Dist. 214 Centennial Celebration this weekend
Northwest Suburban High School District 214 is celebrating its 100th anniversary this weekend with three days full of events for staff, students, alumni and the community.
District 214 was established by a referendum in 1914, though it took eight years of legal battles before the district's first high school - Arlington High - opened in 1922.
The celebration starts with a ceremony before Thursday's board of education meeting to honor former superintendents, principals and board members.
From 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday there will be fine arts showcase featuring vocal, instrumental, dance, speech, drama performances and visual arts displays from students across the district. Students from the district's culinary arts programs will make refreshments to be served during the event.
Then, starting at 10:30 a.m. Saturday is the Centennial Classic - an all day event where the varsity boys and girls basketball teams from every District 214 school will compete. The day will also include music from various pep bands and a video tribute to a century of athletic excellence at District 214.
"When we were planning what we were going to do we knew that showcasing the talents of our students would be the perfect way to be relevant, but also show where we came from, where we've been and where we're going as a district," said Erin Brooks, assistant director of community engagement and outreach.
All Centennial Celebration events are free and open to the public.
A two-room historical display will also be open to the public from 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, at Forest View Educational Center, Brooks said.
"It will allow you to literally walk through the District 214 story," she said, describing the memorabilia, yearbooks and old photos that will be on display.
A committee has been planning the district's centennial celebration for more than a year, Brooks said.
"It's a celebration of our first 100 years and anticipation of the next 100 years and well beyond that," she said. "We wanted to make sure it was an opportunity to look back together at all we've done."
District 214 is the second largest high school district in Illinois, educating more than 12,000 students each year across six high schools and three alternative programs in the Northwest suburbs.
"100 years of doing what this district has done educating students is amazing," said Bill Dussling, school board president. "We're proud of all the graduates we've had who have just done marvelous things everywhere you look."
Dussling said he is always happy to hear the successes of alumni and talk to families who have moved back to the area just to have their students in District 214 schools.
"It's humbling to be involved with an institution like this," he said. "We are focusing on today what we have always focused on, educating students to the highest ability that we can."
Marking 100 years is a milestone, not an endpoint, he said.
"We're still doing it and we're not stopping anytime soon," Dussling said.