CHICAGO — For their dedication to educating and enriching the lives of young women and men in Chicago, DePaul University’s Monsignor Kenneth J. Velo and alumnus Thomas Kleinschmidt were honored May 6 at an “Inspiration Celebration” by the board of directors and friends of Gordon Tech College Prep.

Velo, senior executive for DePaul’s Office of Catholic Collaboration and co-chair of the Big Shoulders Fund, is “a man who loves Chicago and all the people in Chicago,” said Trisha Rooney Alden, who co-chaired the event with Christopher Valenti.

In accepting the award, Velo looked back and acknowledged the years of service by the Resurrectionists and the wonderful faculty at Gordon Tech.

“As we look forward, we see a new beginning. I am humbled by all the work that goes on here … and we look forward to amazing things,” Velo said.

Kleinschmidt played professional basketball after being a standout player at Gordon Tech and later Conference Player of the Year at DePaul. He is now a teacher and head basketball coach at Gordon.

“But basketball player no longer defines Tom Kleinschmidt,” said Jean Lenti Ponsetto, DePaul’s athletic director. “Today, he is inspirational, motivating, encouraging, guiding and directing. (He is) back home at Gordon to create an educated and passionate and just world — one student at a time.”

In accepting the award, Kleinschmidt talked about the friends he made and lessons he learned as a basketball player and coach, and his new fulfilling role as a teacher. Among those who inspired him were the “great teachers, coaches and crowds.”

Among the estimated 300 Gordon Tech alumni and supporters at the Inspiration Celebration was Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

“I wanted to be here because of the mission of Gordon Tech and DePaul University; what you guys do to make sure our children have a better, stronger future. Your partnership is so important,” Emanuel said.

In October, DePaul announced it was teaming up with Gordon Tech to provide a strong school of choice for Chicago’s North Side, an area of the city that wanted a viable Catholic high school option. The collaboration was designed to build upon Gordon Tech’s recent enrollment growth and put the coed college preparatory institution on par with the Chicago area’s other top-tier Catholic high schools.

“This is a school of spectacular history,” noted the Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M., DePaul’s president. He was called upon at the Inspiration Celebration to share highlights of what has occurred during this strategic planning year between the two schools.

Among the items Holtschneider noted were:

• DePaul assisted the Gordon Tech board with the selection of Jim Quaid as the new principal who along with Kelly Jones, the board president, “make a powerful team for the school.”
  
• On May 19, Gordon Tech’s graduation will take place at the St. Vincent de Paul Church in Lincoln Park.
  
• On Aug. 12, Gordon Tech students will kick off the school year on DePaul’s Lincoln Park Campus where they will spend their first day of school.
  
• To help integrate research into the curriculum, all Gordon Tech students, faculty and staff now have access to the Richardson Library.
  
• The College of Computing and Digital Media is helping develop a technology program. “You may note that our computer science school provides 45 percent of Chicago’s computer science degrees.”
  
• DePaul’s Theatre School is making curriculum recommendations. “Gordon Tech has an excellent woodshop and The Theatre School is working with them to develop ideas for a set design program.”
  
• The School of Music, whose Jazz Quartet played at the event, is helping to create an education program to bring music back to the school.
  
• The College of Education is reviewing Gordon’s counseling and professional development programs and will provide a set of recommendations.

“We are thrilled to be working together in so many different capacities. I’m certain we will find more,” Holtschneider said.

“The reason why for all of us this is a core belief is not only that Chicago needs to have a strong, vital high school on the North Side, which Gordon Tech represents and I think our partnership can grow ever more, but the Catholic church itself needs to be strengthened by those who have gone through Catholic education,” Holtschneider said. “It is our great honor to be part of this project that educates young people and their futures.”

The Gordon Tech board of directors, chaired by Dia Weil, who also is a DePaul trustee, provided a number of facts and statistics at the event. Currently, Gordon Tech has a 99 percent graduation rate and 99 percent college acceptance rate. Its students are a diverse group, coming from more than 42 different zip codes and 15 different countries.

This year alone, Gordon Tech seniors have qualified for $1.3 million in college scholarships and have been accepted into a variety of universities including: University of Chicago, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Bradley, Loyola, Marquette, University of Iowa, Northwestern, and, of course, DePaul.