August 31, 2010

Tom Bergeron
RivalsHigh Senior Editor

Tom Bergeron is the Senior Editor for RivalsHigh.com. Send ideas, questions or comments to TBergero@Yahoo-Inc.com and follow on Twitter.

And the marching band doesn't perform instrumental versions of "Panama" or "Jump" at halftime.

But if you're looking for the original School of Rock, head out to Vernon Hills (Ill.) High, home of one of the most surprising high school football logos in the land.

When the players take the field, they do so with a version of the famous "VH" symbol for the band Van Halen on their helmets and uniforms.

That's right, call them Van Halen High. Many have since the school opened in 2001.

"I was looking for something that when people saw our helmet, they would know it was Vernon Hills football," Tony Monken, the only football coach the school has ever had, said.

Monken, 47, admits he's a big Van Halen fan (and David Lee Roth over Sammy Hagar if you want to know), but says the band never entered his mind when he initially started thinking about a helmet logo.

School of Rock

Vernon Hills has been called Van Halen High for a long time. For more on Vernon Hills and other Chicago suburb teams visit our media partner PioneerLocal.com

But then, a Van Halen song started to play, so he turned to his brother with a crazy idea. Within minutes, he had sketched out a logo that was essentially Van Halen with just a touch of Virginia Tech.

The idea was embraced by school officials and the community - but Monken wanted to make sure the band was OK with it. Or rather, that the band's lawyers were OK with it.

"We were getting ready to put it on our helmets and uniforms when I said, 'Hold it, let's check to make sure this is OK before we get a letter saying we can't use this,'" he said.

So he wrote a letter to the band's label, Warner Brothers, and got a letter back saying the band was cool with it. (Really, you expected something else from Van Halen?)

"It was real nice letter," Monken said. "We still have it."

The symbol was immediately recognizable and a big hit in the area.

"Van Halen High," Monken said. "We heard that all the time."

And for a while, he admits, the school did play into the idea, allowing the band's music to be part of its identity.

"We played some of their stuff during the pregame warmups," Monken said.

The parents still embrace the connection, but it's faded a bit for the kids over the years.

"I grew up with them, I love their stuff, but we let the kids use their music now," Monken said. "I don't make them listen to my music."

They may not recognize it if he did. After all, many of the band's biggest hits came more than a decade before many of the current students were born.

Who knows, before long, Vernon Hills may have a new nickname: School of Classic Rock.

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