Other Knight News

Immaculate Conception High School Honors 2010 Illinois State Scholars

Immaculate Conception High School Principal Pam Levar is pleased to announce that 13 ICHS students have been recognized as “2010 Illinois State Scholars”.

Illinois State Scholar winners rank in the top ten percent of the state’s high school seniors from 752 high schools in all 102 counties.  Selection is based on SAT, ACT and of Prairie State Achievement Exam scores, and/or class rank at the end of the junior year.  High school guidance counselors work in conjunction with ISAC to determine the winners.

The 2010 Illinois State Scholars from Immaculate Conception High School are:  Christopher Cella, Christopher Cheng, Will Cronin, Sean Doherty, Michael Farina, Thomas Hart, Stephen Maloney, Matthew McMahon, Taylor Medeiros, Gerald Morrow, Maggie Ryan, Lukas Stanczyk and Shaun Stringer.

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ICHS Business Club Hosts Regional Competition

The Immaculate Conception High School Business Club hosted a Regional Competition on Thursday, January 21st.  ICHS students competed against students from Maine West High School in Des Plaines.  Individual competitions included banking and finance, interview skills and desktop publishing.  Small business management will be the only competition that was scored as team.  Top scoring students and/or teams can advance to the State Competition, which will be held at the State Leadership Conference on March 4-6 at the Doubletree Hotel in Oak Brook.

ICHS Business Club members who participated in the Regional Competition are Patrick Rodaha, Michael Lestina, Deirdre Gillette and Krystian Seebert in Banking and Finance; Katie Fenton, Katie McCarthy and Alejandra Reyes in Interview Skills; Bria Walker in Desktop Publishing; Alexis Heit and Kathryn Parker in Small Business Management. 

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ICHS Honors 21 New Athletic Hall of Fame Inductees

The IC Gymnasium was buzzing with excitement this past Friday night for the ICHS Boys Basketball game against St. Edwards.  While the packed house was treated to a hard fought win on the court, what many came to see was the impressive group of ICHS alumni being inducted into this year’s Athletic Hall of Fame.  After enjoying the game and the halftime introductions, the inductees along with their families and friends gathered for a reception and awards ceremony held in Plunkett Hall.   Each of the inductees, introduced by the person who submitted their nomination, spoke about their experiences at ICHS and beyond.  Many expressed gratitude towards their families, teachers, teammates and coaches for their help and inspiration along the way. 

Immaculate Conception High School established an Athletic Hall of Fame Award in 2006.  It is intended to recognize ICHS graduates whose achievements reflect the ideals of excellence, commitment, service and gives witness to the heart and spirit of Catholic education, athletic integrity, and leadership.  The award has been created to serve as a standard to which current students can aspire.

Congratulations to the newest members of the  ICHS Athletic Hall of Fame:  Pete Schmidt, Darren Howard, Tom Anstett, James Long (’67), Donald Drozd (’67), Mike Doyle (’72), Tom Doyle (’73), Joe Ryan (’75), Warren Meyers (’75), Bob Cronin (’78), Pat Morgan (’80), Katie Kerrigan Wheatland (’80), Joe Curran (’81), Gina Ensalaco Gasbarre (’81), Pete Shepherd (’82), John King (’83), Ron Schmidt (’84), Dave Collignon (’85), Karen Lawton Russ (’87), Bill Schmidt (’93), and Katie Callaghan Barrett (’98). 

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Sean Doherty Named Semifinalist in the 2010 National Merit Scholarship Program

ICHS senior, Sean Doherty, has been named a Semifinalist in the National Merit Scholarship Program – a group that represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors and includes the highest scoring entrants in each state. 

Last year, more than 1.5 million juniors from about 22,000 high schools entered the 2010 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2008 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test which served as the initial screen of program entrants.  To become a Finalist, a Semifinalist must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by their high school principal and earn SAT scores that confirm the student’s earlier performance on the qualifying test.  Approximately 15,000 Semifinalists are expected to advance Finalist level and it is from this group that all National Merit Scholarship winners will be chosen.  Winners will be announced in April of 2010.

Congratulations Sean and best of luck in the rest of the competition!

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Will Cronin Named Winning Illinois Male Athlete in the Wendy’s High School Heisman Award Competition

Congratulations senior Will Cronin for becoming the winning Illinois applicant (male) for the annual Wendy’s High School Heisman Award!  High Schools nationwide submitted two applicants (male/female) from their school for consideration for this award earlier this Fall.  Will was then selected as one of 1,020 State Finalists in Illinois and has now become one of 102 State Winners from which only 12 National Finalists will be chosen.  These National Finalists will be invited to the Wendy’s High School Heisman National Awards Banquet on December 11, 2009, in New York City. They also will attend all Heisman Memorial Trophy Weekend festivities, receive a gold medal and Heisman patch, and their high schools will receive a $2,000 monetary award in their name.  National Finalists will also receive a $100 Wendy’s gift card.

To be eligible for this award, students must exhibit excellence in academics, athletics and community/school leadership.

BEST OF LUCK WILL and GO KNIGHTS!

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2009-2010 BLUE & WHITE CASH RAFFLE WINNERS ANNOUNCED

The 2009-2010 school year Blue & White Cash Raffle Winners were drawn this past Saturday night, December 12th, at halftime of the Varsity Boys Basketball game.  The Blue & White Cash Raffle is an annual tuition fundraiser for current ICHS families.  Congratulations to all of this years raffle winners!

culate Conception High School has received a $750 grant from the ExxonMobil Educational Alliance program to support the school’s technology program.  Distributor Fouzia Hussain of the Mobil Travel Plaza in Wilmington, Illinois worked with school officials to secure the grant, which is one of 4,000 available to schools across the country served by Exxon or Mobil stations. Fouzia Hussain is the mother of ICHS senior Shazad Hussain.  The grants were made possible by funding from the Exxon Mobil Corporation. 

The ExxonMobil Educational Alliance program is designed to provide Exxon and Mobil retailers with an opportunity to invest in the future of their communities through educational grants to local schools.

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ICHS Alumni Rear Admiral John Messerschmidt Receives Promotion from Navy

At a ceremony on October 1st, 2009, Rear Admiral (lower half) John Messerschmidt was promoted to the grade of Rear Admiral (upper half).  The ceremony, in which RADM Messerschmidt received his second star, was held at the Headquarters of the Navy Reserve Forces in Norfolk, Virginia where RADM Messerschmidt is serving as Commander, Navy Reserve Forces Command.  RADM John Messerschmidt is a 1975 graduate of Immaculate Conception High School.

Ann Messerschmidt (mother) and Lizann Messerschmidt (wife) shared the honor of pinning on the second star with other family members in attendance including his three sons Cory, Connor and Colin.  Also in attendance were RADM Messerschmidt’s brother Alan and two sisters Jane Venafro (ICHS Class of ’68) and Julie Schweppe (ICHS Class of ’79).

Please click on the following link to view a feature story on RADM Messerschmidt that appeared in the October 23rd edition of the Elmhurst Press.

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Olivia Vatch Featured on Comcast's Prep Profile Series

In September, Immaculate Conception High School senior Olivia Vatch, place kicker for the Knights Football team, was selected as a feature player for Comcast’s Prep Profile series.  This interview was aired on Comcast Digital Cable On Demand.

Olivia became the first female to score a point in the IHSA football state finals during the 2008 Class 2A State Championship victory!

Click HERE to view the video.

The video is also available on YouTube.

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Congratulations Pat Haggerty on Another Great State Golf Final!

Junior Pat Haggerty completed his season at the IHSA State Finals on Saturday in Peoria. This was Pats' 2nd consecutive year advancing to the State Finals. Congratulations to Coach Sujack, Coach Truesdale and the entire IC Golf Program on a great season!

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Freshman Student Council Announced

Freshman Student Council elections were held recently for the 2009-2010 school year.  Congratulations to the following students who were elected as council members:

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ICHS Bids Farewell to the Class of 2009

ICHS bid farewell to the Class of 2009 on Saturday, May 23rd at the Baccalaureate Mass in the IC Chapel. We would like to thank the faculty, parents, family members, and friends who walked together on this journey to help develop these students into the amazing young adults they have become today. We applaud them for all their accomplishments and wish them well as they begin the next step of their journey through life. To the Class of 2009 remember, Once a Knight, Always a Knight.

Valedictorian: Joshua Fenton

Salutatorian: Katie Heidorn

• 100% of the class continuing their education
• 1 National Merit Commended Scholar
• 18% of the Class of 2009 are Illinois State Scholars
• 29% of the Class of 2009 are members of the National Honor Society
• 18% of the Class of 2009 accepted into the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign
• Top 10% average ACT Score‐ 31 Top 25% average ACT Score‐ 28.82
• 42% of the Class of 2009 earned over $144,000 each in college scholarships
• 2 Daily Herald Leadership Team Members
• 2 NCAA Division I Athletes
• 6 NCAA Division III Athletes

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