The small but mighty voice of Wareham's own Kelsey Gropmen

Born with no vision, her intestines outside of her body and missing the protective membrane located in the middle of her brain, Kelsey Gropmen has been somewhat of a marvel for the nine years she's been alive. 

And she's got one heck of a singing voice, too. 

Kelsey's mother, Jenn Gropmen has been toting her daughter to different events over the past year to share her talent at sporting events and fundraisers across the state. What began as singing nursery rhymes developed into a love for karaoke.

"Since she could talk she'd be walking around the house singing," Jenn said. "Singing for family members and basically everywhere— she's always had a love for music."

Though she's no stranger to using her voice, Kelsey's introduction to singing the “The Star-Spangled Banner" started in early 2025. After watching another kid sing the national anthem at a hockey game, she got inspired. 

"I was like, "I wanna do that too,"" Kelsey said. "So I started singing along." 

A student at Wareham Elementary and a lover of all things K-Pop Demon Hunters, Kelsey still has partial blindness. That hasn't stopped her from doing what she loves best. 

The past year has brought the small singer plenty of opportunity to show off her pipes. With tiny hands clutching the microphone a vibrato echoing through the stands, Kelsey said she prefers earlier events so she can sing with higher energy. 

"Being able to put myself out there after what I went through as a baby makes me feel proud of myself," she said. 

Kelsey isn't shy about her talents, as she likes to "brag about it a lot" to her teachers, peers and family members. Her YouTube channel stays updated with videos from performances, music videos and covers of her favorite songs. 

"My favorite part about singing is the "wows" and the people saying "Kelsey you're amazing."" Kelsey said. "I like all the compliments I'm getting."

Saturday, March 14 Kelsey took a trip to Lowell to sing the national anthem at the Wareham boys basketball state championships, a bigger scale performance. Though she said crowds are still intimidating to her, she still puts on a smile and waves to the crowd. 

"I always knock it out of the park, anyway," she said. 

For Jenn, she said she's happy to see her daughter flourish and find something she enjoys doing. She called it "overwhelming in a good way."

"It's my greatest accomplishment in my life to watch my daughter be so brave and I'm so proud of her," Jenn said. 

As for the singer, Kelsey doesn't know if singing will be what she does forever. 

"I'm just going to go with the flow and see if I ever get famous," she said.