Student Spotlight: Jack Rodman

Jack Rodman, Bay High junior, wants to work on cutting-edge aviation technology.

Featuring some of our communities' great high school students.

Bay High junior Jack Rodman likes to tinker. The aspiring mechanical/aerospace engineer likes to take apart and fix mechanical items, a skill which undoubtedly serves him well in his lawn mowing and snow removal business. He also likes to build things, and he recently completed a new bookshelf for his bedroom.

A vice president of Bay High's Student Council and a member of the National Honor Society, Jack has also played on Bay High's boys golf team for three years. He is a member of the school's A Cappella Choir and Bay High's Choraleers, a selective, auditioned group for those serious about singing and performing difficult music at a high level.

Outside of school, Jack is an active member of Sea Scouts, a branch of the Boy Scouts of America that is focused on boat management, seamanship and water safety. He has also participated in the Appalachia Service Project to help rebuild and winterize homes of rural, low-income families, and he has done that work in Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia. In addition, he serves on the Bay United Methodist Church Youth Council.

Bay High principal Jason Martin sees Jack as having the precise attributes that make a leader. "Jack is a student who has great spirit and pride in his school," said Martin. "He is active in many organizations and takes an active leadership role in these groups. Jack exemplifies what we look for in student leaders, and it is a privilege to have him as a student at Bay High."

On those occasions when Jack wants to just kick back and have some fun, he'll often get together a game of Ultimate Frisbee with his friends. He also loves to go skiing. But, as of yet, you won't find him on social media, since he "finds it awkward" to talk about himself.

Jack is already looking at colleges that will help him attain his career goals, and he wants an environment that matches his own penchant to hold himself to high standards. "I thought that might be a small school," he said. "But really the best engineering schools are larger because they need more resources." He has looked at the University of Michigan, the University of Dayton and Case Western Reserve University. He plans a trip to Cornell University with his parents, Bridget and John, and perhaps his older sister Colleen, a 2013 Bay High graduate. 

"We may be able to sneak in a ski trip when we visit Cornell," he said, noting the school is close to the ski resort, Bristol Mountain.

Wherever he goes to college, Jack knows exactly the type of job he'd like to tackle after graduation. "Have you ever heard of Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works?" he asked. "They work on the best, top-secret aeronautical technology. I would love to be one of the engineers who help develop the next propulsion system, something different from the jet propulsion system that's been in use since the 1940s. It might be magnetic, or who knows? That's what I want to be a part of."

Karen Derby

Director of Communications for the Bay Village City School District

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Volume 5, Issue 25, Posted 10:49 AM, 12.10.2013