In one word, Senesh Magill’s friends described her as “happy.” In more than one word, their praise for Senesh was effusive. She was positive, always enthusiastic and made bad days better just with her presence and her smile.

Senesh passed away at the age of 12 on May 26, 2017, a day that was supposed to be a one of excitement. Since the entire Upper School was out on visual arts field trips, parents were the first to receive the tragic news about Senesh’s death due to a brain seizure. While students were supposed to learn about Senesh during assemblies after the trips, word leaked out as some parents texted or otherwise informed their children.

Senesh came to JDS in fifth grade excited for a new opportunity and quickly integrated herself into the Class of 2022. Senesh was at the center of her friend group and rarely walked the hallways alone.

With Senesh’s enthusiasm came strong opinions and a clear sense of self. Senesh wanted to become the first female president of the United States. During Hebrew class before the 2016 election, Senesh and her classmates discussed the events of the day, but just talking was not enough for Senesh.

During each conversation, Senesh brought up her desire to become president herself. Not one to just have a wish and sit on it, Senesh opened her computer, went on Buzzfeed, and took quizzes about being the president to prove that she would be perfect for the job.

Senesh was named for the famed poet Hannah Senesh, who was executed by Nazis after parachuting into Hungary to assist the Jewish resistance. She was born to Kari Butcher and Jordan Magill on June 21, 2004. Senesh was the middle child in the family — her older sister Brenner is a sophomore at JDS while her younger brother Boaz does not go to JDS. Before JDS, she and her family lived in Sacramento, Calif. Both Senesh and Brenner Magill joined the JDS community in 2014.

Throughout her life, Senesh’s energy rarely abated. One January, the day after winter break, Senesh came into school and, so excited to see her friends, quite literally jumped into the conversation. Senesh ended up on a friend’s back as if she were being given a piggy-back ride. The crowd at Senesh’s funeral largely reflected her impact on the community. The ceremony, held at Ohr Kodesh Congregation on May 29, was attended by hundreds of JDS community members from administrators to teachers to students from each grade. Many of the attendees had never even met Senesh.

Last year, Senesh was in science teacher Cassandra Ly’s seventh grade life science course. Ly, like Senesh’s friends, described her as “energetic” and with boundless excitement. Ly recalls teaching about meiosis, the process by which reproductive cells form the new cells that turn into a human embryo.

Ly said that in order to have some fun and make the room a bit “awkward,” she started off the lesson by saying, “When a man and woman love one another and get married…” At this point, though, Ly said that Senesh interjected and “sassily” said, “But they don’t have to be married.” According to Ly, Senesh always managed to catch her off guard and the classroom burst into laughter.

Other times, Senesh would arrive to Ly’s class with a snack, which was against the rules in Ly’s classroom. Instead of putting the snack away, Senesh simply stood in the doorway and watched the lesson as Ly told her to hurry up to no avail. Even though Senesh was rebelling against her teacher, Ly found a certain peppy charm in Senesh’s attitude and had a lot of fun with her.

Outside of the classroom, Senesh was an avid runner and was on the JDS track team. In a team-wide email, coach Jason Belinkie echoed Senesh’s friends and wrote, “Her warm presence, beautiful smile and passion for running are just a few of Senesh’s qualities that have undoubtedly impacted everyone on our team who spent time with her everyday.”

Senesh’s legacy will live on throughout the 2017-2018 school year and beyond in the memories that the people who met Senesh retain.

“She had so much energy, pep, sass and genuine joy,” Ly said.