The Old Ranger - A Catholic High School Teacher on the Open Driving Range

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Matthew 6: 26-7

My job for the last month has been as a ranger - an Evergreen Park Recreation Driving Ranger.

This work for the Village of Evergreen Park is a huge help to me, as I have been out of work since January 26th.

During my search for work, my high school and Loyola University classmate, Evergreen Park Mayor James Sexton offered me this posting, God Bless him!

He made me a Driving Ranger at the glorious 50 Acre Park located at 2701 West 91st in the western half of the legendary Evergreen Park Country Club.   This south side jewel of a park includes

• One of the best  disc golf courses in Illinois
• A state of the park dog playground
• Walking paths over a pond with a fountain
• A beautifful concert gazebo
• A mini - farm and stable exhibit with three horses and squad of goats
• A golf putting green and driving range

Mayor James Sexton is the real deal -   a Democrat with the brains to be honest, faithful and not beholden to big money, or trends.  Evergreen Park sits next to Chicago, but is not a homicide blood sponge. 

The media beefs about traffic stops on 95th street ( a vast commercial stretch of road with more shopping malls than a John Hughes movies), but never asks why, "Chicago has more killings, violence, robberies and burglaries" than the village that is wedged on three sides within its own borders. Evergreen Park is not Chiraq, let alone Chicago.

• Evergreen Park pensions are fully loaded. 
• Evergreen Park Police and Fire Departments have high morale. 
• Evergreen Park schools are successful and peaceful
• Evergreen Park cares for its residents
• Evergreen Park love its Mayor

I became a Ranger on April 16th and proud to say so.

My obligations are these: 

In The AM shift 6/7AM - 3 PM:

Start, drive and attach the Kubota vehicle to a a ball rake that resembles a farm disc-ing tractor attachment at the front the of vehicle.  The rake is left far out on the range and requires a great deal ingenuity and luck to attach. That is most difficult task of the day - attaching the rake.

Then I spend two hours collecting range balls -in and out of the Kubota.  Using a handy device that pops balls into a canvas bag.   I wear a stout pair of Wellingtons, as the ground is always swampy due to our May Monsoons and the regulated sprinklers.  My first AM shift, I thought that I was in the movie The Birds.  I was being strafed by flights of birds the minute I shifted the Kubota into gear. 

  The disc-rake agitates the grass  sending millions of tiny winged insects out  of their morning ground-lairs and into the beaks of squadrons of Blue Jays, Finches and Robins. Jesus, I am St. Francis!  Well, not so much to the bugs. 

The range balls are disc-ed into four baskets on the rake and when full I transfer the balls to 5 gallon buckets with holes punched in the buttons to allow water to drain.  I carry fifteen buckets in the bed of the Kubota. 

Once all buckets are full, I detach the rake and head for the barn and begin washing the balls.   This is an easy task thanks to Wittek 50 G Superbowl washer.  I put in a scoop of Borax ( the product sold by the real Old Ranger on Death Valley Days) and fill the tanks with water. I turn on the agitators and cleaning wheels and in fifteen minutes thousands of balls are as clean as a Lithuanian sidewalk. 

I then take the fifteen buckets of cleaned balls and re-load the token operated ball machine. 

Now, I set up the range 

• Old Glory is unfurled and placed
• Umbrellas are placed at the tables
• Yellow flags go in the holes of putting green
• Heavy Green Ball basket stand placed near the edge of the parking lot
• Roadside signs are adjusted to open

At this point, I return to the office and count the bank drawer, count 59 tokens, sign the work shift's work sheet, open the windows and serve the public.

Then I restock water, beer/wine and pop; put out the candy and Slim Jim displays and get the hot dog steamer ready. 

On the PM shift, I begin where the AM shift ends.   I sell tokens and comestibles -eats and drinks. Clean counters and tables.  The only difference is closing out.  

We sell small baskets of balls (45) for $ 5.00 and large (90) for $10.  

This is a great little job and very well-suited to a Catholic high school teacher, who is finished with Catholic high schools.

I did not know what I would do, other than work again.

But, God and Jimmy Sexton taught this Old Ranger a lesson that he had forgotten.  The lesson I witnessed on the Kubota and in Matthew's gospel - “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air . . ."    Look outside the cab of the old Kubota!

KingZorProphets? Pick One.

I am preparing lessons for my second semester classes at Brother High School.  I am teaching two Theology Courses to four sections of 36 Juniors and one section of 34 Freshmen.  The Juniors get Social Justice this semester after last semester's Morality units. The Freshmen are taking a full year of Old Testament.

The text books* are very orthodox presentations of Catholic teachings and you can't miss with the Bible.  Not only that, Catholic Social Teaching is rich with primary sources.  Pope Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum is an essential read that most later-day Social Justice Warriors (SJWs) have never encountered.

Instead, neo-Maoist activism of SJW proclaims - Every Voice a Prophet. . . .And every man a king!

It don't work that way.  Kings and prophets are in opposite camps and what about every man?

We are called by God to bear witness to the faith.

Some might argue that bearing witness is not enough.  Okay.

• Calling 911 when that clown broke out my back door window last Wednesday, in order to take what I do not have, was an act of bearing witness by a neighbor which I greatly appreciated, because the thief was interrupted and bolted, when blue lights from the heroes of District 22 appeared in the early morning skies.

• Chatham Glass ( two brothers) replaced my busted window for much less than two more franchised companies, because of the Sacred Season and the circumstance - they bore witness without a press conference, a march, or CNN
• I used the savings to donate to a charity.

Kings and prophets are too busy for such stuff.

I am going to try and concentrate upon words of the prophets and actions of the kings in the Old Testament and try and present their impact upon the people who will be dragged off to Babylon, conquered by the Persians,  Greeks and Romans and await the arrival of the 'annointed one' of the  Root of Jesse.

                                        CYO - Bishop Sheil is the template for Catholic Action

We have far too many SJWs taking it to the streets and far too few people willing to clean up their mess after wards,

The old Catholic Action was practical, effective and compelling. It was launched by Bishop Shiel.  Bishop Shiel?  Yeah, this Archdiocese has pretty much burried Bishop Sheil in favor of press happy prophets with hard collars and Macy's gold cards, 

Bishop Sheil inspired Catholics to act, not pose, shout, march or preen.

That was long before we were all called to be kings and prophets.

Some one needs to set up chairs.

No chairs, no Justice. 

*Written on Our Hearts (2009): The Old Testament Story of God's Love, Third Edition 3rd Edition

Living Justice and Peace (2008): Catholic Social Teaching in Practice, Second Edition 2nd Edition

2018 - Already? Always on the Eights?

2018, already???????

Silly question.

Time does not fly; it bolts by.

•  In, 1958 I was in 1st Grade at Little Flower Grammar school
• In 1968, I was a junior in high school, dropped out of baby-priest school ( St. Augustine Minor Seminary), working at Chicken Unlimited and dating gorgeous young ladies
• In 1978, I was in my third year of teaching at Bishop McNamara and dating the woman who would actually marry me and carry all three of our children - Mary Elizabeth Cleary
• In 1988, married for four years with a three year old, I resigned from Bishop Mac and took a job at La Lumiere School in LaPorte, Indiana
• In 1998. I lost my lovely pal, partner and guiding light to a lousy brain tumor
• In 2008, I was working at Leo High School as Director of Development and struggling with my demons thanks to a loving family
• In 2018, I am back in the classroom at Brother Rice and still chasing away the demons - with three grown and successful children, a gorgeous granddaughter and a patient, lovely woman

That's a lot of blood under the bridge.

2018!  Let's see what you got, Big Boy!

• I need to pray all day. 
• Watch my temper.  
• Put disappointments in proper perspective.  
• Remember it is not all about me 
• Try and help others.  
• Avoid "Irish Alzheimer's”  the disease where an individual forgets everything except the grudges. 
• Get my hair cut
• Vote in the GOP Primary on March 20, 2018 and louse up Bruce Rauner's comfortable life
• Watch more high school sports
• Save money
• Eat more greens
• Listen to more great music

The eights were always pretty heavy.

Heavy lifting in life, requires bending the knees.

Let's see how it goes.  

Would God Like Me ? One Never Knows, Do One?

Simple Question: Would God Like You? Would God like me?

God Loves us all, that is why he created the universe, but I wonder if God would get along with me.

I am prepping my students for their final exams next week here at Brother Rice High School in Mount Greenwood.  I have four sections of Juniors taking a Christian Morality Class and one section of Freshmen in an Old Testament Class. All are very fun, challenging and sobering for me the instructor.

In the junior classes we cover morality

• Natural Moral Law  - the Unitarian Canon - we are all alike
• Old Testament Moral Law - God's contract with Man and Israel in particular
• New Testament - Christ's Challenge to Live Drudgery and find Happiness
• The Precepts of the Catholic Church The Magnificent 7: 1.Go to Mass, 2.take the Sacraments, 3.Study for Confirmation, 4.Observe Marriage Laws, 5.Support the Church - make that drop, 6. do penance and 7. be an Apostle - make Catholic Christianity attractive
• Canon law - The quotidian web of laws, teachings about worship, Church property, and role of laity - buck up, folks. 

We just finished a Unit on the the Sixth Commandment - Thou Shalt Not Kill and the lads were astonished to see what is covered under that:

• Do not Offer Scandal - If the Kids see me coming out of Pole Katz, or hookers popping in and out of Casa Hickey along the tracks, I have 'killed' their innocence by saying adultery is acceptable. I am a teacher and a Theology teacher at that.  More so, if I stay in bed on Sundays and ditch Mass, my kids learn to do the same.  Not on this fat boy's watch.
• Give People Their Dignity from Womb to Tomb - if you are OK with abortion, you are OK with anything. Likewise if you help prey on the poor by placing Pay Day Loan and Car Title Loan stores in Zip Codes of poor people, if you  are a State Legislator/Senator who helped enact the growth of predatory lenders you have sinned against the 6th Commandment.
• If you eat like hog and act like one as well, you might be committing suicide of the installment plan.
• There is a difference between 'killing' and a Homicide.
• Bullies are killing peoples' dignity 

The Freshmen have studied the LAW of God.  The Old Testament is great literature and the inspired Word of God written by some very talented people.

We have Covered Genesis & Exodus; Deuteronomy, Judges, Samuel 1 & 2 and the Book of Kings.

The guys learned that God wants us to listen to Him and the We ignore Him until the shit hits the fan.

The God hears our cries and 'raises up' flawed, scared and doubtful men and women to get our lard out of the frying pan.

Adam, Eve, Cain Abraham, Issac, Lot, Noah, Moses, Joshua, Gideon,  Samson Deborah, Ruth, Hannah, Saul David and Solomon all go their own ways ,after God has promised them His full support.  Even after God delivers, the OT people try to go their own way - just like all of us. 

What I have been blessed with is a nagging question - Would God like Hickey.  Would Jesus immediately kick my ass upon meeting? Has my life merited a sound beat-down? Would my ass be smote?

In the words of the great Fats Waller, One never knows, Do One!"

Thanksgiving - "these Things I Remember , , ,"

 Where Thanksgiving began for me - 1755 West 75th Place, Chicago 60620

Psalm 42:4

These things I remember and I pour out my soul within me For I used to go along with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God, With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.

Thanksgiving is very special and it always has been.

I am blessed to be teaching again after two decades of helping to raise funds at Leo High School.  One of the classes that I teach at Brother Rice is Old Testament.  I got into teaching through the religion department at Bishop McNamara in Kankakee in 1975.  The education circle of my life has closed, but loops off in a new directions as life has a habit of doing. Old Testament passages are not set-pieces but living reminders of God guiding the way to better living.

The Book of Joshua which my guys are reading over the five day break from classes is not just a chronicle of battles and Jewish ninja operations in the land of Canaan, but path to the pattern fulfilled by Joshua bar Joseph, during reign of Tiberius Caesar in Roman occupied Judea (formerly known as Canaan).  This Joshua ( Jesus in Arameric) explained the Covenant - thou shall not kill also means to love your enemies.  And the walls come tumbling down.

I used to come home from Kankakee for Thanksgiving on Greyhound and Amtrack, until I could afford a car.  I'd carry my banjo and guitar with my changes of clothes, because I would be playing Irish tunes with my cousins at Reilly's Daughter in Oak Lawn on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and maybe Saturday ( unless Boz got sick of us and hired Berwyn Moose).

I'd take the the CTA from 95th & the Dan Ryan to Oak Lawn, where my folks had moved from Little Flower.  Little Flower was where all of my Thanksgiving begins.

We lived in a Georgian at 1755 W. 75th Place with a tiny kitchen, but a pretty substantial dining room.  Relatives came and we ate like we were going to the chair.

• Turkey with Sage and Sausage Stuffing
• Baked Sweet Potatoes with marshmallows
• Turnips
• Green Bean  casserole 
• Swedish Potato Sausage from the Swedish Deli at 76th & Bishop
• Mashed Spuds
• Cranberry Sauces (canned for kids and real for human beings)
• Milk from Hamilton Dairy at 75th & Paulina
• Sparkling Burgundy from Sol's Liquors at 79th & Marshfield
• Pecan Pie, Pumpkin Pie and Apple Pie

Before all of that Mom would take us to morning Mass at Little Flower along with our neighbors, while Dad finished his shift at Illinois Medical Hospital.

We would be reminded of everything we should be thankful for - 

• Our Country - we beat it out of Ireland
• Our Faith -we have been Catholic for thousands of years
• Our Freedoms - we had no one telling us who we were
• Our Health - kids rarely died of anything anymore
• Our Wealth - about that!

Yeah, we were loaded!  Dad worked three jobs with the State, the Beverly Theatre and David Berg packing house in Pilsen.

We really were loaded. We had everything!

Dad and his brothers fought for our freedom to practice our religion in this great country where we could go to the dentist, Dr. Anthony and eat real food from National Tea, Kroger, or the Jewels and make a future for ourselves. 

In the 1970's I'd make almost as much money playing Irish tunes with my cousins, Whitey O'Day and the inimitable Terry McEldowney than I would in two weeks of teaching religion and English at Bishop Mac.  I'd feast at the house in Oak Lawn, grab my instruments and head up to Reilly's Daughter and in the late 1970's I would be accompanied by the beautiful red head who would marry me and mother three beautiful children.

The loops of the circles in life would take me and mine from Kankakee to LaPorte and Griffith, Indiana and back to the south side of Chicago.  My children are wonderful adults now and their mother is home with Christ, my Dad and hundreds of Gunkels, Donahues, Hickeys, Brennans, Winters, Murphys, Garveys, & etc.

For that and this Thanksgiving Day, I shout "With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival."

The Joy of the Classroom: Et ut mercedem hoc faciunt

I am monitoring a computer-based class that puts geometry and trades-skills into the hands of America's future workforce. Today, this class of sophomores create house-blue prints including steps overview, draw for depth viewing, sketch and mechanical drawings.

One young gent created a cylindrical design for a two story home buttressed by concave supports.

Most designs apply Euclidian geometry with 90 degree line of sight, transfer with dividers and more triangular aspects to design.

All are really cool.

The skilled trades are screaming for capable young people to fill in the ranks of people from my generation, who decided to forgo Loyola, or Depaul for the Washburn and union trades apprentice programs.

This 'hands on' attention to academic details, that will impact on their lives in more dramatic ways than, Moby Dick, the )Peace of Westphalia, the Treaty of Utrecht, or the Henry Wallace attempt to turn America into a Soviet-agency in 1948, has the men engaged. The Class is known as AUTOCAD and it takes the place of the old mechanical drawing and drafting classes of old.

It is a great deal of fun watching the guys at each station measure twice and cut once.

We listen to the magnificent genius of Chet Baker and Bill Evans from their signature recording sessions from 1958-1959.  Perfect for the meticulous and exact work being performed on the thirty Dell desktop stations loaded with the Auto ACad soft- ware How High The Moon, Time on My Hands and You and the Night and Music. 

I get paid to do this. 

Brother Rice Baseball and Knockwurst from Pat & Jack's Old Fashioned Butchers

Brother Rice 8, Marmion 1: Ryan Palmblad pitched a one-hitter for Rice (21-6, 15-1 Catholic Blue).

I watched Ryan P ( one of my juniors at Brother Rice) pitch a 1 hit-game.  It was very nearly a no hitter until the second to the last batter in the Seventh inning with two outs and a man on for Marmion Academy.  The Marmion hitter skinned a sweet one down the right field line for a single and drove in a walked batter.  The next batter hit a grounder to short and that was the game. Brother Rice 8- Marmion 1.  I was cold. I wore only a La Lumiere School hooded sweatshirt to game and my normally robustly larded frame withstands winds up to twenty miles per hour with temperatures in the mid -40's.  However my perch right behind home plate at Sedlacek Field is shady and the winds were exceptional.  

I immediately thought knockwurst.

Knockwurst, or Knackwurst,  gets it's name from the 'pop' the casing makes when it is cut and seasonings flood the senses. Knockwurst is made of veal, pork, hog casing and plenty of garlic - individual butchers add their own secret spices. Knockwurst packs on the lard. That is why it is so tough to find, in our Euro-globalist dweeb-thin culture. Everyone wants to look like an idiot lane weaving cyclist.

I was chilled.

My thoughts turned to lard fuel and no place on earth is more conducive to fighting the elements than Pat & Jacks  Old Fashioned Meats in Chicago Ridge, a couple of miles from Brother Rice.  This gem of a butcher store is of the old saw-dust and straw Kelly'd butchers type. Love them on Face Book!

The meat is exceptional and the service like no place else.  More importantly, Pat & Jacks is one of the only places left on the south side where one can buy genuine KNOCKWURST.  Can't get it at County Fair, Jewels, Whole Foods, Pete's Produce, or Saveway.  Can't even get it at the usually helpful Mariano's.

Pat & Jack's Old Fashioned Butchers was my next port of call.

Got me four knockwursts, four thuringers, five Russett potatoes cut into thin ( 1/4" pieces) one large yellow onion, a head of  green cabbage ( cut in wedges and cored, a 12 ounce box of pinot grigio apple cider vinegar, caraways seeds, Kosher salt and black peppercorns . . .Oh, and some serious cloves of garlic and half a stick of Kerry Gold butter.

I parboiled the cabbage and then tossed it in apple cider vinegar, Kosher salt and caraway seeds in a big oil oil treated skillet and stir fried the cabbage for two minutes.

Then I place a layer of potatoes in the bottom of the slow cooker, added the cabbage in a layer then more potatoes, then more cabbage. covered all in wine and apple cider vinegar salt,pepper and caraway seeds and set on high for three hours.

After three hours I drained out the liquid and put in the half a stick of Kerry Gold cut into four pieces, added the minced garlic, pepper corns and cooked on low for one hour.

Then I added the whole Knockwurst and Thuringer sausages and cooked on low for three hours.

I turned off the pot and waited for it to cool and placed it in the ice box over night.

After 8:30 Mass, I set it on warm and will devour one portion ( 1 Knockwusrt/1 Thuringer ladle of cabbage and spuds) and dip with Dusseldorf mustard.


This will be a weeks work of great eating with a cold salad.

I love baseball. 

Blue Books - Real Exams for Real Men of Theology 3

In-class essays (Blue Books) are a normal part of academic life.  Academic life, of course, is not normal.  But it does present a socially acceptable way to focus on personal skills. Properly pursued, the whole process aims to bring about change we associate with learning. As one of many academic avenues, In-Class Essays offer a way to approach yourself, to confront what you know and how well you communicate your thoughts and beliefs.  What is sometimes most scary is that we don't like what we find.  What we want for ourselves and what we have are different. Learning focuses on this difference, and Exams provide a practical and periodic way to organize what you have learned and what is missing. It is designed to challenge. If you've taken an In-Class exam in the past, you have a fair idea how difficult it is to write persuasive prose under pressure.  Time will fly. You will not be able to write as much as you know. If you have not taken a Blue Book Exam before, pay attention to what follows. Be clear:  In-Class Essays ask that you present your understanding and interpretations of course material in lucid, persuasive prose. The 'Blue Book Challenge' is not designed for fun. But the process can be gratifying.  Dr. Robert Hatch

" We take Blue Book Exams, Gentlemen."  The pause was as pregnant as the now large-with-child Beyonce,  from my thirty six times three sections of Theology 3.   This 5.4 score of young Catholic manhood, commanding desks ill-fitted to the New Millennium mesomorphs stuffed to rib cages by the particle board desk tops, responded with " Coach, what're Blue Books?  They anything like Blue Ba. . ?"

No, not exactly.

Theology, or religion classes in Catholic secondary education tend to be either a grade point booster, or, at the very worst, fifty daily minutes of Mime Clown Jesus and androgynous Godhead exercises in Unitarian principles for unhappy spinsters and life-long victims.

Somewhere in between these extremes lies the Goldem Mean - rigor without condescending intimidation.

" Coach, you're high!  We take True/False and Multiple Guess tests."

With my avuncular grin that teases raccoons out of my 19th Ward trash containers I replied, " We don't work that street no more. "

Gobsmacked young-uns, " What's that mean?"

" You employed the first person plural in the false assumption that WE means something.  We  -in the accusative =is taking only essay exams in Theology 3. "

"What's that mean?"

" Put it this way, 'Chicks who really count, dig only guys who take out  and dominate Blue Book Exams!'  That's the word on the street, from the time Plato tossed away the stylus and tablets, Lads.  Essay exams are the only true test of what a man - a fuul-grown, Hoochie-Coochie Mayne - really knows," I answered to the best of my wont.

That was three weeks ago. In that time, I taught a Unit on Poverty for the Social Justice Classes, Second Semester of Theology 3.  This Unit looked at poverty, " the experience of living without the basic needs for existence, necessary for a full and dignified life." Having taken the teachings of Rerum Novarum by Pope XIII as the advent of Catholic Social Justice, we looked at poverty at the financial, intellectual, emotional and spiritual life of persons marginalized and trapped in the seemingly endless cycle of poverty, through a study of Robert Thompson, one of two Liverpool ten year olds who murdered toddler James Bulger in 1993.  


We applied Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to this study and contrasted Thompson to Manchester slum dweller Anthony Burgess who became the 21st Century's most prolific novelist and composer.

I presented the gents four thought problems early this week for yesterday's Blue Book Exam.

By the way - each examinee was required to purchase a Blue Book booklet @ $.50 per. and bring along a blue or black ink pen.  Needless, to say, these are adolescent males and increased volume, salty sobriquets and excruciating repetitions of command by this examinant improved the odds for success.

Today, I am up to my fleshy jowls in Blue Books this post First Friday weekend in February and I must say that I am singularly delighted by the  waves of  smart, exact and carefully crafted sententiae offered by my heroes.

The grades are very high and, with very few exceptions, worthy of public display.


This was their first Big Boy Blue Book exam and they passed with flying colors.  There is red ink all over the pages of each Blue Book, to be sure but it is Mission Accomplished!

Students will rise the challenge, when challenged.  Today one of our Regional Crusader wrestlers will stand in 1st Place, but also sport a 95% on his Blue Book Exam.

" Coach, I smoked this test!"

" That was not a test Young Will! That was a Blue Book Exam. You got your big boy pants on, Son!"

" Whatever."

 Ah, I do love teaching, so

"To cut the matter short, Ratcliffe, you have been a most notorious thief,"  Sorry, I was thinking about Heart of Midlothian.  Lord, but I doooo drift some.

I am Having a Ball in the Classroom at Brother Rice High School

I am hardly back in the saddle again, but for the past two weeks I have had more fun than a man deserves serving as a substitute teacher at Brother Rice High School.

I began teaching English in 1975 and continued joyfully for twenty years, but obligations as father and husband required that I leave the classroom for the more lucrative position of Director of Development.

This is a new position in education and rather important one at that, particularly in private and Catholic education. The Director of Development  is generally the chief fundraising officer answerable to the President and the Board of Directors. bring in new streams of cash from grants, individual donations and sometime special events.  I ran  two special events at La Lumiere School, one a success and the other barely broke even, one special event at Bishop Noll Institute that brought in  $10,000 when the goal was $20,000 and no events at Leo High School that could be termed 'special events' in the traditional sense - elaborate dinners, or Star focused concerts. Thank God and Bob Foster, my CEO for fifteen of my twenty years at Leo.

I write a good grant and I can be a pretty good person to put the bite on a person with the capacity to make a difference,

I was a Department of one at Leo.  I tracked gifts, wrote letters, appeals, went out to call upon donors, researched new sources, courted new sources and hit on news sources - sometimes with success and more times than not received the " while your mission is a truly deserving one, at this time, we would like you and your mission to help young urban men receive a faith-based education in a safe environment to go and . . ."  Stuff like that, or a nicer version.

Leo High School has a unique culture that is male, honest, uncompromisingly straight-forward, tough, results oriented and proudly successful. Fools might be suffered gladly, but will have only a blink on their resumes and CVs, if Leo Men have any say in the matter.

There is no BS, so don't attempt any.  BS is largely the domain of Director's of Development in too many schools and DDs, or IAs,* do all pie-chart and Stephen Covey fog-horning all too often, net work for new jobs and then job hop all over the philanthropic landscape - many ending their days as consultants with Institutional Advancement companies.

To me the job was an extension of my vocation as a teacher - do my homework, try to explain what exactly needs to get done and remain honest, help the students first, the parents second, the Alumni next and of course myself.  I had a ball.  I raised some money. I started boilers on winter mornings and drove a van and picked up students as well. Sold Beanie Babies and Ty Warner Products as well as sweatshirts, T-shirts, hats, blankets and do-dads to the Alumni.

I missed teaching. I asked my old high school Buddy Kevin Burns to give me a shot and he did.  Kevin is President of Brother Rice.  Thanks, Kev!

Now, I am trying to get my sea-legs back.  You do not plunge back into a room full of adolescent males going through four stages of human growth, as well as academic placements, five to six periods a day, at age 64 and expect to greeted as Good Old Chips!  When I was 22, I needed to earn the trust and respect of young people only a few years minor to me and that was a job of work.

I have witnessed career "re-treads' give teaching a try after successful careers in management, sales and engineering and most ended with middle aged men and women running out the door with their hair on fire and a shout of "Mail Me my Damn Check!"

Teaching is and should be a bitch and a half.

Come prepared - do your homework, expect to be challenged about everything, remember that these are kids and not your own and that you're here to teach something - not change their lives or add to your Face Book friends trove.

Kids smell fear and BS from a great distance.  Be afraid, a healthy anxiety is a good thing, but never try to BS your way through anything.  If you do not know something, admit it and tell them you will find out and then deliver immediately.

I have taught English, History, Spanish and Band to no ill effect.  Frankie, Antonio, Reggie, Packy, Liam, Josh and Mr. Veal** have yet to take offense to my methods, or my  lessons.

I have been blown away by the wonderful manly deportment, friendliness, general knowledge and musicianship of the young Crusaders.

The band is something else and reminds me of the Bishop McNamara music program when it was under the direction of Kevin McNulty and Joel Hawkinson.  Concert band, Philharmonic, Choral and beginning band are all in task and on message.

The halls are empty of students when class begins and I have yet to witness any tardiness, absenteeism, or ungentlemanly behavior whatsoever.

I took a number of photos with my Old Guy phone and they have yet to appear in my e-mail box.

Safe to say.  I will need Frankie, Antonio, Reggie, Packy, Liam, Josh and Mr. Veal to give me a hand. I had to use stock photos on this go-around -sorry. I love teaching again.

Thanks Crusaders!


* DD - Director of Development; IA Institutional Advancement person

** Mr.Veal is a trumpet man who broke his left wrist in last week's Loyola game.

Leo Alumni Boost Leo Win Over Crusaders

Leo Alumni pump several hundred thousand dollars into financial assistance that helps the current 'brawny stalwarts' get a quality Catholic college prep education.

The Leo Alumni are largely middle aged white Catholic guys from the parishes and Leo students are black kids from the neighborhoods of Gresham, Auburn, Grand Crossing, Chatham, Brainerd, and Englewood - most are non-Catholic.

Tough guys give back.

Last night Leo played two very tough sophomore and varsity Brother Rice basketball teams. Both games were squeakers - by 4 points. The Varsity behind Paul Beene, Issac "Too Much Science" Smith and my pal Malcolm McFarland managed to get by a tough disciplined and graceful Brother Rice Squad 76-72.

Paul Beene, Malcolm McFarland and Isaac Smith III keyed the Lions (12-6, 5-3) victory. Smith opened the overtime with a layup to give the Leo the lead it would never relinquish. McFarland followed that with a spinning layup and Beene connected on three of four free throws to put the Lions ahead 66-59 with 1:29 left in overtime. Rice (11-5, 5-3) committed four turnovers in that same time frame.

Beene held the hot hand all game and led the Lions with 26 points including 8 of 10 from the free throw line in overtime. McFarland added 16 and Smith contributed 14.

The Lady Who Holds My Heart accompanied me to Leo High School's storied gym and witnessed real life played out on the same hard-wood floors that formed the character of Illinois State Senator Ed Maloney, Legendary Sports Journalist Dan McGrath, Insurance Man Frank McDermott, NIU Coach and Toronto Raptor Star Donnie Whiteside, Bro Farrell,Jackie Schaller, Bill and Jack Hessian, Bob Kozlowski, Ray Topps, Jerry Schimtt, Chico Driscoll, Harry Valadex, Bobby Lake, Tom O'Malley and the legendary Jack Fitzgerald.

Alumni President Rich Furlong along with Larry Lynch, Gene Earner, John Gardiner, Dave Cheval and the ever present Frank McDermott herded more than one hundred Alumni Association members to cheer on the Young Lions. There always Alumni at Leo Games, but this crowd was especially animated to meet the challenging squads of Pat Richardson's Crusaders ( Rice and Leo, along with St. Lawrence in Burbank were directed by the Irish Christian Brothers).

The Old Lions have teeth that gnaw into savings and checking accounts to make sure that our young Leo Lions bite hard.

They do.

God Bless All Leo Men.

My beautiful, elegant and delicate Love of My Life judged "They are all such gentlemen."

Tough guys always seem to be just that.