Wheaton North honors 50 years of tradition

The split of Wheaton Community High School into Wheaton Central High School and Wheaton North High School in 1964 came with a fair amount of acrimony.

The new Wheaton North High School geographically divided the community for the first time, with 450 students sent to the new school, away from the history and accomplishments generations of their relatives traced back to the one high school setup the community enjoyed for nearly 100 years.

"We had no traditions," said Roger Heaton, a member of the first Wheaton North graduating class. "There were no trophy cases. There were no trophies. It was an empty school. We were going to try to make Wheaton North the best school in Illinois."

Fifty years later, Heaton was one of more than 200 alumni to return to Wheaton North this weekend to see what had become of the legacy they'd left behind.

Current students, numbering about 2,200, opened doors and greeted alumni with a "Welcome back to Wheaton North" as they entered the commons area. A statue of a large falcon sitting atop the world gazes down at all who cross the threshold. There were more than trophy cases. On the wall were the names of all alumni who served in the military including 2002 alum Robert James Miller, a U.S. Army staff sergeant who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 2010.

Banners advertised a plethora of clubs and student organizations. Photos of plays splayed across tables. A video montage of students throughout the years glowed down from flat-screen monitors high on the walls. To current Principal Matt Biscan, those amenities aren't contributions to the building. They are the memories that form the foundation of the high school experience.

"When you graduate, you don't necessarily remember all the content that was taught," Biscan told alumni who gathered Saturday to tour the school. "You do remember the relationship you had with teachers, how they treated you, how they taught, the peer groups that you ran with. That's what high school is."

The tours marked just one in a four-day series of 50th anniversary events for alumni, beginning with burgers and beers Thursday night at the Wheaton VFW. The hallmark event was to be the all-class "prom" at the Oscar Swan Country Inn Bed & Breakfast in Geneva Saturday night.

Heaton said the highlight for him has been interacting with current students and seeing what kind of people the current version of his alma mater is forming them into.

"The most important tradition, to me, is the sharing and the caring that the students have for the faculty and the respect of the administration back and forth," Heaton said. "Any hope, every dream that we had (for future classes) has more than come true."