October 2004 Issue

DE LA SALLE MAGAZINE message from the president OCTOBER 2004 De La Salle Magazineis published quarterly by De La Salle Institute’s Office for Advancement. The purpose of his issue of our magazine features the numerous alumni who are part the publication is to unite the of the De La Salle family in a variety of capacities. Even though their Christian Brothers, alumni, roles are different, they all are helping the school achieve its students, parents, faculty, staff TT and friends together in De La educational mission for young people. We are grateful for their decision to join Salle’s mission of excellence in us in this wondrous adventure. education. We are a school and the most important mission of De La Salle Institute is to provide preparatory education and to ensure a safe learning environment based Send us your thoughts on Christian values. There is the old adage that contends that the real issues at Letters to the editor are a school are: the faculty wants free parking; the students desire more social encouraged and appreciated. events; and the alumni hope for winning teams. While this is a cynical view of the priorities in the academic Letters must be signed and have world, there is a grain of truth to the position - everyone looks for improvement, everyone likes to be part an address and/or telephone number. Letters to the editor of success. may be published and edited for length and clarity. Please send We are certainly pleased that many of our alumni are successful and well recognized in their chosen fields, correspondence to: but we are most proud of those graduates who, while not famous, are contributing members of society and still hold onto the basic Christian values they learned at home and that were reinforced here at De La Salle +De La Salle Institute Institute. We look to our alumni community for leadership and support. So the question the school asks of Attn: De La Salle Magazine you is: What role will you choose here at De La Salle? 3455 S. Wabash Ave. Chicago, IL 60616 (PHONE 312.842.7355 Is yours the gift of time? Many alumni get involved by volunteering to work at a special event, mentoring 3FAX 312.842.4142 a student, or promoting the school in their community. They take time to learn the school's priorities and . E-MAIL [email protected] how their interests can help the school achieve total success. 8WEBSITE http://www.dls.org Is yours the gift of talent? Fourteen of the 19 members of the Board of Directors are graduates of the school. Mission Statement We enjoy the benefit of alumni in many professions whom we can call upon for advice and pro bono work. We can use the talent of health professionals, as well as the talent of those in the trades. De La Salle Institute is an independent Catholic secondary school rooted in the tradition of Is yours the gift of treasure? Thirteen percent of our alumni community contributes a monetary gift to the Christian education begun by St. school, and our recent capital campaign was a success because of the generosity of many alumni. While we John Baptist de La Salle. are thankful that our participation rate is above the national average, the reality is the number of graduates Founded in 1889, its mission participating in our annual fund drives has to increase if we are going to continue to provide a great educa- has been, and is, to foster a desire for excellence in tion for our students. We ask that you consider De La Salle Institute in your annual charitable giving. education. Young people from a variety of ethnic and economic In many ways, De La Salle Institute is not the same school it was when you graduated, and that is a good backgrounds are given the thing. While the basic Lasallian and Catholic values still guide the mission, each year the school changes to opportunity to fully develop their abilities so they may be meet the curricular needs of our students. Your participation - of time, of talent, of treasure - helps the active, contributing members of Institute remain vibrant and continue to be a vital anchor in our city. Many thanks for your support of our our complex, changing society. educational mission. DE LA SALLE MAGAZINE Photos by Chuck Kuhn Root Studios Michael Walsh Brother Michael Quirk, FSC President, De La Salle Institute Stories written by Iris Gist Cochran Jason Secore Michael Walsh Layout and design by Giovanna Imbarrato Editor-in-chief Michael Walsh On Cover -Yearbook photos spanning the decades. faculty news InIn TheiTheirr OwnOwn WordWordss Maggie Meier is in her fourth year of teaching at Tolton, having spent her first two years as a full-time volunteer. Meier teaches science, social studies and mathematics at Tolton's Legler facility on Chicago's West Side. She is a 2000 graduate of the University of California-San Diego with a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies and a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology. Currently a Chicago resident, Meier is a native of Los Alamos, N.M. Here in Meier's own words are what being a teacher means to her. he Tolton Center is a satelliteamidst the violence and program of De La Salle, with twochaos endemic to the inner TTprimary sites serving the adultcity, are professors in more communities of Chicago's South and Westprofound subjects. Sides. I have had the privilege of serving as a science and math teacher at theI have learned about Garfield Park site for three years. strength when a drug addict swapped hering one another along with mutual respect tenacious pursuit of her next fix for herand love. The student body is comprised of adultspursuit of education. I have learned about who were unable to complete (and, incourage when a high school dropout withI remember the first time I came to Tolton some cases, start) their primary education.a 4th grade reading level decided to askand how shocked I was at the third-world With the neighborhood's appallingly highfor help and start down the long path offeel of Garfield Park. The burnt-out build- illiteracy rate, the reasons for incompletelearning. I have learned about love whenings, the rusty bars shielding windows educations are many, such as incarcera-a grandmother, responsible for raising andand doors from vandals, the corner stores tion, drug addiction, teen pregnancy, orsupporting five children by herself, stillwith crude hand-painted signs, the ubiqui- even the terror and poverty-enforced con-has the energy to offer help and a smile totous layer of trash, the heavy lifeless look straints of Jim Crow. anyone who needs it. in people's eyes - I might as well have been dropped into the surreal, desperate Everyone who arrives at Tolton, however,It's the sharing around of amazing graceexistence on the streets of Tijuana. holds in common a desire to invest inthat really makes Tolton a special place to themselves and take a chance on learning.be. Of course, our grants show statisticsThroughout my years teaching here, I've What many students don't know is thatof progress in test scores and documentstruggled to see the neighborhood as my they are also at Tolton to teach. At Tolton,numbers of people served in differentstudents see it, as a familiar home. Yet, the motto is "Everyone teaches, everyonecapacities. The true benefit of Tolton,thanks to the loving community of stu- learns," which means all of us, studentshowever, can never be quantified. Ourdents and staff, I now feel right at home in and staff alike, are pupils and teachers tostrength lies in the fact that we are a com-inner-city Chicago as a full member of the one another. munity of learners - students of life - urg-Tolton family. n While I can teach a mean class on atomic structure and expound on Pythagoras for hours (interminably perhaps, if you ask my students' opinions), I suspect that I am the student with the steepest learning curve. My students, who struggle daily maggiemeier DE LA SALLE MAGAZINE October 2004 3 reflections Whether they graduated in the 1940s, the year 2000 or somewhere in between, the 20 men who graduated from De La Salle and have come home to work at the Institute have one thing in common: a true affinity for De La Salle. By returning to De La Salle, these men possess the opportunity to have a positive impact on the lives of students, just as their lives were positively impacted during their days as students at the Institute. Thank you, gentlemen, for coming back and giving back to De La Salle. Once a Meteor, always a Meteor. Br. Eamon Gavin, FSC, '42 De La Salle is spe-Lawrence Blakley '83I am very fortunate to have cial lock, stock and barrel because of the personnel. Youthe opportunity to come back and give to the place that start with the Brothers of the Christian Schools, and thenprovided me a solid foundation for which my life's work is you have the extraordinary young men who are dedicated,based upon. Working with our literacy programs, while focused and brilliant. Then there are the women who havelearning and sharing knowledge with students and fellow come along and are full of enthusiasm. It's like the linecolleagues, has been a valuable faith-sharing experience from the Notre Dame Victory March that says, 'Whatfor me. Being surrounded by dedicated people with vision though the odds be…' The family concept exists consis-and drive, keeps me focused on our goals of ministry, mis- tently at De La Salle.

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