Life
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 2, 2008
SALINA JOURNAL
ENGAGEMENTS / B2 WEDDINGS / B3 CROSSWORD / B8
St. John’s Military School cadets walk in front of the newly opened Vanier Hall.
St. John’s Military School Code of Honor
Honor Dignity Pride “None can exist without the other, nor will the absence of any be tolerated.” Maj. Brian Sweeney, Class of 1989
Photos by Tom Dorsey / Salina Journal
Ian Sitarik folds a blanket in his Vanier Hall dorm room at St. John’s Military School. This year is the first time in more than 25 years that St. John’s Military School has started the academic year with more cadets than when it ended the previous year.
St. John’s renews recruiting efforts to help school prosper By David Clouston Salina Journal
When he was failing at his old school, there wasn’t much doubt about one of the main reasons why, said Will Pickering, 13, a cadet at St. John’s Military School. “At home, you’re always worried about how much time you’re going to have, to go to a friend’s house,” Pickering said. The phone would ring, or a text message would pop up and he would go hang out. “I’d just leave and not do my homework,” he said. His grades, once peppered with “Ds” and “Fs,” have risen dramatically. Cell phones and iPods aren’t allowed on the military school campus outside of living quarters, and homework study Pickering periods are mandatory. A focus on academics and a renewed emphasis on nationwide recruiting are helping the 121-year-old school recover after enrollment fell to 83 when the 2007 school year began. Traditionally, the school has had around 170 students; at times, that number has climbed to more than 200. Wooten The St. John’s Military School Endowment loaned the school $2 million to keep its doors open. One big factor in the decline was the school’s abbreviated graduation ceremony and an early end to the school year after floodwaters in May 2007 caused a sewer backup in school rest Frank rooms. Few parents were in attendance at the ceremony. “That was a major mistake,” the school’s new president, Larry Lysell, said. “They literally entered the summer with maybe five re-enrollments (for the fall), and usually you’ll have maybe 30 or more by that time.”
A good start in 2008 This year, 75 percent of cadets from last year returned. It’s the first time since 1980 that St. John’s began a school year with more cadets — 115 — than what it ended with from the prior year, Lysell said. The goal is to end the year at 160 students, said admissions and marketing director Ginger Wooten. It’s easier, too, to sell parents and their sons on the school, with the opening this academic year of the $6 million Vanier Hall, a residence for cadet high school students, named for St. John’s former board member and alum Jack Vanier. One of the benefactors involved in the building’s construction was D. Dale Browning. Browning, chairman of the board of
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Take pride in casting your vote It always will be worth it to stand up and be counted Today I did something I’ve never done before: I voted early — meaning, before Election Day, Nov. 4, when most voters will go to the polls. And I don’t mind telling you, I felt pretty darn special. Technically, I voted early in 2004, when I was holed up on a lake in South Carolina, and couldn’t get back to California in time to vote. But that was an absentee mail-in ballot, and I swore I’d never do it again. Vote absentee, that is, not hole up on a lake. When you have voted Life in as many Stories elections as I have (for the record, 1972 was both my first year to vote and to give birth, though not all at once), sharon it doesn’t feel Randall quite the same Scripps Howard to simply drop News Service a ballot in the mail. In voting absentee, I missed the whole experience of going to the polls, standing in line with folks who were neighbors and friends, waiting for a turn to step in a booth, pull a curtain and cast my vote. It might not have seemed nearly so Norman Rockwellian, had I been waiting in rain or freezing temperatures — or if the line had been several hours long, as it may prove to be in this election, given record-setting voter registrations. I wasn’t really worried about the weather. Two years ago, we moved to Las Vegas of all places, where the forecast is typically “abundant sunshine,” and by November, temperatures run considerably cooler than the usual “hotter than the hinges on the gates of hell.” But the thought of waiting in line for hours made me rethink my oath against voting early — especially after I learned that Nevada (like many states, maybe even yours) allows early voting not only by absentee ballot but also in person.
Going to vote early
nation’s Ivy League schools or military academies, Lysell said. This past year, 92 percent of St. John’s students tested proficient or better in reading, 89 percent in math, 88 percent in social studies and 94 percent in science, Wooten said.
So this morning, I decided to go vote. First, I got dressed up a bit in honor of my grandmother. Like other women of her generation, who were denied the right to vote until 1920, she took voting seriously and dressed for the occasion in hat and gloves and heels. For me, of course, dressing up only meant that I didn’t wear sweats. Then I filled out my sample ballot, drove to my polling place and got in line behind about six other voters while waiting for one of a dozen or so machines to become available. I didn’t know anybody, or at least not well enough to ask about their mother (a ritual where I grew up). But it was all very cordial, a lot of grinning and nodding, as if to say, “Look at us; aren’t we doing our part?” After moving up a spot, I turned around to face an elderly man who was leaning heavily on a walker, making his way to get in line just behind me. When he stopped, he tottered a bit, trying to find his balance. His legs shook, threatening to buckle, but his eyes, meeting mine, were steady and clear. He smiled and I smiled back. For a moment, I hesitated to speak my mind, but as usual, it got the best of me. “If you’d like to sit down,” I said, motioning toward a nearby sofa, “I’ll be glad to save your place in line.”
See PRIDE, Page B5
See VOTE, Page B5
Ian Sitarik (left), Ryan David and Jonathon Frank look at the new pool tables in the game room of Vanier Hall. The $6 million residence hall also is used for recreational activities. Frontier Airlines, served last year as St. John’s interim president. He still maintains an apartment in the building as the school’s headmaster. He’s a graduate of the class of 1955. Sparkling bright floor tile lines the building’s hallways, flanked at intervals by distinguished cherry wood hall tables. In the basement, there’s a new recreation area sporting pool tables in St. John’s colors, a kitchen and two, 20-seat theater rooms with plush reclining movie chairs. There’s also a state-of-the-art fitness center. “I’ve never seen so many cadets take advantage of working out before,” said cadet Jonathon Frank, 18, Ardmore, Okla., a senior. The recreation and fitness areas are aimed at enticing cadets to stay on campus more, rather than venturing into Salina.
The fitness area in Vanier Hall has a variety of exercise machines and equipment to use.
More adult supervision Another feature that’s changed at the school is that the adult supervision, “is four times the supervision they had 20 years ago,” said Lysell, who taught at St. John’s from 1973 to 1987. That’s due in part to a reaction to restore the school’s reputation after it settled six lawsuits out of court. Former cadets at the school alleged they were subject to beatings by other cadets in May 2004 because of perceived infractions of cadet corps rules.
College prep school Today, primarily, “St. John’s is a college prep school,” preparing many of its students for a post-secondary education at the
Vanier Hall has two 20-seat theater rooms for the St. John’s cadets. Having entertainment options on campus is a plus.
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