Influential high school celebrates 50th anniversary

Eric Leake

Friday, Oct. 29, 2004 | 5:30 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

October 30 - 31, 2004

The annual Gorman Golf Classic tournament is Thursday to benefit the school's tuition assistance program, which assists roughly one-quarter of the student body. Registration is still open at 732-1945, ext. 328.

A bulletin board at the entrance of Bishop Gorman High School resembles a birthday card.

"Bishop Gorman High School celebrating 50 years of quality Catholic education," its cutout letters read above a small pennant and pictures of the school's future home.

For 39 of the school's 50 years Connie Gerber has worked there, first as a Spanish and German teacher and now as principal and president.

Gerber said the school's goals have remained the same, to provide an excellent education and something else that public schools cannot.

"We want our kids to have a strong faith in God. We want them to understand that and be proud to have that resource in their lives," Gerber said.

The Las Vegas Diocese owns the private school, which differs from a public one in some obvious ways. In the center of campus is a chapel and statues of the Virgin Mary. An orange neon "G" and a crucifix tower above the campus, the only Catholic high school in Las Vegas.

Students all wear Gorman shirts or sweaters and khakis, the school uniform.

The school, founded in 1954 and named after Thomas Gorman, Nevada's first Catholic bishop, has outgrown its 6 1/2 acres on Maryland Parkway between Sahara and Charleston, officials say, and the school has identified a new site in Summerlin.

"In the beginning it was the center of town, this was the place to be," Gerber said. As the city has grown, "It's become more of an inner-city location, so to say."

The new 35-acre campus at Hualapai Way near Russell Road is expected to cost between $40 million and $50 million. Groundbreaking is in March.

The school is financing the building through donations, grants, bonds and fundraisers.

Gerber is proud of the school's achievements, especially that more than 97 percent of the class of 2004 went on to higher education.

But, she said, for many the school is more than an educational institution.

"There are children of children I've taught. And I think there's been a grandchild of one or two," she said. Gerber met her husband at Gorman, where he taught math and coached football. Their three children went to the school.

She said former students visit the school 10, 15 and even 20 years after graduation.

Gerber refers to them as "our kids," then corrects herself. "I should say our students."

More than 8,800 students have graduated from Gorman over the decades. Some notable local alumni include former Gov. Bob Miller and Rossi Ralenkotter, president of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

Gerber meets former students everywhere she goes. "It's a very gratifying experience," she said. "I have to ask them sometimes, 'I remember your face, could you tell me your name?' "

Sheriff Bill Young's name is one of the easier ones to remember. He graduated with the class of '74 and met his wife at Gorman. Their children are alumni.

"I loved Gorman," Young said. "Some of the best friends I have today are some of the people I grew up and went to Gorman with."

Young played football, basketball and baseball at Gorman. "Those were my priorities, unfortunately, and not my academics. But I did make it through."

Young, who went on to graduate from UNLV, appreciates the continuity at the school. When he gave the commencement speech last year, nine of his former teachers were still at the school, he said.

In the school gym Thursday afternoon Destiny Jones made her own memories as she and the freshman volleyball team beat Durango High School.

"It's kind of like a community, like we're a big family. We all support each other," Destiny said as she rubbed a teammate's shoulders after their game and cheered on the junior varsity team.

This is Destiny's first year at Gorman after attending public elementary and middle schools.

"I didn't want to leave my friends, but I've made a lot of new ones," she said.

Destiny's parents, Scott and Dawn Jones, drove in from Boulder City to watch her play. They make the drive every morning and afternoon to take Destiny to and from school.

The 45-minute commute is worth it, they said, for Gorman's academic offerings.

"When they have a minute, they actually sit down and study, whereas at the other school if they had a minute they ran around and gossiped all the time," Scott Jones said.

He said the school starts preparing students for college in even their freshman year, offering a high honors program for possible college credits.

Destiny's class should be among the first to graduate from Gorman's new campus, expected to open by 2007.

"It's exciting because it's going to be a nice new campus, bigger, and they're going to be able to do all the sports at the school," Dawn Jones said.

"But it's a little sad because of all the traditions here."

The school will replicate the "G" tower, move the statues and try to transplant the chapel's stained glass to the new campus.

Gerber stands over a model of the new campus in the school library as she explains the plans. She points to future tennis courts, a football stadium, baseball and soccer fields, all of which the current campus lacks.

"This is really a dream come true," she said.

The move is not one Gerber expects to make herself, at least not as principal. She plans to join her husband in retirement after this year. Bob Miller and Rossi Ralenkotter, president of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.