De La Salle Institute

The 2009-2010 school year marks 120 years of Lasallian education at De La Salle Institute. As we celebrate this milestone in our school’s history, we remember each and every alumnus, family, faculty and staff member, friend and supporter who has contributed to – and benefitted from – De La Salle Institute’s mission of educational excellence in the Catholic and Lasallian traditions for 120 years, starting in 1889.

The following are reflections about De La Salle written by our very own alumni, one representative from each of the last eight decades in our school’s history. These words are a tribute to the academic excellence taught and life-shaping values instilled in our students throughout the 120 years of the Institute’s existence.

While each alumni memory may be different, there is a thread of commonality that a De La Salle education plays an integral role in the future success of its students.

We are very proud of this achievement as an academic institution and all of our students’ successes over the past 120 years. Please join us in recognizing our history which inspires all of us for yet another 120 years of excellent and innovative Lasallian education at De La Salle.

1930s
The following reflection was written by a 1939 De La Salle graduate. The author has chosen to remain anonymous in gracious consideration of all the De La Salle alumni his reflection represents.

Four score years ago this September, the nucleus of America's Greatest Generation was returning or starting high school.

One month later, the Great Depression started and lasted until the 40s. Thus this became the Depression Decade.

De La Salle was a microcosm of this global phenomenon. And all of us came to the Institute for mainly the same reasons: Tradition, Continuity and Orthodoxy. All in all, a scholastic preparation for life - including the afterlife. Fortunately, St. John Baptist De La Salle had commissioned his excellent Brothers of the Christian Schools to provide Catholic secondary education to "poor boys." Providential for us!

Deo Gratias for 10 great years at Big D. Ad Multos Annos De La Salle Institute and Lourdes Hall Campus.

For that, I helped out after school. I picked up litter, I cleaned the rooms and I learned about the white glove inspection from the Brothers.

Needless to say, I received an education from quality time in the classroom and valuable after school hours that helped me in pre-dental school in Loyola’s physics and chemistry classes. I graduated from Loyola’s dental school in 1946, practiced dentistry for 62 years and had my three children – Larry, Bob and Marilyn – join me as dentists.

I received the best education during and after school at De La Salle and for that, I am deeply grateful. I am sure that the Christian Brothers of De La Salle are proud of all the graduates.

The Brothers taught us that in life things are not always going to go smoothly, but that we should shake off the hits and come back fighting: Don’t ever quit.

I give real credit to the Lasallian community for its own “persistence under adversity” by staying in the old neighborhood and serving the kids who most need a good, solid education. They could have moved out to the suburbs, but chose to follow their mission right where they started. God bless DLS!

There, we always found an environment that was focused on educating and preparing its students for the future. The education I received prepared me to successfully pursue an Engineering degree from the University of Illinois, Chicago and eventually establish my own company, R.M. Chin & Associates, Inc. However, I not only gained an academic foundation, but a moral foundation that has carried throughout my life and enabled me to balance the importance of work and family.

My journey to a Lasallian education began in August 1971. Being in a diverse culture back then helped me to understand differences among people later.

Over the course of four years, I would learn a lot – from teachers, classmates and other students. At the Institute, teachers would pass out lifelong lessons like: “Excuses are only good to the one who’s giving them. Excuses are tools for the incompetent, because at the end of the day, they have nothing to show for it.”

I am glad to be a part of the rich heritage that commemorates the 120th anniversary of De La Salle Institute.

DLS has molded me during four very important years of my life. It has taught me to be independent, it has taught me confidence, it has taught me discipline and it has taught me life skills. It was at DLS where I first discovered my passion for construction during a course with Mr. Jaros that was 1/3 woodshop, 1/3 electrical and 1/3 auto mechanical.

It was the intense math classes with Mr. Wenshutonis and the creative Algebra classes with Mr. Monti that laid the foundation for a successful construction company that would provide for many families today.

It was history class with Mr. Sheehan that gave me a constant picture of what pride is all about. It was the fellowship with the Christian Brothers that taught me “It is by giving that we receive.”

It was here that I realized I belonged to something bigger than myself – I belonged to the great history and tradition of the DLS family.

DLS has taught me pride and DLS has made me proud. I hope I have made DLS proud.

Now as a parent of a current De La Salle Meteor, I try to pass all that I have learned to my daughter, JaVonna '12. I'm confident that she will receive all the same positive influences and more from her years at the Institute. I will always be a Meteor for life.

I love that I am always welcomed back, either to help out with an event, or talk to teachers, staff, and students, or just take a walk down memory lane. I look back on the last eight years of my life and realize how big of a role “D” has played and how much support and love it has given me. I am truly honored to say that I am a graduate of De La Salle.

De La Salle also allowed me the opportunity to work with amazing teachers and coaches, all of whom taught me to be a leader and a responsible person in all aspects of life. Whether it was in the classroom or on the football field, they were there to guide me. I can honestly say that every teacher I came across during my four years at “D” has helped me get to where I am today.

Being able to be a part of a team that changed the way people look at Meteor football was a great memory, but also being a starter on that team that won a conference championship and was a state quarterfinalist is a feeling that is unexplainable. To me, De La Salle is more than a school; it is a true family.