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Teacher by day, clerk by night
Jerome Hoynes is a Glenbrook North High School social studies teacher and New Trier Township clerk. The student-created flag mosaic memorial from 9/11 looms impressively near the GBN social studies faculty offices. | Karie Angell Luc~for Sun-Times Media
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Updated: April 15, 2013 6:18AM
“It’s a metallic green Camaro,” said Glenbrook North High School social studies teacher Jerome Hoynes of his car of choice for his work commute from Winnetka.
“It’s unique,’ he said of that doll of a 2011 Chevy model. “It makes driving a pleasure, it really does ...”
GBN students might be jealous of that cool cat beind the wheel.
“Well, I’ve never been cool,” he said. “As a social studies teacher, I wear a lanyard.”
Then again, there’s more to the man behind the lanyard. In 2009, he was elected New Trier Township Clerk. Hoynes began his public service as a college student when he was appointed and then elected as alderman on the Eureka, Ill. City Council. His New Trier Township role assists residents in Glenview, Glencoe, Winnetka, Wilmette, Northfield and Kenilworth.
Teaching is a passion with an emphasis on world affairs.
“I do feel privileged to be a social studies teacher,” said Hoynes, who grew up in Winnetka. “Every day I come in here and get to try and convince students to be more curious about the world, about Chicagoland, about issues that are happening in this country.”
Meet Jerome Hoynes, a 1985 New Trier H.S. graduate who attended Crow Island School, also Carleton Washburne School in Winnetka.
Q. So Jerome, what’s it like being a teacher by day and a clerk by night?
A. I love it. These jobs fit together perfectly. It’s been a real great match, both a clerk and a social studies teacher. Many of the functions that the clerk does are supported by (similar functions of a social studies teacher). As a clerk, we take the minutes of the meetings, we record the history, we preserve or secure the history of our township. After all, the township has been around for 162 years. It’s really neat to have that responsibility to be in charge of our records. We just got a new bookshelf to display our old history books which, when you think about it, they were debating issues of building roads, who’s going to take care of the dogs in town, back in 1850. So I have custody of all of those record books at the township office. Prior to the Village of Winnetka, and Glencoe and Wilmette having their own governments, the township served as the first government for the residents in the area.
Q. So you have to get to know more than Winnetka and expand your boundaries?
A. One of the nicest things about growing up in Winnetka, you always feel like you’re from Winnetka but you’re also from New Trier. It’s a very unique thing. New Trier Township, I think, more so than maybe any other township, has this unity between identifying as somebody who lives in New Trier and in Winnetka, Wilmette or Kenilworth. There’s always been that bond.
Q. Are you having a good life? Are you blessed?
A. Absolutely. I’ve always felt that way. I felt like I was born under a lucky star. I’m the baby of six kids. And I’ve always felt lucky to have the benefit of my family, the schools that I attended, the teachers that I had, the support that I had. I feel blessed. Truly I’m blessed.
