by Bronson Schmidt ’25
May 2025
Henry Gatto is a true tiger.
It is a steadfast truth that every USN high schooler has interacted with Henry Gatto ‘25 at least once in their high school career. Perhaps you’ve seen him blasting Christmas music on a bluetooth speaker wearing an elf costume on Halloween; perhaps you’ve seen his dozens of weekly emails or his regular assembly hostings. But most likely, you’ve seen him with a smile on his face in the hallways as he greets you with a “Hey guys!!”
What makes Gatto such a special member of the USN community is that he is not a one-trick pony, but a multifaceted horse. It is impossible to know Gatto for just one thing– he has spread himself across the entire high school, but importantly, has never spread himself too thin to make others’ lives better.
Gatto joined USN in his freshman year after graduating from Harding Middle School. In his search for a high school, Gatto immediately knew what to look for.
“USN felt like a place where it was up to the student to decide what they wanted to do. I knew that after eighth grade I was all over the place. I liked to be involved in so many things that USN had, and I really wanted to take advantage of that,” said Gatto.
Gatto was determined to make the most out of USN, and he made sure to actualize that goal as soon as possible. Gatto visited the high school club fair in his freshman year and immediately ingrained himself into the fabric of our school.
“My freshman year, I signed up for every single club and organization that was available to me. I think I went to a lunch meeting every single day,” said Gatto.
It is typical for USN students to throw themselves at any club they can, but it is quite rare to stay committed to every club they signed up for. By making this his priority, Gatto opened the door to numerous opportunities to serve and connect to his community. Out of all the clubs he joined, Gatto was struck greatly by the Community Service Organization, Habitat for Humanity, and the Student Theater Guild, spending time outside of school helping support their events.
While, of course, these clubs gave Gatto an opportunity to spend time with others for fun, they also had a profound impact on his aspirations within the school. The leaders of these clubs, and more broadly the older student leaders all over the school, inspired Gatto as an incoming high schooler in ways that he now embodies as an upperclassman.
“I saw [Ainsely McMillian ‘22] as Vice President my freshman year, and I said, ‘I really want to do that, I really want to be a PEA and I really want to be the people up there’,” said Gatto.
Three years after resolving to follow in his peers footsteps, Gatto has delivered– he is the Vice President of the student body, a demanding role which requires constant vigilant leadership.
“It’s about three hours every Sunday for the whole year of writing emails, going through my whole inbox. […] I think I have maybe eight or nine spreadsheets that have everything pulled up. I have maybe a big group tab that has 20 something tabs that I go through all of them,” said Gatto.
Being the Vice President requires more than just reading and writing emails on Sundays. It requires the organization of assemblies, the writing of the weekly email, the planning of Field Day, and a laundry list of other odds and ends. Gatto tackles these tasks with ease, but this leadership was not grown overnight– it’s a consequence of Gatto’s resolve to learn from his peers and put himself into new situations.
Gatto’s ability to throw himself into the unknown and work his way to the top is clear through his relationship with theater. Gatto has starred in plays and musicals such as The Wizard of Oz, Puffs, The Drowsy Chaperone, and more. Beyond playing roles assigned to him, Gatto has also directed his own play– but his start in theatre was not as glamorous as it is now.
“I was not accepted into the first play. So I said ‘I still want to be a part of it, and I’m going to show up and do my best’. [So I became] the prop manager, and I would give notes every single run,” said Gatto.
Through dedication and hard work, Gatto has risen to the top from humble beginnings– not just in theater, but every group he’s a part of.
“It’s [about] starting small and […] showing up the whole time, that brings you to where you are; where you’re the lead in the musical, or a Habitat leader who’s running around asking for volunteers for the spaghetti supper,” said Gatto. “It’s those kinds of community things that I’m proud of, or the times where I’m talking to other people or getting other people involved that’s more rewarding.”
Gatto has now become a driving force that brings others together, just like the peers he looked up to when he joined USN. This pattern extends beyond theater and Student Council as well. Gatto joined Mock Trial in freshman year but wasn’t able to commit fully, but by his junior year he had secured a spot on the national team that he helped place seventh in the country. Gatto also worked his way up to become the Honorable Justice of the Supreme Court at the YMCA’s Youth in Government conference, another example of his dedication and leadership abilities.
Gatto’s experience as such an important leader at Youth in Government has allowed him to demonstrate the peak of his leadership abilities.
“I’m good at being very organized, or coming up with a plan and […] getting everyone on the same page. […] During [Youth in Government], I would time everything out to the minute to make sure that we had a schedule to follow. And then I would build two contingency plans; one if things were running behind, and one if things were on schedule, just to make sure that everyone wasn’t feeling panicked or rushed,” said Gatto.
While Gatto is a phenomenal organizer in leadership positions, he is also a top tier organizer of his own time. While juggling theater, Mock Trial, student council, and normal schoolwork, Gatto has also worked many jobs and contributed to many sports teams.
Since before high school, Gatto has worked at the Kristen Winston catering company where he’s honed his skills enough to run his own catering service. All the while, Gatto participates in cross country, track and field and swimming. Just one look at Gatto’s official yearbook sports photo will tell our dear readers all they need to know about his love of physical activity.
It is easy to mischaracterize Gatto by listing his long list of accomplishments as trophies that adorn his life. But Gatto doesn’t view his impact this way– instead, he makes sure to focus on the little things.
“I’m a big little person. I mean, that’s an oxymoron, but I’m big on the little things; opening the door for someone when they’re running to lunch, or saying hi to someone who you don’t really know, or staring at their food and saying, ‘Hey, what did you have for lunch?’,” said Gatto. “Or if someone’s not having a good day, making fun of yourself, or doing a random bit where I’m crawling on the ground at someone’s feet barking like a dog or whatever it is, just to bring more joy or light to USN.”
It is this selfless servitude that makes Gatto a true USN Tiger; not someone who hides behind a costume of a tiger, but a real, true tiger, flesh and bones. He has allowed USN to shape him as a person, and now takes that positive energy and lives it himself, letting positivity flow into everyone around him. Gatto is a product of the driven servants of USN, and has become a driven servant himself.
Gatto is a testament that little things can go a long way. Whether it’s a little bit of kindness, a little bit of commitment, or a little bit of fun, Gatto understands the beautiful power of real action that characterizes USN as a school.
While his legacy will certainly live on, Gatto has his own hopes for how the school will remember him.
“Honestly, I don’t really believe I’m going to be remembered. And I mean that in the best way possible. It would be great to be remembered, but I don’t want to be remembered,” Gatto said. “I would rather just have people remember USN as a good place, or view USN as ‘Oh, this is a place where kids are having fun and able to do whatever they want, or run in the track meet and then go be in a play that same night.’”
“And I think that’s something that I would love to be taken away from me,” he added.
