Back to school: ABC7's John Garcia goes back to Streamwood High School

STREAMWOOD, Ill. (WLS) -- We're celebrating the start of a new school year here at ABC7.

Several of our colleagues are proud products of local schools in the area.

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Our own John Garcia takes us to his high school in the northwest suburbs.

They have an alumni hallway at Streamwood High School, including blurbs about some of the school's graduates over the years, including this ABC7 reporter.

I was part of the inaugural class of students when the school first opened in 1978. The sign welcoming visitors to Streamwood High School was a gift from my class. My class even got to vote on the school's nickname...the Sabres.

"We always want to make sure that students can also see where people who have been in their same shoes, walked the same halls are now in their own professional careers," principal Paige Moran said.

I remain grateful to the career teachers and coaches who had a profound impact on me. And while they are now retired, I am still in touch with several of them, including the choir teacher who chose me for the swing choir, despite my two left feet.

Garcia: "The fact I made the show choir wasn't because of my talent."

Retired choir teacher Suzanne Smentowski: We were looking for male voices for sure,"

Garcia: "So that was a my only qualification. (Laugh)."

While choir was fun, I also enjoyed sports including track. But also football and basketball. Kerry Sund was my coach. I was one of the thousands of students he coached and taught in his 37-year career.

"You were determined to be a sports announcer and you ended up being a great TV announcer," Sund said.

After spending hundreds of hours training on this track in high school, my aspiration was to become a professional runner. Clearly that didn't work out, but it did leave me with a lot of great memories.