Q&A: Third Portsmouth Sibling Named Valedictorian at Dartmouth Catholic High School

When Bishop Stang High School (in Dartmouth, MA) holds its graduation ceremony for the Class of 2011 on June 5, a pair of proud Portsmouth parents — John and Beth Carroll — will watch as their child delivers the valedictory speech.

It won't be the first time, though. Not even the second.

Grace Carroll will graduate with Stang's top academic honor, following in the footsteps of brother Jack (Class of 2007) and sister Ellen (2009). Now, she'll follow their lead again in heading to the University of Notre Dame.

In addition to earning the honor of Valedictorian, Carroll also served as her class's vice president and captained the Spartans' girls' soccer team (earning a Boston Globe All-Star nod in the process).

Carroll spoke with Patch about her time at Stang, growing up in Portsmouth, Catholic education and her relationship with her siblings.

You're not the first in your family to have found success at Bishop Stang. Tell us about your family's accomplishments at Stang and what it means to carry on the legacy set before you in such a positive way.

Grace Carroll: I have heard from classmates, teachers, family friends, counselors, etcetera about following in my siblings’ footsteps as being first in the class, but I never entered Stang with that in mind or with that as my goal. Honestly, I just tried my best in school and worked hard to balance academics, soccer, Student Council and making new friends. Although I’m competitive, I was not the type of person who would check the class rank every quarter to see where I was. I simply knew what I was capable of and, whether I was first or twentieth in the class, I was trying my best. I never went through high school trying to be number one, but solely trying to do well in school.

My brother and I are very similar in that we both found success academically by putting in the extra time studying. We both love sports and made athletic excellence a priority at Stang as well — both of us were captains of soccer. My older sister, Ellen, is naturally brilliant in my opinion and, coupled with an incredible work ethic, easily excelled in her classes. They both handled any pressures that were on them as valedictorians very well and taught me that as long as I focus on doing my best on the next test, rather than the big picture of being first in the class or living up to any standards, I will be fine. Although some may find it surprising that in a family of three valedictorians, our parents are not intense or overbearing about grades, they truly are not! They have always had high expectations, but my parents are the ones who would remind me to just enjoy myself or take a break and relax when I was stressed out or overwhelmed. They are two of the hardest working people I have ever met, which has given me an example to follow.

On an individual level, how proud are you of your own accomplishments?

I am proud of my accomplishments, but not of being named valedictorian specifically. The title merely represents the work I have done over the past four years. There are many intelligent and hard working people in our graduating class that are just as deserving of this title. I think that I am most proud of my ability to balance my involvement in Student Council, which I am passionate about and will really miss, soccer year-round, which I absolutely loved developing as a player and being a part of the teams I was on, and academics. Sometimes amidst the chaos or stress of the previous four years, I questioned whether I would have to sacrifice something in order to do as well as I wanted to do in something else. But I just kept plugging away and found time to get it done. I tried not to get caught up in keeping track of everything I had to do, but rather just accomplish what was next on my list.

What happens for you next? Are you excited?

I am headed to the University of Notre Dame next year! I first visited when I was a freshman in high school to visit my older brother attending school there. By the end of that football weekend, I was sure that there was no better school for me. With its big-time sports, integrated faith life, focus on serving the community and academic merit, I could not have found a better combination. Yet, when I received my acceptance letter in December, I did not immediately send in my deposit. I wanted to make sure that I thought about the decision, specifically moving 15 hours away to a huge campus where I barely knew anyone. After some reflecting and talking with my family, I realized that at Notre Dame I will inevitably find a community of friends. In addition, knowing that Ellen will be out there with me was significant in my decision. I can’t wait to go to school with her again.

How about long-term? Any idea what you want to do? How will you go about getting there?

Since I was little, I wanted to become a teacher. I had a wonderful fifth grade teacher who was so passionate about learning and developing new, creative teaching methods that really triggered something in me. At Stang, seeing the interactions between teachers and students reveals the joys that teaching can bring. More recently, I have questioned whether teaching is something I want to do as a career or maybe just for a few years after college. So, I am entering the College of Arts and Letters at Notre Dame with interests in Spanish, American studies or some other related field. I will keep an open mind regarding classes and careers and will just go with the flow. I can honestly say that I have no idea what I will be doing in ten years. A topic that specifically interests me is education reform. I hope that I will have the opportunity to work to help reform education in the United States in the future. Having no clear idea of what I want to do as a career is somewhat exhilarating because I just have to pursue topics and subjects that pique my interest in the years to come.

And now for the past. Tell us about your education prior to Stang, and about growing up in Portsmouth.

I attended in Portsmouth from kindergarten through eighth grade. It is a Catholic school, very similar to Stang. I absolutely loved my time at St. Phil’s, meeting good friends and forming an effective work ethic. My three siblings also attended St. Phil’s so it has always been familiar for me to attend school with my family. Growing up, I played town soccer, was part of the county swim team, played basketball for St. Phil’s, played piano and had so much fun. My mom and dad, John and Beth, and my three siblings, Jack, Ellen and Mary, and I live in Portsmouth. My mom and my mom’s dad spent their summers growing up with their families in Portsmouth. Therefore, the summers are filled with family cookouts at my grandparents’ beach house nearby. I couldn’t have asked for a better place to grow up.

Bishop Stang is known for being very faith-intensive compared to some of New England's other parochial schools. What are some of the benefits of a Catholic education? The challenges?

I have never not attended Catholic schools, even attending a Catholic pre-school! This seems crazy, but it’s hard to imagine life without Catholic schools because they have been such a central part of my childhood. My parents made their kids’ education a priority and they made many sacrifices to ensure that we would receive the best education possible. The benefits of a Catholic education are numerous, primarily the faith aspect that permeates Catholic schools and establishes a nurturing atmosphere of respect, discipline and accountability, different from a public school. The students are keenly aware that the teachers are deeply invested in their education. They are genuine in their interest in the development of the students’ characters and values. I love the fact that at Stang so many of the current teachers are alumni, revealing their love for the school and their commitment to Catholic education. However, there are obvious challenges, many of which are monetary. Keeping tuition low to allow students of all financial backgrounds the opportunity to attend and attracting students who would otherwise attend public schools are only exacerbated during economic downtimes.

Over the course of your time in high school, a lot has changed in the education landscape. It went from unheard of to very common to see a laptop on every student's desk for instance. What are some of the biggest changes you've noticed in education from your freshman to senior year?

The most prevalent change is, without question, technology and its integration into virtually every class. In calculus, our teacher uses a program entitled Mimio to give notes and correct homework. These lessons are later posted on Moodle, a Web site that allows teachers to post links and assignments. Class projects over the course of the past four years have been opportunities to experiment with new technology. Some examples of technology’s evolving presence in my classes are recording short stories for Spanish using Audacity, making videos using Movie Maker and Jay Cut, scanning papers through Turn It In to check for plagiarism, using various pathfinders for research papers, practicing vocabulary with Word Champ and posting collaborative work in First Class, a new Web site integrated this year at Stang that allows students to access their work from school at home, among other tools. Our librarian/media specialist at Stang has been vital to the increasing, technological advances at Stang. With the current plans for a new library/media center [at Stang], the access students and teachers will have to new technology to improve learning and the classroom experience will be astounding.

You don't have to give anything away, but what are some of the themes you intend to address in your valedictory speech? How do those themes relate to you and your classmates?

I am in the middle of writing my speech now and, initially, was struggling with what to say and how to address my classmates at graduation. As my friends know, I was at a loss as to how to write the speech, but one of the experiences that had a profound effect on me as a person was hearing a speaker from Rachel’s Challenge, an organization founded after the attacks at Columbine in honor of victim Rachel Scott that works to end bullying at schools. As a Student Council, we worked to bring Rachel’s dad to speak to the entire school this December and even chose Rachel’s Challenge as our year-long charity. Her message of starting a “chain reaction of kindness because we never know how far a little kindness will go” is so inspiring! This is a theme that I talk about in my speech. 

After four years of hard work with plenty more hard work sure to come, how do you plan to relax this summer?

This summer, I will continue my job as a lifeguard. Also, I will be babysitting and saving money for next year. I am so excited to spend this last summer with my friends before we leave for school! I know that it is going to fly by, so right now I’m just enjoying the end of senior year!