A recent effort involves bringing actors and artists from major arts groups to interact with the kids. The clubs also are part of the city's truancy abatement program, in which truants caught by the cops are brought to one of the centers instead of wracking up citations and bad attitudes toward the police. The Mary Ryan Club in Sherman Park is credited for helping to turn the neighborhood around. It may be hard to find any entity more delighted by its selection than Hamilton High School on the Southwest Side. With 1,930 students, Hamilton is the largest high school in the city.
Administrators there say bigger has been better.
Members of Hamilton's student orchestra are scheduled to perform next year with the London Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. Hamilton's first class of graduates was in 1968, so the school has had less time than most MPS counterparts to produce notable alumni. Among the most prominent are Minnesota Vikings assistant coach Gary Zauner, Chicago archeologist Barbara Hammond and State Rep. Peggy Krusick. It's a distinction that's appreciated. Nicolet students benefit from one of the highest per-capita expenditures in the state, and Moeser points out that the school annually has more graduates enroll at UW than any high school outside of Madison.