YOUNG

WARWICK –– James J. Young III didn’t always want to be an educator. As a student at the private Rocky Hill School, decades ago, his interests were quite different.

He wanted to study marine mammals and eventually go to medical or veterinary school. He even went to the University of Rhode Island to earn a degree in zoology.

Two years after graduating from college, he began teaching marine biology and coaching sailing and basketball at Moses Brown School, in Providence. That’s when he knew he had stumbled upon the field he truly loved.

“It was exactly the right thing to be doing,” Young says. “I loved teaching and coaching. I loved the connections with the kids.”

Thirteen years ago, Young, now 55, became headmaster of his alma mater, Rocky Hill. And recently, his contributions to the field he so loves were recognized by the Institute of International Sport, which named him Educator of the Year. He received the award during a ceremony at the Providence Performing Arts Center last month.

Founded in 1986, the Institute is based in Kingston and seeks to encourage leadership and sportsmanship among today’s youth.

Dan E. Doyle, founder and executive director of the Institute, said that Young, who has a master’s degree in education administration from Harvard University and has held various positions at New England middle and high schools, earned the recognition for creating “a culture of enlightened leadership” at Rocky Hill.

Doyle said he was impressed by Young’s commitment to inculcate leadership qualities in his students and dispel the notion that leaders are born as such. The Institute also named Rocky Hill a 2008 Sportsmanship School, one of only three high schools in the country to receive the honor. Doyle said the school offers a well-rounded education to its students who excel both on and off the athletic field.

Young, who hosts a lunch twice a month to interact with student leaders at Rocky Hill, said he is proud of his students’ firm belief that treating others with dignity is more important than any competition or contest.

Though teaching and interacting with his students are Young’s biggest passions, they’re not the only ones.

Young enjoys several outdoor activities — playing golf and tennis, gardening, and driving his 1976 BMW. He has always loved being near the water, which he says, teaches one to be flexible and tolerant. While he has swum and sailed in the calm ocean waters, he has also witnessed their fury.

He began sailing when he was five and has competed in and won numerous races over the years. The owner of two sailboats, he has sailed in dinghies, keel boats, larger ocean-racing boats and in just about every other kind of boat, he says.

He remembers competing in a 675-mile race from Newport to Bermuda and the “wildness” of competing in another race in the wake of a tropical storm.

And though that might sound dangerous, it wasn’t. Not for Young, at least.

“Danger comes from being cavalier and cocky,” he says. “[It] comes from being unprepared.”

njayakri@projo.com