Benet Academy

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Benet Academy
Established 1887
Type Private secondary
President Fr. Jude Randall, O.S.B.
Principal Stephen Marth
Students 1,309 (2007-2008)
Grades 9–12
Location Lisle, Illinois, USA
Oversight St. Procopius Abbey
Colors Red and White
Mascot Redwings
Website www.benet.org
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Benet Academy, commonly referred to as "Benet" (pronounced BenET not BenAE), is a prestigious private co-educational college-preparatory Catholic Benedictine high school based in Lisle, Illinois with roughly 1,300 students. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet in Illinois. The school draws students from DuPage, Kane, Will, and Cook counties. Benet is known regionally for its above-average SAT and ACT test scores.[citation needed]

Benet was originally two separate Benedictine schools: St. Procopius Academy for young men and Sacred Heart Academy for young women. In 1967 the two high schools merged to form a unified co-ed Benedictine school christened "Benet Academy". The old campus of St. Procopius Academy has served as the home of Benet Academy since the merger. The former Sacred Heart Academy presently serves as a base of operations for the sisters of Sacred Heart Monastery.[1]

Benet Academy hosts many sports (Cross Country, Track, Soccer, Football, Volleyball,Baseball, etc.) and clubs (Art, Recycling, Bowling Newspaper, etc.). For instrumental music there is a concert band, a symphonic band, jazz bands, and a marching band, along with other small ensembles.

Contents

[edit] Timeline

 To meet Wikipedia's quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup because it is in a list format that may be better presented using prose.
You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (April 2008)
  • 1887: St. Procopius College Academy was founded in Chicago
  • 1900: Land is purchased to house St. Procopius College Academy and a new Abbey. St. Procopius College's cornerstone is laid in this year. The subsequent year St. Procopius College Academy moves to its new facilities.
  • 1910: The St. Joseph Bohemian Orphanage builds what will later become St. Joseph Hall. The orphanage uses the hall to house its wards and also to educate those wards in its grammar school.
  • 1912: Benet Hall built. It originally serves as a dorm and then boarding facility for the orphanage. Later it is converted into classrooms.
  • 1938: The Old Gym is built for St. Joseph Bohemian Orphanage. It will occasionally serve as a funeral hall for recently deceased wards, a fact that serves as more than a little fodder for modern Benet Academy urban legends. In modern times, the "Old Gym" serves as the main gym for Physical Education classes, a meeting hall for small assemblies, and as a dance hall (in particular for Soc-Hops).
  • 1956: St. Joseph Bohemian Orphanage closes operations and subsequently becomes the new home of St. Procopius Academy. St. Procopius College is separated from St. Procopius Academy and the two schools occupy spaces opposite one another on Maple and College. St. Procopius College will eventually go on to be renamed Illinois Benedictine College (or "I.B.C." for short) and, in the 1990s, Benedictine University ("B.U."). St. Mary's and Petru halls are built and house upperclassmen.
  • 1963: St. Martin's Hall is built. Originally an indoor track, the basement of St. Martin's Hall is used in modern times primarily by the Foreign Language Department. The first floor is used by the English Department. The second floor is used by the Math Department.
  • 1967: St. Procopius Academy and Sacred Heart Academy merge to create the new, unified Benet Academy on the campus of St. Procopius Academy.
  • 1975: St. Thomas Hall is built. In modern times, it houses the Science Department and the library.
  • 1994: The "New Gym" is built. It is used as an auxiliary gym for Physical Education classes. Features air conditioning and many modern amenities. It serves as an assembly hall for school-wide gatherings, such as masses, the Christmas Drive Assembly, and the rare student funeral. Also used in the springtime to hold Benet's AP Tests. Occasionally houses dances but in recent times usually in a back-up capacity.
  • 2000: St. Daniel Hall opens. Built on the grounds of Petru Hall, it is the fifth hall of Benet Academy and serves as the base of operations for the school's Music and Theater Departments.
  • 2000–2002: The old chapel, which had been converted to a school theater/assembly hall, is renovated and remade into the Chapel of Saint Thérèse - The "Little Flower."
  • 2007: Fr. Paschal dies after being with Benet for more than 50 years.[2] at one point in the season, won the Best of the West tournament (beating Naperville Central High School 2-1 (5-4) in penalty kicks) and ended its season in a heartbreaking loss to St. Charles North in penalty kicks, 1-0 (9-8). Benet captured their first Class AA sectional title one match prior in a 3-0 victory against Naperville North High School.
  • 2006: Benet's girls cross-country team places third in the state final race - the highest finish for the team in its history.
  • 2007: Sophomore John Callahan takes 5th place in the state golf finals, the highest finish by any golfer in Benet history.
  • 2008: Benet's Boys Track team takes 1st in the ESCC meet, making this the third year in a row they have won the Conference Title.
  • 2008: Benet's Boys Lacrosse team wins the Class B State Championship.

[edit] "The Streak"

Benet's boys basketball team holds two state records for winning streaks - a 102-game home winning streak that lasted from November 26, 1975 to January 24, 1987 and a 96-game conference winning streak that lasted from January 21, 1977 to February 24, 1984. As a result of this record, Bill Geist's teams compiled 12 straight 20-win seasons between 1976 and 1987, good for eighth best all-time in the Illinois High School Association.

[edit] Famous alumni

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Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2007)

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ About Benet
  2. ^ http://www.benet.org/html/about_benet.html
    • 2007: Construction begins to remodel the science wing.

    2008:Girls Track becomes the first Benet Track team to win sectionals!

    [edit] Athletic milestones

    		 To meet Wikipedia's quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup because it is in a list format that may be better presented using prose.
    You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (April 2008)

    Benet Academy has many notable athletic milestones in its history, in a number of sports.

    • 1979–1983: Coach Bill Geist led the Benet boys basketball team to three state quarterfinal appearances, including a third-place finish in the 1978-79 campaign. Geist was also the coach of the teams that won 102 straight home games during a nine-year stretch - to this day, still a state record.
    • 1984: Benet's boys football team appeared in their only football state final in the school's history in 1984. The team finished 7-2 in the regular season and rattled off three straight wins in the playoffs before falling to Morris in the state final. Coach Tim Cederblad, who coached the state final team, was the team's coach for twelve years, compiling 99 wins with the school.
    • 1991: Benet's boys cross country team earns a 3rd place finish in the state meet, the team's highest in its history.
    • 1994: Benet's boys track team succeeds in capturing a state championship in the Class AA 4x800m relay with a time of 7:48.98. This is the only state championship achieved in any event by either the boys' or girls' track teams.
    • 1998: Benet's girls basketball team advances to the state quarterfinal round of the IHSA basketball tournament for the first time in its history. While defeated by Marshall High School 63-37 in the quarterfinal round, the team finishes with the best record in their history at 29-5.
    • 2000: Benet's boys soccer team earns the school's first state championship in any sport, defeating conference rival St. Viator 3-1 in the Class A state championship. The team would finish undefeated with 22 wins and 4 draws.
    • 2001: Benet's boys soccer team follows up the 2000 championship with an unlikely 2001 repeat, defeating Peoria Notre Dame High School 2-1 in extra time. In contrast to the undefeated campaign of 2000, the 2001 squad finished the season with 18 wins over 7 defeats, with 1 draw, but rode a wave of momentum to the State Title by winning their last 11 matches.
    • 2005: Benet's dance team, the Avions, competed in the NDA National Dance Championship at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida for the first time in Benet history. The girls took fifth place in the Varsity Pom division.
    • 2006: The boys volleyball team wins 32 straight matches (29 regular season and three postseason) in their inaugural season before falling to eventual state runner-up Naperville North High School in the IHSA sectional final.
    • 2006: Benet's boys soccer team finishes the season with 21 wins over 2 losses, with 2 draws. The team was ranked 9th in the nation<ref>[http://www.nscaa.com/hsRes.php?it=920 NSCAA/adidas® National and Regional Rankings<!-- Bot generated title -->]</li>

    <li id="cite_note-2">'''[[#cite_ref-2|^]]''' [http://www.benetonline.org/enews/september02.htm Benet Academy & St. Procopius Academy Online<!-- Bot generated title -->]</li> <li id="cite_note-3">'''[[#cite_ref-3|^]]''' [http://blogs.citypages.com/dcody/2006/10/under_the_hot_l.asp Diablo Cody - Pussy Ranch - October 2006 Archives<!-- Bot generated title -->]</li> <li id="cite_note-4">'''[[#cite_ref-4|^]]''' {{imdb name|1959505|Diablo Cody}}</li> <li id="cite_note-5">'''[[#cite_ref-5|^]]''' {{cite web | url = http://www.perkinscoie.com/pcollins/ | title = Patrick Collins: Partner | publisher = [[Perkins Coie]] LLP | accessdate = 2007-11-13 }}</li> <li id="cite_note-6">'''[[#cite_ref-6|^]]''' {{cite web | url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20070302/ai_n18716960 | first=Natasha | last=Korecki | title="Prosecutor of Ryan, Sorich taking new job: Asst. U.S. Attorney" | work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] | date=[[March 2]], [[2007]] | publisher=FindArticles.com | accessdate=2007-11-12 }}</li> <li id="cite_note-7">'''[[#cite_ref-7|^]]''' [http://www.edgecomedyshow.com/Comics.html Comics<!-- Bot generated title -->]</li>

    <li id="cite_note-8">'''[[#cite_ref-8|^]]''' [http://www.cmuchippewas.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=46374&SPID=4199&DB_OEM_ID=10500&ATCLID=344614&Q_SEASON=2007 Dan LeFevour - CMUChippewas.com—Official Web Site of Central Michigan University Athletics<!-- Bot generated title -->]</li></ol></ref>

[edit] External links