It's business as usual -- sort of -- as Driscoll works to keep doors open

In Addison, parents still drop kids off at Driscoll Catholic High School in the morning as they rub the sleep from their eyes.

Classes and learning and assemblies go on, and prom is set for later this week. A teacher can be overheard scolding a student for "chewing gum right in my face."

Even as the Christian Brothers continue to mull shutting down the school at the end of the academic year, it's as if little has changed. The "DCHS News" billboard cabinet is filled with the usual sports-page newspaper clippings, so that there's no reference made to the possible closing.

Except for the handmade posters and banners throughout the school reading, "Save Driscoll" and "Go, Let's Do It" and "Keep DC Alive." And, of course, the cups arrayed in the chain-link fence at the main entrance to spell out, "Driscoll - The Next 43 Years!!!," the name given to the fundraising campaign to make up a budget shortfall and keep the school going in these hard economic times.

There's a guarded, but determined optimism throughout the school and among its students, teachers and administrators as they await word on its fate, which could come down any day, and a resolve to keep things normal even as everyone does everything possible to keep the school open.

"We've been trying to keep the day-to-day operations of the school business as usual," said Principal Fred Muehleman, "under the circumstances, which is hard to do, because the circumstances are anything but normal."

The Christian Brothers, who run the LaSallian school, announced April 2 it would be closing.

Within a day, however, the organization that would become Driscoll - The Next 43 Years was forming and got assurances from the brothers to reconsider if it could raise enough money. They set a goal of $1 million, and within three weeks they had raised almost that much when they made a presentation to the board last week, even as fundraising efforts persisted.

"It's amazing how it just snowballed," said Driscoll Director of Development David Schwabe. "You could never plan this. People just jumped on the bandwagon, and we were fortunate to keep it going."

Donations came in from $1 to $100,000, and it wasn't just family members. "The community couldn't have been better," Schwabe said of donations from local groups and businesses. Checks came from as far away as Italy.

"If you believe in faith, this is what we're all about," Schwabe said. "The school is all about faith."

He said the Christian Brothers asked perceptive questions and seemed pleased with the answers when the group presented $900,000 at the meeting last week.

"I understand what the brothers were thinking. They can't be left with a huge debt," Muehleman said. "We knew what our situation was. We didn't think it was hopeless, though. We needed time and a plan."

"Everyone knows it's an uphill battle, but we've delivered on what we committed to do, and it does show viability," said Gene Faut of the Next 43 Years campaign. "It's amazing, and when you look at how we're in one of worst economic downturns in our history, and we're able to raise 900 grand in a little over two weeks, I think that shows the dedication and support of the community and the school and the alumni. If we're allowed to go forward, we'll never face this problem again."

Driscoll opened in 1966 - ergo, "The Next 43 Years." The Highlanders soon developed a reputation for athletic prowess, despite the relatively small enrollment, and they've won nine state titles since 1990. Yet the emphasis on academics according to the LaSallian teaching tradition didn't flag. Although ACT scores dipped below the state average for a few years in the mid-90s, they've topped the state average the last six years running, and about 95 percent of the almost 5,000 alumni have gone on to college.

For Muehleman, the decision to keep things as normal as possible despite the turmoil was instantaneous. "If the decision stood, we still had to finish the year," he said. That thinking evolved as the emergency fundraising efforts came together and gained momentum. "You have two plans," he added, "one to stay open, and if we don't to transition."

The student body, parents and the community at large were determined to make it the former. "It was immediate," Muehleman said. "As soon as the kids found out - and they found out before anybody because of text messaging - the immediate response was, no, this isn't going to happen.

"The school spirit is excellent," Muehleman said. "The kids are really upbeat. We're moving forward, business as usual. The kids are really optimistic.

"It's given the kids more enthusiasm for school," he added. "They're getting a life lesson here for how people can really come together for a cause."

Students and alumni have put 60 posts on savedriscoll.org, the official Web site of The Next 43 Years campaign, including this from senior Tylar Jozefczyk: "I love Driscoll and had hoped that one day I would send my own kids here to have the same experience that I did. ... PLEASE STAY OPEN DRISCOLL! WE LOVE YOU!"

Freshman Meg Zalenas put together the complementary savedriscoll.com site, writing, "Personally, I am confident we WILL stay open for another 43 years with your help and the help of God."

And at Driscoll, it's clear that classes are going on as usual, despite the threat of closure. An inspirational poster outside one classroom reads: "Take Responsibility. If it is to be ... it is up to me." Another on a classroom door reads more ominously, "Due dates are closer than they appear," which didn't apply just to schoolwork.

Between periods, the 300-some students, dressed typically in Driscoll polo shirts, khaki pants and black shoes - no jeans, no gym shoes - moved orderly and jovially from class to class. A girl playfully slapped the shoulder of a boy who was teasing her. Kids joshed and jostled each other. Posters on a locker read, "Happy Birthday Gianna" and "You Are Legal." It could have been any day at any high school.

"The kids have been great, as you'd expect," said history teacher Steve Erzig outside his classroom. "We're hopeful. It's all you can be."

It's clear the mood is one of optimism.

"You better believe it," echoed Campus Minister Laraine Parker. "I want to retire from here. I put my kids through here. A lot of history."

An assembly to honor public service, even as the community was joining to give back to the school, went smoothly, peaking with a ceremony in which seniors placed crosses around the necks of juniors slated to become the school's Eucharistic ministers next year.

"We're in a normal flow," Parker said. She had debated whether to cancel that element of the ceremony, but decided, "No, we're going to go ahead with the commissioning. That's a way of just showing them that we're moving forward."

The possibility of the school closing never came up - until the end of the assembly, when a gruff teacher warned freshmen and sophomores going on a field trip to see the movie "Earth" to be on their best behavior - or else.

"We may be here next year," he said. "You may not be."

The junior-senior prom, with the theme "An Evening in Paris," is to be held Thursday night at the Belvedere Banquet Hall in Elk Grove Village. It will go off as usual, with one exception: that it has been opened to underclassmen this year as well.

"I thought that was really a nice gesture on the part of the seniors," Muehleman said, "to say, 'If this is our last prom, anyone who wants to come can come.'"

It's safe to say that Driscoll's seniors hope this year's underclassmen will be attending multiple proms at the school before they graduate.