STA's Unsung Heroes
STA’s Unsung Heroes
Sam Trammell '22
Here at Saint Thomas Academy, we are very good at recognizing outstanding achievements. From National Merit scholars to varsity athletes, there is no shortage of talent at STA. However, there are also many other talented, passionate individuals that go unrecognized for their efforts and hard work every day.
We asked 6 teachers to share a short anecdote about a student who did something that impressed them during class.
Mrs. Jaworski: “Ben Cardwell, 9th grade, surprised me with a song about DNA, set to the tune of ‘Hallelujah’ by Leonard Cohen. He played guitar and original lyrics.”
Mr. Callahan: “One student who has impressed me this year was Austin Kalmes. Austin was very ill during the last part of his freshman year and during the first semester of his sophomore year. He underwent many chemo treatments, yet he was always there during his distance learning and always informed me when he had to miss class. He underwent many difficulties during this time both physically and emotionally. Austin persevered and earned exceptional grades. He is an amazing person who has overcome adversity and is a great role model for all of us.”
Mr. Meisch: “One thing that I remember being impressed by is watching Thang Do go through the Academy and develop his language skills in this culture. Back in Freshman year, the boys were teaching him slang a bit and the expression "get this bread" was fairly popular at the time. There's a lot of cultural context that informs this expression for an English language learner and Thang was growing more and more frustrated with hearing it and not understanding it, eventually culminating in him yelling out "WHAT IS BREAD?!" when talking with some of the boys during one of these instances. Everybody thought it was funny, but it was also important to note that it demonstrated how he wanted to learn the language even to the point of understanding slang. He recently delivered his senior speech and it was quite well done, especially when you consider all of the language learning that has occurred between then and now.”
Mr. Wynia: “I really enjoy Cooper Corbo's passion for meteorology. We've discussed major weather events at various times throughout the year, and, at his suggestion, his class watched NASA's live broadcast of the rover Perseverance as it landed on Mars.”
Mr. Seidel: “I am very proud of Daniel Grady and how much adversity he has overcome. He has a servant's heart as he manages the hockey team and serves his faith community on weekends--Saint Thomas More. He is a wonderful son and brother and a joy to have in class.”
Mr. Marks: “Ugo Adarve, Max Iffert, Chihuu Nguyen, and Jackson Najarian take part in the quarterly book club. These students meet up once a month in my classroom in order to discuss an agreed-upon book. In their first meeting, they discussed Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. This quarter they will be discussing 1984 by George Orwell. The boys have a clear interest in dystopian science fiction.”