Joe Sr. had great expectations for his children, unlike many fathers around that time period. His goal was to establish in them a passion for competitiveness and a long lasting belief that winning was everything. He entered them in swimming competitions and lectured them if they finished in anything other than first place. Despite his father's bold persona, young Kennedy was a substandard student and a playful boy. He was sent away to a Catholic boys' boarding school in the upper northeastern region in Connecticut called Canterbury. He then excelled at English and history, which were the only subjects he enjoyed profoundly. Jack was in fact very erudite in high school, reading ceaselessly but never the books his teachers assigned.
