Jeff Potts is a Star On and Off the Fields

Editor's Note: This article was originally published in the Phoenixville Area High School Purple Press. It is one in a series of profiles of PAHS Class of 2013 Students posted on Patch by special arrangement with PAHS and the Purple Press student newspaper.

By Alex Monteiro

As the youngest of the three Potts brothers, Jeffrey had a lot to live up to. But after four years, Jeff has made quite the name for himself.

Jeff gives a great amount of credit to his family and his mentors. Beginning at home, he appreciates the motivation from his parents and his two brothers (Ben, graduate of Emory University and University of Pennsylvania Law School, and Mike, currently studying economics at Duke University). Jeff is actually attending Colgate University next year, hoping to study international affairs. His mother, Jan Potts, is a dedicated member of the school board in PASD, so Jeff’s education is of great concern to her. He says she is very supportive of his work and his extra-curriculars as well. She makes her best attempts to be at as many of his important events as possible.

Another supporter of Jeff’s activities is his father, Bill Potts. He can be seen at nearly every one of Jeff’s soccer games and tennis matches, cheering on his youngest son. Mr. Potts is also quite experienced in the science field, a good resource considering Jeff has found himself in some of the school’s hardest science classes (AP Biology, Physics, etc.).

Rather honorably and respectfully, Jeff mentioned his grandfather as an important mentor and inspiration for many, many years. As a career, Jeff’s grandfather worked in the intelligence field in Germany after World War II, so he taught Jeff the great importance of detail and diligence. He was also a huge patriot, as one might expect from someone who worked for the safety and freedom of his country. Quite the motivating force.

In school, Jeff is an excellent student with notably high grades. He has taken 9 AP courses, and the others have all been honors, and he thoroughly enjoyed all of his classes. He also made a point of mentioning some of his favorite teachers. Jeff said AP English 11 teacher Mr. McColl taught him to think and analyze in a way that he had not considered before. Jeff also spoke highly of physics teacher Mr. Jennings for his “really stylish personality” and the fact that he never gives up on his students, pushing them to be the absolute best that they can be. Mr. Jennings said he admired Jeffrey for his good work ethic and desire to learn, and for his relentless positive attitude. But Jeff is quite involved outside of school as well.

As previously mentioned, Jeff is on both the soccer and tennis teams- a four year veteran of both teams. As for soccer coach Mr. Boyer, Jeff said that he is a “character, to say the least,” with his most defining feature being his halftime speeches full of “fierce passion and determination.” Jeff gave Mr. Boyer a lot of credit for guiding him to a place on the PAC-10 Honorable Mention list. But he also made it a point of mentioning former coach Mr. Bombick, whom Jeff played under for three of his years in the high school- “Bombick was definitely inspirational, and through the important wins and losses, he established himself as one of the guys.”

Along with the sports, Jeff is the FBLA Vice President, a big responsibility at our school. He has to manage the club’s community service activities and club fundraisers. Jeff is also an Eagle Scout, a huge accomplishment. This is the highest rank attainable in Boy Scouts, and not many people can achieve the feats that he has.

Jeff really appreciates everything that his friends, family, and coaches have done for him, saying that their work has helped to shape him into the person that he is today. He hopes that he will be remembered by his most notable characteristics: thoughtfulness, a hard-working attitude, patience, and trust worthiness. Jeff Potts is a well-rounded character with great things ahead of him.