Helias Catholic High School is a private,

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

high school in

Jefferson City, Missouri Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is the capital of Missouri, United States. It had a population of 43,228 at the 2020 census, ranking as the 15th most populous city in the state. It is also the county seat of Cole County and the princip ...

, United States.

History

Helias High School opened for the 1956-57 school year. This interparish Catholic school became necessary when St. Peter High School (built in 1930) was sorely overtaxed by the baby boom in this area after World War II. Named after the Jesuit missionary

Ferdinand Helias Ferdinand Benoit Marie Guislain Helias d'Huddeghem (born in Ghent, Belgium, 3 August 1796; died in Taos, Missouri, Taos, Cole County, Missouri, 11 August 1874) was a Roman Catholic clergyman who worked in Missouri. Biography He belonged to a noble ...

, the school was designed for 600 students and located on Swifts Highway. It was staffed by the Christian Brothers , School Sisters of Notre Dame, diocesan priests and lay-staffers. Until 1969, Helias was co-institutional, meaning that the boys and girls had separate classes. The sisters taught the girls and the brothers taught the boys. In 1971, James L. Rackers was the first layman to direct a Catholic school. In 2010, Helias High School changed its name to Helias Catholic.

Notable alumni

* John Daly, PGA Tour player - twice major champion * Hale Hentges, former NFL player for the Washington Redskins * Sam LeCure, former

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player (

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

) *

Jon Staggers Jonathan Leroy Staggers, Jr. (born December 14, 1948) is a former professional American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He was a star football player for Helias High School in Jefferson City, Missouri. He starred as ...

, former

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

player *

Jamaal Tatum Jamaal Tatum aka Jamaal Tatoum (born September 13, 1984) is an American professional basketball guard. He is 6'2" and 175 pounds (1.88 m, 80 kg). High school career As a high schooler, Tatum was a finalist as the Missouri Mr. Basketball. He ...

, former

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois, also known as Little Egypt, is the southern third of Illinois, principally along and south of Interstate 64. Although part of a Midwestern United States, Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of th ...

player, class of '03 *

Carl Vogel Carl M. Vogel (March 7, 1955 – April 14, 2016) was a Republican member of the Missouri Senate, United States, who represented the 6th District from 2003 through 2011. Previously he was a member of the Missouri House of Representatives from ...

, former Missouri State Senator

References

{{authority control Roman Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City Catholic secondary schools in Missouri Lasallian schools in the United States Buildings and structures in Jefferson City, Missouri Educational institutions established in 1956 High schools in Cole County, Missouri 1956 establishments in Missouri