CHICAGO (WLS) — Last week, ABC7 Chicago’s Rob Elgas and Mark Rivera revisited their old high school in Crystal Lake. Now, Cheryl Burton is going back to school.

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On this Feel Good Friday, Burton is going back to 1980 on my trip down memory lane. It’s senior year at Lindblom Math and Science Academy, and everyone is college bound, so there was no messing around.

In fact, Burton had perfect attendance all four years and didn’t miss a day of school, because at Lindblom that’s the golden rule!

“This one was the derring-do,” Burton’s English teacher and cheerleading coach Ms. Betty Miller said. “One who dares to do anything.”

“You were a leader, you were a hard worker and you were focused,” biology teacher Dr. Gertrude Banks said.

Those are traits needed to attend Lindblom Math and Science Academy in West Englewood.

“Currently we have one of the highest graduation rates in the city of Chicago,” principal Starlet Banks said. “Students come to our school from all over the city of Chicago and they’re all big fish in smaller ponds when they get to us and then you get here and everybody’s a big fish.”

Lindblom was established back in 1919. Because it’s considered a historical landmark, the school building has not changed a whole lot since then. They are still the Lindblom Eagles, and the school motto is fittingly “Our History Guides our Future.”

Principal Banks had the vision to install a “hall of fame” last summer, which now includes Burton.

“To see and hear students walking the hallway and ask, ‘they went to Lindblom?’ Yes they did,” Banks said. “They too can have local and international impact.”

Landing a spot on the hall of fame was not possible without the support of Burton’s teachers.

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Two of her favorites joined her on her trip down memory lane, including a former English teacher cheerleading coach, who they all affectionally referred to as Killer Miller.

“I really don’t understand how I was catapulted into the coaching position,” Miller said. “Cheerleading, somehow cheerleading and Shakespearean study stuff really coalesce. But it was challenging. It was. It was fun.”

Being a Lindblom student is also serious business.

“I insisted that they keep their grades up,” Miller said. “There was no room for average on the squad.”

Dr. Gertrude Hill taught biology at Lindblom.

“You were an excellent student. I can remember that. There are certain students who you see and you say this person has got something extra,” Dr. Hill said. “My job is to help you reach your fullest potential in my subject area… I wanted to help them learn biology, understand biology, and hopefully love biology as I did.”

It’s teachers like Ms. Hill, Ms. Miller and the new generation of educators who have helped to maintain Lindblom’s status as best in class.

“It’s a diamond in the rough,” Banks said. “We are located in Englewood, specifically West Englewood. But the amazing and remarkable things that are happening in the school and the people who are graduating from this school that are going to impact the world, is what makes them the best school in the world.”

Burton has made sure to keep in touch with Lindblom. In 2019, she created a scholarship in her name for students pursuing a career in journalism and media.

Each year, Burton gifts $5,000 scholarships to two outstanding students. So far, she has gifted $60,000.

Burton is so proud to keep doing this for her Eagles.