Today's Program

Today's program was a Classification talk by Gil.  He discussed his journey from the rural setting of Fox River Grove to the cornfields of Northern Illinois University, to Northwestern University on the shoreline.  He even threw in a quick detour that took him to Colorado.  

 

After graduating from NIU, Gil began his teaching career at, what is now, Cary-Grove HS.  Having played football at NIU, he was tapped to coach in the school's program.  It was while functioning in that capacity that he was confronted with the concern of what to do if one of his players where to injure himself.  

 

One day at school, he noticed a brochure tacked to a bulletin board in the coaches' office advertising a sports training program being offered at Northwestern University.  He decided to enroll in the program and successfully completed it.  After finishing that curriculum, he was presented with a challenge of starting a sports training program at Cary-Grove.  Gil did so, starting the first such program in the surrounding area.  Knowledge of the program spread to other school districts that wanted to know how they could get involved.  This encounter completely changed his life, and ultimately resulted in his returning to Northwestern where he completed their program for Physical Therapy and Orthotics.

 

Who would have guessed that a flyer/brochure hanging on a tap board could so change the life of an individual.  I think I speak for all of us in saying that we're grateful he pursued his dream, and that Ted Wagner invited him to join Rotary.