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 Lisle was a great place to grow up and Lisle High School was a major part of that. I, my brothers and sister grew up in Lisle and attended Lisle High School. Our kids have done the same. The size of the high school gives every student the opportunity to Click to read the rest of the post. Please consider supporting the CNF Scholarship Fund   Sport has been the one constant in my life, and that passion was born in Lisle. I was given the opportunity to compete; team up with athletes who more importantly were great people; and be challenged by leaders like Carlin Nalley who invested in our well-being long after the final play. My high school experience was most pivotal. Unlike my hoop teammates, I lacked both experience and athletic ability. I did have height -- and coaches who pushed me to work harder than I ever knew I could. A few years later, when I was selected to walk-on the Illinois basketball team, my thoughts immediately went to those grueling daily grinds running for Coach Gollan (along with the follow-up nightly sessions sneaking into Illinois Benedictine to ball out for a few more hours with my Lion teammates!). My Lisle experience also unlocked a curiosity that resulted in me moving to Southern California for sunshine (and the ultimate beachfront hoop court) before eventually settling in Portland, Oregon. Sport continued to be central in my life, including a 25+ year career at Nike, and my current chapter in sports technology. My love of sport is also present in my family: my wife Peggy is a passionate MLB fan (go Giants!), while my daughter Mandy was a multi-sport HS athlete who left the Pacific NW to “jump around” as a Wisconsin Badger Business major. Living on the West Coast, I admit I lost contact with the Lisle community until recently. During Thanksgiving ‘19, I toured LSHS and discovered a completely transformed campus, and more importantly, the school’s reputation for academic and cultural excellence. Inspired, I returned again for the ‘20 HOF induction for Tom Stitt, where our former team gathered for an impromptu reunion and all-night huddle with former classmates. Even though I left Lisle, it has never left me. Today, more than ever, I cherish my experiences there, thanks to the vision, commitment and tireless effort of John Bartels and the Carlin Nalley Foundation. Tim Mitchell Class of 1983 Please consider supporting the CNF Scholarship Fund  I consider myself very lucky to have found Lisle High School and District 202 so early in my career. My 32 years in Lisle taught me that education is not just a process applied generally to any situation, but instead great education is a series of learning experiences based on strong, caring relationships. Great teachers help students understand their strengths and build an enthusiasm for learning and growing in so many ways. The small size of our schools helps us all- students, faculty and staff to know each other well enough to understand and implement the best way to help each student reach his or her potential. We believe that our size is our strength. I had the great fortune of experiencing Lisle schools from the perspective of not only a teacher and administrator, but also as a community resident and maybe most importantly as the parent of three students who benefitted directly from the opportunities of District 202. Countless students over the past several decades have grown from their experiences both in and out of the classroom. Today they are a source of pride for all of us who helped them grow into such positive and productive adults. I am also honored to have my name associated with one of the Nalley Foundation scholarships provided each year to several deserving Lisle students. I encourage you to extend your support for these opportunities to recognize such successful students. Lisle Senior High School is a place where all students get the opportunity to be recognized as talented, positive young people with strong potential for success in their future. Lisle schools are truly special and the Nalley Foundation provides a great opportunity to support this continued success. Ron Logeman Lisle High School Principal for 26 years Please consider supporting the CNF Scholarship Fund  Lisle High School along with the Lisle community will always and forever hold a special place in my family’s heart. I personally have the pleasure of not only being a Lisle High School Alumni - but also the experience of having children Summer (2014), Trevor (2017) and Cameron (2018) attend Lisle High School. (Oh, and did I mention I am married to alumni Tom Stitt for 27 years) In terms of my own experience, I have the greatest memories both in the classroom and in a wide variety of extra-curricular activities. What I cherish most about these memories at Lisle is they provided experiences beyond the classroom that helped build skills and attributes of teamwork, competition, and comradery. The relationships and bonds of friendship with both teammates and coaches created memories that are still talked and laughed about around the Stitt table today. As I reflect on my kids and their experiences at Lisle, I feel an abundance of pride at their accomplishments and at the same time tremendous gratitude to all the teachers and coaches who took the extra time in nurturing my kids both athletically and academically. Special shout-outs to Coach Nalley, Coach LaScala, Coach Parpet, Coach Dan Sanko, Coach Zimmerman (Pomato), Coach Matarieh, Coach Kim Sanko and Coach Jones and oh so many other wonderful teachers and coaches. We are forever thankful to Lisle High School and are honored to be a part of the CNF Alumni Association. We are also honored to have our children be recipients of scholarships provided by the CNF Alumni Association. ~ Anne Stitt ‘89 Carlin Nalley was more than a coach to me. He took me under his wing and mentored me as a young athlete at Lisle to compete at the highest level - often spending weekends away from his family to take me to track events around the Midwest. I am forever grateful for his time, energy, and commitment to shaping my high school experience and believing in me the way he did. The CNF Alumni Association strives to carry on the legacy and spirit of Carlin Nalley by providing scholarship to Lisle students and I am honored to be a part of this effort. Thanks for all you did Coach! ~ Tom Stitt ’83 Brian Piccolo Award and Alumni Award recipient With each passing year I cherish my Lisle High School education and athletic experience more and more. There are not many schools out there where you can play multiple sports, participate in numerous clubs, and obtain a quality education. At Lisle High School you can truly do it all with the support of the school, teachers, and community. My experience at Lisle prepared me to succeed in college and beyond. What I cherish most is the strong foundation of friends and fellow students from Lisle. I love the teachers, coaches and friendships formed during my time at Lisle and truly believe “Once a Lion, always a Lion.” ~ Summer Stitt – 2014 Babe Zaharias Award A community and a school help define and shape who we are by instilling values that we live by. Lisle may be a small town, but it has had a great impact on my life. Lisle High School truly contributed in so many ways in my development as a student, as an athlete and most importantly as a person. I am grateful to so many teaches and coaches for believing in me and helping me succeed in school, on the court and on the field. It was also an honor to be a recipient of a scholarship through the CNF Alumni Association and I am very thankful. ~Trevor Stitt 2017 Grutzmaker Award “Every day is a great day to be a Lion” in the words of Coach LaScala, and I am still a Lion at heart. I had teachers at Lisle like Coach Sanko who held high expectations for me on and off the field because he knew I had more to give. Having someone believe in your potential so important and teachers at Lisle are top notch at going the extra mile. ~ Cameron Stitt – 2018 Brian Piccolo Award It is our family’s absolute pleasure to be a part of the CNF Alumni Association and we encourage other Alumni to get involved or take a moment to donate to this organization that directly supports Lisle Students from the community that helped you learn and grow in so many ways! Please consider supporting the CNF Scholarship Fund by: Michael J. Grecco Lisle Senior High Class of 1977 ( composed in 2018) My wife kids and friends sometimes grow tired of my infatuation with the place I grew up in namely the little town of Lisle Illinois. I have lived in the next town over, Woodirdge, which has similar qualities but it will never be like home, like Lisle. Many of my friends do not know that I (Michael Grecco) was born May 22 1959 in Chicago Illinois and then resided in Villa Park Illinois until December of 1959. That’s when my parents (John and Carole), during a rather large “disagreement” with my father’s parents decided to move out and away to the “boonies” and bought a new house (with stairs/levels) for $17,500 in Lisle, Illinois. The builder was John Birch (they also looked at Clark Krughoff and Keppler homes) and was the only builder that would work with them to get one they could afford on my dad’s salary. They called this house (located at 601 Meadow Lane) the honeymoon house since my parents never had a honeymoon and instead they spent the money they were saving for a honeymoon on this “starter home” in Lisle. Now I am going to fast forward and focus this story on late summer of 1972. At this point my parents had now had all of their children (I was 13, my brother Tony was 10, my brother Dan was 5 and my sister Sandi was 1). One day in late August, just before I was scheduled to start 8th grade at the old Lisle Junior High (located next to Scheisher School) I came home from playing baseball with my friends. My parents were sitting in the kitchen waiting for me to arrive. They called all of us kids into the kitchen and announced that we were going to move to California. Surely they must be joking??!! They said they were serious. We had been approved by a very young McDonald’s Corporation to open a restaurant in San Diego. The plan was to take the combined equity of my parents’ and grandparents’ homes so we could go into the restaurant business. Our house in Lisle was going to be put up for sale first and we were going to immediately move in with our Grandma Angeline and Grampa John Grecco at 7011 West 63rd street in Chicago. Their house would be sold AFTER our Lisle house was sold. So, with a minimal chance to say goodbye to the only town we had ever lived in, suddenly and inexplicably we were now city dwellers. The for-sale sign went up in Lisle and we moved into the basement of my grandparents’ home in Chicago. I was immediately registered at Nathan Hale School (a K- 8 school) located at 6140 S Melvina Ave, Chicago, IL 60638. If we stayed longer than a year I would be attending Kennedy High School in Chicago. I learned to take a CTA bus (needed to have my student pass with me) each day to and from school. I learned to make my student bus fare and lunch money go further by eating sauce sandwiches and walking home when the weather was nice. I was now the NEW KID in 8th grade in school for the first time in my young life. Many nights I had this recurring dream where I was back in Lisle with my Lisle friends/classmates but they didn’t recognize me and I didn’t have my books and I couldn’t stay. As far as Nathan Hale goes after a few days I became somewhat familiar with the daily routines and slowly acclimated to the school. After a few weeks I came to the realization that much of the material they were covering at Nathan Hale in 8th grade we in Lisle had covered in 5th and 6th grade. It was sad and actually drove me to boredom. I also started noticing a bit of resentment by the teachers when I began answering questions during class and taking tests without even studying for them. I specifically recall a Mrs. Brown trying to disrespect suburban schools and trying to embarrass me several times in class. I decided I wouldn’t offer up too many answers as it would only create more issues for me. Sadly, I also recall one day, pretty sure it was a Friday, being on the playground and walking up to a group of kids making plans for the evening. Apparently, a family of color had moved into a house that was over some sort of border and as a result these youths were talking about egging the house or maybe even throwing a brick through a window. My heart sunk. This was my first true exposure to racism amongst my peers. It was a horrific time for me, for I so I desperately missed Lisle, my friends, and our teachers/schools. I made my mind up to gut it out since my parents said we would be moving to California at some point. Later that fall we in Chicago took the equivalent of the modern day 8th grade ISAT tests. I took the tests and thought nothing of them. About 2 weeks later I can recall being out on the Nathan Hale playground at lunchtime when the Principal and my homeroom teacher came out and summoned me to the office. I didn’t know what I had done and was quite fearful as they escorted me inside. I recall a group of several teachers and the Principal seated at a large table. They sat me down and began to question me. They asked me several times if I had had access to the ISAT test prior to taking it. I told them no. They asked me if I had cheated on the tests. I once again told them no. I then asked them why they were asking me these questions. The principal told me that I had scored nearly twice as high on ALL parts of the exams as the next closest 8th grader at Nathan Hale. They showed me a graph where my score was way above the average score of the 8th grade class and were trying to fathom how that could happen. I knew why – LISLE!!!! The teachers at Hale didn’t want to believe it to be possible and the Principal almost seemed embarrassed to admit this to me. They called my mom in and offered to give me more challenging work…but it was woefully inadequate, nowhere near the class work and teaching we received in Lisle. My Lisle Pride was validated that day and for the rest of my time there. As a reference point I graduated in the top 10% of the Lisle High School class of 1977. I was a very good student but surely not our valedictorian. Thus, I have an extremely unique perspective and quite frankly believe we in Lisle have had the best of educations made available to us. It was just up to each of us to avail ourselves of that education and of the Lisle experience. I am living proof. In late December 1972 my parents and grandparents had another of those “disagreements”. As a result, we immediately left Chicago and moved back to our little house in Lisle (which by the grace of God had not sold !!) over Christmas break. I recall my dad ramming our 1965 Cadillac into an unplowed driveway. All 5 of us ended up sleeping on the floor up in mine and Tony’s bedroom on our first night back, I will never forget that. I was so very excited to be home but couldn’t wait for break to be over and to get back to MY SCHOOL. I can still recall walking into Lisle Junior High in early January in a triumphant return to my favorite town and schools. I had a lot of stories to share and many of my classmates couldn’t believe I was back….that almost never happened when someone moved away!! I also can recall the ENORMOUS amount of scholastic work I had to do to catchup up in my accelerated Math, Science and English classes. I hadn’t learned much of anything during my 4 ½ months at Nathan Hale but I was determined not to fall permanently behind my classmates. I now had to pay a severe price to catchup with my peers in Lisle, but I gladly did so after the awful experience of Nathan Hale middle school in Chicago. It is because of this experience that I have great pride and am forever thankful for the childhood experiences and education I and my classmates received from the teachers and parents in my hometown of Lisle. After moving back I appreciated my schools, teachers and friends even more and became a better student and more involved in the community. This is why to this day I am so very proud to be a Lisle Lion and proud of the town I grew up in. and it is also why I am excited to be able to donate to the Carlin Nalley Foundation as I feel that there is nothing better than recognizing one’s roots and promoting those experiences for generations to come. Michael J. Grecco Lisle Senior High Class of 1977 ( composed in 2018) Please consider supporting the CNF Scholarship Fund |
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