Student Life

I grew up in the snow globe of Edinboro, Pennsylvania making the winters in Boston easy to handle.

Before moving to Boston, I completed my undergraduate degree at Washington & Jefferson College. While completing my degree I was a member of the inaugural lacrosse team at W&J. After graduation, I traded my jersey in for a whistle to coach Division III lacrosse at my alma mater. In addition to coaching collegiate lacrosse, I coached club lacrosse in the Pittsburgh area, working mainly with goal keepers. These coaching experiences helped me to realize my desire to work with young aspiring athletes.

The following year I was presented with an opportunity to play post-graduate lacrosse while pursuing my Master’s degree in Social Anthropology at Durham University, Durham England. During my stay in England, I continued coaching youth lacrosse through a program called English Lacrosse. This program introduces students to lacrosse for the first time. I was able to work with a variety of students while expanding the sport of lacrosse across England.

My desire to work in athletics brought me to Beaver in 2014. I have held a variety of positions in the athletic department; most recently Assistant Athletic Director and middle school girls lacrosse coach. I love that I am able to work with students that are learning a sport for the first time as well as those building on existing skills. Watching our students transition throughout the year, both on and off the field is the most rewarding part of Beaver athletics.

For most of my life I lived in Northwest Ohio, but coming to Boston has been a great change in my life. I attended a small Jesuit high school that helped to shape my views of serving others and committing my life to addressing issues of social justice in my community. After high school I attended the University of Michigan and attained a degree in Education with concentrations in Mathematics and History.

Upon graduation I started my teaching career back in Ohio at the very school I graduated from. I felt it was important to not only teach my academic content, but to also have the opportunity to help educate students as a whole individual. I fully enjoyed my experience there, but I felt a higher calling to attain my master’s degree from Boston College. My time in school has taught me the importance of becoming a well-rounded individual that continues to learn throughout my lifetime.

On a lighter note, in my spare time I enjoy playing soccer, listening to music, and hiking/camping in the outdoors.

Thomas grew up in Jamaica Plain and went to high school at Catholic Memorial in West Roxbury. After graduating from Tufts with a major in English, he stayed at Tufts to coach in the men’s basketball program. Thomas also enrolled in the Education Department and started working toward a master’s degree. A year of coaching, graduate school work, and student teaching in the Medford and Somerville schools convinced him that he wanted to teach and coach at the high school level. The following fall he started teaching, coaching, and running a dormitory at an independent boarding school in southeastern Massachusetts. After nine years, the Mannings decided to move back to the Boston area to try day-school life, and he happily landed at Beaver in the fall of 1990 as an English teacher and basketball coach. It has been exciting to be part of Beaver’s growth and development over the years, and he continues to enjoy his work with Beaver students and their families.