’s also just made me enjoy doing active things a lot more. Because when you [do it often] it doesn’t even feel like you’re exerting yourself that much, but then the end benefit is really amazing.” 

Schwartz’s younger sister Lior Schwartz ‘30 of Ventura Charter School (VCS), was inspired by her sister practicing aerial in her backyard. Lior states, “She just looked really majestic and graceful doing it. So I wanted to look like that too.” And so Lior decided to follow in her sister’s footsteps and start doing aerial as well. 

As vice president of the Garden Club, Schwartz is an active member of the Foothill Tech community. Club president Shea Stevenson says, “Last year we started building the garden [when] she [Schwartz] was in [Kurt] Miller’s class and she started immediately being a huge member whether it was meeting [in] class to help construct the garden [or plant] different sprouts. And she also went to Green Thumb numerous times with me and always helped me buy stuff. And then there’s the fact that she’s […] always there no matter what, she’s always doing stuff and […] never giving up. She’s always there and always reliable, which is my favorite part about her.”

On top of managing the Garden Club, doing aerial also comes with its own challenges. Schwartz says, “Just like any other sport you get injuries. Depending on the apparatus I’m using, I’ll get different kinds of minor injuries. When I’m doing a fabric apparatus like [the] silk hammock or span sets, I get a lot of fabric burns […] or if I’m doing a metal apparatus. So [while using the] Lyra, trapeze or sometimes the aerial spiral, I get a lot of bruises […] but I haven’t gotten any major injuries other than that.”