Glenbrook North High School

Glenbrook North High School, or GBN, is a public four-year high school located in Northbrook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Glenbrook Township High School District, which also includes Glenbrook South High School.

History

Glenbrook North High School, which opened its doors in the fall of 1952 as Glenbrook High School, serves the incorporated and unincorporated areas of Northbrook.

Today, Glenbrook North High School, along with Glenbrook South, are noted for their outstanding curriculum and quality of education, having been repeatedly named to a variety of best-in-the-nation lists. For example, as part of the First in the World Consortium, GBN and GBS students scored first in the world in international math & science testing. In January 1997, President Bill Clinton visited GBN, and gave a speech discussing the need for more schools to adopt international education standards in math and science. See "Bill Clinton Visit" below.^[11]

Glenbrook North alum John Hughes' 1985 film The Breakfast Club featured a group of kids from "Shermer, Illinois" 60062. Shermerville was the original name of the town of Northbrook, where GBN is located, and 60062 is the zip code. The movie features the clash between what were known during the 1980s as the 'sporto' versus 'freak' cultures at GBN. Some think the movie was filmed inside the school, but it was filmed at Maine North High School, which was also used for the interior scenes of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Exterior shots of GBN were used in both The Breakfast Club and the Ferris Bueller movie, however. A curious side note to all of this is that Charlie Schlatter, the actor who played Ferris in the TV series Ferris Bueller, is married to a GBN alumna who graduated in 1984.

Debate

The Glenbrook North debate team has won numerous state and national championships in Policy debate, as well as state championships in Lincoln-Douglas and Public Forum debate. The team is the only high school debate team in the country to win the triple crown of debate, winning the National Forensic League tournament, the Tournament of Champions and the National Christian Forensic League tournaments in 2004.^[12] They were also ranked the top debate school of the century based on appearances in the National Forensics League final round.^[13] In both 2010 and 2011, the school won two of the three state final championships for debate in the IHSA state tournament, in the Policy and Lincoln-Douglas divisions, in addition to winning novice and junior varsity final championships for debate in the ISTA state tournament in 2011. In 2012, the school won the New Trier tournament, and lost in finals of the novice and varsity divisions of the state tournament, while the school won the junior varsity division. The school had the top speaker in the junior varsity and varsity divisions in 2012. Glenbrook North also debated in the finals of the 2012 Tournament of Champions, losing on a 2-1 decision to West High School from Iowa City, Iowa. In the 2012-2013 school year, the team won the Blake tournament, locked out the finals of the IHSA Varsity State Tournament, had the top speaker and thus all-state debate captain, debated in the finals of the 2013 Tournament of Champions, losing to C.K. McClatchy High School from Sacramento, California on a 2-1 decision, and finally won the National Forensic League National Championship in policy debate, defeating Glenbrook South in the finals on a 10-5 decision. It was the first time two schools from the same district debated each other in the finals.

DECA

Glenbrook North is among the top performers in Illinois DECA. As of 2014, Glenbrook North DECA sent over 30 members to DECA's international Career Development Conference.^[14] Glenbrook North has a total of over 150 DECA members, and possesses a huge presence in the school community.^[15] Additionally, Glenbrook North has received numerous awards at ICDC, placing 1st in 2012, and 3rd in 2014.^[16]

Bill Clinton Visit

On January 22, 1997, then President Bill Clinton visited Glenbrook North to speak to the school. Clinton's speech was held in the school's fieldhouse and was largely centered around mathematics and science. At the time, students were participating in a program called "First in the World." The program was to judge the level of knowledge in math and science against other schools around the world. Glenbrook North came in 1st in the Science category, and 3rd in the Mathematics category. Less than a month later, Bill Clinton referenced the school, his visit, their progress, and achievements in his 1997 State of the Union Speech on February 4, 1997.

Hazing incident

In May 2003, Glenbrook North High School gained notoriety after an off-campus, non-school-sanctioned event involving students dressed in school colors turned into a major hazing incident that attracted media attention.

The event was a "Powder Puff" girls' football game between juniors and seniors. The "game" took place on Sunday, May 4, 2003, in Chipilly Woods, part of the Cook County Forest Preserve District. Although the annual Powder Puff game was held at the school football stadium in earlier decades, there was no playing of football at the 2003 event. The hazing began as soon as the junior girls arrived. About 20 junior class participants were sat in the middle of a clearing while they were covered in paint, urine, feces, and animal guts. Some were shot with paintball guns, others were kicked and beaten. After it was over, at least five of the participants had injuries requiring medical attention, including one receiving stitches to her head.^[17]

Thirty-one students – twenty-eight females and three males – were suspended from school for 10 days. They were later expelled.^[18] Some of the expelled students and their parents filed a lawsuit because they would then be unable to graduate from school.^[19] The plaintiffs and the school district reached an agreement where the expelled students would have their diplomas mailed to them provided they dropped the lawsuits and did not make any book or movie deals about the incident. Twenty juniors who participated were suspended, though fifteen had their suspensions rescinded after signing an agreement with the school.^[20] Local law enforcement authorities investigated the hazing incident and filed charges against 15 students for assault and battery.^[21][22] Two mothers were charged with providing alcohol for the event. All were convicted and the sentences received were light, ranging from probation to community service.^[23]

A community-wide task force was established by the Northbrook Police Department Community Services Division after the hazing incident.^[24] Their final report stressed the needs for recognizing and preventing hazing incidents.

Glenbrook Academy of International Studies

The Glenbrook Academy of International Studies is a four-year program with students from Glenbrook North and Glenbrook South High Schools. Around 30 freshmen a year elect to attend Academy classes. Founded in 1981 to give students a more unorthodox learning perspective, it covers English, Social Studies, and a foreign language. Each class learns a different foreign language from a rotation of four: Spanish, French, German, and Mandarin Chinese.

Athletics

Glenbrook North is a member of the Central Suburban League. The school is also a member of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA), which sponsors most of the major sport and activity state tournaments in Illinois.

The school sponsors interscholastic teams for young men and women in basketball, cross country, golf, gymnastics, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, volleyball, and water polo. Men may also compete in baseball, football, and wrestling. Women may compete in badminton, cheerleading, and softball. While not sponsored by the IHSA, the school also fields teams for men and women in lacrosse.^[25]

The following teams won their respective IHSA sponsored state championship tournament:^[26]

• Baseball: State Champions 1966, 1974
• Basketball (boys): 2005
• Football: 1974
• Hockey: 2015
• Soccer (boys): 1983
• Swimming & Diving (girls): 1978
• Tennis (boys): 1981, 1999, 2006
• Volleyball (boys): 1993

William Lutz Stadium, which is the home of the Glenbrook North football, lacrosse, track & field and soccer teams, is named in honor of William Lutz, the school's first athletic director.

In 2005, the school became the first large-enrollment high school in Illinois to have won a state championship in each of football, basketball and baseball.^[27]

Glenbrook North's boys basketball team won the 2005 state championship, led by Jon Scheyer, an eventual McDonald's All-American and two-time NCAA national champion player and coach at Duke. The Spartans were coached by Dave Weber, brother of Bruce Weber, current Kansas State men's basketball head coach. Glenbrook North finished the 2004-2005 season with a record of 32-2.

On December 28, 2005, Glenbrook North's basketball program gained national prominence when Jon Scheyer scored 21 points in the final 1:24 of a comeback attempt against Proviso West. The Spartans ultimately fell to Proviso West, 81-76. Scheyer fouled out of the game with under 10 seconds remaining after he was called for a charge. He fell one point short of the Glenbrook North basketball record for most points in a game, scoring 52 points. The record is held by current Northwestern men's basketball head coach Chris Collins, who scored 53 in a game as a student at Glenbrook North. Collins, who at the time coached at Duke, was in attendance at Proviso West when Scheyer scored 52 points. Also in attendance was Mike Krzyzewski, Duke men's basketball head coach.

Glenbrook North Hockey, a club team, won^[28] back to back state titles in 1984 and 1985, the first varsity hockey team in Illinois to do so, and then again in 2007 and 2008. In 2011, 2013 and 2014 the team returned to the title game but lost to the New Trier Trevians. In 2015, Glenbrook North Hockey returned to the title game at the United Center and defeated Benet Academy in overtime, 3-2. The Spartans hockey program has won five Illinois state championships.^[29]

In 2013, senior Brian Ohr won the Class 3A boys golf individual state championship. He shot a 141 between the two rounds. Ohr beat teammate Nick Hardy, who finished third in the tournament. Hardy was the more prominent of the two having led the U.S. Amateur earlier that year. Ohr currently golfs at Miami University while Hardy golfs at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. As a freshman at Illinois in 2014-2015, Hardy won a share of the Big Ten Championship.

The Glenbrook North boys tennis program is considered to be a consistent powerhouse program in the state. It frequently produces state champion-caliber teams, having won three state titles in program history. Glenbrook North's boys tennis program is one of just two in IHSA history to win three state titles with three different coaches. In 1980 and 1981, Dan Weiss won the singles state championship for Glenbrook North. His brother Robby Weiss then won the singles state championship in 1982. Robby Weiss went on to play college tennis at Pepperdine University, where he won the NCAA singles national title. He then played on the ATP Tour as a professional for seven years. In 2002, Ryan Heller won a singles state championship for Glenbrook North. Heller played college tennis at the University of Michigan.

In 2015, seniors Miguel Perez and David Zakhodin completed an undefeated regular season as doubles partners for the boys tennis team. Perez and Zakhodin finished the regular season at 26-0, with wins over each of the top doubles teams in the state, including Deerfield, Highland Park, Stevenson, Lake Forest twice, New Trier and three-time defending state champion Hinsdale Central. Perez and Zakhodin's regular season included a tournament win at the prestigious Hersey Pitchford Invitational. Glenbrook North's No. 1 doubles team had just two matches last a full three sets. On May 30, 2015, Perez and Zakhodin advanced to the IHSA state championship against Deerfield a team they beat during the regular season and in the sectional championship. Perez and Zakhodin were 36-0 together before losing in the state championship. Perez (40-1 as a senior) and Zakhodin (37-1 as a senior) are the winningest players in program history with 128 and 129 career wins, respectively. They chose to be doubles partners as freshmen and played together throughout all four years of high school. At the conclusion of the 2015 state tournament, Zakhodin was awarded the IHSA Tom Pitchford Sportsmanship Award, voted on by coaches around the state.

Notable alumni

• Scott Adsit, 1984, actor/comedian^[30]
• Benjamin Agosto, attended freshman and sophomore years, ice dancing silver medalist at 2006 Winter Olympics.^[31]
• Jeffrey T. Binder, 1983, CEO Layer3 TV (Forbes 2015 Hottest Startups), serial entrepreneur. ^[32]
• Steven D. Binder, 1989, screenwriter, film and television producer^[33]
• Jayne Brook, 1978, actress^[34]
• Chris Collins, 1992, head men's basketball coach for Northwestern University ^[27]
• William A. Edelstein, physicist, developed Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)^[27][34]
• Andy Gabel, Olympic silver medalist in speedskating^[27]
• Frank Galati, 1961, Tony Award–winning writer, director, and actor^[27][34]
• Ken Goldstein, 1987, director, writer, author^[35]
• Anne Henning, 1973, Olympic gold and bronze medalist in speed skating at 1972 Winter Olympics^[27][34]
• John Hughes, 1968, film director and writer (Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, National Lampoon's Vacation, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Home Alone)^[27]
• Zach Kaplan, 1997, CEO of Inventables^[36][37]
• Jason Kipnis, 2005, MLB player for the Cleveland Indians.^[38][39]
• Robert Kurson, 1981, author (Crashing Through, Shadow Divers)^[27]
• Al Lewis, columnist, 1980, Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch.com and The Sunday Wall Street Journal^[40]
• Pat Misch, 1999, Major League Baseball pitcher for the New York Mets^[27]
• Don Ohlmeyer, 1962, television producer and director, former president of NBC^[27][34]
• Leah Poulos-Mueller, 1969, three-time silver medalist in speed skating at 1976 and 1980 Winter Olympics^[34]
• Doug Rader, 1962, Major League Baseball manager and Gold Glove Award-winning third baseman^[27][34]
• Scott Sanderson, 1974, Major League Baseball All-Star pitcher^[27][34]
• Jon Scheyer, 2006, American-Israeli McDonalds All American, All-American basketball player for national champion 2009–10 Duke basketball team^[27][41]
• Ballard F. Smith, president of the San Diego Padres^[27]
• Michael T. Weiss, 1980, actor^[34]

Notable faculty

• Brian James was the varsity boys basketball head coach (1990–1995). He is currently an assistant coach for the Philadelphia 76ers in the National Basketball Association.^[42]
• Vladimir Pyshnenko was the head senior coach for the district-operated Glenbrook Aquatics program. He won a gold medal and two silver medals in swimming at the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics.^[43]

References

External links

• Glenbrook Township High School District 225