by Mark Solomon, Principal
On Tuesday, March 4th, Tucker West, a member of the United States Olympic Team visited Scotland School. Tucker is a former Scotland School student, having graduated from Scotland School in June, 2006 and is currently a member of the United States National Team in Luge. It seems that Tucker always knew he wanted to be an Olympian. In the 2006 edition of the Scotland School Yearbook the students are asked to write what their goal is in life and Tucker’s entry was to be part of the “American Luge Team.” It seems Tucker’s dream and goal has come true. As Tucker explained to the students, this dream required a tremendous amount of dedication and hard work. Tucker explained to the students what he had to do to become part of the Olympic Team. He outlined his daily training regime and how he is able to combine his education with training. Tucker emphasized the fact that anyone can achieve their dream if they dedicate themselves to a goal and actively pursue it. Tucker said that he knew when he was in elementary school that he wanted to be on the Luge Team and compete in the Olympics. Tucker has received wonderful support from his parents and his two younger sisters. As he said, this is a family goal, not just mine. His family is extremely proud of Tucker’s accomplishments and will continue to support his efforts.
Tucker just finished high school. He will be entering Union College in March. The school has devised a program allowing him to go to class and also continue to train and be part of the United States National Team.
The assembly opened with the school band playing the Olympic Theme song to welcome him. During the assembly, every student had the opportunity to listen to Tucker and ask him about his experiences at the Olympics. Students had the opportunity to question Tucker about his experiences in riding on the Luge, whether he is afraid, how fast he goes, how he stops, what he eats, what his training is like and what he hopes to do in the future.
At the end of the assembly program every student in the school got to individually meet Tucker, shake his hand, ask him a question, tell him their name and take a photo with him. Every student in the school also received an Olympic poster of Team Tucker brought to the Assembly program by his father.
Scotland School will be holding their PTA Gala this month and Tucker has donated an evening of babysitting for a family as his contribution to the Gala to help raise funds for his alma mater. This item will be auctioned and Tucker will be doing this in June when her returns to Ridgefield. After the Assembly yesterday, he returned to Lake Placid.
Throughout the entire program it was extremely obvious that Tucker is a gentleman, thoughtful, kind and caring. It was just a beautiful day at Scotland and everyone at the school is so appreciative that Tucker and his family, parents Pam and Brett, and sister Gracie were able to visit Scotland School. Tucker’s other sister, Tatum, is away at school and was not able to attend.
