Niles Township High School North - Saga Yearbook (Skokie, IL)

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VOLUME XIX NILES NORTH HIGH SCHOOL SKOKIE, ILLINOIS, 60077 CO-EDITORS DENISE LAU FRANK SUGINO

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Thirty-Five Years Of Dedication Dedication. This one word de- scribed Dr. Wesley Gibbs perfectly, for who was more dedicated to education during the past thirty- five years? Dr. Gibbs graduated from Stein- metz High School, received his B.A. Degree from Chicago Teachers Col- lege, his M.A. Degree from DePaul University, and his Ph.D. from Northwestern University. Dr. Gibbs is not retiring from his life-long vocation which started at Sharp Corners School, Skokie, Illi- nois. in 1948 where he was a math and science teacher. Dr. Gibbs then became the superintendent of elementary school district 68 in 1953, where he had to struggle to balance the increasing enrollment with the resources of the district. He had a hand in shaping every as- pect of the district's physical edu- cational growth. In 1970 he be- came the superintendent of our Niles Township's District 219. Some important aspects of Dr. Gibbs ’ job were to insure that the schools met state requirements in number of school days, length of students' schedule during school, and teaching the constitution. An- other important job that he per- formed was translating the school board's wishes (as representatives of the community) into school poli- cy, which Dr. Gibbs then adminis- tered. This often made him the fo- cus of communication between the community and the school adminis- tration. Dr. Gibbs opened alternative schools within the district which re- sulted in a significant decrease in the rate of student drop outs in the system. In 1970 Gibbs re- vamped the district's administra- tive structure and adopted a sys- tem for allowing lower level manag- ers to control their own budgets - an idea that subsequently was adopted by other school districts throughout the state. Looking at the enrollment studies of the past five years Gibbs clearly saw that they predicted disastrous enroll- ment drops. He subsequently guid- ed the orderly closing of Niles East (the first high school in the state forced to contend with the com- mon problem) in 1980 and consoli- dation to a two-school district. He also oversaw the assigning and re- locating of teachers and adminis- trators. Besides his duties within our dis- trict, Dr. Gibbs holds memberships in ten educational or administrative organizations. He was awarded the National School Library Award in 1968 and again in 1970 for his or- ganization of the Old Orchard Ju- nior High School library. He repre- sented the district for the Illinois government and was involved with legislative work concerning the schools. Dr. Gibbs' activities in- volved him in the presidency of the Rotary Club, the Executive Board of MONACEP, the vice-presidency of the Inter-Suburban League, and as a member of the district's Curricu- lum Council and the Educational Programming Advisory Committee (EPAC). These additional services represented his commitment to the schools, and their students. It is to Dr. Gibbs, for his many years serving our school district and the field of education in gener- al, to whom this book is dedicated. I have a missionary zeal about public education because it Is terribly Important and worthwhile. I've welcomed the opportunities to use my Influence to help the students. Education Is too important to take for granted. My Job Is to assure that every student gets the best possible education we can provide. Dr. Wesley Gibbs • 1980