La Chaine, Nicholas #1

Nicholas La Chaine Interview:

This is file #30, cycle 2. This is Jean McMillen; I am interviewing Nicholas La Chaine who is an in-coming junior at Salisbury School for boys. He is going to talk about his educational background and Salisbury School, the things that he has done and the things he hopes to do in the future. We’ll start with the genealogical information. Today’s date is June 9, 2016.

JM:What is your name?

NL:Nick La Chaine

JM:Your birthdate?

NL:January 2, 1999

JM:Your birth place?

NL:Sharon Hospital

JM:Your parents’ names

NL:Becky and Jean La Chaine.

JM:Do you have brothers?

NL:Yes

JM: Their names are?

NL:Dylan and Nathan

JM:Where did you go to school before Salisbury School?

NL:I went to Salisbury Central for 8 years, then to Indian Mountain for my 9th grade year.

JM:Who was the Headmaster when you were at IMS?

NL: Mark Devey

JM:Why did you choose Salisbury School? (See File #90 Chiz Chandler, Headmaster)

NL:I knew that it was a tightly knit community going in. I had some background because I have grown up around here. The hockey team was another reason as I have watched them growing up through the years.

JM:so there was an interest in the school already.

NL:Yup

2.

JM:In order to get into the school how did you apply, did you take a test? What happened?

NL:I went to one of the open house days to go and visit. You then apply.

JM:Is there a form?

NL:Yup there is a form you fill out. I did the application and I think there was an essay that you had to write. You had to take the SSAT’s which are standardized tests so they can see your scores.

JM:Did you go on a school visit?

NL:Oh yeah I also took a tour. When I went on the tour my 9th grade at IMS, I got toured by a kid named Anthony Vincent who is a hockey player.

JM:That is good. Did you have to go for an actual interview?

NL:Yes with the Admissions Office.

JM:What subject do you like?

NL:My two strongest subjects that I love are math and science.

JM:What else do you take? The math is Pre-Calculus.

NL: I am taking AP Calculus next year.

JM:What is AP Cal?

NL:Advanced Placement Calculus.

JM:You said science, chemistry?

NL:Yeah

JM:What language do you take?

NL:I take Spanish 3.

JM:Religion?

NL:Yes that is just an introduction to the Bible and also U.S. History.

JM:Least favorite subject?

NL:Probably U.S. History although the history teacher I love. She is awesome.

JM:It is the subject, not the teacher.

3.

NL:There is so much to learn and I am not good with memorization, taking notes and all that stuff.

JM:How about English?

NL:English? I had a really good teacher this year so throughout the year my writing developed and got better. My reading skills and comprehension also got better. I started to like it more.

JM:Good that is wonderful because it is a change from March. That is great.

JM:What do you do for extracurricular?

NL:I am a cheer leader.

JM:For what sport?

NL:No it’s not for sports. You have to apply for it. Being a peer leader you get information for kids coming in to the school. The head leader is Mrs. Phinney; she was pegged for the Olympics actually to the US Hockey team. She is my advisor also. She is the head of the group so she assigns us three or four people, new student who are coming in so we e-mail them and their parents.

JM:To make them feel wanted.

NL:Yes to make them feel wanted.

JM:That is good. What do you do for sports?

NL:For sports I play hockey, varsity hockey, varsity rowing and I also did recreation crew. This coming fall I will probably play rec soccer.

JM:By rec you mean recreational

NL:Yeah

JM:How did your crew team do this year?

NL:We didn’t do that bad. We graduated Thursday so the crew team got the first boat they stayed around and they are still there now training for the Nationals so they are one of the best teams in the country. They beat Kent who has a powerhouse.

JM:Oh excellent they have done very well. Are you in the first boat?

NL:No- third boat, no second boat. I went from third to second and then back to third and back to second.

JM:Well they put you where they needed you.

NL:Oh also for extracurricular I did pottery, drawing and painting, art classes. I played the trumpet.

4.

JM:Did you drawing and painting with Roger McKee? (See file #78 Roger McKee)

NL:No Mrs. Crowfoot, do you know Mrs. Crowfoot.

JM:I don’t know her, but I know the name. You play the trumpet. Is it a quartet or a band?

NL:Well I stopped playing last year. I played at IMS in their ensemble for a year.

JM:Too many things to do so you have to make choices.

NL:I wanted a little more free time at Salisbury.

JM:Do you have any free time?

NL:At Salisbury, yes I have two free periods a day, s block, so I have free time to get work done, hang with my friends and play some video games.

JM:That is what you should do. What time do you leave for school in the morning?

NL:7:15 or 7:30

JM:Do you have breakfast at school?

NL:Yeah

JM:When do you come home at night?

NL:It depends probably about 10:15 pm; I am there the whole day even through meals. I am like a boarder but just sleep at home.

JM:Do you have a dorm room assigned to you?

NL:No we have a day room. I don’t know if they are going to have one next year because they are redoing one of the dorms, the oldest dorm.

JM:Which is the oldest dorm?

NL:North maybe? I forget which one it is.

JM:Tell me about meals. What time is breakfast?

NL:Breakfast goes from 7 to 8 on a few days, 8:30 on Wednesdays and Saturdays. On chapel days (Tuesdays and Fridays) it goes until 7:50 because they want everyone to get down to chapel.

JM:How about lunch?

NL:Lunch I am not sure about the times.

JM:It is cafeteria style?5.

NL:It is cafeteria style. Twice in the winter and once in the spring and fall we have sit-down meals with our advisors who help us throughout the year. They are our mentors. We have a group of 4 or 5 kids per advisor.

JM:Dinner?

NL:Dinner is casual but on holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas before we leave it is family style and sit-down.

JM:Is the food good?

NL:Yeah the food is pretty good; there is always a wide range of stuff. They have a salad bar with fish always chicken. They have Boar’s Head meats.

JM:Good quality food.

NL:Yup

JM:Do you get enough to eat?

NL:Yes, I get plenty, but during the day they do not have snacks or anything like that. But the President is going to try to get that for next year like have bread out with jelly and peanut butter so you can just go up and get something. We have a snack bar so people go to the snack bar if they are hungry. It gets costly though.

JM:Yeah but boys, I won’t say that boys eat more than girls but boys tend to eat a lot! Particularly teen age boys.

NL:But most people have food in their rooms.

JM:Some things don’t change. Chapel is Wednesday?

NL:Chapel is Tuesdays and Fridays. The game days are on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

JM:Chapel is compulsory, I expect. You have to go to chapel.

NL:Yeah

JM:How long is it?

NL:About 30 minutes teachers give life lessons they tell us stuff they have been through, kids also. We have Michael Brown who is leaving next year. I think he is just retiring from school or he might be moving or something. I am not really sure. He was the choir guy and piano player. He did all that stuff; he was really good. Also we have the Salisbury Bell group come in (See tape139A Mary Davidson) on Christmas. We’ll have an Easter sort of thing.

JM:Motto, I am not going to ask you to pronounce it.6.

NL:Essem quam videre

JM:Good! To seem rather than to seem to be. I remember from the last time.

JM:Oh good. It is a single gender school, do you like that?

NL:Yes you don’t have to worry about distractions, looking good in the mornings. It is easier to concentrate and be yourself more.

JM:That is what you said before and I thought that was an excellent answer that you can focus on what you need to do and there aren’t distractions. Are there a lot of foreign students?

NL:Yes there are a lot of foreign students; they are from Mexico, Canada, Sweden, a lot of kids from China, South Korea, Japan, so there is a lot of diversity.

JM:With you being on the hockey team, are there a lot of foreign student on the hockey team?

NL:Yes we have kids from all over the Us, Canada, Sweden, a kid from Finland. I think that is it.

JM:Do you have a dress code?

NL:Yes we always have to wear a belt. In the beginning of the fall we can wear shorts I think. During the winter and fall we have to wear khaki pants, button up shirt, tie, and belt, blazer and socks and Sperry sort of shoe, a dress shoe.

JM:So you can’ wear jeans and sneakers?

NL:Unless there is dress down days.

JM:Do you do a dress down day for charity where you have to pay for each piece of uniform you don’t wear?

NL:Yes, we do charities. If you give blood that is sort of dress down day stuff.

JM:Do you like the dress code or not?

NL:It doesn’t really bother me, but in the spring if it gets hot, it is annoying with a tight collar, but we can also wear shorts in the spring. Seniors can wear flip-flops, but underclassmen are not allowed.

JM:You are going to be a senior next year?

NL:Junior, I was a sophomore this year.

JM:What are you looking forward after Salisbury School? Have you got any ideas?

NL:I haven’t really decided, probably going to play juniors.

JM:Good answer. Do you think you will do a gap year?7.

NL:Yeah that is sort of like a gap year.

JM:Is there anything that I haven’t asked you that you would like to add to this before we close?

One thing I do want to ask you, have you made friend up there. I mean friends out of the town. I mean friends that have come from other places?

NL:At the school? Yes because there are only 350 at the school, the community is so tight knit, everywhere you go you usually know the person’s name. Or you can always acknowledge the person. I have a lot of friends all the day students I have known through Salisbury Central. Sports are a big part of making friends also. With the hockey team we eat meals together. We do things together at night; we watch movies, play video games and all that stuff.

JM:So it is a tight group and that you like.

NL:Yup

JM:Thank you so much.

NL:No problem.