On The Field And In The Classroom, Waltham Student Shines

There seems to be nothing student James Dooley can’t do.

For his many skills, Dooley, a senior, recently an award from the Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators and the Massachusetts Vocational Administration.

Dooley was one of 50 students statewide given the award during an Thursday, April 14 banquet in Worcester, according to Waltham High School’s Director of Career and Technical Education Linda Radzvilla. Dooley’s teachers nominated him for the award.

Radzvilla said she was proud of Dooley and sees him as a great example of the students the school’s vocational department produces.

“It is beyond words,” she said. “It validates everything that you do as an educator.”

Dooley said he was excited to be honored for his work in carpentry classes he takes.

“I just love it,” Dooley said. “There’s so much you can do with woodwork. There are so many things that you can work on and build and fix just with the knowledge you gain through carpentry classes.”

As a lover of the creative and artistic aspects of carpentry, Dooley said that he made a cutting board for his mother, chest, a bench and most recently, a bookshelf.

In addition to his carpentry skills, Dooley is also a talented athlete, an advocate for preventing drug use among teens and an exceptional student. Boasting a GPA of 3.7, Dooley is a member of Waltham High School’s National Honor Society.

Outside of school, Dooley is also an officer at Youth Opposed to Using, or Y.O.U., an anti-drug program that targets high school students.

Discouraged by the number of youths who turn to drugs and alcohol, Dooley said he is devoted to showing teens better ways to deal with their issues.

“Kids may be doing drugs because of problems at home, but it’s the wrong thing to do to cope with problems,” he said. “I think that there are better ways that kids can go about handling problems. I try to raise awareness about it because [turning to drugs or alcohol] makes things worse. It doesn’t make anything better.”

Dooley is also passionate about sports. During his high school career, he has served as the captain of the freshman lacrosse team, as well as the junior varsity lacrosse captain during his sophomore and junior years. This year, he was also the senior captain of the wresting team.

While not many teenagers can find the time to juggle schoolwork, community service and sports, Dooley’s father, Jim, said that his son has always been dedicated to whatever he has worked on.

“He takes everything he wants to do seriously and he just doesn’t do it halfway,” he said. “He goes all the way with whatever he is doing. That’s him. His mother and I are both very proud of him.”

Dooley has a bright future. He said will be attending Endicott College next year to study accounting and Arabic. He hopes his studies will prepare him for a career in criminology, particularly the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

With dedication and hard work Dooley has exhibited, his father said he knows he can be successful in this career path.

“I think he is going to go anywhere he wants to go,” he said. “If he puts his mind to it, that’s exactly where he’ll go and I don’t have any doubt in that.”