A Family Driven to Succeed
On the Road to College, the Morrisons Shuttle Kids to Three High Schools

By Katie Carrera
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 14, 2008

The spreadsheet is a lifesaver, Kelly Morrison says. Before, she and her husband, Pat, would wake up every morning and plot their strategy. You're taking this kid here, I'm taking that kid there. But now a color-coded piece of paper stuck on the refrigerator has made things simpler -- well, as simple as anything can be with five kids.

Patrick is gold, Bridget's blue, Maggie's red, Brian's light blue and Sean's green -- the colors match their high school or recreational teams. And listed inside each colored box, arranged chronologically, are a name, time, location and a comments section that's usually dedicated to transportation arrangements.

What further complicates the Morrisons' schedule is that their three oldest kids attend different high schools.

Pat and Kelly Morrison wanted their kids to succeed in today's hyper-competitive world of college admissions, so they let each child's interests and abilities in their favorite sport help determine what high school they attended in hopes of enhancing their chances for a scholarship. So far, the strategy is working -- their oldest son has accepted a football scholarship to Wagner College, and their oldest daughter is a coveted Division I lacrosse prospect.

"There are so many options now that it seems like the high school process has become what it was like when we went to college," Kelly Morrison said. "Athletics definitely had a lot to do with where they went, but if they were in band they would have gone where there was a good music program, or anything else."

Patrick Morrison, 18, has been Severna Park's starting quarterback for two years and also plays lacrosse for the Falcons; Bridget, 16, is a star lacrosse defender for St. Mary's-Annapolis and plays field hockey, too; and Maggie, 14, was a varsity starter in basketball, soccer and lacrosse this year as a freshman at Archbishop Spalding.

Fourteen high schools are within a 15-mile radius of the Morrisons' Millersville home. That, combined with their flexible work schedules -- Pat primarily works at home as an account manager for Allied Waste and Kelly is a part-time director of a day care in Annapolis -- make their strategy possible.

To the Morrisons, a frantic schedule and the roughly $75 it costs to fill the family's Ford Expedition -- sometimes twice a day -- seemed like a fair trade for helping their kids get into the college of their choice.

"Sometimes I wonder what it'd be like to go to school with my siblings," Maggie said. "But I don't really think I'd fit in at Severna or St. Mary's. This way we all get to do our own thing, support each other, and have friends across three schools."

It began with Patrick, who as a freshman at St. Mary's-Annapolis asked his parents if he could transfer to a larger school with a more prominent football program.

Both Bridget and Maggie sat in on classes and met with coaches at other schools before Bridget picked St. Mary's and its lacrosse team and Maggie chose Spalding for its larger class size and basketball team. When Brian, 11 and Sean, 8, are old enough, they'll have the same opportunity to pick a high school as their siblings did, both parents say.

"Sports are sort of a means to an end," Pat Morrison said. "It's a way to get into a good [college] for something other than sports while doing something they love. They're learning what it takes to be part of a team, how to manage their time and how to prioritize, too. We were never trying to raise professional athletes."

Studies Still a Priority

Although NCAA and National Federation of State High School Associations statistics show that only 1 percent of high school athletes receive any type of college athletic scholarship to play Division I sports, the Morrisons appear to have found a working system. Patrick has accepted a full scholarship based on athletic and academic merit, and Bridget is being recruited by lacrosse programs at Oregon, Stanford, the University of California-Berkeley and schools in the D.C. area.

Theresa Sherry, the women's lacrosse coach at Cal, said: "It's good that some parents are beginning to realize their kids have different needs, personalities, and will succeed in different atmospheres rather than just putting someone in a school because their sibling went there, which, in my opinion, is just as bad as putting someone in a school based solely on athletics.

"But it can be a slippery slope. Too often families forget that the academic piece of 'student-athlete' needs to be at least equal, if not more prominent, than the athletic part."

As Patrick, Bridget and Maggie attest, slacking off on schoolwork has never been an option. Their schools require a 2.0 grade-point average to compete, but their parents require at least a 3.0.

Each Morrison sibling of high school age plays in club and travel leagues in addition to their school teams, commitments that require massive amounts of time, driving, laundry and money.

Every year it costs approximately $3,500 each for Bridget's participation in Chesapeake Club Lacrosse and for Maggie's spot in the Washington Area Girls Soccer League. Annual tuition at St. Mary's and Spalding is $9,805 and $10,655, respectively, although both girls receive financial aid.

Pat and Kelly decided years ago to forgo fancy vacations and luxuries for themselves so they could funnel most of the family's extra money into tuition and extracurricular activities for the kids. They budget, take advantage of well-timed tax returns and, with college rapidly approaching, fill out every scholarship application they can find in hopes of adding to the savings Pat has deducted from his paycheck every month.

"It's not that hard to give things up so your kids can experience things," Kelly Morrison said. "We do our best to plan, and when uncertain things come up, we deal with them however we can."

Sibling Rivalry

Bridget and Maggie share a room at home and had played on the same rec team as young children, but until this spring they had never competed against each other in anything more organized than a neighborhood game of football.

A month ago, in the days leading up to the lacrosse game between St. Mary's and Spalding there were some friendly jabs. Bridget was going to win, she was older, and Spalding would defeat St. Mary's for the first time since 2004 just because Maggie was on the team.

"I kept telling her I couldn't lose to my little sister. And then what do I do? I lose to my sister," Bridget joked after Maggie and her Spalding teammates beat Bridget's Saints team, 13-9, on April 17.

As the rest of the family watched, friends would stop by to talk. Yes, the family explained, both girls wear No. 21 in lacrosse, a freaky coincidence that no one planned, and no, the family wasn't going to pick a team that they'd rather see win. Then a friend of Patrick's asked the question every Morrison receives on a regular basis:

"How does your family work at night?"

None of the Morrisons say they can offer a quick and easy response. But they all credit the hectic schedule, complete with Saturdays spent at sporting events across Maryland from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., for bringing them together.

In Patrick's case, inheriting some of the chauffeuring duties when he learned to drive has helped him connect with all of his siblings. He said he's going to miss the time spent in the car with his younger brothers and sisters when he goes away to college this fall.

"I actually like taking [my little brothers] to their games and practices, which has to be weird," Patrick said. "Or going to watch Bridge and Maggie, even though they could destroy me in lacrosse. It's really just how we live. One thing's for sure, we're never bored."