Music and theater have been a major part of Jensen Brull’s life for about as long as he can remember. 

Brull has fueled that passion throughout his time at TMP-Marian, taking a lead role in the student-led Monarch Music program and actively participating in plays and musicals. 

As his high school career winds down, Brull is doing his best to make sure those programs are in the best possible shape so future Monarch can enjoy the same opportunities. 

Brull, the Capitol Federal® True Blue® Student of the Week, credited his parents, TMP-Marian alums Jeff and Julie Brull, for developing his love of music. 

“I kind of first got into music in the third grade. I really started doing piano lessons and was in my first musical, actually here at TMP, 'The Sound of Music,' ” Brull said. “That was a really cool experience and it just kind of sparked a flame.”

Brull has been involved in the Monarch Music program since seventh grade. The program, created by the late Jim Balthazor, started out as a liturgy group, performing at mass and other events around the community. 

The program went on hiatus after the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and then Balthazor’s sudden passing.

Brull took an active role in revitalizing the program, which is now organized and led by students. 

“It was my freshman year about three years ago when Mr. Balthazor passed away,” Brull said “My very good friend and I both thought that it was important that we kept his memory going throughout the school through this organization because he poured so much time and effort into it. We thought it had to keep going. We eventually grew our own love for it and put our own unique touches on the program. It has grown into a fantastic organization that I’m very honored to be a part of.”

Brull said in a few weeks the Monarch Music program will again perform in events around the community like it used to when Brull was in junior high.

“It’s been just a really cool full-circle experience to be part of the leadership here,” Brull said. “I’m working hard right now to maybe institutionalize it a little bit and make sure it stays as an organization and keeps thriving.”

Brull is gearing up for his last theater performance when TMP hosts Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” this weekend.

“(Theatre) has always kept me busy throughout all my years here,"  Brull said. “It’s just a really good way to express yourself.”

One of the highlights of his drama career was when Brull played the lead role in TMP’s performance of “Shrek The Musical,”  in 2021. 

“I had so many people tell me after my first performance, ‘I couldn’t believe that was you,’" Brull said. “It just brought out this whole new part of me. Being in that costume, I kind of just realized ‘Nobody knows who I am. I can do all this stuff and get away with it and just embody that character.’ It was a really cool experience.”

When picking a project to complete his Eagle Scout requirements, Brull puts his focus on bolstering TMP’s theater department, visiting with TMP drama director Travis Grizzell to pinpoint needs for the auditorium. 

Brull started by clearing off unneeded shelving backstage to create bench space for actors to wait before they go on stage. 

Brull also went to work fundraising for new equipment for the auditorium. 

“I put a camera up in the balcony that captures the whole view of the stage and streams the video directly from up there to everywhere throughout the school so you’re able to watch what’s happening on stage from anywhere in the school," Brull said. “It really creates an accessibility feature that we haven’t had in the past, for not only actors to see what’s going back stage, but people who maybe can’t see the show in person.”

As a part of his project, Brull also helped the school acquire a vertical mast lift for backstage.

“We didn’t really have any way to access the really tall ceiling that our theater has," he said. “We kind of got rid of this big blue clunky ladder backstage. I got this vertical mast; it’s kind of like a scissor lift but it goes straight up instead. 

“I was very fortunate to have so many people help me throughout the experience.”

At TMP, Brull is also the student body executive treasurer, National Honor Society president and is an active member of Pop-Singers, Scholar’s Bowl, Key Club, men’s golf and choir. 

“Jensen Brull is a phenomenal human being -- musically, academically, and just as a person,” TMP music teacher Alexandra Rome said. “He is truly an integral part of the Thomas More Prep-Marian music and theater departments. He takes charge of his own learning, maturing in his voice and stage skills. His leadership has been an impactful force within the TMP show choir and in TMP musicals and plays. Jensen is an invaluable part of our music-making.”

Brull said he loves keeping a jam-packed schedule. 

“My brain is kind of wired that way at this point,"  he said. "If I’m sitting around not working on something then I’m bored and I immediately go and find something productive to do. I think my parents just kind of raised me that way.

“My grandparents on my dad’s side, Carol and Randy Brull, were actually teachers here and they instilled that in me as well. But it all really comes down to the spirit of TMP and the passion everybody has for the school and how much work everybody’s willing to put into it.”

Brull is headed to Kansas State University next fall. He will major in biology on a pre-med track. 

“My mom will say that I’ve always been interested in being a doctor,” Brull said. “That’s definitely the plan right now. It was definitely inspired by my grandpa, because he’s a science teacher. His love for the sciences has really grown on me.”