Driscoll teachers pack up belongings and memories

Teachers trickled into Driscoll Catholic High School in Addison Friday morning for not only their last day, but the 43-year-old school's as well.

Some came angry, some came sad, others came resigned to their fate. But they all came back to say goodbye to the place most called their "second home."

"It's like a funeral that's lasted for weeks," said English Department Chairwoman Susan Schinleber. "This modern life is full of platitudes, but here we call ourselves a family and this is the breaking up of a family."

Driscoll Principal Fred Muehleman has been packing up all week long in anticipation of the last day. He said it will probably take him a couple more days to finish before he hands in his keys to the building. Six years of accumulated documents, knickknacks and other material is scrutinized before it ends up in the trash, recycle bin or the box going home with him.

"This was my first principal's job," he said. "It was exactly what I thought it would be, and it was the best six years I've spent in education. I'd do it all over again, even if it ended the same way."

Muehleman estimates half of the school's 25 teachers have found work elsewhere, but he and the other half have not.

First-year biology teacher Colleen Mikolajczak, who also graduated from the school in 1988, said her short tenure at Driscoll was "the first time in my life I truly had fun at my job. But I'm not looking for another job, I'm looking for a new home."

Many of the teachers said it was easier to handle the situation when the students were around because they could focus on taking care of the students' emotions and needs.

"I was so surprised by the reaction the students had," said Lauren Duckman, the school's Spanish teacher for the past three years. "Even the boys took it hard and were crying too. There was this genuine feeling they were distraught."

Almost everyone at the school knew each other because the class sizes were so small. Teachers believe that exacerbated everyone's anxiety over the school's demise.

"I think you get a whole different emotional attachment when it's a smaller school because it's so tightknit," said first-year math teacher Michelle Erickson. "Yesterday was very final."

Mikolajczak said she suffered a panic attack a few weeks ago after bottling up her sorrow and fear since it was announced in early April that the school would be closing.

"I started reading the 'Twilight' book series three days ago, and I'm already on the third book," she said. "I've read over a thousand pages in three days because I don't want to think about this."

Driscoll is known throughout the area as an athletics powerhouse, and Addison village officials have agreed to display the school's trophies and academic awards at village hall as a way for the school to be remembered in the community.

Athletic Director Bob Carlson said he hasn't decided what he'll do with all the mementos from his eight years at the school that included several state football championships and a girls basketball state title this year. He hasn't begun the process of packing up, but he has a few extra days because the school is hosting baseball tournaments.

"You have to be in a mood to do it," he said. "The mood hasn't been there yet."

The high school was operated by the Christian Brothers of the Midwest who decided to shutter the school because of lagging enrollment and increased costs. A grass roots group of parents and alumni gathered nearly $1 million in 20 days in an effort to keep the school from closing, but the operators balked once again. Many teachers remain upset with the Christian Brothers for waiting so long into the school year to make the decision, which has made it harder for them to find new jobs.

"They put all faculty and staff in a difficult position," said Social Studies Department Chairman Chris Ledwidge, who gave up his law practice to teach at the school for the past 11 years.

Schinleber said that's been the hardest part for many teachers to accept.

"We have a lot of teachers here who have absolutely nothing," she said. "It's really unconscionable not to tell people at the start of the year that this might happen. It really sabotaged a lot of people."

When the announcement first came that the school was closing, Mikolajczak said it shook the faith of many teachers.

"A lot of us couldn't bring ourselves to church the next Sunday," she said. "I've been questioning, but I know there's got to be a good reason."

But Erickson said her faith has helped her deal with the end of Driscoll.

"My whole philosophy has been that when one door closes, a window opens," she said. "You just have to find it."