TA News

Our May Student of the Month has a true love of learning, as evidenced by his approach to course work. He does not see it as a chore or as something he needs to just “get through,” but more as a delicious meal to be savored.

This junior’s written work demonstrates a determination to understand and elucidate challenging concepts at a level rarely seen in high school papers. Whether in essays or poetry, his writing is precise and dynamic, and his responses to text are filled with references to other literature or world politics. In fact, when asked to describe himself last year, he wrote, “I am an individual who retains what I learn in the classroom in order to use it in different contexts. I treat application of knowledge as a critical step of the learning process.”

Senora Meghan Wilson sees this in Spanish class, where her students are working on carrying out full conversations. She notes that our Student of the Month doesn’t mind taking risks with the language to get his ideas across. To that she says, “Felicidades, Jacob!”

While being a dedicated student, Jacob Slaughter also has a playful sense of humor, and he is just plain kind! He is unapologetic about his genuine interest in his courses’ subject matter while being quite humble about his many accomplishments, including his recent win in a national essay contest about women in mathematics. This well-rounded student also charmed audiences with his three distinctly different characters in TA’s recent musical production of Annie.

Jacob serves our community in many ways. Last year he created a peer tutoring program; this past fall when he was away at the Mountain School, he came back to volunteer at the Woods Trail races; and he has been a valued Student Ambassador all the time he has been here. In addition, he is stepping up to be part of TA’s Strategic Planning program.

We are happy to honor Jacob Slaughter, the delightful young man that he is, as Thetford Academy’s May 2018 Student of the Month.