What do you want to be when you grow up?
That’s a loaded question for any high school student. For approximately 200 young men attending the Saint Thomas More School (STM) in Oakdale, it’s also a crucial question.
The boys’ college prep boarding school, situated on 110 acres next to Gardner Lake, with its own beach, boathouse, and dock, is an interesting mixture of close to 200 students. They come from as close by as Montville, Waterford, and East Lyme, from other states, and from as far away as the other side of the globe. Some have been labeled “underachievers.” International students, intent on mastering American English and getting accepted by a U.S. college or university, are attracted to the curriculum.
The school, founded in 1962, is Catholic in tradition and follows a Jesuit philosophy. It exists to serve young men with ability who have not yet fulfilled their potential.
“We have special students here,” said Headmaster James “Jamie” F. Hanrahan Jr., a 1972 graduate and son of the school’s founder. “These are young men who have the ability to do well, but for some reason or not, they just haven’t applied themselves academically.”
The magic of STM, Hanrahan said, is a combination of small classes, structured schedule, monitored evening study halls, and a very dedicated staff that works very closely and individually with the students to help motivate them and push them in the right direction.
“We strongly believe that it is the effort that really counts. Students who are doing their homework and regularly attending classes will, in fact, achieve the success that they so richly deserve.”
A few weeks back, the students got to turn the table on some adults, asking them the tough questions about what they do to make a living, how they got into a certain field, and what motivated them to do what they do. Some asked the blunt question: How much money do you make?
About 25 adults, many of them with personal, familial, or professional ties to the school, participated in the school’s annual Career Day. Initiated in 2001, Career Day is designed to let students meet and talk with people in a variety of fields, at various stages of their professional lives.
The boys had a chance to talk with men and women in a broad range of careers, from banking and finance to the Coast Guard and Army National Guard, Pfizer research, forensics at the Rhode Island State Crime Laboratory and law enforcement institutions to law, sports marketing, public relations, and education.
Several of the participants either attended STM or their sons have. Al Abrose, a member of one of the first graduating classes, in 1965, is now a principal with NIA Group. The Milford-based privately held commercial lines insurance agency is the sixth-largest U.S. firm in its field.
Jim Lyon, sales manager for New England, New York, and New Jersey with Rinker Materials of Westfield, Mass., has four sons who have attended the school, including two current students. Jim and his wife, Lisa, are members of the STM board of trustees.
The school’s average class size is 12 students, and classes run 45 minutes. The adults went by twos and threes into each classroom and explained what they did on a daily basis and fielded questions from the students.
Dwayne Stallings, a financial adviser and accredited Chartered Retirement Planning Coordinator (CRPC) with Merrill Lynch in New London, told a class of sophomores what it’s like to help people prepare for the realities of retirement, long-term medical care, and funding college educations.
When one student said he was banking on a career as a professional athlete, the 1995 graduate of New London High School and former Connecticut College student had sober statistics on how few aspiring high school athletes actually make it to the pros.
“The average professional life span for an NFL player is three years—and that’s if you get on the team. So, then what are you going to do?” asked Stallings, who was captain of the Camels basketball team that advanced to the NCAA Division Three Final Four. He went on to play professional basketball in Europe.
“You have to have a backup plan,” he said. “I was lucky enough to be able to play professionally for four or five years, and then my knees just couldn’t take it.”
Fortunately, he’d always been impressed by businessmen and decided to study finance. Stallings said several of his clients are still active athletes, earning multiple millions of dollars. One of the perks of providing financial advice to current and former athletes, he said, is going to Celtics games and hanging out in inner circles of the sports world.
Seniors Benedykt Pleszczynski from Virginia, Ahmed Amin of Saudi Arabia, T.K. Kim from Korea, and Ryan Schwab from New Jersey served as student ambassadors, guiding the Career Day participants who weren’t already familiar with the campus and answering their questions.
There are three dorms on campus. The young men are expected to dress in suit jackets and ties for breakfast and lunch served in the cafeteria. Dinner is more relaxed.
“I’m leaning toward a general liberal arts degree,” said Pleszczynksi, whose father is a journalist with The Standard in Washington, D.C. “I’m interested in journalism, broadcasting, radio, and television. I should know by now what field I want to be in, but I don’t.”
“I came here and I thought it would really be strict,” said Jack Lundin, an eighth-grader from Boston, “but the teachers want you to succeed here. They help us make sure we get our homework done.”
“Our teachers are our allies, not our enemies,” added Pleszczynski, who was on the cross-country team with Lundin and Da’Quan Grant, an eighth-grader from New Jersey.
“They are always there to help us,” agreed Grant. “The main thing I’m learning is how to organize and time management. Every week we have to turn in a critical analysis paper for language arts, in addition to our other homework. Not only do we have to have the critical knowledge, we have to be able to write these papers. They’re getting us ready for college.”
There is no Internet or WiFi in the dorms to serve as distraction from studies, but students have access to these in the library. The school has added more technology in recent years with a new computer lab, too.
STM prides itself on developing the “whole man,” according to MaryLou Gannotti, director of alumni relations. The not-for-profit school has 3,000 alumni and an endowment of $9.1 million.
“It’s not just about academics,” said Hanrahan. “We try to develop our students socially, physically, morally, and academically.”
“What really helped me the most here is how the athleticism is part of it,” Pleszczynksi said. “When I came here, I didn’t know anything about sports.”
Interscholastic sports include basketball, baseball, cross country, football, hockey, soccer, track and field, lacrosse, tennis, and golf. Intramural sports include judo, sailing, and weight training.
“Even though it’s a small school, you really get to know each other on sports teams,” agreed Lundin. “I never would have gotten to know some of the other students if I wasn’t on a sports team with them.”
Between 30 percent and 35 percent of the students come from other countries. Fourteen countries are represented, including Spain, Korea, Mexico, Japan, China, Great Britain, Peru, and Saudi Arabia.
“Many of our international students come here to master English and to prepare them for college and entrance to a U.S. college,” said Julie Way, director of international students. “Knowing English will provide many of these young men with advantages in the business world.”
Around 50 percent to 60 percent of the students make the school’s honor roll on a quarterly basis, according to Hanrahan, working on a challenging curriculum.
“That’s compared to zero percent before coming here,” he noted.
For more information about Saint Thomas More School, visit www.stmct.org.