Norwich Free Academy graduate seeks public's help in raising tuition money
Norwich — In June, Lamarr Waller became the first member of his family to graduate from high school, and now the Norwich Free Academy graduate and varsity football player hopes to break more new ground with a crowd sourcing fund drive to raise his $5,000 deposit for a post-graduate year at St. Thomas More in Montville.
Waller, who just turned 19, has dreams of attending a four-year college, playing college football and studying sports science and architecture.
At NFA he took Advanced Placement and honors classes at NFA. He visited Boston College and Holy Cross and also went on a tour of historically black colleges and was very impressed with Delaware State University.
However, based on his high school grades, mostly Bs and Cs, Waller said, college admissions officials recommended a year of postgraduate prep school. He was accepted at St. Thomas More in April.
That put Waller on a new mission. His tuition at St. Thomas More started at $46,000, but with financial aid from the school, it was reduced to $17,000. He needs $4,000 to $5,000 for a deposit by the time school starts at the end of August to move onto campus and concentrate on his studies.
Waller's family has little money.
His paternal grandmother, Sherrell Barlow, raised him. She has both full-time and part-time jobs working with people with disabilities.
His father, Shauntae Waller, lives in New Haven and has been in and out of work. His mother, who has seven younger children in New Jersey, “was never in my life,” Waller said.
Waller held his own benefit party in spring and asked friends and supporters for help. He borrowed a phone book-sized guide to grants and scholarships from the library and turned to the internet.
“My name is Lamarr Waller and I am trying to raise money for my college-prep school education,” Waller's page on www.gofundme.com starts. “I have been accepted into Saint Thomas More, located in Oakdale, CT. The cost of attendance is $46,000 but I have been able to reduce it to $17,000. Without raising this money, I will not be able to attend and all of my hard work will be for nothing.”
Waller started a second crowd sourcing page last week titled “Lamarr's tuition fund for prep school” at www.youcaring.com. He opened the page Thursday and discovered someone made a $100 donation. As of Friday morning he had raised $340 on both fund drives from both friends and strangers.
Todd Holt, director of admissions at St. Thomas More, said he was not aware of any other students having used crowd source fundraising to pay for tuition, but he added that school officials might not necessarily know where tuition money is coming from.
The post-grad class enrolls about 25 young men. Holt interviewed Waller when he applied to the school and helped the family through the financial aid process.
“I think it will be a good experience for him,” Holt said of St. Thomas More's post-grad program. “He'll grow.”
Waller's teachers and football coach at NFA agreed. They fully expect Waller to reach his goal, citing his history of hard work, determination and positive outlook.
His 10th-grade biology teacher, Sara Leisten, remained his mentor throughout his high school years. Waller would stop by her classroom, tell her what was going on in his life, talk about his struggles with advanced classes and ask for advice.
"I'll never forget the day he came in after he visited St. Thomas More," Leisten said. "He wanted nothing more than to have a St. Thomas More T-shirt. He wanted everyone to know where he was going. He'll definitely make it."
Jamal Davis, NFA football coach, said Waller was on the football team since his freshman year, but had to work extra hard, including in the off-season, to play defensive back on the varsity team in his senior year.
“That illustrates his focus, his drive to achieve,” Davis said. “His putting forth his gofundme account, organizing it on his own, giving him the opportunity to pursue his dreams — he's using the same attributes.”
Waller attended the National Underclassmen Combined football camp at New London High School this summer and earned the defensive back most valuable player award.
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