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| Volume #2 Issue #1 Date: September 2017
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| Alumni Spotlight: Dennis Hiffman '60
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 | At 75 years old, Fenwick alumnus Denny Hiffman can’t slow down. He’s still working – and racing against people 50 years younger. |
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Denny Hiffman may not consider himself much of an athlete, per se,
but he has always enjoyed competing. "Fenwick channeled my competitive-ness,” he believes. Denny was a self-taught golfer at Columbus Park in the Austin neighborhood on Chicago’s far West Side and also golfed on the Friars’ team.
Before the school’s Auditorium was completed, he and his classmates smacked golf balls into a net strung where the “freshmen” balcony would be later. Denny also learned the 16-inch “Chicago” softball game and “played until I was 60,” he says. And he has had a passion for cars since before he could drive. “I bought my first junker, a ’52 Chevy, the day of my 16th birthday and drove it to Fenwick,” Hiffman remembers. Over 40 years ago he was lured into auto crossing, where drivers get timed maneuvering around orange cones in a parking lot. That led to 20 years of Saturday short-track, stock car racing in Wisconsin; Hiffman found himself atop the Winner's Circle podium more than 100 times.
Then in 2004 Denny took up road racing. And now, at age 75, he races cars against competition 50 to 55 years his junior. He won the Porsche Club of America (PCA) national championship in 2015 and 2013, took the 944 Cup in 2016 and also won several regional championships. Eighty-five cars in the PCA series ran timed races of 45 and 90 minutes in length. In 2015 Hiffman won 16 of 33 races.
While Hiffman and his Greasy Side Down (GSD) racing team may not always cross the finish line first, they always cross it, which means they race smart and don’t crash their 230-horse power, 4-cylinder Porsche. Top speeds can exceed 150 miles per hour.
“A lot of 18-year-olds and twenty-somethings behind the wheel are over-zealous,” he observes from experience. “Their mentality is to ‘either win or crash.’” Hiffman and GSD partner Tom Collins, who “builds shopping centers” when they’re not racing, according to Denny, subscribe to a different motto: To finish first, first you must finish.
“I always finish,” the proud driver proclaims, matter-of factly. But why would a man in his mid-70s want to suit up and sit in the hot seat, quite literally? A race car’s interior temperatures can exceed 125 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer. These days, Hiffman wears a $1,200 cooling suit that circulates ice water through a system of built-in “veins” or tiny hoses. “Racing is a true sickness,” jokes Denny. “Once you have it, you’re hooked.”
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| Meet 3D Whiz Kid Ethan Baehrend '19
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 | In between homework assignments, this 17-year-old Fenwick junior is building his own 3D printer
and starting up a new company. |
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Most teens can’t wait to turn 17, but Ethan Baehrend wanted to slow down the clock this past summer. The crafty whiz kid soon may work on such a time-stalling project, but for now the 3D print space is his tekkie domain.
His birthday was in mid-August, but his new 3D printer assembly still was a good two weeks from being completed. Additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, is the action or process of making a physical object from a three-dimensional digital model, typically by laying down many thin layers of a material, such as resin or plastic, in succession.
Ethan’s new machine is massive, relatively speaking, expanding beyond table-top designs. “You can probably fit three people inside of it, crouched down, side by side,” describes the young business owner, emphasizing its large footprint in a spare room in his family’s River Forest home. One early product review is glowing: “I haven’t seen, in design and function, anything like this before, and I’ve been in IT for 35 years,” says Eamon Murchan, CEO and founding director of 11-year-old Creative ITC, a global information-technology (IT) firm based in London, England.
Since returning from a summer vacation on August 8th, Ethan’s production schedule has been crammed with the arrival of printer parts, the design and printing of additional parts, and subsequent assembly. His biggest stressor has been configuring code for the laser-cutting and drilling of the enclosure’s acrylics and rails, which is a one-shot deal. “There has been some pressure,” the developer deadpans with raised eyebrows.
Ethan had wanted to say that he custom-built his own machine when he was 16 and started his own Kickstarter company when he was 17. “That [chronology] looks great on a résumé,” he notes. But, really, do a few weeks matter in the grand scheme of such a promising future?
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| Summer of Seventeen Improvements
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|  | Functional facelift: Decorative crown molding (look up) conceals new ductwork in Fenwick's
remodeled and now air-conditioned West Wing, which was repainted and re-lighted this summer. | |
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School has started up again, and upper classmen and faculty are noticing changes on campus. First and foremost, there now is air-conditioning in the West Wing. (Yes, you read that correctly, alumni!)
In fact, the entire wing has been remodeled, including new, energy-efficient LED (light-emitting diode) lighting in all the classrooms up there and a fresh coat of paint. “This is probably the first time in 20 years or so that that area has been painted,” reports Operations Director Jerry Ruffino. There is new, two-toned paint on the walls in the library stairwell and the Friar Shop ramp area as well – gloss below shoulder level, to withstand backpack abuse, and matte finish above.
There is a new look and feel to the John Gearen Library, with the Library Visionary Collaboration Room now complete. The new space transforms approximately one-third of the 5,300-square-foot library into a user-friendly, digital learning resource center. “Our idea was to take unused space, i.e. reference material, and make it useable study/collaboration/class/meeting space,” explains Instructional Technology Coordinator Bryan Boehm, who shared the vision with Librarian Elizabeth McKinley. “The main part of the library was hitting its max with students, and we had some doing quiet study and others working on group projects. With this [new] space, kids can collaborate with each other; faculty can hold multimedia classes or meetings, and the space becomes useable for anything at any time.”
The totally renovated chapel is looking brighter than ever with its refurbished stained-glass windows. Pews and floors were refinished, and walls have been repainted. Both gymnasium floors also were varnished, which has become a summertime ritual.
Lockers on the ground floor of the main building have been replaced and are shining like, well, new. The boys’ locker-room showers also have been remodeled, featuring magnetic-adhered paint and water-saving, timed faucets.
Faculty and staff will notice a remodeled Copy Room as well as Room 310-P up in the Priory, which was repainted and renovated.
And out at the Priory Field in River Forest, the new, all-weather turf is ready for fast-paced Friars’ soccer, lacrosse and maybe even some rugby action! The official dedication was September 7th prior to our boys’ soccer game vs. the Providence Celtics.
Kudos to Mr. Ruffino and his entire staff, including student workers over the summer and various outside contractors, for getting our 87-year-old building in great shape for the 2017-18 school year! And thanks to all those who donate their hard-earned money to Fenwick to make projects like these possible. You are appreciated!
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| Lab Named for Mr. Polka at Reunion Weekend
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Come cheer on Mr. Polka during Homecoming Weekend (September 29 - October 1) as Fenwick names a Science Lab in honor of the longtime teacher and coach, who retired in June after 52 years of teaching at FHS. The dedication ceremony will take place at 4 p.m. on Saturday, September 30th, in Room 51 in the school's West Wing.
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| Faculty Focus – Andy Arellano
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|  | Speech Teacher Andy Arellano enters his 46th year of teaching students at Fenwick. |
| What is your educational background?
AA: After graduating from De La Salle Institute on the South Side, I went to MacMurray College, a small Methodist liberal arts college that awarded me a super academic scholarship that allowed me to earn a bachelor’s degree in Speech. Later, while teaching at Fenwick, I earned a master’s degree in Speech Communication from Northeastern Illinois University on the North Side of Chicago.
What did you do prior to becoming a teacher at Fenwick?
AA: Upon graduating from MacMurray, I came to Fenwick and taught freshman English and helped Fr. Motl, a great guy and my predecessor, coach the speech, debate, and Congress teams. The following year, Fr. Motl went off to teach future priests how to deliver quality sermons. I then took over teaching the sophomore speech class and coaching our speech activities, which had been the goal behind the work that I had done with Fr. Motl during my first year at Fenwick. (One should also note that Fenwick’s requirement that every student must take one semester of speech in order to graduate came about because Fr. Motl believed that our students needed to learn how to speak in order to gain success in our society. If anything, this requirement fits into the Dominican mission as the Order of Preachers. Fenwick is one of a limited number of schools to have this requirement.)
What are you currently reading for enjoyment?
AA: During the school year, my reading tends to be largely focused on current events and the news so that ties can be made between Speech class and what is going on in the world. This past summer, the last book that I read was Al Franken, Giant of the Senate by Senator Al Franken. In sections, the book contained some humor. Other sections sadly showed how dysfunctional our government can sometimes be.
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| Collegiate Friars: September 2017
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|  | A sophomore at IU, Pat Coffey tested
out of calc in business school.
"AP Calculus at Fenwick is the
hardest class I've ever taken,"
says the accounting major. |
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Name: Patrick Coffey
Fenwick Graduation: 2016
Hometown: Oak Park, IL
Grade school: St. Giles
Current school: Indiana University, Kelley School of Business
Current major: Accounting
Career aspirations: To work for a Big 4 accounting firm and, eventually, start my own company.
Fenwick achievements/activities: soccer and baseball (4 years each); National Honor Society; Friar Mentors.
Teacher who had the most influence on you: Mr. Kleinhans because he helped me realize that everyone at Fenwick had very fortunate lives whenever he told his “feel Good Friday” stories.
Class that had the most influence on you: AP Calculus because it was the hardest class I’ve ever taken and Mr. Arscott really challenged me. I was able to test out of Calculus in Business School.
Best Fenwick experience/the one you would like to live again: If I could relive any experience, it would be to play for the Friar Soccer Team again.
Fenwick experience that changed you the most: Kairos
Opportunities at Fenwick you wish you would have explored more: I wish I would have joined more clubs.
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| Homecoming Weekend
Friday & Saturday, September 29 & 30 Grandparents Day
Wednesday, October 11 Mass of Remembrance
Sunday, October 29
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The 2017-18 school year is under way! By making a gift to Fenwick High School, you are helping to ensure that every class of graduates is as prepared for the college years as you were.
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Have something to share with your fellow alumni? Please send all of your alumni news and happenings to Director of Alumni Relations Cameron Watkins at cwatkins@fenwickfriars.com.
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