The Newest Apparel at “The A” Out with the Old in with the New

This is the way of the school sweater at La Salle Academy. Following Christmas break, the school’s “Academy Shop” began featuring a tan, Patagonia style sweater. This tan sweater has replaced the black fleece jacket that for years had served as the official in-school winter wear for La Salle. The sweater was never popular, and more often than not students opted to brave the school’s chilly hallways in just the uniform shirt. Now it seems that every other student is sporting these new sweaters, but few know how they got to La Salle.

Junior class dean Mrs. Richard is the mastermind behind the operation. While shopping on Cape Cod, a sweater with nauticals on it caught her eye. It turned out that the sweater was made by a brand that La Salle carries, and Richard instantly envisioned its possibilities in her school’s corridors. After finalizing the logistics of featuring the sweaters at La Salle, Mrs. Richard turned to the President of La Salle, Brother Thomas Gerrow. Brother Tom served as the sweaters’ quality tester, and took a sweater home to wash it… three times. Since passing the quality test, the sweaters have met sales expectations, and recently La Salle has had to reorder size smalls.

The investment seems to be paying off.

When asked about how the sweaters will affect La Salle’s dress code policy, Vice Principal of Student Life Thomas Martin commented that, “The adoption of [the sweatshirts] was not intended as a ‘loosening of the dress code policy.’” Mr. Martin made it clear that students are not required to wear these sweaters, and that it is in no way a step towards a looser dress code. Rather, these sweaters are an indication that faculty at La Salle value the comfort of their students, and understand that if a student looks good, that student feels good.