St. Laurence High School

Infobox Secondary school
name = St. Laurence High School
logo =
motto = Virtue
established=1961
type= Private all-male secondary
affiliations = Catholic, Congregation of Christian Brothers
grades = 9–12
president = Mr. Thomas Ondrla
principal = Mr. James Muting
city = Burbank
state = Illinois
country = USA
faculty =
enrollment = 800
mascot = Vikings
colors = black and gold
yearbook = "Valhallan"
newspaper = "The Helm"
website = [http://www.stlaurence.com/ www.stlaurence.com]

St. Laurence High School is a private, all-male Catholic college preparatory high school founded in 1961. Located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, the school is conducted by the Congregation of Christian Brothers and is named for the Irish saint, St Laurence O'Toole. It is located in the southwest Chicago suburb of Burbank, Illinois, across the street from Queen of Peace, a private all-female Catholic high school.

History

Classes for Queen of Peace High School were held in the St. Laurence building before their school was constructed. During the 2005-06 school year the library caught fire in the early morning and all students had to be rushed to their sister school Queen of Peace High School, which was celebrating "Harmony Day".

On March 14, 2008, at approximately 1:40 P.M., St. Laurence's cafeteria was robbed. Two black male subjects, one armed with a black semi-automatic handgun, entered the school through an unlocked rear kitchen door. The two subjects fled the area, the school was immediately put on lockdown as a precaution. Students and teachers remained in their classrooms for about 40 minutes while the Burbank Police Department searched the school. Fortunately, no one was injured, and after the police confirmed the building was safe, students proceeded to their last period classes.

Classes

Classes are divided into three levels: B Track, A Track, and Honors. There are some classes that are special to St. Laurence including: Leadership Class, Weight Lifting, Anatomy, Drafting, Journalism, Sociology, Accounting, Personal Law, and Chicago History. The majority of the students are in A Track classes. The students enrolled in the Honors level are given an extra .5 added to their GPA and additional schoolwork. In a 2005-06 "Helm" article explained that the differences of the A Track and Honors level is large and growing and that students believe that it wasn't fair that you can get all "A"s in an A Track class and have a 4.5 GPA whereas all "B"s in an Honors class would only yield a 4.0 GPA. There continues to be a discussion over these issues. There are very few advanced placement classes, but many of the classes that an Honors student takes will have given them enough information to take the A.P. test confidently.

Athletics

The St. Laurence Gym proudly displays all the victories in its short history. St. Laurence's football team has won state, and most recently won their division, and moved up in their division. St. Laurence presently is giving an effort to return the school's athletic program to that of its "glory days".

The Viking used in most of the school's various spirit items is the same as the Minnesota Vikings' logo.

Baseball

*Catholic League Champions 1967, 79, 82, 84, 88, 90, 93, 94, 06, 07
*I.H.S.A. Regional Champions 1978, 82, 87, 93, 06, 07
*I.H.S.A. Sectional Champions 1987, 93
*I.H.S.A. Sectionals-2nd Place 1978
*I.H.S.A. State Semi-Finalists 1987
*3rd in State 1993
*Summer League State Champions 1981

Basketball

*Catholic League Champions 1967, 72, 75, 76, 77, 78, ’80
*I.H.S.A. Regional Champions 1975, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 82, 85, 90, 98, 03
*I.H.S.A. Sectional Champions 1977, 2003
*I.H.S.A. Sectionals-2nd Pl. 1976, 79, 80, 82
*4th in State 1977

Bowling

*Catholic League Champions 1978, 86, 88, 89, 97, 98, 99
*I.H.S.A. Sectional Champions 2004
*3rd in State 1999

Cross Country

*Catholic League Champions 1968, 83, 86, 89
*I.H.S.A. Regional Champions 1983
*I.H.S.A. Sectional Qualifiers 1976, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 97, 98, 99, 00, 01, 02, 03, 05, 06
*I.H.S.A. State Finalists 1983, 89

Football

*Catholic League Champions 1972, 73, 74, 76, 77, 79, 82, 83, 84, 85, 87
*Chicago Prep Bowl Champions 1972, 73, 74, 78
*I.H.S.A. Quarterfinalists 1984, 86
*I.H.S.A. Semi-Finalists 1977
*I.H.S.A. Runners-Up 1979
*I.H.S.A. Class 5A State Champions 1976

Golf

*I.H.S.A. Regional Champions 1979, 80, 82, 91
*I.H.S.A. Sectional Champions 1982
*I.H.S.A. State Finals-14th Place 1982

Hockey

*Catholic League Champions 1966, 67, 88, 92
*Kennedy Cup Champions 1967, 83
*State Sectional Champions 1979
*State Quarter-Finalists 1983, 86, 88
*State Semi-Finalists 2000
*2nd in State 1981
*State Champions 2004

occer

*Catholic League Champions 1984
*I.H.S.A. Regional Champions 1988, 89

wimming

St. Laurence has no pool.
*I.H.S.A. Sectional Champions 1986
*I.H.S.A. Sectionals-2nd place 1984, 85

Tennis

*Catholic League Champions 1967, 68, 69, 75, 97, 98
*I.H.S.A. Sectional Champions 1985

Water polo

St. Laurence has no pool.
*Catholic League Champions 1987
*State Champs 1987
*3rd in State 1980

Wrestling

*Catholic League Champions 1971, 74, 76, 80, 81, 82, 83, 85, 86, 90
*I.H.S.A. Regional Champions 1982, 83, 85, 86, 90
*I.H.S.A. Sectional Champions 1983, 90
*I.H.S.A. Class AA State Champions 1990
*State Meet Team Qualifier 1983,1980

Rivalry

St. Laurence's most notable rival is Brother Rice, which is also operated by the Christian Brothers. St. Rita is also a noted rival. Though Reavis is also in Burbank, they are not in the same conference (Reavis being a public high school) and rarely face one another; when the two schools do meet in a sport, it is known as "The Battle For Burbank". The two schools have never met in varsity football.

Notable alumni

*Bishop Daniel Robert Jenky, CSC Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria, IL, Former rector of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Indiana on the campus of the University of Notre Dame. Also the chaplain of Notre Dame's last football team to win a national championship.

The names of locally successful alumni are displayed on the classroom doors.

*Kevin Bracken — Greco-Roman wrestler: U.S. Olympic team 2000; U.S. Olympic alternate 1992/1996/2004 [cite web
url = http://www.topgunwrestling.com/Coaches.htm
title = Coaches
publisher = Top Gun Wrestling Club
date= 2007-03-28
accessdate = 2007-11-03 ]
*Tim Grunhard — American football player: former Kansas City Chiefs Pro Bowl center
*Col. James Hickey (class of 1978) — one of the men involved in the capture of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in December 2003
*James Laski — former Chicago City Clerk 1995–2006: serving 2 years in prison for bribery [cite web
url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/13/AR2006061300776.html
title = "Ex-Chicago City Clerk Gets 2-Year Term"
last = Hernandez
first = Nathaniel
date= 2006-06-13
work = Washington Post
publisher = The Washington Post Company
accessdate = 2007-11-03 ]
*Paul Ladewski — "Daily Southtown" sportswriter
*Kevin J. O'Connor — film and TV actor: "The Mummy", "Van Helsing", "Steel Magnolias", "", and "There Will Be Blood" [imdb name|0640413|Kevin J. O'Connor]
*Gary Pressy — Wrigley Field organist [cite web
url = http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/team/front_office.jsp?c_id=chc
title = Front Office
work = The Official Site of Chicago Cubs
publisher = MLB Advanced Media, L.P.
accessdate = 2007-11-03 ]
*Jeff Vintar — screenwriter of "I, Robot" [imdb name|0899113|Jeff Vintar]

References

External links

* [http://www.stlaurence.com/ St. Laurence High School]
* [http://www.stlbetasite.com/ New St. Laurence Web Site]
* [http://www.southtownstar.com/sports/highschools/616759,102407baranekcol.highschool SouthtownStar: "A happy state of mind in Burbank"] - article on 2007 football resurgence of St. Laurence and Reavis
* [http://www.ihsa.org/school/records/sum0244.htm IHSA: annual athletic records]