Happy Storyteller Saturday buddy. If you have a sec, I'd love to hear a bit about the school and the *ahem* secret society in whtd!
Alex buddy if you want me to word vomit all you have to do is scream into the night and I’ll hear you.
Wittmore Academy for Boys was built sometime in the 1700s in upstate Connecticut. In the early to mid-2000s it was one of if not the top school in the state. With an impressive list of alumni and being famous for a strict and well-rounded education, New Englanders are not the only ones who attend because of the assumed “Wittmore Advantage” on college applications and future job prospects. But there is a Wittmore elite of old or renowned CT families.
Wittmore is not just a high school. It had a middle school section that’s notably smaller and harder to get into than the high school. Usually, you’d only start Wittmore in the 6th grade if you’re a legacy family or have a very impressive application (at the age of 11, go figure). They have an interview process that’s similar to what they do with potential high school applicants but it also involves a faculty member visiting the home of the student and watching them in their natural habitat and there’s just a stronger focus on building a relationship with the family. This is why Wittmore middle schoolers are usually exclusively Connecticut born and bred. Of primary characters in We Heard the Devil, Ignatius Rothley and Callum Kircher (Gopher’s friend) have both been at Wittmore since 6th grade.
Wittmore is pretty strict about a lot of things. Education of course. It’s mentioned in WHtD but they have classes on Saturday (that are technically considered extracurricular activities but it’s 100% a class. There’s 3 of them and they last 2 hours each and as on every day they have a mandatory study hall in the evening) Students can leave campus on the weekends (senior students do not need parent permission for this) and there’s a bus that goes into the nearby town of they can be picked up. Students are not permitted to have cars. Sunday is really the only free day which might be odd considering the chapel on campus but Wittmore is not actually a religious institution (not anymore) and while they are optional services and youth group meetings, it’s not required. On Sundays, students are allowed free reign of the activity hall in the “club” building where they may use things like TVs and gaming consoles and read books that are not part of the curriculum. They look forward to these days.
But Wittmore is also strict about its uniform and dress code, how long a student is allowed to grow their hair, the style, piercings (absolutely not). They’re grooming gentlemen here, okay? Not rebels.
Now. secret societies. Started in the later half of the 1900s when Wittmore stopped being a religious institution (officially) alumni needed to find a way to continue to ensure the success of students and themselves. The Wittmore Elite, the legacy families, agreed that to do so bodily sacrifice is required. Wittmore sits on old land and there’s always been a group of legacy family alumni that would meet yearly. To some, the Wittmore Advantage is just one a couple words on your resume but to them the school is alive. And it cannot succeed unless it’s fed. They decided that each year it would be the burden of the graduating class (and their sons especially) to choose the sacrificial lamb to be bled in the woods surrounding Wittmore before the graduation ceremony. Who each class chooses is usually a pretty personal or generational thing. They choose someone less likely to succeed or the black sheep or someone they wouldn’t want to stain the reputation of the school. Being a member of the cult and the choosing party is considered a great burden but also a great honor. It proves that they’ll be able to make tougher decisions later in life. Now how often they meet and their rituals will remain a thing to learn in WHtD.
This was a lot of word vomit. Thanks for coming to my ted talk I love WHtD