Goodbye to All That – Forty-Three Years of Catholic Secondary Education

Leo President Dan McGrath, "D" and Me in 2010 at St.Columbanus Catholic Church for Leo Graduation

I had a ball!  Since 1975, I have worked exclusively and loyally in Catholic secondary teaching and fund-raising.  I taught thousands of young people who have grown into remarkable men and women.  I have worked with brilliant people at Bishop McNamara, La Lumiere School, Leo High School and Brother Rice High School.

It was a privilege to work for Alpha-male teachers and school leaders like Bob Foster of Leo, the late Fr. Ken Yarno of Bishop Mac and with Headmaster Larry Sullivan of La Lumiere School. These gentlemen led the herd and protected its flanks – always.  Leading from the front is the action of a true servant.

I was out of the classroom for twenty-two years and when I returned the passive aggressives seemed to dominate.  I went to work as substitute/permanent sub -and at-will, no contract, we can fire without cause, salary saver.

I thought I was part of an old-timey, collegial faculty.  In fact, I was welcomed to the work by the key administrators with all the warmth of a Turk at a christening.

The faculty was very nice. They offered a great deal of help in matters like computer-based learning and scantron testing.

The bosses, not so much.

Wherever passive-aggressives thrive, the culture dies hard.  For years this seemed limited to ‘downtown’ – the educators who mandated directives, issued policy contortions and relayed third-hand dispositions, like “The Cardinal will never agree to that.”

Bob Foster said, “Well then, let’s go and ask His Eminence!” And he did and learned that the Cardinal was in full agreement with Bob Foster.


Today, the Beta primate-in-charge shrugs and smirks in too many Catholic high schools.
I ended my four decades of work in Catholic high schools on January 26, 2018.  Let’s let things go at that.

Safe to say, I walked into a passive-aggressive booby-trap and took the bait.
 I got to get back to fishing; don’t open your mouth and you won’t swallow a hook. The story is sad and sordid.

The day that my position as a substitute teacher was terminated, I applied for work as a laborer on one of the Flood Brothers Disposal Trucks, where my talents would suit the charism of that corporate culture.  I would rather haul trash than teach wonderful young people, while second guessing every assignment, lesson and word that I might dispense.

The school I worked at is staffed by some phenomenal teachers and administered by a passive-aggressive cohort, not unlike the ‘downtown’ crowd of alumnae of closed girls’ schools who dominated the education chancery.

I wondered about that.  Maybe that is all part of the ‘thinking-outside-the-box’ corporate culture that requires no candor and plenty of empty-sizzle- Marketing 101 stuff.

Anyway, I am out of it for keeps.  I loved teaching and the students seemed to appreciate what I was presenting. Now, I am an acquired taste, I know.

What worries me is the rooted nature of Catholic secondary school administrator passive aggression. It will not go away.

It is not only the school for which I last worked but many of them.  There are no leaders like the Father Kens, the Larry Sullivans, or the Bob Fosters.

Brother Rice President Dr. Kevin Burns and Cardinal Cupich

Teachers hunker down and wait for things to pass over, but Catholic schools do not have much time left.

Forbes magazine noted in 2013 that, “ Passive-aggressive behavior in any company is one of the most destructive cancers to a culture that ends up killing both a great company, and the self-esteem of the individuals working there.  “
Forbes offered these signs of the creeping cancer in an organization – Leader(s) who:
• on the surface appears to be agreeable and supportive, but behind the scenes will back stab, undercut, and sabotage. 
• constantly states that you can trust their words when their actions have consistently shown that not to be true.
• makes promises about things when they have no intention of ever following through, often then blaming things that were “out of their control” for precluding them from being able to fulfill their promise.
• smiles and agrees with you to your face, but then disagrees or even sabotages things behind your back.
• states “I was supportive of you, but this other person wasn’t so there is nothing I can do” in order to place blame on someone else rather than voicing their own lack of support for the matter.
• gives positive praise and feedback to you directly, but then takes actions to undercut you to coworkers and management. . . .

Demoralized faculty members are silent at meetings.  Coaches and teachers who had been part of a school’s golden age of recruitment, school spirit and instruction watched their programs, camps, mission goals and successes shoved aside, or dismantled, in favor of new blood that was anemic at best. The mantra now is - "Hey, what’s the big deal? It’s all good!"

Things are not all that good. If enrollment is down, it is not only the latest census figures to blame.  Kids want to go to a school with a sparked-up faculty and leadership that is willing to have the backs of its teachers and students; not merely, complaint department for helicopter parents.

My last lesson to my Theology 3: Social Justice class was this. “We are, who we used to be.  If we do not honor the Bishop Bernard Sheils, Mother Cabrinis and Terence Powderlys, how can we know what the hell Social Justice is all about?”

Likewise, if Catholic schools do not honor Alpha Dog leaders who built our schools, nurtured their traditions and reputations, how will they keep operating?  If I do not remain faithful to the creed that ran my family to America, I must be a Unitarian.

Catholic high schools will go the way of the carburetor, I'm afraid.

Cardinal George and Leo Legend Jack Schaller '43

Cardinal Cupich seems to agree.   Archbishop Blase Cupich is no Francis Cardinal George,

Sour grapes? Oh, hell no.  I had a ball.  The job is about the kids.  If I did a good job, or bad, they tell me.  They are far from Passive Aggressive.   They learn to be Passive Aggressive out in the work-world.

You will never find a Passive-Aggressive type taking out the trash - they send memos to have it done by others.

I am beginning a new career away from Catholic secondary schools.  I have been selling buckets of golf balls at 50 Acre Park in Evergreen Park, since April. On Monday, I begin a new career.

N.o F.un L.eague ? - Watch High School Sport

The Autumn wind is a pirate
Blustering in from sea
With a rollicking song he sweeps along
Swaggering boisterously.
His face is weatherbeaten
He wears a hooded sash
With a silver hat about his head
And a bristling black mustache
He growls as he storms the country
A villain big and bold
And the trees all shake and quiver and quake
As he robs them of their gold.
The Autumn wind is a Raider
Pillaging just for fun
He'll knock you 'round and upside down
And laugh when he's conquered and won.  Autumn Wind - Oakland Raiders Hymn by John Facenda


John Facenda was the narrator for the wonderful NFL promotional videos decades ago.  Many of us still cling to the mythopoeic phrasing offered by the poetic Mr. Facenda as reason to continue watching, following and tolerating the National Football League and the overpaid myrmidons sporting its logo on all over-priced products, posters and on the field.

John Facenda was the poet of the National Football League



The NFL is now a robot on FOX Sports - fitting and proper.

Knots of players have consulted with their agents and PR flaks and decided to sit during the National Anthem, a s means of insulting police, denouncing racism, genocide, sexism. date-rape, drug abuse, sugary beverages and Donald Trump.

I'm fine with that.

I'm tired of the hypocrisy.

Yesterday, and the day before, I had the pleasure of watching sport live at Providence Catholic High School for the freshman football squads and the sophomore/varsity battles on the grid-iron at Brother Rice High School.

All three games were exciting, inspiring and satisfying.  I can not say the same about my Bears, my Packers, my Colts, my Falcons, my Redskins, or my Cowboys - live or on television.

Yesterday morning , in New Lennox, home of Providence Catholic Celtics (btw - no soft C in the Keltic language), the temperature was 94 degrees at 9:30 A.M.  and combat between the respective 40 and 20 yard lines was even more intense.

Celtic quarter Ryan O'Neill # 16 was sensational.  I have never witnessed a QB with such speed, accuracy and poise and I have witnessed Bishop Mac's Kelly O'Connor and Leo High School Amir Holmes.

Brother Rice Crusader quarterback Ben Somers has wowed me for the past five weeks, but this kid
is amazing!  All of the freshmen play with heart and are well coached and highly disciplined.  The Celtics had Ryan O'Neill *and put an end to dreams of an undefeated season. 4-1 is something to be proud of gents!

The defensive squads on both teams were as tight and courageous as any infantry square facing Murat's dragoons and lancers at Waterloo - an homage to Facenda.

Were he still with us, the late John Facenda would fix his eyes on the genuine athletes and avert his gaze from the preeningly artificial thugs dominating professional sport.

Nothing heroic going on in the NFL, NBA, MLB.  Just pirates.

* Ryan O'Neill: Providence Catholic High School - New Lennox, Illinois
Jersey #: 16
Positions: QB, SS
Height & Weight: 5'9" 151lbs
Class of: 2021

•  

School: What Works With Young Gents in a Catholic High School

 

Among the students thronging into the lecture-rooms there was
one student, conspicuous by his tall and bulky figure, and completely
failing or refusing to be conspicuous for anything else.
He was so dumb in the debates that his fellows began to assume
an American significance in the word dumbness; for in that land
it is a synonym for dullness. It is clear that, before long,
even his imposing stature began to have only the ignominious
immensity of the big boy left behind in the lowest form.
He was called the Dumb Ox. He was the object, not merely
of mockery, but of pity. One good-natured student pitied
him so much as to try to help him with his lessons,
going over the elements of logic like an alphabet in a
horn-book. The dunce thanked him with pathetic politeness;
and the philanthropist went on swimmingly, till he came
to a passage about which he was himself a little doubtful;
about which, in point of fact, he was wrong. Whereupon the dunce,
with every appearance of embarrassment and disturbance,
pointed out a possible solution which happened to be right.
The benevolent student was left staring, as at a monster,
at this mysterious lump of ignorance and intelligence;
and strange whispers began to run round the schools.  from Thomas Aquinas by G.K. Chesterton

I like to say, " Policy is for Pussies."  Though I am able to and might put a far less shockingly sexist spin to the weave in my web of words, I choose not to in order to undo the passive aggressive tendencies among American educators to obfuscate.

Zero Tolerance is such a  neologism and happens to be a redundancy.  Zero Tolerance means Intolerance.  Intolerance is so negative, people.

Sorry.  No really.

Schools are bullied into anti-bully PC Intolerance.  Hitting, touching, kissing, shouting, running, eating, and fighting are Zero-ly Tolerated.   Thus,  pedagogical decision making  is obsolete.

Catholic schools are no less guilty of such gutless Intolerance, as Public Schools.  Catholic schools for some perverse reason want to mirror public schools in so many silly ways -teaching to the test, PC censorship of great books, equivalency ethics, gender agenda patty-cakes, and even adopting Marxist manuals for Social Justice education classes.

However, we are not as far gone as our pubic sector brethren and sisteren.

Real pedagogy is un-measurable.  Can't be tested, weighed and evaluated.  Sorry.

You can assign a numerical value to anything, but that does not make it right. Like this "100% of our teachers are Illinois Certified!"  Wow, you mean unlike the dumbasses at Phillips Exeter, Choate and Boston Latin who merely hold advanced degrees - IN THEIR DISCIPLINES?  100% cool.

Example:  Consider a white male teacher who takes a job at an inner-city Catholic high school for boys and contracts with the school to teach science. The teacher is scared poopless of his charges, but he also has merely a patina of knowledge about botany, the periodic table of elemenst, Boyle's Law and thinks Mendel was only a closed high school in Roseland.  He is fully certified K-12 by the State of Illinois and has transcripts top-heavy with Education Courses ( Jolly Number 101; John Dewey G-Man- a Tutorial; Tests and Measures; Diversity Long-Division Street & Studs Terkel; Bolivarist Kindergartens; Jonathan Kozal's Mosaic Code for Funding Sabbaticals; Jane Addams the Father of American Labor & etc.)  

Teacher is confronted with less than a Baker's dozen of willful, proud, athletic, witty, sloppy, challenging, horny, scatological humor addicted young men of Color,  Black kids, African Americans.  After a week shouting, threatening, insulting, evicting and 'writing up' every kid in his class.  Mr. Chips males a Separate Peace.  He tells his young charges read the assignments in class, do the hand-outs, be quite and it will be cool.

Mr. Chips is armed only with K-12 Certification, Virtus Training & Certification. I mean after all there was no sense that Mr. Chips had a family of five in his basement freezer. He was thus thoroughly vetted and found welcome according to Policy.

Empirically?  Not so good.

Speraking subjectively, Mr. Chips has no intellectual curiosity, no leadership skills, fewer social skills and the personanality of a dial tone.

"Well, that's Hickey's opinion and who's to say?   He looked good on paper and the school had an open slot -should we have hired him?  Policy says he meets the standards."

At semester Mr. Chips fails 12 of thirteen.  Boy, he is one tough grader.  He replies, " These kids are incapable of learning. I get no support from the coaches who only want them for sports and they never follow through on my threats to get even with them for making fun of me!  That's serious disrespect!  I am a certified teacher!"

Yep,  You are all that and currently working in new field endeavor until a sweet posting pops up somewhere else in Chicagoland schools.

Did you know that Ambrose, Jerome and Augustine, Catholic teachers all, dominated Western Intellectual thought for 1,000 years?  It's true.  Ambrose was the Bishop of Milan in the 4th Century and had been a major political player in the waning days of Rome under Gratian. Ambrose was lawyer, judge and Governor of Trier in Germany for thirty years before he gave away all his money and became a monk.  Soon, because of his administrative skills and gifts he was made Bishop of Milan - the Capital of the Empire. He taught Emperors, administrators and the clergy how to operate efficiently.  Ambrose is the First Doctor of the Church.

Doctor comes from the Latin infinitive docere: ' To Teach.'

Jerome taught the Roman world to read. He translated the Bible from Hebrew to Greek to Army Camp Latin - The Vulgate.

Augustine taught the world to think through Plato all the way up to and through Luther, Calvin and Zwingli.

After a thousand years, Aristotle's writings were rediscovered through the Muslims and were taught at the University of Paris by the The Dumb Ox Himself.  Aquinas is still the core of Catholic teaching and philosophy.

Dewey showed up at the end of 19th Century and loused up American thought, teaching, morality and politics to our current condition.  God is out of the public education business, even though Western Civilization had a pretty sweet run, and Policy sits in his chair.

Here's what works with young people - let's say teenage Mannish Boys.  A teacher must understand the following.

Rule Number One - Man is Body and Soul.  A body without a soul is a corpse and soul without a body is a ghost.
Rule Number Two - A Soul can be broken
Rule Number Three - See Rule Number Two.

Now, here is what works.  Recognize that boys and girls not the same.  Boys are kinetic bags of grab-ass impulse wanting to learn how to be productive, thoughtful, impressive and still fun human beings.
That said, spare not the metaphorical whip of discipline for one minute.  They must be seated in a chosen desk from August to June's last Final Exam. A teacher can not teach a ghost.

Young People -boys in particular as group - will test, measure and evaluate Mr. Chips from get-go and these initiation rites begin when Chips says, " Sit anywhere, Chill." Without a seating chart, Chips will not know who is in his classroom for the appointed lessons.

Thus!

" Where Daishaun?" chirps Chips
" That's pronounced, Davy, Man.  What are you racist or something?  That's Davy, G."
" Are you Davy?"
" No I am Jamal Thompson that s K.little c,Big Z Ay, M Z - Jamal!'
" Jamal where is Davy?"
" In his locker, N#$$Ah!"  ( peels of scornful laughter universal!!)
" THAT"S DISRESPECTFUL!  To . . .  GET OUT OF HERE . . ."  ( Hoots, Hollers, Imprecations and Maledictions.)

All such confrontations can be avoided by referring to Rule # 3,

Next - Know your subject and communicate what you know with patience, humor, humility and fierce determination that snickering little bastards will master what you teach and value the lesson and the teacher.

It is not brain surgery - teaching is much tougher.

Therefore - Prepare for Class!  Do your homework!  Correct and return papers immediately.  Never teach to the test.  Test to the lessons taught.  Give essay exams, even in Math and science, as often as possible.

Classroom Management and Discipline will take care of themselves.

Make no promises. Make no threats.  Fail none.  Reward all.

Punitive grading - taking points earned away from students for disciplinary matters is criminal and all too often the policy of pussies.

I am intolerant of policy - even my own.

School: A Catholic Core Invites Diversity and Happiness

General Rule: Public schools may not teach religion, although teaching about religion in a secular context is permitted.- AntiDefamation League (emphases my own)

I was taught Math, Chemistry and Physics in high school, but I seem to have learned only "about" those rigorous disciplines and have the grades to prove it. The fault, dear Reader, was in myself and not due to a class action lawsuit and subsequent legislation. I was and remain incompetent in the matters of quadratic equations, tables of elements and quantum mechanics, God forgive me.

I managed to have a happy and mildly successful life, nevertheless. My gentleman's Ds notwithstanding. Being taught Math, Chemistry and Physics by men of God made all of the difference.  The Augustinian Friars of my youth exacted a sense of awe for those studies in me. I learned I could read "about" those hard sciences and not plunge onto a career path where mediocre understandings are tolerated. I mix no potions, fly no plane, nor attempt to transform Nature.

American Public education is in the business of doing the work necessary for the growth of government.  Catholic Education is the means of producing centered people.  In public education, kids are a commodity and a tag-line.  Catholic schools require the growth of a young person's potential.  In public education students are weighed and measured and in parochial schools, young people are led to an acceptance that core values are good path to success.

Both educational systems succeed in the meeting their goals and objectives. One is showered with the mythical governmental doctrine of limitless tax dollars and the other must fend for itself.

The difference is simple God is not welcome in one and He is member of the faculty and staff of the other.

Public schools and charter schools are the same in that they cost families little to nothing.  Catholic schools, like all American private schools, cost a lung.

Public schools pay licensed teachers very well, but Moses, Jesus, or The Prophet could not be hired.  Catholic and private school teachers are paid somewhat of a salary,but  the above three historical persons would find themselves welcome in the faculty lounge.

I have worked in Catholic high schools with Muslims, Jews, Methodists, Lutherans and Catholics and found my life enriched and challenged by their collegiality; our kids learned and achieved lives of happy commitment to something beyond their urges and impulses.

I will devote my attentions for few weeks leading to the start of a new school year to the idea of schooling.

Having taken my gimlet-eyed view of public schooling in this initial few lines, I will avert my eyes of that public mess and focus on

• Young people - males largely
• What works with young people
• What does not work with young people
• What is needed in a teacher
• What is never needed in a teacher
• What makes a great school
• How to fund a great school
• How not to fund a great school

Let's see how I do.  I hope better than my canon of work for Fathers Klinger, Peotzinger and Scheible O.S.A. (circa 1966-70). 

http://archive.adl.org/religion_ps_2004/religion.html#.U9eMCeNdXD1
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/10/why-are-private-school-teachers-paid-less-than-public-school-teachers/280829/

Catholic and Private School Families Continue to " Carry the Turf"

Children carrying turf to pay their school fees from 'The Graphic' on this day in 1888.

Paying tuition is an obligation parents assume when they want their children educated in America.   Public schools are paid for by tax payers, including the families who send their children to non-public schools - they pay twice; once, for every one else's children and again for their own.

Private education comes in several forms. There are what are known as Tier One schools - elite schools endowed and patronized by wealth. Schools such as University of Chicago Lab Schools, Latin School, Frances Parker, Lake Forest Academy and North Shore Country Day are Tier One schools - some rooted in a Mainline Protestant denomination past, or purely secular. These schools tend to have the highest tuition rates and are exclusive.

Then there are Parochial schools of which Catholic schools are the most prominent. There are Dutch Reformed, Lutheran, Jewish and Muslim schools. These schools operate on tuition and gifts alone for revenue and some are becoming almost as costly as Tier One schools.  Catholic schools have always depended upon the support of the parish, or a religious congregation.  Today, parishes struggle to maintain enrollment numbers that match tuition paying families.  Due to the decades of lost vocations to religious orders, Catholic schools are more often than not operated and managed by Catholic lay persons. Tuition support comes from lay operated foundations like the Big Shoulders Fund and private foundations.

Public Education outlaws Vouchers which would allow genuine, fair and reform inducing competition via its threats to and campaign financing of  members of both political parties in the Illinois legislature and local governments. That is how it is.

Catholic schools in America were founded by Irish immigrants very much familiar with "School Choice" policies in Ireland.    Catholic schools educated millions of Americans with standards that remain today in most Catholic schools.

Families continue to sacrifice for their children and students themselves are no strangers to the burdens placed on their parents, often working off tuition in the schools themselves.  They carry the turf.

Elected mediocrities (Durbin, Quinn, et al.)  who benefited from a Catholic education* are the most strident foes of School Reform.  They have selective memories linked only to pious platitudes mouthed at a St. Paddy's Day breakfast, or in a hall full of Hibernians. Memory is the first thing annihilated by tyrants, frauds and mediocrities.

Tuition is the turf you carry.

Irish hedge school heritage
The hedge schools in Ireland were founded under the penal laws in Ireland in the 17th century. No Catholic could teach, no building could serve as a school, underpenalty of law.
Outlaw teachers
So it began that outlawed teachers taught children and traveling "strangers" in the open air. One child might serve as a lookout for the authorities. The teacher might get paid in butter or with a few shillings.
Classes taught included Latin, Greek, Arithmetic, Reading and Writing. Originally it was all done in the Irish language. The Irish language was one thing that theauthorities wanted to eradicate.
The end of the schools
As time went on, laws would allow for a school building, and the Irish actually got their own schools in the 19th century. Some hedge schools continued, but theyfaded from view and disappeared for the most part by the time of the famine.Student responsibilities
If necessary, each student was required to carry a brick or two of turf to school when it was cold outside. The turf would then supply heat during the school day for everyone.

 *School/Choice and Vouchers in Illinois3/1/2014 8:00:00 PM By Mike Yurgec -Contributor
As a parent of a child in Catholic school, every year I am faced with the same thing the rest of the parents face - the property tax bill. I am very troubled with the fact I pay for a public school system I never use. My child will never darken the doorstep of that building and yet, more that 60% of my property taxes go to fund that project. For us and many others, that is several thousand dollars a year going to a public funding project we will never use.We all know why we send our children to Catholic school. The reasons are many. But the underlying fact is we pay extra to send our children there in addition to funding a public school system our children will never use. This is "taxation without representation". If you recall, there was a revolution started over this in 1776.
I have heard other parents say, "I can't afford to send my child to Catholic school." The facts are these; YES - you can afford to send your child to Catholic school if you were allowed to spend the tax money confiscated from your bank account to fund a public school to pay for your child's tuition! You see, if we were allowed to spend our tax dollars to fund our child's education in a Catholic school system, there would be more funding for that system, more children in that system, and better results from that system. We could fund better schools and better pay for our teachers and administrators.
We need all of the Catholic parents across this state to stand up and be counted. If we all took the stand of "No School Choice - No Support" to our legislators, the law will change. It would have to change. According to the website Catholic-Heirarchy.org, there are over 165,000 Catholic parents, grand parents, aunts, uncles, brothers, and sisters in the Springfield Diocese alone. In Illinois, there are over 4,950,000 Catholics. The politicians have to listen to us at the risk of their own political peril!
Ask your local, state, and federal legislator this question, "Do you support school choice?" If not - why not?! And be sure to tell them your vote is vested in their position to support school choice. Please - do it now!
Thank you!
Mike Yurgec
Sherman Illinois

Atlantic Magazine Interview Bashing NYC Public Schools Uses Picture of Leo Catholic HS's Immaculate Halls at 7AM

Jim Young/Reuters Photo from 2012

Knowing my interest in inner city schools, a buddy of mine forwarded an interview appearing in the recent issue of The Atlantic.  The feature is an interview with a disgruntled NYC public school teacher entitled " It Feels Like Educational Malpractice." The interview is nice, but not exactly ground-breaking for anyone who has taught in a big city school.

It was a very poor neighborhood with a lot of English-language learners who knew little or no English. With poverty comes this condition called Toxic Stress. It explains why the children were so difficult to handle, needy, and so behind in learning. When your dad is in prison or your mom is on drugs, or your mom drank alcohol when you were a fetus, if you didn’t sleep the night before because you were allowed to play video games all night, or maybe there was a shooting, your cognitive ability is harmed. It rewires their brain so they’re unable to employ working memory, which is what you use when you’re learning. We’re charged with being the parents of these kids, being the friends, the mentors. Teachers are given all these social responsibility towards children that aren’t ours. It’s a failure of the system to address the poverty that creates the achievement gap.

Tell me about it.  Public schools can not do much about it. Catholic schools can and do.  I work at Leo High School in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood of Chicago.  Not NYC. What is interesting and kept my eyes darting up the page from the prose to the photo was . . .Jesus! That ain't a big Apple Public School!  That's Leo High School . . .right here on the south side!

About a year ago Reuters ( link up and enjoy the photos # 6 is the one The Atlantic features) did a very nice story written by Chicago veteran news person Mary Wizniewki. She was accompanied by a photographer and arrived at dawn of the Leo day for several days and soaked up how Catholic schools do what public schools can not and may not do.  We have a crucifix in every room of the schools, stained glass windows in the cafeteria offering a litany to Our Lady, and Catholic value based instruction.  Most students are not Roman Catholic.  All have been accepted at solid colleges and universities.

The thing that struck me most was the photo (above and linked) - that is Leo HS at about 7AM.  I am here between 4:30 and 5:00 AM daily.  Some guys arrive before I go out at 6:20 AM to pick up students in Bronzeville and Canaryville.  I open the doors, because Leo offers the most positive and safe hours of the day for our guys.

It is interesting that The Atlantic chose a photo of an inner city classroom and hall of a school built by Chicago Catholic parishioners in 1921 and opened in 1926 and still operating to help young men succeed on faith based path.

Funny no NYC public schools were featured.

The photographer must be the gent identified in The Atlantic piece. 

Dillon Hoey- A Catholic Education is a Lifestyle

It has been my honor to meet and get to know hundreds of Leo Men. At the top left of this page from the Leo Alumni Website is one of the greatest - J. Dillon Hoey.   Mr. Hoey went home to Christ in April of 2003.  I accompanied Leo ,teacher,  coach, President-CEO and Father Figure Bob Foster to St. Michael's Catholic Church in Old Town for the funeral Mass.  Bob Foster was a year older than Dillon Hoey and had been a team mate on 1956 City Championship Team coached by the legendary Jimmy Arneberg.

Dillon Hoey was a very close friend of my cousin Eddie Burke.  Eddie played for the Mendel Monarchs against his buddy and some of scariest human beings in Catholic League football:  Leo Men Tom Winecki, Don Flynn, Eddie Ryan, Pony Cavanaugh, Rich Boyle, Bob Swast and of course Bob Foster.  Eddie went to Notre Dame and Dillon went to Yale but they kept in touch all through college.

My cousin went on to play with the Houston Oilers and became an attorney in Houston after his pro career. Dillon Hoey became a famous labor lawyer and workers compensation advocate.  At Yale he roomed with future Vice President Dick Cheney and like his long friendship with Ed Burke kept in close touch throughout his life.  Ed Burke continues to  send in money to help Leo kids and their families in memory of J. Dillon Hoey, Leo 1959.

I mention all of this because last night Leo President Dan McGrath, football coach and Dean Mike Holmes and me attended a high school recruitment night at J. Dillon Hoey's parish and alma mater St. Barnabas School in Beverly. We were joining the many Catholic high schools in presenting our case to 7th and grade students looking to their futures.  

One young man who stopped by our table  and filled out a card was the grandson of Dillon Hoey.  His grandfather forged the competitive nature that made him a highly successful and very giving man.  My cousin Eddie Burke and his pal Dillon Hoey faced one another over the scrimmage line and represented what is best in Catholic schools on the broken beer bottles, ciders and rocks of the old Shewbridge Field which was the home of the Leo Lions as well as the wonderfully maintained Eckersoll Stadium and the icon St. Rita Stadium, notable for the sewer manhole handicap in its south end-zone.

Catholic schools are God centered places of learning. Fierce competition for places on teams, as well as a desk in a classroom are part and parcel of this cradle of virtue.  Catholic high schools are all fundamentally the same,but distinct in spirit and traditions.  The is cost in time talent and treasure.  Leo welcomes anyone who wants to succeed, base his life on the gospel, dedicate himself to others and give back more than he receives.  It ain't pretty, neat, or easy; neither is life.

J. Dillon Hoey was the son of a Chicago cop.  He put his heart and hands into the work all through his high school experience, knowing full well that goals are not the end of the story. Once goal is met, a Catholic educated young man should ask, " Okay, what do you want me to do now?"

It would be great to see Dillon Hoey's grandson choose Leo.  This school would serve him as much as it did his grandfather.  However, whatever Catholic school the young man decides up will be an equally great choice. A Chicago public school is out of the question, because there is only a "there" there. A Catholic education is lifestyle.

God Bless the young man and his wonderful grandfather.  Read the tribute from Dillon Hoey's law firm, especially the wonderful quote fro St. Francis of Assisi.

Dillon Hoey - Leo 1958 wearing # 98

J. Dillon Hoey at Yale

Remembering a Life of Giving

J. Dillon Hoey
1941-2003

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Our firm is deeply saddened by the loss of our wonderful friend, J. Dillon Hoey. Dillon passed away on Sunday, April 27, 2003, from pancreatic cancer.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Dillon’s wife Mary Ann, and other family members. The funeral mass was held at St. Michael’s Church, 1633 North Cleveland Street, Chicago, Illinois, on Thursday, May 1. In lieu of flowers, the family requested that donations be sent to The Alzheimer's Association.

Dillon will be greatly missed by the 35 families of Hoey & Farina, and by so many more in the railroad and legal communities. We want to thank everyone who has sent their sympathies. We have passed these condolences along to Dillon’s wife and family.

Born and raised on the south side of Chicago, Dillon was the son of a Chicago policeman and the grandson of a railroad worker who was fatally injured on the job. With an entire career representing injured workers, Dillon’s professional life manifested the personal values that grew from his strong south side roots.

Dillon grew up in Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood. He attended Leo High School, where he was part of the legendary football squad that won the city championship. Later, at Yale University, Dillon was on the undefeated 1959 freshman football team with Dick Cheney, the current vice president of the United States. After Yale, Dillon returned to Chicago where he attended DePaul University’s College of Law.

Twenty five years ago, Dillon started his own firm. He was appointed Designated Legal Counsel for the United Transportation Union in 1991, and appointed Designated Legal Counsel for the Transportation Communications Union in 1998. Never one to rest on his accomplishments, Dillon continued to build the firm, which now holds seven union designations. During these years, Dillon’s leadership was instrumental in Hoey & Farina, obtaining many of the largest verdicts and settlements for railroaders and their families in the United States.

In the process of building the law firm, Dillon also expanded the definition of Designated Legal Counsel. Dillon offered more than the best legal representation to railroaders and their families. His mission -- the firm’s mission -- was simple -- inform railroaders of their unique rights under the law. The fruit of his efforts is an array of resources; a collection of books, videos, email and print newsletters, websites and seminars that are available for free to railroaders and their families. Dillon raised the bar for what it means to serve as Designated Legal Counsel, and the union membership is the better for it. We know that this is exactly what Dillon envisioned and what he delivered.

Dillon's long list of professional associations include the Academy of Railroad Labor Attorneys, American Trial Lawyers Association, and the American Bar Association. Dillon’s involvement in the community was equally impressive. Dillon served on the executive board of Leo High School, where he was an active contributor to the school and a sponsor of Leo students. Dillon also served as chairman of the Art Committee of the Union League Club of Chicago, a leading civic and community organization. We have highlighted only a few of Dillon’s many community and educational involvements over the years.

St. Francis of Assisi reminds us, “When you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received, only what you have given: a full heart, enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage." Dillon left us on Sunday, April 27, 2003, and it is certain that he left with a wonderful heart filled by a lifetime of giving to others.

Hoey & Farina pledges to continue the firm and the mission that Dillon built as a tribute to his life. We will continue to honor and celebrate his life in our work, in our hearts and in our prayers.

http://www.leohsalumniassoc.com/images1959/seniors_1959/pages/seniors%20HJ_jpg.htm

http://www.hoeyfarina.com/railroadhfdillonhoey

Chicago Catholic League 100th Anniversary Mass

LEO's Jay Standing -“My junior year we made the playoffs and I think we lost to Mendel. My senior year we tied Rita and we played Gordon Tech at Soldier Field Stadium. At halftime, I was sprawled out, I was so tired and the manager came out and said: ‘There are some Notre Dame people here and if you play well, you can get a scholarship.’ I told him just to get away. We beat Gordon Tech and then we played Loyola the following week but we lost to them.It was the worst game that everybody had. Loyola beat us up and down. They won fair and square. I played running back but I also played flanker. We had a quarterback that could throw the ball a mile but I could never got off the line. I was a big part of the offense. I could catch the ball and run like the wind, and it was so easy for me. Loyola would double team me, and I could never get the ball. Loyola ended up being in the Prep Bowl.”

Thats's Catholic League!

For one hundred years, The Catholic League of Chicago has provided young men and women an opportunity to excel in athletics.

Today, at Holy Family Church on Chicago's near west side, a Mass will be celebrated by Francis Cardinal George in commemoration of this century of Faith, Fellowship and Family.

CHICAGO CATHOLIC LEAGUE - 100TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION 

The Chicago Catholic League and its member schools cordially invite you to the one hundredth anniversary celebration on Sunday, August 19, 2012.   Mass will be celebrated at 3:00 PM in Holy Family Church - 1080 W. Roosevelt Road, Chicago, Illinois.  A reception will follow at 4:30 PM at St. Ignatius College Prep - 1076 W. Roosevelt Road, Chicago, Illinois.

http://www.leohsalumniassoc.com/alumni%20stories/standring/standring.html