Celebrating senior athletes with banners has been a regular occurrence at Oak Lawn Community High School ever since Athletic Director Jeremy Cryan began the tradition.
Since then, senior banners have been the second single motivator in all athletes joining sports. Because I, Rory Ali, noticed this occurance I found it fundamental we expand this tradition to a larger level.
IHSA level clubs such as Journalism, Speech, Scholastic Bowl, Bass Fishing, and Chess all have one similarity. All these competitive clubs not only compete on the IHSA level, but they also contain hard working seniors who advance the clubs status in the school and advance the club into state.
Some of these seniors have been members of these IHSA clubs for years while others have joined only in their senior year.
Nevertheless, the senior members work hard. At the end of the year, they are then recognized with a certificate. This certificate is not exclusive to IHSA level clubs but is inclusive to all the clubs at OLCHS.
So the question arises. How come seniors in IHSA clubs are not recognized at a larger level with senior banners like how seniors in sports are recognized at a great level?
With this idea being presented to Principal Lauren May and Assistant Principal Marcus Wargin, it was taken to a serious level. Doctor May, principal of OLCHS, states, “I think it’s a nice way to recognize the students who have committed years or seasons to competitive activities in the same way that athletics have”.
These banners will be more than a poster, but also a memory. The banners are an everlasting symbol of the seniors determination in high school and an everlasting memory to hold on to.
Assistant Principal Wargin’s Secretary, Amy Melvin, states, “IHSA clubs should definitely be recognized just as much as any sports team. Seniors should have their own banner to represent their club and to show off”.
Now, seniors who compete in these competitive clubs and head to state are not recognized nearly as much as sports athletes. Although the speech team made it to state in 2024 and 2025, they were not recognized almost as much as the Girls’ and Boys’ Basketball teams when they became conference champions.
This abnormality is fueled by unintentional student bias. Although the senior banner cannot cure this abnormality, it can lessen students’ unintentional bias toward competitive clubs by showing them that competitive clubs are just as great as sports and just as deserving of a senior banner.
Alongside lessening bias, the senior banner will be extremely popular in promoting IHSA clubs, which usually scare students away due to their competitiveness. Patrick DiFlippo, sponsor of Journalism and Scholastic Bowl, and John Faro, sponsor of Chess, have endorsed senior banners.
Although seniors banners In competitive clubs will be different, OLCHS is not afraid to stand out. OLCHS will always stand out due to its creative events and projects. Implementing senior banners will be a testament to that statement that we are OLCHS and we lead the way.
