A Financial Aid Workshop will take place on Wednesday, February 5, 2014, from 7:00-9:00 p.m. in the Media Center. Any senior attending a college in the fall of 2014, or any junior student who will graduate in January 2015, should fill out the 2014-15 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). OLCHS counselors and volunteers from the Illinois Assistance Commission will provide hands-on assistance in filling out this information. Please bring the following information for both the parent and student: 2013 tax forms and W-2's (e.g. 1040a, 1040), any untaxed income information, such as social security, disability, etc., current bank statements, social security cards, driver's license, records of business, farm, and assets (stocks and bonds), PIN numbers (obtained at www.pin.ed.gov) and a calculator. If you have questions about this event, please contact Guidance Counselor Susan Szala at 708/741-5631 or Kelly Kenny at 708/741-5853.  <<read more>>

The PRIDE committee is proud to highlight one of the 2014 PRIDE Award winners, Ellen Kruger. Kruger was nominated by fellow math teacher Shannon DeMatteo for her facilitation of the popular and successful Operation Santa Claus program.

Kruger started Operation Santa Claus at OLCHS nine years ago, modeled after a program she participated in during college. In 2013, Operation Santa Claus took on its greatest challenge yet. Over 186 gifts and $1,420 in gift cards for 31 people from 7 different local families were collected. In the last five years alone, over 2,308 gifts and $6,101 in gift cards have been collected by Spartans!

Kruger shows her dedication to her students as well as families throughout the community. Countless people have been touched by Kruger's dedication. She embodies Spartan PRIDE on a daily basis. Kruger and other PRIDE Award winners will be officially recognized at the Spartan PRIDE Assembly on May 16, 2014.

Extraordinary students, parents, and staff members can be nominated for a PRIDE Award via the website at www.olchs.org. Completed forms should be emailed to [email protected] or mailed directly to OLCHS at 9400 Southwest Highway, Oak Lawn, IL 60453.  <<read more>>

The Spartan Dance Team is spreading warmth during this polar vortex by hosting a winter clothing drive to help the homeless. All winter clothing items are appreciated, including hats, gloves, scarves, jackets, pants, sweaters, and blankets. All items will be donated to a local homeless shelter to help those who are struggling during this cold winter. Valentine's Day candy donations are also appreciated and will be donated to the shelter. Please help those in need by donating items during all lunch periods from January 13 to January 24. Items can also be dropped off at the visitor's station. Contact Jessica Shekleton at [email protected] with further questions.  <<read more>>

Each year, LifeSource offers area high schools the opportunity to earn valuable scholarship money. Oak Lawn Community High School has earned the scholarship money for the past five years. Schools who wish to participate must host a minimum of two blood drives per year. Parents and community members can also have their donation credited to their local high school every time they donate at a community donor center or mobile blood drive. By simply providing the OLCHS donor code of OL94, the school receives credit for the donation. Please refer to the LifeSource website for a convenient donor center at http://www.lifesource.org and be sure to mention donor code OL94 when donating blood. 

The year 2013 will go down as the year of the big fish in Spartan Fishing Team history. Since the teams inception in 2008, there has never been a summer/fall with so many large fish being caught by Spartan anglers. The team also hosted one of the largest fall high school bass tournaments in the state. You can read about the Rayjus Outdoors-Oak Lawn High School Bass Tournament on page 3. Team new comer and freshmen Jonathon Osipczuk discusses his favorite fishing memory on page 5, which just happened to be his first bass tournament experience. Andy Jensen researches whether or not fish feel pain when hooked on page 5, and Nate Nauseda researches the senses of a bass on page 7. Junior Mike Sutko finishes off the issue with a great article about his experience in making soft plastic baits with the owner of Convincing Custom Baits.  <<read more>>

As part of our ongoing commitment to communicate with stakeholders, OLCHS partnered with SchoolMessenger on the development of our very own app. Download the app now for your smartphone or smartdevice using these links or search for the app by name, Oak Lawn CHS - in the Apple App Store and Google Play for Android. 

Family and friends will gather to honor the late Megan Hurckes with a birthday bowling benefit at Arena Lanes on Saturday, February 1, 2015, at 7:00 p.m. The friends and family of Megan Hurckes are honoring her birthday by participating in one of her favorite past times -bowling.

Megan is the late daughter of former Oak Lawn trustee Jerry Hurckes. Since Megan's death at age ten in 2009, the Hurckes have celebrated Megan's birthday by raising money for a good cause. The Hurckes Family is taking over Arena Lanes to raise money for the Megan Hurckes Scholarship Fund. Rather than mourn her death, the family started the fund as a way to celebrate Megan's life and keep her name and memory alive. "When Megan passed away we asked people not to give flowers but donate to a memorial fund," Jerry Hurckes said.

The family has raised over $40,000, which has gone to high school students continuing on to college, grammar school students going to high school, the Children's Museum and Westside Baseball. 

The bowling benefit/birthday party kicks off at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 1, 2014, at Arena Lanes, at 4700 W. 103rd St. (103rd Street and Cicero Avenue).  <<read more>>