By Vicky Wedig
Editor
John Damrow put himself in a position academically that he could pick any college of his choosing.
He and his family toured smaller colleges on the East Coast where Damrow could have certainly played football, but ultimately the 18-year-old knew his heart was with the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“I always wanted to go to Madison,” said Damrow, who will graduate Thursday from Delavan-Darien High School, seventh academically in his class of 198 students.
Damrow is this year’s Delavan Enterprise Outstanding Senior, chosen for his breadth of experiences in academics, athletics, activities, community service and employment.
While Damrow is not guaranteed a slot on the football team at the Big Ten school, he plans to give it a shot.
Damrow played football and basketball for four years at D-DHS. He was tight end and defense end on the Comets football team, and a center and power forward on the basketball team.
Damrow was one of six Walworth County football players to be awarded the David Trophy in January from Calvary Community Church in Williams Bay for outstanding leadership on and off the field.
Lamenting the end of his high school sports career after the basketball season, Damrow also was a track athlete for his senior year.
As a varsity letter winner, Damrow belonged to the school’s Varsity Club that organizes fundraisers for pay for plaques and awards for the school’s sports teams. He served as treasurer and presidents of the club his junior and senior years respectively, and was secretary of the school’s Future Business Leaders of America club. Damrow is also a member of the National Honor Society.
Among his academic achievements are a continuing spot on the school’s high honor roll, an Alliant Energy Foundation Scholarship, an academic plaque for students with a 3.75 grade-point average or higher and an academic excellence award for students among the top 10 in their class.
Character
Damrow attended elementary school at St. Andrew Parish School as did his sister Jacqueline, 15, now a freshman at D-DHS. His youngest sister, Janelle, 6, is a first-grader at St. Andrew’s.
His parents – Jim, a Janesville chiropractor, and Monica, a full-time mom, volunteer and bookkeeper for the chiropractic business – say they are most proud of their son’s character and confidence.
“He treats others with respect and has kept his Catholic faith a priority in his life,” Monica Damrow said.
Monica Damrow said his teachers from St. Andrew’s and D-DHS have facilitated that by teaching the same values at school that the Damrows emphasize at home including “how to study and how to act as a human being.”
Teachers most influential to John Damrow were Deb Amici, his eighth-grade teacher at St. Andrew’s, and Kerry Butitta, his chemistry teacher at D-DHS.
“She always says, ‘Use your logic,’” Damrow said about Butitta, who pushes students to figure things out for themselves.
Damrow plans to major in chemistry at UW-Madison, tutors younger students in chemistry and scored a 5 – the highest possible – on his Advanced Placement chemistry exam.
Monica Damrow said the demand for students with chemistry and math backgrounds is high in numerous fields. John Damrow has not chosen a career path yet but is considering sports rehabilitation or training or chiropractic.
Volunteerism
As a parent volunteer at St. Andrew School, Monica Damrow said she has come to rely on her son and a group of his friends to do the heavy lifting at church events. The boys set up and take down tables and chairs for the St. Andrew Festival and the St. Nick’s breakfast. John Damrow also helps shelve food at the church’s food pantry and helped with a Thanksgiving food pantry at another church.
With the youth group at St. Andrew’s, Damrow visits senior citizens at Willowfield nursing home where youth group members play bingo and do arts and crafts with residents.
Damrow also volunteers with young people, helping kindergarten through fourth-graders learn football and basketball fundamentals at youth sports camps.
“I really do enjoy volunteering at the youth camps,” he said.
Outside of school, sports and volunteering, Damrow has also worked during the summer – as a caddy at Big Foot Country Club, in player services at the Lake Lawn and Geneva National golf courses, babysitting for two families and mowing lawns, baling hay and doing other odd jobs for people.
Damrow said his graduation from D-DHS will be bittersweet.
“I’ve really loved these past four years,” he said.
However, Damrow said, he is excited for what lies ahead at UW-Madison and will be rooming with a friend from Horicon that he met at Badger Boys State.
Before his departure of D-DHS, Damrow also had the opportunity to sit in on interviews for the new D-DHS head football coach to replace Steve Tenhagen, who took a position in Burlington. He said the new coach, who has been selected but not yet revealed, has a different approach than “Tenny,” but Damrow said he is excited about the future of the D-DHS football program.
