| St. Laurence High School | |
|---|---|
| Motto | Virtue |
| Established | 1961 |
| Type | Private all-male secondary |
| Affiliations | Catholic, Congregation of Christian Brothers |
| President | Mr. Thomas Ondrla |
| Principal | Mr. James Muting |
| Students | 4100 |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Location | Burbank, Illinois, USA |
| Colors | black and gold |
| Mascot | Vikings |
| Yearbook | Valhallan |
| Newspaper | The Helm |
| Website | 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.
Contents |
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".
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 the middle ground A Track classes. The students enrolled in the Honors level are given an extra .5 added to their GPA. 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 a Honors class would only yield a 4.0 GP. There are very few A.P. 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
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The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the . This section has been tagged since December 2007. |
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
- 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
Soccer
- Catholic League Champions 1984
- I.H.S.A. Regional Champions 1988, 89
Swimming
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; however, in the late 1980s the junior varsity teams met for a contest won by Reavis and attended by a huge huge crowd.
Notable alumni
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[1]
- 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[2]
- Paul Ladewski — Daily Southtown sportswriter
- Kevin J. O'Connor — film and TV actor: The Mummy, Van Helsing, Steel Magnolias, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, and the upcoming Daniel Day Lewis film There Will Be Blood[3]
- Gary Pressy — Wrigley Field organist[4]
- Jeff Vintar — screenwriter of I, Robot [5]
References
- ^ Coaches. Top Gun Wrestling Club (2007-03-28). Retrieved on 2007-11-03.
- ^ Hernandez, Nathaniel (2006-06-13). "Ex-Chicago City Clerk Gets 2-Year Term". Washington Post. The Washington Post Company. Retrieved on 2007-11-03.
- ^ Kevin J. O'Connor at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ Front Office. The Official Site of Chicago Cubs. MLB Advanced Media, L.P.. Retrieved on 2007-11-03.
- ^ Jeff Vintar at the Internet Movie Database
External links
- St. Laurence High School
- New St. Laurence Web Site
- SouthtownStar: "A happy state of mind in Burbank" - article on 2007 football resurgence of St. Laurence and Reavis
