Mattapan School Turkey Giveaway

At Johnnycake Elementary, Adalius Thomas is more mentor than football player.

Adalius ThomasJohnnycake Elementary Principal Jean Brewster and one of the school’s star supporters, Adalius ThomasAt Johnnycake Elementary School in Catonsville, Adalius Thomas is someone students and staff are as likely to see walking through the school hallways as running down a football field. The Ravens linebacker and defensive end supports the academic progress of students in countless ways including personally mentoring students, encouraging parent involvement, and securing additional resources.

It all began in 2002, when Adalius Thomas married Sheri, then a first-grade teacher at Johnnycake. A year or so after the marriage, Sheri Thomas left teaching, but she quickly returned to support the school, with her new husband and their newly established family foundation. Quoted in the Catonsville Times, Sheri Thomas said that “I knew there was need here and that he would have a profound effect on the children. He’s had a profound impact on me, so I knew he would be good for the kids.”

Johnnycake Principal Jean Brewster confirms that the involvement of Adalius Thomas has been good for the students. “Mr. Thomas,” Brewster says, “has been an outstanding role model who has consistently emphasized academics and positive behavior at school. The children look up to him as a mentor with strong values and beliefs about the importance of education.” At Johnnycake Elementary, Adalius Thomas is more mentor than football player The Thomas family: Allana, Sheri, and Adalius

On February 2, more than 350 students – almost all of them wearing purple – joined with staff to surprise their star volunteer with an Adalius Thomas Day assembly. Brewster says that all it took to lure Adalius Thomas away from Super Bowl celebrations was a call from his wife expressing concern that one of the students he mentors was having a lot of difficulties.

According to school counselor Catherine Holt, the event was all the more special because Adalius Thomas is not interested in publicity or recognition. “He made it clear from the very beginning that he wasn’t interested in the press…His whole focus has been to promote academic excellence with the children. Since the first year, at the kickoff for his involvement, he has talked to the students about his expectations, about how his priority has always been education, and how important it is that he is a college graduate as well as a football player.”