Cory Blanchette was a devoted teacher, coach, and father at Manteno High School in Manteno, Illinois. Cory originally was a pipe fitter, but later found his calling as a wrestling coach and a teacher at MHS. He began as an assistant coach in 2006 and later became head coach of the wrestling program. Coach Blanchette built the program through his passion for wrestling and for the kids on his team. He exhibited the same qualities in the classroom. He went back to school and earned his teaching credentials in 2010. Cory took on one of the toughest assignments in the school: teaching the kids who were most at risk of dropping out. His success with those students earned him the respect of the administration and his fellow teachers. He was a true friend who would do anything for those around him and he demonstrated every day that he cared for everyone he knew. His caring didn't stop when a student graduated. Coach Blanchette undertook the task of memorializing a former wrestler and student who was a soldier and killed in Afghanistan. The loss of that student affected him and he made it his personal mission to ensure that the student was forever remembered. Most of all, Cory was a family man. He loved his family and was deeply devoted to them. He spoke of them often, spent as much time as he could with them, and the thrill of being a husband and father was evident to all who knew him. He was truly a role model to his students and fellow teachers. He will be sorely missed by his friends, students and players in the Manteno High School family. He was struck and killed by a car as he was jogging south along North 3000E Road at approximately 9500N Road, just east of the Manteno, Illinois village limits at 6:00 a.m. on November 1, 2011. He is a graduate of Trinity Christian College in Palos Hills, Illinois. "The impact that I can make on the lives of our young men is what motivates me daily," Blanchette wrote on the school's website. He leaves behind his wife, Alisa, and four young children, and a high school that held him in high regard.∼Born;
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