St. Thomas More Catholic Secondary School

St. Thomas More Catholic Secondary School (referred to as STM by students and faculty) is one of 7 Catholic High Schools in Hamilton, Ontario under the jurisdiction of the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board. The school is located on the west side of the Hamilton Mountain, serving the south-west of Hamilton as well as parts of Glanbrook and Ancaster (communities in the Greater Hamilton Area). The school's Latin motto is "Praestantia Scholastica, Praestantia Religiosa, Praestantia Athletica" which translates in English to "Scholastic excellence, religious excellence, athletic excellence."

STM is the largest school in Hamilton, holding over 2250 students. St. Thomas More graduates approximately 400 students a year with around 80% of them going onto University and College. The school's 200 member staff are involved in the school's numerous activities, sports and associations.

Athletics

The school prides itself on its athletics as it has over 70 teams that have each won a championship at least once in the school's history. The biggest teams are the Football, Basketball, Hockey and Soccer teams. STM also has many teams and clubs not found in most schools like Girls' Hockey and Slo-Pitch teams as well as field-hockey teams and 7's rugby.^[5]

Student Council

STM's student council is an essential part of the school's community, electing students from every kind of social background, academic level and age. Student Council elections at STM are often high-spirited events starting weeks before the vote, with the most activity occurring in the final week, including speeches, debates and general campaigning.

Activities

St. Thomas More has a host of unique and popular activities. The building is equipped with a television broadcast studio where the morning announcements are broadcast from. STM also puts on Christmas and Year-End videos often in conjunction with the student council and the various teams and clubs that have won championships and awards during the year. STM also has Concert, Jazz and Guitar Bands as well as a choir that have won awards throughout Canada and the United States.

Because of the school's Catholic background, there are many different social-activism clubs that are not found in most other schools. STM has an organized "We Scare Hunger" (originallyHalloween for Hunger) campaign in which students go door to door collecting canned goods for the Hamilton Mountain "Neighbour to Neighbour" Centre. The program is currently in its 16th year. In 2010, the campaign raised a total of 68,852 pounds of food^[6] and approximately $5,000 in monetary donations. A "Kickoff Concert" was also held to help get volunteers excited and raise additional money for Neighbour to Neighbour Centre. This food drive accounts for over 5% of Neighbour to Neighbour's annual donations and is their largest single donation each year. In 2011, the program's goal was 77,777 pounds of food.

The school also has a Christmas Miracle campaign where students in individual classes purchase gifts for the less-fortunate in Hamilton.

Administration

Due to STM's large size, there are three Vice-Principals (Mr. C. Barone, Mr. Agro and Mr. Daly) who have jurisdiction over certain students depending on last name (A-F, G-N and O-Z). The school has one principal, Mrs. Sara Cannon.

Uniforms

St. Thomas More's school colors are black and gold. The school takes pride in their school uniforms, giving strict rules and consequences for violations in school dress code.^[7] There are some exceptional days (during an important game, celebration or holiday), where students can wear specially designed "spirit wear".^[8] Designs ranging from clothes representing school clubs and teams to clothes featuring the school mascot (STM Knights).

Overhead view of main athletic field at STM.

Football

St. Thomas More has one of the most prominent and highly decorated football programs in Ontario. Having won only two league championships (1975 Junior, 1984 Senior) before 1996, the Knights have since appeared in 12 junior and 13 senior varsity league championship games. Winning junior titles in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. Winning senior titles in 2000, 2001, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2014 and 2016. The senior program has won 3 OFSAA Golden Horseshoe Bowl titles (2006, 2007, 2015) and one Eastern Bowl title in 2016, with the 2007 team also honoured as the #1 ranked team in Canada according to canadafootballchat.com after finishing the season with a perfect 12-0 record, including 3 wins over league rival, nationally ranked #4 Bishop Ryan Celtics and a victory at Cleveland Heights High School of Cleveland, OH.

Girls' basketball

St. Thomas More is a long-standing, provincial power in girls' basketball at the senior varsity level. The program has won league titles in 1988, 1989, 1991, 1994, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2013 and 2014 as well as capturing 4 OFSAA "AAAA" gold medals in 2004, 2011, 2012, 2013. Their long-time, main league rival is St. Mary CSS, who is also considered to be an elite level program with multiple OFSAA titles.

Notable alumni

• Kia Nurse — Canada women's national basketball team
• Darnell Nurse — Edmonton Oilers
• Alena Sharp — LPGA Tour

See also

• List of high schools in Ontario

References

External links

• http://stm.hwcdsb.ca/ St. Thomas More Catholic Secondary School Official Website