By Vivian Troche

Most Lane students remember their freshman meet and greet, filing into the auditorium, and listening to Dr. Lobosco talk about “the best school in the city of Chicago.” On March 2, 2011, 8th grade students who were admitted to Lane not only filled the auditorium, they overflowed into the lunchroom as well.

Lobosco explained to the crowd that they had an overwhelming number of people show up this year.

“We usually over-accept [in freshmen enrollment] just to make sure that we fill our numbers, so we did not expect this much of a turnout. We had had to split the group up because the auditorium had already filled up,” Lobosco said.

The school store also had to close earlier than expected because of the amount of people trying to purchase Lane gear.

“Our credit card machine isn’t used to this much business,” said head of building operations, Mr. Brent Bradish. “We’re not the Gap. We probably have around four busy days a year.”

The counselors were supposed to be available in the lunchroom to answer questions, but they had to be moved to Gym 1 to accommodate for the extra people.

And the people had many questions

Athletic Director Rich Rio answered questions about Lane athletics in the cafeteria. Some parents hoped to be able to talk to individual sports coaches who were not available.

Other parents lined up down the hallway outside Gym 1 as they waited to ask questions about their classes and majors. Dr. Dignam was in the lunchroom after the presentations to answer questions about the Alpha program.

The prospective students were excited to check out Lane and see what it has to offer.

“I’m most excited about the sports program because I want to play baseball next year. But I think that Lane will help me be more prepared for college than my neighborhood school would,” said Joseph Woltke.

Most of the students were excited that they were accepted to Lane. They all had a different reaction when they got their acceptance letters.

“I was excited when I found out that I got accepted, but I was also kind of nervous. Lane has a legacy and I want to live up to it,” said Jakeena McKay.

“I danced around with my sister [Alison Pincsak, Div. 174] when I got my acceptance letter. I was excited because it was my first choice, and I want to get knowledge for college,” said Alex Pincsak.

The larger turnout seems to show that the selective enrollment is getting tougher. Getting into Lane and other schools seems to be a bigger deal then it was four years ago.

“My parents were worried I wouldn’t get in because I had two Bs on my report card. When I got my letter it felt like it was fate for me to come here,” said Woltke.