GABE SCHMITT HAS had a rewarding career at Middlebury Union High School, thanks to hard work and a little help from his friends — and teachers.
Independent photo/John Flowers

MIDDLEBURY — Middlebury’s Gabe Schmitt is everything you’d want to see in a young man who has just earned his high school diploma.

Smart and confidently introspective. Content to work or recreate on his own, but joyful among others.

Polite. To. A. Fault.

During a recent interview at Middlebury Union High School, from which Schmitt was preparing to graduate this month, Gabe said “hello” and smiled at multiple educators and classmates. He held open the school library door for some folks after we’d exited.

A preoccupied classmate’s stoic face quickly melted into a smile as she passed Schmitt on route to her next class.

It’s clear Schmitt genuinely likes people, and they like him. He holds his fellow students and teachers in high regard.

“It’s impossible to overstate how much (help my teachers) have been throughout the years, and also a shout-out to my peers,” he said, beaming.

And Gabe has known some of his MUHS peers since kindergarten at Mary Hogan Elementary School. He said he’s had a great experience in Middlebury schools, citing English, biology, history and science as his favorite subjects.

But for him, one program has stood above all others: Addison Repertory Theater, known as ART, which he attends at the Patricia Hannaford Career Center.

He’s rounding out his second year in ART and has loved performing on stage with other students. He and his fellow teen thespians recently co-wrote and starred in a play called “I’ll Tell You’re a Secret,” which blended thrills, chills and humor amid a 1970s backdrop to impart a cautionary message.

“I can learn lines pretty quickly,” he said, matter-of-factly.

Yes, there are plenty of things Gabe Schmitt can do easily, but he’s needed help with other things.

“I’ve had disabilities that can hinder everything, academically and physically,” he offered. “I’ve persevered through that, and that’s given me a deeper appreciation for people who are also struggling with disabilities.”

His own situation prompted him to take a lead role in the MUHS chapter of Best Buddies, which describes itself as “the world’s largest organization dedicated to ending the social, physical and economic isolation of the 200 million people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.”

Schmitt offered his own definition, and Best Buddies should consider adopting it:

“It’s a club that seeks to create connections and friendships between students who are neurologically typical and neurologically atypical.”

The MUHS group counts around 30 members, and Schmitt serves on its leadership board. The group meets regularly and holds special events at which Best Buddies socialize.

Schmitt was a key member in the planning of Neurodiversity Week 2024 at MUHS.

“I wanted to help everyone in the community find a place where they felt valued, that they were good at something,” Gabe said.

“I wanted to give something back to my community.”

It’s a spirit of helping others that extends beyond the MUHS campus.

During the past year, Schmitt spent around four hours each week as a “community life assistant” at the EastView at Middlebury retirement community, leading its senior residents through such activities as bingo games and light exercise.

He’s found the job so fulfilling that he’s going to take on more hours at EastView during his upcoming gap year between MUHS and college.

A year of service to others and more time to invest in two major hobbies: Lego brick building and soaking up literature — through both reading and audiobooks.

“It’s always been my escape after school,” he said. “I’ll listen to audio books and build Legos as a brain-break.”

Gabe doesn’t compete in Lego competitions, but let’s just say he’s darned good at it. The Lego Dune “Ornithopter” that the young man assembled was remarkable.

THE CAREER CENTER’S Addison Repertory Theater program was an important part of Gabe Schmitt’s education while a student at Middlebury Union High School. Here he is rehearsing this past spring in the student written ART play “I’ll Tell You a Secret.”
Independent photo/John Flowers

When I offered that I was 13 years old when the first Star Wars movie came out in “1975,” he was quick to point out that the movie in fact premiered in 1977. While my error must have been age-related, don’t challenge Gabe on Star Wars trivia or anything having to do with the Millennium Falcon. He’s plugged into that universe, along with all things Dune and Lord of the Rings, to mention a few.

You might also want to think twice before challenging him to anything requiring stamina. Schmitt spent four seasons as a member of three Tiger sports teams: cross country running, Nordic skiing, and track & field.

“I joined (those sports) mainly because that’s what my older siblings had done,” he confessed, alluding to his brother Julian and sister Catherine. He also has a younger brother, Henry, who’s 13. All are sons and daughters of Samantha Farrell Schmitt and John Schmitt of Middlebury.

Gabe is very happy with the athletic choices he made.

“I started running and I never looked back,” he said.

Skiing, running, block building and reading are often solitary pursuits. But Schmitt doesn’t look at them that way.

“With running and just about anything, you can connect with someone about it,” he said.

And everyone needs an assist sometimes, no matter what the endeavor.

Case in point: Gabe described positioning himself in the starting line of a recent Nordic skiing race, when he suddenly realized he was wearing the wrong skis. He didn’t dare leave the course, yet using the wrong skis might produce an epic fail.

Fortunately, two of his friends — Mathias and Baxter — were at the venue and quickly read their pal’s discomfort.

“Everyone sprints, I put on my skis 20 second before (race time),” he recalled. “It was the best race of the season for me. I’ve enjoyed all the help my peers have given me.”

And let’s not forget his educators.

“All my teachers from kindergarten through high school have been a huge help in assisting me with all my academic and physical struggles,” Schmitt said, adding, “My coaches and my peers are kind of the reason I’m here and the reason you’re interviewing me now.”

John Flowers is at [email protected].