Class of 2015: Meet Jack Fox, Freshman at Ladue Horton Watkins

Jack Fox, 14, from Olivette is a freshman at Ladue Horton Watkins High School. He is eager to launch the next step in both his educational and athletic career.

Fox, who turns 15 on Sept. 1 learned a lot of football at the Ladue Middle School program. In a program that turns 10 this year, Fox started a tradition that spread quickly.

At the end of each practice, he’d unbuckle his chin strip, pull off his helmet and gloves and go down the line, shaking hands with each of the eight to 10 coaches at any particular practice. It was his way of thanking the coaches for volunteering their time.

The tradition became an instant success. Soon, other athletes were following him in the greeting line.

Fox, already 5-foot-8-inches tall, is an aspiring quarterback, punter and place kicker. He mastered all those skills at the middle school level. “I once hit a 47-yard field goal,” he said.

Veteran Ladue volunteer and coach Howard Tash knows leadership when he sees it. Tash was one of the founding fathers of the middle school club football program.

“Jack is a smart kid and a great leader. He comes from a great family. He’s a true asset to the Ladue football program. I predict this kid is going to go far,” Tash said.

Fox made his mark at the middle school. He was one of the finalists for the Ed Greenwood Award last spring. The Greenwood Award is named in honor of former principal Ed Greenwood, given to the student who shows exemplary citizenship, scholarship and service to the school.

Cathy Richter was his principal in middle school. “Jack is a great young man who represents what we hope for all of our young people,” she said. Middle-school teachers selected Fox as one of the candidates for this prestigious award.

Fox has been winning over teachers since starting junior kindergarten at Beasley School at MICDS. He excelled there, transferred to Old Bonhomme School in the third grade and made straight A's all three years in the middle school.

Fox draws from good bloodlines. His dad Patrick was a quarterback and kicker at Division III Forest Lake College in Illinois. Fox also likes to mix it up in tennis with his mom, Beth, a sales representative with the pet care industry.

“He runs me ragged all over the court. He beats me every time,” Beth Fox said.

The Fox family is close-knit. Jack is their only son. They have two hounds, and the family vacations every year on the western shores of Lake Michigan.

Recently, Jack had another tryout with his traveling baseball team, the Rawlings Prospects. The team travels constantly to out of town tournaments throughout the Midwest. He’s the center fielder.

Fox has signed up for the typical freshman course load. He will be taking geometry, biology, Spanish III, American history and some elective courses.

He has no particular fears about approaching the next step in his life. He plans on being the quarterback for the freshmen as well as their punter and placekicker.

He hopes to avoid injury. He broke his wrist playing football last year and had a break in his pelvic-groin area kicking the ball this summer. This was mostly a result of a typical adolescence injury and was cured with some ice and rest.

“This is a big, new school for me, and I’m ready. I’m ready to move on from middle school. The whole idea of going to high school sounds cool to me,” he said.

That completes the five-part series of the Class of 2015 in the Ladue-Frontenac Patch. From time to time, we will report back on the progress of these bright young eager freshman as they move along in their careers.