Saint Thomas Academy
Encyclopedia
Saint Thomas Academy originally known as Saint Thomas Aquinas Seminary, and formerly known as Saint Thomas Military Academy is the only all male, Roman Catholic, college-preparatory, military high school
Military High School
Military High Schools are a feature of a number of countries.-Pakistan:*Cadet College Hasan Abdal*Cadet College Petaro*Cadet College Kohat*Cadet College Razmak*Cadet College Mastung*Cadet College Larkana*Cadet College Sanghar*Cadet College Palandri...

 in Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

. It is located in Mendota Heights
Mendota Heights, Minnesota
At the 2000 census, there were 11,434 people, 4,178 households and 3,237 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,222.2 per square mile . There were 4,252 housing units at an average density of 454.5 per square mile...

 near Saint Paul
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...

. The Academy has a middle school, grades 7 and 8, and a high school, grades 9-12. The high school students are required to participate in Army JROTC. Its sister school, Convent of the Visitation
Convent of the Visitation
Convent of the Visitation, also known as Visitation, is an independent, Roman Catholic, college-preparatory, school in Minnesota. It is located in Mendota Heights near Saint Paul. Located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Visitation is a coeducational school for...

 (or Visitation), is located down the street and many classes and after school activities involve both schools. It is located within the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. It is led by the prelature of an archbishop which administers the archdiocese from the cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis...

.

History

Saint Thomas Academy, founded by Archbishop John Ireland, can trace its beginnings to September 8, 1885, when 66 students gathered in a renovated building on the old Finn Farm located on the shores of Lake Mennith (present intersection of Cleveland and Summit Avenues) in the western area of Saint Paul near the Mississippi River.

Originally called Saint Thomas Aquinas Seminary, there were two departments: The theological department prepared young men for the Roman Catholic priesthood, and the collegiate department prepared young men for university study and living a devout life. By 1890, a military program was formed under the name of the Saint Thomas Seminary Military Battalion. This early institution was the progenitor of four institutions: St. Thomas College, the St. Paul Seminary, Nazareth Hall Preparatory Seminary, and Saint Thomas Military Academy.

With the establishment of the St. Paul Seminary in 1894, St. Thomas College was incorporated, a part of which was the preparatory or Academic Department encompassing the first four years of a six-year institution; thus, the Academy was the parent organization. The fifth and sixth years were the Collegiate Department. Saint Thomas became a military school in 1905 and the program was under the direct supervision of the U.S. Army. In the school year 1908-1909, Saint Thomas was selected as an Honor School by the U.S. Army for the first time, an award which the Academy has garnered almost every year since. The ROTC program began in 1916.

The Academic Department of earlier years became Saint Thomas Military Academy in 1922 when a definitive distinction was made between the Academy and the College.

In September 1965, 560 cadets moved to a new campus in Mendota Heights. With the move, the name of the school was changed to Saint Thomas Academy. At this time a new corporation and Board of Trustees was formed, completely separating the Academy from the University of St. Thomas. A four-year, Catholic, college preparatory, JROTC, all-male high school, with day students and boarders was the basic format at the Academy until the early 1970s.

In 1971 a Middle School was created, composed of seventh and eighth grade level boys, centered on the concept of small class sizes and individualized instruction.

The boarding program was discontinued in 1974 because of a decrease in the number of young men choosing a boarding school. One residence building is presently being rented to Marriage Encounter; the second houses the Development/Alumni Department, as well as the Saint Thomas Academy Auction Offices; the third building, the Roach House, is used by local and visiting clergy.

The Academy currently occupies a 72 acres (291,373.9 m²) tract of land from Rogers Lake to south of Mendota Heights Road with four adjoining buildings (Academic, Cafeteria, Athletics, and Middle School).

Athletic facilities include the Bill Culbertson Track, the Gerry Brown Stadium for football and soccer, a hockey arena, a baseball diamond, an air-supported dome, two practice fields, a gymnasium, and an indoor swimming pool. Athletics have always played an important part of the co-curricular activities of the institution. From its early days, the Academy has participated in intramural and interscholastic competition. Many conference, regional, district and state championships have been won over the years.

Today, Saint Thomas Academy continues in the tradition of being a Catholic, all- male, college preparatory, military school offering leadership development through the JROTC program. College and personal counseling is an integral part of the education of its young men. Many activities, including 13 sports teams and more than 30 non-athletic co-curriculars, are part of a cadet's education. In addition to the athletic teams, students also participate activities such as drama, chess team, Citation staff, speech team, Crack Drill Squad, Kaydet staff, photo staff, Cadence staff, rifle team, quiz bowl, Experimental Vehicle Team, band, orienteering, orchestra, debate team, math team, and mock trial.

Since its inception, the heart of the educational program has been the Catholic faith. Young men are given courses in the various aspects of the Catholic religion. The priest and lay faculty offer the students Christian principles through their teaching and by example. The Academy numbers among its alumni priests, bishops, and brothers.

A distinguishing feature of Saint Thomas Academy is its ability to meet the individual educational and spiritual needs of its students. The average class size is 18 students. They are taught by highly-motivated teachers who work together to meet individual needs. Academics, co-curricular activities, spiritual awareness, and leadership training all play an important role in each student's development.

Traditions

  • Every day after second period, all high school students, in the brigade formation, attend Formation where they stand in their respective battalions, in their companies, and finally in their platoons. Many important traditions are exercised during Formation:
    • A senior, usually a member of the Campus Ministry, reads the morning prayer and the headmaster or cadet colonel leads the Pledge of Allegiance
      Pledge of Allegiance
      The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States is an expression of loyalty to the federal flag and the republic of the United States of America, originally composed by Christian Socialist Francis Bellamy in 1892 and formally adopted by Congress as the pledge in 1942...

      .
    • One or two students gives a Senior Speech during Formation. It can be on any topic the Senior chooses. It is a requirement for graduation for a student to give a Senior Speech.
  • Every year, a member of the senior class is selected as the "Cadet Colonel" for the year, a terrific and commendable achievement for that student. The headmaster, following a short ceremony, bestows the highest rank in the brigade, as well as the prized Fleming Saber, bearing the name of the Medal of Honor
    Medal of Honor
    The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...

     recipient, WWII Pacific Theater Veteran and STA graduate Richard E. Fleming, upon the Cadet Colonel.
    • Dylan Thomas is the current, one-hundred and third, Cadet Colonel.

Sports and activities

Saint Thomas Academy is a member of the Classic Suburban Conference. They participate in all 14 Minnesota State High School League
Minnesota State High School League
The Minnesota State High School League is a voluntary, non-profit association for the support and governance of interscholastic activities at high schools in Minnesota, United States. The association supports interscholastic athletics and fine arts programs for member schools...

 sports as well as Orienteering
Orienteering
Orienteering is a family of sports that requires navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain, and normally moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a specially prepared orienteering map, which they...

. Saint Thomas Academy also has various co-curricular activities such as Band
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...

, Chess Team
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

, Debate Team
Debate
Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...

, VISTA Theater Company, Math Team
Math League
Math League is a mathematics competition for elementary, middle, and high school students in the United States. The Math League was founded in 1977 by two high school mathematics teachers, Steven R. Conrad and Daniel Flegler. Math Leagues, Inc...

, Quiz Bowl (2004 Quiz Bowl National Champions), Knowledge Bowl
Knowledge Bowl
Knowledge Bowl is an interdisciplinary academic competition involving teams of four to six students trying to answer questions in a written round and several oral rounds. No team is eliminated in this event, and every team participates in every round...

, Table Tennis Club, Experimental Vehicle Team (2005 Dell-Winston School Solar Car Challenge
Dell-Winston School Solar Car Challenge
The Solar Car Challenge is an annual solar-powered car race for high school students.The event attracts teams from around the world, but mostly from American high schools. The race was first held in 1995. Each event is the end product of a two year education cycle launched by the Winston Solar Car...

 Champions and 2006 Solar Bike Race Champions), Mock Trial
Mock trial
A Mock Trial is an act or imitation trial. It is similar to a moot court, but mock trials simulate lower-court trials, while moot court simulates appellate court hearings. Attorneys preparing for a real trial might use a mock trial consisting of volunteers as role players to test theories or...

, The Rifle Team  and The Crack Drill Squad. More than 90% of students participate in co-curricular athletics or activities.
State Championships
Season Sport Number of Championships Year
Fall Football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 
1 1975
Winter Alpine Skiing
Alpine skiing
Alpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with skiing using free-heel bindings: Ski mountaineering and nordic skiing – such as cross-country; ski jumping; and Telemark. In competitive alpine skiing races four...

, Boys
7 1993, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2011
Hockey, Boys
Minnesota high school boys hockey
The Minnesota High School Boys Hockey program is a high school ice hockey program in the State of Minnesota. Based on tournament attendance, ice hockey is the most popular high school sport in the state...

 
3 2006, 2008, 2011
Swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

 and Diving
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...

, Boys
10 1995, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
Basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, Boys
2 1998, 2007
Spring Chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

 
1 2010
Total 24

Notable alumni

Saint Thomas has been attended by several persons of note in its history, including:
  • Thomas F. Gallagher
    Thomas F. Gallagher
    Thomas F. Gallagher was a Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court from 1943 until his retirement in 1967....

    , Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court (1943–1967)
  • General
    General
    A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....

     Alfred Gruenther
    Alfred Gruenther
    Alfred Maximilian Gruenther was the youngest World War II Major General and after the war, as a four-star General, served as the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe from 1953 to 1956.-Biography:...

     '19, former Supreme Allied Commander
    Supreme Allied Commander
    Supreme Allied Commander is the title held by the most senior commander within certain multinational military alliances. It originated as a term used by the Western Allies during World War II, and is currently used only within NATO. Dwight Eisenhower served as Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary...

     – Europe in the 1950s
  • Judge Fallon Kelly, Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court (1970–1980)
  • Angelo John Giuliani '30 Catcher in Major League Baseball
    Major League Baseball
    Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

  • Marine Captain Richard E. Fleming
    Richard E. Fleming
    Captain Richard E. Fleming was a United States Marine who received the Medal of Honor for his heroism in World War II during the Battle of Midway. Fleming piloted a Vought SB2U Vindicator dive bomber in an attack on the ....

     '35, WWII Medal of Honor
    Medal of Honor
    The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...

     recipient
  • Bishop James P. Shannon
    James P. Shannon
    James Patrick Shannon was a Roman Catholic bishop. Born in South St. Paul, Minnesota, James Shannon was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood on June 8, 1946 for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis...

     '39, served as President of The College of Saint Thomas, then as auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis
  • Marine Lieutenant General
    Lieutenant General
    Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....

     Edwin Miller '41
  • James Garberg '41, received Distinguished Service Cross and the Purple Heart for his actions on the Island of Attu in 1943
  • Lieutenant General
    Lieutenant General
    Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....

     Joseph K. Bratton
    Joseph K. Bratton
    Joseph K. Bratton was an American Army officer and nuclear engineer. Bratton was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. He graduated third in the class of 1948 at the United States Military Academy and was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers...

     '44
  • Jim Lange
    Jim Lange
    Jim Lange is a former American game show host and disc jockey. He was particularly well known to listeners in the San Francisco and Los Angeles radio markets with stints at several stations in both markets, racking up over 45 years on the air...

    , game show host
  • Christopher Cox '70, former Chairman of the SEC
    United States Securities and Exchange Commission
    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is a federal agency which holds primary responsibility for enforcing the federal securities laws and regulating the securities industry, the nation's stock and options exchanges, and other electronic securities markets in the United States...

    ; former United States House Representative (R-CA) and Committee Chairman
  • Vince Flynn
    Vince Flynn
    Vince Flynn is a best-selling American author of political thriller novels. He lives with his wife and three children in the Twin Cities. He was a frequent guest on the Glenn Beck program on the Fox News Channel...

     '84, author
  • Ali Selim
    Ali Selim
    Ali Selim is an Arab-American advertising and independent film director. Over the past fifteen years he has directed over 850 television commercials, five half-hour documentaries and several music videos.-Early life:...

     '79, Director of the award winning movie Sweetland
  • Jack Regan '39, former CEO and Chairman of Marsh & McLellan
  • John Hubbell '45, author
  • John Horan '51, NBA Basketball Player
  • Michael Wright '56, former CEO and Chair of the Board of Directors of Supervalu
    SuperValu
    SuperValu or Supervalu is a name used by grocery chains in multiple countries:* SuperValu * SuperValu * SuperValu * See also SuperValue, supervalue...

  • Peter Matlon '63, former Economic Director, Rockefeller Foundation
    Rockefeller Foundation
    The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...

  • Mike Ciresi
    Mike Ciresi
    Michael "Mike" V. Ciresi is a prominent trial attorney and was a Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party candidate for the United States Senate from Minnesota. He dropped out on March 10, 2008. Ciresi gained his public reputation by litigating several high-profile mass tort cases...

     '64, lawyer from the Twin Cities with great success in mass tort litigation. He has been a candidate for several offices in Minnesota
  • Patrick Lippert '76, Founding Executive Director of Rock The Vote
  • James O'Shaughnessy
    James O'Shaughnessy
    James P. O'Shaughnessy is an American investor and the founder, chairman, and CEO of O'Shaughnessy Asset Management, LLC , an asset management firm headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut....

    '78, CEO O'Shaughnessy Asset Management (OSAM)
  • Patrick “Pat” Eilers ’85 - NFL Football Player (won a national championship at Notre Dame; played for Minnesota Vikings, Washington Redskins and Chicago Bears)
  • Tom Malchow
    Tom Malchow
    Thomas James Malchow is a swimmer from the United States, who won a gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics and a silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics. He broke Denis Pankratov's world record in the 200 m butterfly in 2000.Malchow was also a captain of the U.S. Men's Swimming Team at the 2004...

     '95, Captain of U.S. Swim Team at the 2004 Summer Olympic, gold medal winner (2000)
  • Matt Schnobrich
    Matt Schnobrich
    Matt Schnobrich is a male rower who qualified for the prestigious bow seat in the United States Men's Eight in the rowing events of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing....

     '97, 2008 Summer Olympics
    2008 Summer Olympics
    The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...

     crew
    Rowing at the 2008 Summer Olympics
    Rowing competitions at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing were held from August 9 to August 17, at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park.- Events :14 sets of medals were awarded in the following events:*Single sculls men*Pairs men...

     bronze medalist
  • Dan Fitzgerald
    Dan Fitzgerald
    Dan Fitzgerald was an American college basketball coach. He achieved a 252-171 win-loss record at Gonzaga University between 1978 and 1997, and led Gonzaga to its first appearance in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament in 1995. Among his recruits was future Basketball Hall of Fame...

     '03, Forward for the Marquette University basketball team
  • Fr Edward Leo Krumpelmann
    Edward Leo Krumpelmann
    Father Edward Leo Krumpelmann was an American Maryknoll Catholic priest, missionary, relief worker, medical aid worker and educator working in Kongmoon , Guangdong Province, China and Hong Kong in the mid 20th century...

    , Maryknoll priest who served in Jiangmen, China during the Second World War, and later on in Hong Kong. Along with Fr Peter Reilly, Fr Krumpelmann founded St John the Baptist Parish in Kwun Tong
    Kwun Tong
    Kwun Tong is an area in Kwun Tong District, situated at the eastern part of the Kowloon Peninsula, and its boundary stretches from Lion Rock in the north to Lei Yue Mun in the south, and from the winding paths of Kowloon Peak in the east to the north coast of the former Kai Tak Airport runway in...

    , Kowloon
    Kowloon
    Kowloon is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It is bordered by the Lei Yue Mun strait in the east, Mei Foo Sun Chuen and Stonecutter's Island in the west, Tate's Cairn and Lion Rock in the north, and Victoria Harbour in the south. It had a population of...

    , Hong Kong
    Hong Kong
    Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

    . He also founded St John the Baptist Catholic Primary School in the same district. Fr Krumpelmann's final assignment was Auxiliary Chaplain in the Servicemen's Guides' Association, an organisation which supported United States Navy servicemen in Hong Kong.

External links

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