Memories of Taft HS: What a long, strange trip it’s been

OPINION

by BRIAN NADIG

From heated screaming matches, a power outage, a handful of tense and controversial votes and the LSC chair screaming “there is blood all over this school,” I’ve pretty much have seen and heard it all through covering Taft Local School Council meetings for 37 years.

But one meeting remains fresh. And it involved a mere 10 seconds before the beginning of a meeting.

Those 10 seconds of a meeting, in my mind, summed up the long, somewhat tumultuous journey that took Taft High School from a “rough and tumble” school in the 1980s and 1990s that the community shunned, to a sought-after neighborhood bastion that was increasing home values. Despite its flaws in those days, many graduating classes have felt pride and formed life-long relationships.

So this is a story about change, and not merely pointing out flaws.

First, some history.

With 4,200 students, Taft is one of the fifth largest high schools in Illinois. About 90 percent of those students live in Taft’s attendance area or preference zone.

That’s a far cry from 30 years ago when Taft struggled at times to hit 1,500 students, and that was with the majority of students coming from outside the attendance area.

In the mid-1990s Taft was undergoing change. An influx of overflow students from Foreman High School’s attendance area brought many Hispanic students to Taft, which had a large Black student population then. According to police at the time, Black and Hispanic gangs were fighting. And it was ugly.

At one point, “the powers that be” briefly considered shutting down Taft and turning it into a military academy. That was preceded by discussions in which the LSC had expressed concerns the school had become “a dumping ground” for unwanted students, including some who would arrive with ankle monitoring bracelets because they were under the jurisdiction of the county’s juvenile justice system.

It was OBVIOUSLY NOT extreme like some movies from the 1980s about a collapsing school and a commentary on the school system like the “Class of 1984,” or “The Principal” starring Jim Belushi and the late Louis Gossett Jr.

And violence wasn’t a problem specific to Taft. Other area high schools had their share of problems, with students using locker locks as weapons during fights, or certain wings of a school were “where you shouldn’t go.”

One time at Taft, a bizarre situation occurred. The principal walked in bleeding from his forehead into an LSC meeting, sat down and warned that someone was going to get killed at the school. The principal continued with the meeting, with a wound on his forehead. He had just broken up two gang fights.

So how did Taft get to that point? One thing always stuck in my mind.

In the mid-1990s, the LSC repeatedly asked for a list of after school activities, and finally council members were told the school doesn’t want its students to stay in the building after 3 p.m.

Go home. We don’t want you. You live too far from the school to be interested in after school clubs.

It was the message of a failing school.

In 1998, the school board took notice. A team of advisers, including former principals, was brought in and eventually a new principal, Dr. Arthur Tarvardian, was appointed to Taft.

Students who were never going to graduate were asked to leave the school and many took the offer. At the same time gifted level programs, including a Seventh and Eighth Grade Academic Center and an International Baccalaureate Diploma, were launched at Taft.

It was a slow process, but the community began to take notice.

Now forward to around 2008 and those “10 seconds.”

Tarvardian, with a clear smile, entered an LSC meeting. He obviously wasn’t bleeding from his forehead. He appeared to be singing to himself and dancing. “The school has arrived,” Tarvardian said.

His vision was a school in which students didn’t want to leave at 3 p.m. Taft should be an extension of their family, he said.

On his way to the council meeting at around 6 p.m., the hallways weren’t empty. There were multiple groups of students throughout the building.

Some were rehearsing, as music could be heard. Others were part of study groups, and there also were clubs or sport teams which had completed their competition and were getting ready to leave.

Tarvardian told me once that a successful high school is one in which students want to come to school and don’t want to leave.

This was a clear indication that Taft had become an integral part of the community again.

Then about 7 years ago Taft hit another milestone. It received its own sports stadium.

Then-principal Mark Grishaber even secured a large donation that allowed for lighting. Taft was soon to have “Friday Night Lights.”

Grishaber wanted a neighborhood school that was on par with suburban counterparts — both academically and in sports and other after-school activities.

Longtime LSC member and Taft graduate Jim Del Medico once said there’s no reason why Taft can’t have home football games, as the school he said should be the focal point of Norwood Park, as it once was.

Under current principal Dr. Ryan Glowacz, the school continues to grow and to embrace its community. And he’s pretty much seen and heard it all when it comes to Taft — he graduated from the school 20 years ago, served as a teacher, its athletic director and one of its assistant principals — and now he’s at the helm.

This spring you could go by around 7 or 8 p.m. and see students practicing on the sports field or finishing up a competition.

The sports program is flourishing — as many Taft teams are reaching city championships or competing in state playoffs. The varsity baseball team is just one of many success stories, winning a public league championship recently.

The school year just fittingly concluded with a celebration of sorts. The movie “Grease” was shown on the football field, attracting residents, alumni and current students, the latter of who may not have been as familiar with the “Grease” connection to Taft.

1960 Taft grad Jim Jacobs wrote the Broadway play, which was based on his time at Taft in 1959. One of his cousins was the inspiration for “Danny Zuko,” who was played by John Travolta in the movie version.

Today “Grease” continues to connect Taft to its past. And while the “Pink Ladies,” the “Scorpions,” and the “T-Birds” may have settled the score, Taft is writing its own story again.

A story that once had some tough years but now appears headed to stardom of Broadway once again.

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