Originally published March 25, 1994.
The 1993-94 school year marks the 30th anniversary of Wheeling High School. This story is the second in a series focusing on WHS history. The second decade brought just as much excitement to the school as the first. WHS’ crosstown rival, Buffalo Grove, opened in 1974-75. This was also the year the library reopened after the devastating fire on June 9, 1974.
The New Dawns recorded an album this year entitled “Happy Together” to fund a six-day trip to California.
In the 1975-76 school year, WHS, along with the rest of the nation, celebrated the bicentennial of our country. The WHS Marching Band participated in the festivities by being designated by Gov. Dan Walker as the official bicentennial band of Illinois after they performed in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The year 1976-77 brought along another first for Wheeling High School. Donkey Basketball made its debut this year. The Chicago Bears also made an appearance at the school when they played against WHS faculty. The staff at WHS did not only take on the Bears.
The next year, 1977-78, the faculty challenged the Chicago Cubs to a game of basketball and lost. All of the proceeds from this game were used to build the weight room. A first for this year in the academic area was the addition of co-educational gym classes.
The blizzard of ’79 came to be known as the worst snowstorm in WHS history. The storm gave students and staff four days off and caused the roof of Carson’s in Randhurst to cave in. On a happier note, the WHS Marching Band became the first Illinois band to march in the Macy’s Parade during Thanksgiving break in New York City.
1979-80 was a very good year for girls’ sports at Wheel- ing. Girls’ cross country took their season all the way to win- ning the state meet and became the first state champions for WHS. The girls’ volleyball team also did extremely well by winning the Mid-Suburban League champion title.
“These were the best years for WHS gymnastics. Between 1974 and 1984, there were 199 wins and 32 losses. The team also finished in the top five at state four times,” Dave Watters,
former gymnastics coach, said.
Nov. 20, 1980, brought much chaos to WHS. A water main located above the stage in the Robert E. Sang Theater broke, flooding the theater with 5000 gallons of water. The damage was not very much despite the fact that the water reached the tenth row of seats.
The school year 1981-82 also brought destruction to WHS. The press box in the football stadium was destroyed by a fire that also damaged the center of the bleachers, scoreboard wires, and disconnected all of the power in the surrounding area. The class of 1982 donated money as its class gift to rebuild the press box and repair the damages.
Fortunately 1982-83 school year did not bring as much dam- age to the campus. This was much to the disappointment of the 1983 seniors. They tried to back up WHS pipelines by flushing all of the toilets at the same time. This prank failed.
The 1983-84 Homecoming weeks brought long-awaited excitement to WHS. Wild football finally defeated Buffalo Grove High School at the rival’s homecoming. During WHS homecoming week, senior Daren Talken broke a school record by swallowing 69 goldfish. This year also gave seniors the option to buy a video yearbook. Student operated cameras were at all school functions. “There’s never been a bad day. I’ve liked Wheeling High School since the day I walked in until today,” Dennis Toll, social studies teacher, said.