John Whitmore

If someone is ever looking for John Whitmore in the halls, everyone’s first answer would be, “Look for the tall guy with the beard.” With his outgoing personality, Whitmore has had a very positive experience at BSM. After six long, active years in the community, it is safe to say Whitmore has grown as a person. 

Whitmore was a part of the state championship winning football team his sophomore year. He also is the varsity track captain and played varsity basketball. “Football was my favorite sport because of all the good memories I made with the kids on the team and the success we had recently. My favorite memory is winning the state championship my sophomore year and beating the odds because nobody gave us the time of day and it was really awesome to be able to contribute to the team,” Whitmore said. 

Being able to balance sports, schoolwork, and extracurriculars was not a problem for Whitmore. Throughout his high school career, he was involved in both the National Honor Society and the National Language Honor society. The list continues with Link Crew, student council, and the student ambassador program. Whitmore also admits to being a part of the magic club which he explained as “extinct.”

BSM has shaped Whitmore into a more knowledgeable person. “One thing I’ve learned since freshman year is that you can only control what you can control and to focus on yourself and everything else will fall into place. Also, it shouldn’t matter what other people’s opinions are or what they think about you because ultimately, at the end of the day, it only matters what you think,” Whitmore said. 

Next year, Whitemore is very excited to be able to continue his football career at St. Thomas University. Although the school is close to home, St. Thomas has everything he was looking for in a college. “I had other opportunities to play at smaller D1 and D2 schools, but the thing that made me decide on St. Thomas was the high-quality play and the education that comes with it. St. Thomas has a lot of strong business connections in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and I really wanted to stay here after college which was a main contributing factor. Also, I have a lot of friends going there too so being able to play with them again would be really awesome,” Whitmore said.

Aside from faculty and staff, Whitmore has been influenced by other BSM students who shaped him into the leader he is today. “My biggest influence at BSM for me was Eric Wilson [‘17]. He played football here when I was a sophomore. We really got to bond and he really showed me what it took to be not only a high-level football player but a high-level leader in the community and to have people look up to you,” Whitmore said.

After being at BSM since 7th grade, Whitmore has been able to experience many special traditions that have taken place across the years. “One of my favorite traditions at BSM is definitely the Christmas mass and all the festivities that go along with it. I just think it’s a really cool sense of comradery. Everybody is happy and everybody is getting along and I just think it’s a really neat thing that [BSM] does,” Whitmore said.

Whitmore admits that one of his biggest accomplishments was making it on the high honor roll every semester since the beginning of freshman year. Because of that, he knows how to balance everything, while still being able to have fun. “I would tell underclassman to try hard and focus as much on your academics as you can, but also to be able to enjoy high school. Reach out, meet new people, be involved in clubs and just realize that even though seems like a big part of our life now, it’s really not at the end of the day so just enjoy your time here,” Whitmore said.  

Although Whitmore is saying goodbye to BSM, he set a great example for future Red Knights. “I’ll miss the people you see on a day to day basis and all the connections I’ve made since I started in 7th grade at BSM and just not being able to see those people every day,” Whitmore said.