Fenn Sports
STEVE GASPER: WRESTLING COACH AND GO-TO GUY
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cience teacher Derek Cribb tells an interesting story about Steve Gasper, saying that one morning, just after a snow day, when Cribb mentioned to Gasper that he was tired due to shoveling his (admittedly minimal) walkway and had to be at school early to cover the gym, he asked Gasper, who is on the buildings and grounds crew, if he had been on campus during the storm. Gasper had indeed been here, arriving at 4:00 a.m. to plow, shovel, and spread salt, and not leaving for his home in Shrewsbury until after nightfall. Cribb’s point in sharing the anecdote was that Gasper, a licensed construction supervisor and a carpenter by trade, works hard, hustling around campus in his blue Fenn jacket and Bruins cap, a pencil over one ear and a walkie talkie in his hand. He is “the guy to go to,” according to Cribb, and can be found
both in front of and behind the scenes, fixing broken doors and desks, replacing fence posts, clearing snow from roofs, overseeing parking at a school event, pulling out and replacing shrubs, mowing lawns and fields, and tackling a variety of other tasks. Gasper, who is Dave DiPersio’s assistant, assuming charge when the latter cannot be on campus, is known
What many people don’t know about Gasper is that he has years of experience working with young people. For a decade at the Lowell Boys’ Club he wore several hats, including that of pool instructor. Gasper was a wrestler in junior high and at Greater Lowell Vocational Technical School, and a pretty good one at that, though he is
Wrestling “makes kids tougher and teaches them about discipline,” he declares. to be extremely generous with his time, helping several faculty and staff members with jobs at their homes, from relocating a closet to fixing a fireplace. Since 1996, Gasper has been at Fenn, bringing a wealth of knowledge about how to get a job done right. He brings this same quality to the Multi-Purpose Room, where for two years he has been coaching Varsity wrestling, one of his passions, with John Fitzsimmons.
Coaches, left to right: Derek Cribb, Steve Gasper and John Fitzsimmons
famously modest and unassuming. Gasper is devoted to his family, including children Megan, eleven, and Ryan, nine, and wife Kristen, the assistant principal of Oak Middle School in Shrewsbury. He loves coaching at Fenn, especially “getting to know the kids and learning about their backgrounds.” Wrestling “makes kids tougher and teaches them about discipline,” he declares. “It’s great to see them grow from being tentative and even timid, to being confident and brave,” he adds. “All kids should wrestle.”
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