The Lane Tech open house is an opportunity for students going into high school or looking to apply to the Lane Tech Academic Center to visualize where they could spend the next 2-6 years. According to the Lane Tech website, Lane is ranked third in the state of Illinois and, along with the academics, Lane offers many opportunities with over 100 clubs, and 31/33 of the IHSA sports for both boys and girls. Lane also offers multiple co-curricular, or additional courses that enhance the academic curriculum, classes such as drama, holding one of the city’s best performing arts programs, debate, art classes, music performance courses and many more. Lane currently holds approximately 4,600 students. The open house, which was held Nov. 1, is a chance to get Lane’s name out in the playing field and open up to a new graduating class.
Omega and Alpha
Lane offers a core program, a humanities program focused on writing and social studies (Omega), and a STEM program focused on science-based electives and classes (Alpha). Kate Laroche, an English teacher part of the Omega program, worked the open house helping demonstrate what Omega is to incoming freshmen. Laroche says Omega is targeted towards students interested in the humanities. In this program, teachers in these classes work to align the curriculum among the English and social science courses. For some students, the direct opposite of the Omega program may be more interesting. Michelle Loh, an Alpha teacher, worked at the open house to explain what students do especially during the science fair. Loh says the program merges English and science courses with the end goal of writing a 30-page paper research about something they are interested in.
Sports and Gym
Lane Tech offers a wide variety of sports with almost all of the approved IHSA sports available at Lane for both boys and girls. The athletic director Brent Bradish says that athletics is one of Lane’s best attractive qualities. Bradish says the open house allows students to see the sports and extracurriculars at Lane. “We want to showcase the best of what we have to offer,” he said. “In the end, that is what makes us the number one choice, whether that be electives in your classes that you can choose, whether that means clubs that you can participate in or sports,” Bradish said.
Visitors
The Lane Tech open house is an opportunity for students from all over Chicago to visit and explore the hallways of the school. Families spent Saturday looking at all the classes, sports, and clubs Lane has to offer. One parent named Kelly Lowry toured Lane in hopes it would give her son a good sense of whether or not he likes the school. She said, “Lane has a great reputation,” and added, “we’ve not really experienced it before, so we really wanted to kind of get an inside experience of a school we’ve heard so many good things about.” Other students touring talked about the open house introducing them to opportunities Lane has that set it apart from other schools. One girl named Syria said she was hoping to see the community at Lane and the students that go to the school. She said she was specifically interested in the Lane Tech dance team. Quincy Flowers, a sophomore at Lane explained his role as a tour guide. “the open house is beneficial for Lane because it shows many of the 8th graders what we have to offer,” he said.
Clubs and Electives
Lane tech offers 100+ different clubs and extracurricular activities. Lane offers tutoring from both peers and teachers. One of these instances is the Writing Center. The Writing Center at Lane is a student-run center in which students can receive guidance for all phases of the writing process, whether in need of writing an essay or sending an email. Sophia Burgess worked the writing Center table at the open house. She said, “We’re kind of just showing an overview of what the Writing Center does and how we’re open to all students and to help at all stages of the writing process.” In the open house Lane featured both its academics and its wide variety of electives. While Lane is academic, it also surrounds itself with extracurriculars such as guitar, which was featured in the open house, choir, art, and more. Lane offers so many different activities so there is going to be something for everyone.
I-Days
International Days is a schoolwide event at Lane where different ethnic clubs celebrate culture through traditional dances. During the open house Lane presented a 3-minute Irish club dance as parents and kids filed into the auditorium. Lane also featured a quick dance piece by the Filipino club. The Irish club president Marycate Bradish remarked on the open house saying, “It’s really great because it gives the incoming freshmen a really well rounded view of all that Lane has to offer.” Students can begin to see the opportunities they’ll have to branch out while attending Lane. The Filipino club performed a traditional dance which they do every year. Chantelle Fregoso, the supervisor of this I-days club, calls it her favorite time of the year, she said, “because it opens up the doors for all these incoming seventh and eighth graders and then also our freshmen. And it’s a chance for us to showcase the best part of International Days.”
