Wantagh High School's Evan Thole is blazing a scholarly trail all on his own
Evan Thole arrives at Wantagh High School every day eager to learn — and said he wouldn’t have it any other way. The senior has declined to take lunch periods or study halls, and has a burning desire to gain even more knowledge, making him a viable candidate for the United States Presidential Scholars Program.
Thole, a lifelong Wantagh resident, started out at Mandalay Elementary School, before attending Wantagh Middle School and eventually the high school.
But Thole never saw himself as just another grade in a book. And while his grades are high, he has always been determined to get more out of school than that.
“To me, you get only so much time in high school,” Thole said. “And I wouldn’t really be happy with myself if I didn’t really take advantage of it, and took four study halls instead of classes. There’s only so much time in the day.”
He’s passed on the lunch periods, too, to take as many classes as possible. His academic record speaks for itself — he has taken 14 Advanced Placement classes. He enrolled in three his sophomore year, three his junior year, and six in now his senior year, with two other AP independent study courses. The independent study courses take place outside of class, since Thole completes the work on his own time, under the guidance of science teachers.
During his junior year, he positioned himself to be a Presidential Scholar, earning a perfect SAT score of 1600 in December 2021.
Thole’s primary academic interests lie in the science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, field, and he has taken AP courses under the guidance of teachers Valarie Sebastiano, Samantha Gordon, Richard Colavita and Lori Houde. Initially, Thole preferred biology and chemistry, but fell in love with physics due to Gordon’s hands-on teaching approach.
“I figured that I would just kind of be like the ‘Biochem Kid,’ so to speak,” Thole said. “But taking physics with Mrs. Gordon and doing all the hands on activities really made me love the subject. And honestly, it’s one of my absolute favorites now.”
But Thole is not just a STEM scholar. He has also taken AP music theory and is an accomplished musician as well, playing euphonium and tuba in school bands. Though his college career will likely be focused on a science, Thole said he intends to continue playing music as well.
Thole has looked at a number of colleges, but has not yet made a decision on one.
“I’m not really looking for the most competitive place,” he said. “I’m looking for a place that has a community where people are just really interested in learning. I’m not looking for a place where everyone wants to be number one and be at the top of everything but, more so, for a place where everyone is really interested in what they’re studying and how to support one another.”
Thole said he is greatly appreciative of his teachers in Wantagh, and specifically singled out Sebastiano, Colavita, Houde and Gordon as those who have inspired him to be great. Marie Malafis, a guidance counselor at the high school, has helped him through it all.
“I’m lucky to know him,” Malafis said of Thole.
“There’s no fluff to Evan, everything is deep, deep appreciation, deep intellect, deep kindness. He doesn’t speak without thought. You know, he’s just a unique individual. His complete disregard for numbers makes him special, because here’s a kid with a 1600 on the SAT and a 107 average. But he has no real attachment to those numbers — he just wants to learn everything. I could go on all day about him. We are sad to see him go this year, but excited to see what he does.”
Thole’s achievements have not gone unnoticed by administration either.
“What strikes me most about Evan is how humble he is,” Paul Guzzone, principal of Wantagh High, said. “He has every reason not to be humble, with a perfect 1600 on his SAT. If it wasn’t for us talking about him, you would never know, because of his modesty. He’s just such a fantastic young individual with a bright future. He’s a great representation of what our building, our district, and our community has to offer.”
