Beverly Review Features -The Leo High School Advantage

Leo High School 1926 ..............Leo 2013 and Pete Doyle is still here!

Leo High School has always been a school of opportunity for young men seeking a Catholic secondary education that prepares them to succeed. Each Catholic school has its own mystique, or as it is known in the Catholic faith, its own charism.

Leo is not another St. Ignatius, or De LaSalle.  Leo High School has a place for every young man who wants to succeed through a Catholic education.

Leo's students have always come from working class neighborhoods and will continue to do so.  The four story brick building dedicated by Cardinal Mundelein in 1926 and opened on September 9th of that year is solid and so is the learning environment.  There are issues like improving the school's plumbing arteries and the fact that the school is land-locked by the proximity of residential properties, bit nearly as much as it had been.  Leo has been expanding the campus work begun by President Emeritus Bob Foster in 1997 and continued by President Dan McGrath with the help of the 17th Ward's Ald. Thomas with land acquisitions from Morgan to Green Street.

• Leo is making transportation available to students.
• Leo is making parental participation a path to easing the tuition burden.
• Leo is making news -positive and inspirational news stories - about how Leo students and faculty impact the broader community.  There is a Leo good news story in the Chicago and National media nearly every week.(just from the past month)

The greatest challenge has been enrollment and ever soaring costs of tuition.  To that end, Cardinal George Leo High School's Advisory Board, the Big Shoulders Fund, Archdiocese Superintendent Sr. Mary Paul McCaughey, Leo benefactors and private foundations determined to make a Leo education affordable to working families, while maintaining a rigorous college prep curriculum.
Leo Men: Francis Cardinal George 2012 and Jackie Schaller '43

Today, The Beverly Review announced these steps in a lovely article by Caroline Connors.

School administrators hope the new tuition program will draw in working-class kids from neighborhoods like Beverly/Morgan Park and Mt. Greenwood, in addition to South Side neighborhoods that are not as stable. Over the past couple of years, a handful of white and Hispanic students have enrolled at Leo, and school officials said they would like the school to remain racially integrated.

“There are no metal detectors or cops here—we don’t need them—and no graffiti on the building,” McGrath said. “The Leo name is respected, and we provide a safe, nurturing learning environment where everyone gets along. It’s not so much a school as a family where we love each other and believe in each other.”

With an active alumni association that is thousands strong, Leo provides its students with a network of caring individuals . . .

On Friday, the Leo Alumni Association will induct this years class of Hall of Fame Inductees, honor its Man of the Year, Mark Lee and other Leo Men who keep this great school true to mission.

Leo remains a school of opportunity.  Opportunity must be grabbed.  Visit Leo High School experience the Leo Advantage.

Thank you Caroline Connors and the Beverly Review!

Molly's Cool Lemonade Should Warm the Heart from The Beverly Review

The Beverly Review covers the communities of Beverly,West Beverly, Morgan Park and Mount Greenwood. Published and owned by the Olszewski Family this gem of a paper reports on actual news and offers commentary rooted in the events reported. With writers like Patrick Thomas and Caroline Connors the Beverly Review offers a balanced assessment on events, activities and issues that actualy impact on people.

This week The Beverly Review offers a sweet pallate cleanser about the Gallagher children of St. John Fisher Parish in West Beverly. The older brothers and sisters of Molly Gallagher who was born with Down Syndrome wanted to give their baby sister a real gift of themselves. They sold brownies and lemonade and took the proceeds to benefit Misericordi which helps families care for special needs children.

Caroline Connors presents a solid report. The report refects the love of Life itself and gift of our most precious ones.

Here is a sample.

When Molly Gallagher’s siblings decided to celebrate their baby sister’s first birthday in 2009 with a lemonade stand for charity, Bridget, Patrick and Danny had no idea they were on to something so big.

It seems there were a lot of people in Beverly eager to join in their celebration for Molly, who was born with Down syndrome, and also support Misericordia Heart of Mercy, an organization that supports children and adults with developmental disabilities through residential services, community employment and education.

“The kids wanted to do something special for Molly’s birthday,” said Molly’s mother, Margie Gallagher, of Beverly. “We ended up raising $250 for Misericordia by selling lemonade, some freeze pops and a batch of brownies my neighbor baked. We were thrilled.”

In true Beverly fashion, word of the lemonade stand spread like wildfire, and the following year the Gallaghers decided to host the lemonade stand again under a tent in the courtyard behind St. John Fisher Roman Catholic Church.

Held after 10 a.m. Sunday Mass at St. John Fisher, the 2010 lemonade stand was dedicated to Luke Howley, the son of local couple Jim and Christine Howley, whose life was lost in utero from heart issues caused by Down syndrome.

Life is all about others. The gift to Molly by the Gallagher kids is dedicated to someone else.

God bless the Gallaghers and God bless the talented young people of the Beverly Review.