Corinne Chin
Co-Features Editor

Glenbrook South–it’s the home of the mighty Titans, but it is also the home of frozen clocks, mismatched carpeting, and bright blue lockers that don’t quite fit into the wall.

Yes, GBS may seem a little ramshackle these days, but that’s because our dear school is in the process of evolving. With the referendum voted to approval last spring, grand improvements are being implemented at South in front of our eyes.

However, this year’s project is neither the first nor the largest addition that the school has undergone. From its humble beginnings in 1962 to the present day, GBS has been constantly evolving.

Initial transformations

The first wave of change in the 1970s hailed the birth of student activities. The greenhouse took root, the art department was constructed, and the music wing began to take shape (albeit a far cry from today’s sparkling white band, orchestra, and choir rooms).

With the computer’s worldwide cotillion in the 1980s, the school began to modernize. Department labs were created in the 80s. In 1988, construction brought South a fieldhouse and an additional academic wing.

Changes gained momentum in the 1990s and 2000s. So many construction projects have since taken place that they are difficult to keep track of.

Despite being band director for 24 years, Greg Wojcik said, “When I took the freshmen on a tour of the school after the major construction in 2002, they had to help me get back to the band room because I got lost.”

Only one thing in GBS, Wojcik said, is the same today as it was three decades ago.

“The clocks didn’t work back in 1979, and they still don’t work today!”

Beyond construction

However, South’s evolution has occurred in more than just brick and mortar.

“There have certainly been changes in the student body. There is more diversity–more Asian, more Eastern European, for example–than when I started here,” noted Paul Burkhardt, who has been working in the Dean’s Office for 18 years (and for three principals). “Faculty and staff are much younger now. It seems like half the faculty is probably under 30. I’ve even had some former students who graduated, went to college, came back, and are now on the faculty. That’s a lot of fun.”

However, one thing remains constant.

“It’s a very friendly, open place, and I enjoy being here and hope to be here for many years after this.”

Musical memories

Burkhardt is not the only one to retain fond memories. Carl Meyer, orchestra director of 28 years, stood in his new orchestra room recalling memories from the old room. He reminisced about one snow day in January 1997.

“I was snowed in my office doing some work. The principal called me, and he said, `We’d like you to play for the president.’ I laughed. I thought he was kidding.”

The former principal, Dave Smith, was not joking. Former President Bill Clinton had been invited to speak at the Glenbrooks as part of the First in the World Symposium–the schools had received the top test scores in the world for math and science.
Meyer said, “It was very exciting. We had to go through metal detectors and bomb sniffing dogs to see if there were any bombs or weapons in the instrument cases. It was just fascinating to be behind the scenes. I knew where the armed sharpshooters wereº and this was all right before Clinton’s scandal had broken.”