History of the SA Hall: from jocks to blocks

The raised platforms in the blocks were a popular place for upperclassmen to hang out from the 1980’s to the mid-2000’s. The underclassmen sat farther down the hall. Source: GBN Alumna.
The raised platforms in the blocks were a popular place for upperclassmen to hang out from the 1980’s to the mid-2000’s. The underclassmen sat farther down the hall. Source: GBN Alumna.
In 2008, the SAC was constructed and the upperclassmen have made it their own hangout,  although it was not intended to be that way. Photo by Jessica Lee.
In 2008, the SAC was constructed and the upperclassmen have made it their own hangout, although it was not intended to be that way. Photo by Jessica Lee.

To the sound of the first bell, the buzz of collective chatter down the SA Hall gives way to a cacophony of rifling papers and see-you-laters as students hastily zip their bags and shuffle off to class. For many students, the SA Hall has been just a go-to place to socialize and relax before finally being able to enter the upperclassmen-dominated SAC. Yet for a certain pair of Glenbrook North alumni, the SA Hall, now deemed “the blocks,” has meant much more.

“There’s a story where [a couple] dated [at GBN] and ended up getting married,” said Robin Sheperd, alumna  (‘92) and current social studies teacher. “[The couple came back], and he proposed to her in the blocks.”

Before the addition of the SAC in 2008, groups of students claimed different areas in the hallways as their own place to socialize, with divides initially based on extracurriculars. As time passed, the students switched to divisions by grade.

According to Karen Cunningham, alumna (‘84) and current English teacher, the two main areas where students socialized during her time at GBN were the SA Hall, nicknamed “jock hall,” and the cafeteria hall, nicknamed “freak hall,” with both hallways lined with benches.

“In the SA Hall, it was sport-os and more like the jocks and really involved kids,” said Cunningham. “In the cafeteria hall, it was more … the burnout-type kids that were less involved.”

According to Cunningham, the administration sought to close the derogatorily-named “freak hall” and stop its tradition of students throwing pennies at freshmen as they walked through by removing the seating and making it a no-loitering, closed hallway.

Sheperd said when she came to GBN in 1987, all students socialized in the SA Hall, making it extremely crowded.

In the mid-1980s, GBN administration installed a foot-high platform fitted in the indented area of the east end of the SA Hall, where sophomores primarily socialize today. Atop the platform stood two large, carpet-covered wooden blocks that could seat several people and be moved around.

Superintendent Mike Riggle said the platform was added to regulate hallway traffic.

“Students could walk by … and those that wanted to talk could step up on the platform and be out of the way,” Riggle said.

Sheperd said the platform became known as the “senior blocks,” despite sophomores, juniors and seniors all standing on it. Following the unwritten rule created by older students, freshmen avoided the platform and resided near the middle of the SA Hall in front of Student Services, with that area getting the nickname of “freshmen blocks,” despite there being no blocks.

Sheperd said five wooden blocks identical to the ones in the senior blocks were soon added to the freshmen blocks in 1989, spelling “NORTH” with one letter printed on each block.

“It was sort of like everybody has something,” said Sheperd. “I remember there was an assembly where the Comedy Troupe did a skit about people walking down the hall and then just tripping, and then starting to walk again and then [tripping] because of the five blocks [in the middle of the hallway].”

By the time Aimee Wool, alumna (‘99) and current social studies teacher, started school, she said the senior blocks had transformed into a strictly-upperclassmen area.

“[As an underclassman], you do not go there,” said Wool. “You do not step up on that ledge, and when you walk by them, you just keep your head down and keep walking.”

Alumna Maura Levit (‘06) said the platform was even more exclusive for her grade because only seniors were allowed on the senior blocks, yet she still views them positively.

“When I think about the blocks, I think about my social life in high school,” said Levit. “That’s when I did all the talking, gossiping. … One time, I got called out of class, [claiming] I had a doctor’s appointment, and then I saw my teacher walk by while I was sitting at the blocks.”

According to Riggle, it was this social aspect of the blocks that caused a handicapped student to approach Riggle, who was then the principal, about the senior blocks in the mid-2000s.

“He said [to me], ‘I really don’t feel comfortable because I want to talk with my friends, but they’re up on the blocks, and I can’t get up there,’” Riggle said.

Riggle said he did not like that there was a part of the school a wheelchair-bound student could not access. With construction already scheduled that summer to add new carpeting to the SA Hall, he saw it as the “perfect opportunity” to remove the platform and tattered “NORTH” blocks as well. The following school year, the student response was an “uproar.”

“They felt that we had taken away their ability to be seniors,” said Riggle. “One senior girl, very upset about it, said, ‘I have waited three years to get my position up on that platform so I could look down on the underclassmen.’ And I thought, ‘Wow, I’m really glad I took those out.’”

During the construction of the SAC, the few remaining blocks in the platformless senior blocks were removed. However, the nickname “the blocks” stuck for the SA Hall.

Michael Tarjan, assistant principal of student activities, said once the juniors and seniors shifted over to the SAC, the sophomores took over the previous “senior area” in the indent of the hallway, and freshmen remained in the middle of the SA Hall.

“The [SAC] was built to get everyone together, but I get it,” said Tarjan. “It’s high school. There’s an unsaid hierarchy. The seniors just got there first.”