Kalen J. Wright, a Greenbelt News Review paper carrier since the sixth grade, wears multiple hats. He is a scholar, athlete, entrepreneur, an award-winning film/podcast producer, a nationally recognized hip-hop dancer and a Taekwondo Black Belt specialist.
Wright is a senior at Northwestern High School (NHS) in Hyattsville, where he attends the Jim Henson Performing Arts program and has always maintained a GPA of 3.7 to 4.0. He is on the NHS varsity track team and competes in cross country, 800-meter, 1600-meter and 3200-meter races. He began running for NHS in the 10th grade, and by the end of the year received the Most Improved Athlete Award. Wright has earned a Black Belt in Taekwondo, competing in this sport since he was in second grade.
His experiences with Taekwondo have taught Wright that being uncomfortable or failing can be a catalyst to greater learning and improvement in skills. For example, he used to be afraid of spiders and to overcome that fear he learned everything he could about them. He said: “If you know what it is, and how it works, it’s hard to be afraid of it.” During his time competing in Taekwondo, he fought individuals older and bigger than he, helping him gain greater confidence in his skills and in his ability to overcome any challenge.
Wright loves hip-hop dancing. He placed fourth in a solo national competition in July at the Virginia Beach Festival. He currently studies dance at Making Moves Dance Collective in Beltsville.
To enhance his chances for getting into college, Wright is a fourth-year scholar with LEEP to College Foundation, Inc. (L2C). This college preparatory program helps under-represented youth to improve high school graduation rates by visiting various colleges, offering SAT preparation and fostering engagement in leadership and community development training. They also offer workshops in mental health, college readiness and financial
planning. Wright was among a small team of students that produced a monthly podcast to discuss current events from a teenage perspective. He edited and produced the podcast on various media platforms.
Wright is an entrepreneur – his business Always Seeking Knowledge (ASK), a clothing and apparel company – creates athletic clothing and apparel for people 15 to 35 years old. His clothing designs and ad enabled his selection to the Jim Henson program.
Wright’s second business is called Drippy Film and Media Productions for which he writes and produces short narrative films. In 2023 at the 11th Annual Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) Digital Film Festival he won first and second place for Best Microfilm and Best Special Effects for a feature film.
Wright’s filmmaking has already earned him a scholarship to the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), where he plans to join their Digital Cinema program. Upon admission, he’ll be awarded a $76,000 scholarship ($19,000 annually), providing he enrolls the fall after his graduation from high school. The award was for demonstrating outstanding achievement in art, design and creativity.
Wright plans to major in film production in college and is looking at both Bowie State and RIT. He likes science fiction and wants to own his own film studio one day. Wright envisions moving in the direction of Tyler Perry and maybe Rod Sterling because he likes psychological films that make people think. He has completed MATLAB simulations, the Python coding program, Arduino projects, computer engineering coursework and has drafted a final research report as an apprentice in the Army Educational Outreach Program High School Apprenticeship at Texas Tech University in 2021.
Wright’s parents are his greatest influencers – his father is an engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and his mother is a physical chemist. He describes his father as a problem solver and his mother as creative. Both parents are entrepreneurial and so were Wright’s grandparents.
When asked how he became engaged in so many activities over the years, Wright said: “My parents put me in stuff, and I am not afraid to try stuff and fail at it. If I want to do something, I try it.”
