Glenbrook South's Danny Hood: 'I think the possibilities are kind of endless'

Danny Hood wasn't always president material.

A perfect representative for Glenbrook South High School's Class of 2021, he adapted and grew over four years to become president of GBS' Student Council Executive Board.

A true student-athlete - a two-time National Honor Society member accepted into the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, and a 6-foot-1, 200-pound ace right-hander for the Titans' baseball team - Hood was mature enough at even a young age to recognize where he desired to go and seek guidance from those who had been there.

"As a freshman I didn't really consider myself ever taking on as much as I did senior year, only because I didn't see myself having the personality that others did that I kind of looked up to, those seniors who did multiple activities," Hood said.

"I didn't think my personality mirrored those and the ambitions that they had. Now it's definitely different considering I do a lot, which I'm very proud of, and I do think my personality mirrors those who I once looked up to, and still look up to."

As a kid brother will be, Hood was inspired in part by his older sibling and Declan Hood's sports-minded buddies.

As Danny grew more confident in himself, he emulated 2019-20 Executive Board President Sunny Choi. Hood still keeps in touch with Choi, now at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. In Hood's junior year, he defied shyness to join Glenbrook South's student government.

"He definitely helped me out a ton because he's an amazing person," Hood said of Choi. "He kind of opened me up to the possibilities high school had to offer."

Outside of baseball, for Hood that meant being sports director of Glenbrook South's radio station, WGBK 88.5 FM, on the tutoring committee of the Titan Learning Center, a student assistant director for the school's Variety Show, a Peer Group mentor, and part of the Titan Nation pep club.

A Glenview Optimist Club Citizenship Award winner after his sophomore year, Hood is an Illinois Student Assistance Commission 2021-22 state scholar, a Glenbrook Scholar, a commended student in the 2020-21 National Merit Scholar Program, and he's earned an Illinois State Seal of Biliteracy for Spanish.

That Optimist Club honor was suitable.

"I always try to create a positive environment," Hood said of his work with, and on behalf of, Glenbrook South students. "Even if they want to talk for hours, I try to make a positive influence on them and make their lives for the better."

That was a full-time job as the 2019-20 campaign ended with a thud and morphed into a panicky 2020-21.

Hood used the words, "different" and "heartbreaking" to evaluate a school year that inherited a pandemic and didn't return to much normalcy until the district offered in-person learning following winter break.

"Knowing that Glenbrook South is a school of unity and resilience, I knew that the administration would find a way to not only help students but give everybody that feeling that we lost when we heard about COVID and all the shut downs," said Hood, to be succeeded as Executive Board president by Tomoki Imura.

Preferring in-person learning "any day of the week," Hood said his personal attendance depended upon whether or not his teachers were in the classroom. The highlight of his school year came when it was announced students would be allowed back in the classroom.

"I was just ecstatic to say the least, because we were assuming the worst," he said.

Following his own path of innovation and adjustment, Hood commended the Student Council members who helped create an "amazing" senior prom, who improvised on homecoming, Spring Fling and the school Food Drive.

At the ballpark, he was heartened by the increased numbers of people attending Titans games, culminating in a sectional championship appearance at Prospect.

The return to campus provided a new lease on high school life.

"Oh, 100 percent, we were on the incline as soon as we heard that news," Hood said.

"It provided a glimpse of hope, in a sense. It helped increase everyone's spirit. It gave us the energy that we needed to treat e-learning and keep pushing through the hybrid. We knew that more opportunities would be available once hybrid started.

"I'm just very proud of Glenbrook South for the way they handled it. They found a way to make a positive out of so many negative things," Hood said.

A sports phrase, finishing strong could describe Hood's high school career, those of his classmates, and the 2020-21 term itself.

Like Hood taking a plunge he couldn't imagine as an underclassman, now it's all out there in front of them.

"I think the possibilities are kind of endless," he said.