TERRY COLUMN: Glacier's elite running out of room

The Glacier High School Wall of Fame has a growing problem.

It’s running out of wall.

The space, which adorns the wall opposite the trophy cases in the hallway outside of the school gym, is running short after an unanticipated run of success in the school’s first eight years.

“When we met as a committee to come up with the criteria, we calculated it out and thought it will take 20 years to fill up the wall,” Glacier principal Callie Langohr said. “The criteria’s so high. Glacier got on a roll when we opened and it hasn’t stopped.

“We have this wonderful wall of incredible students from Glacier. It’s a dream come true. We had no idea.”

The school constructed a strict set of rules to be inducted to the Wall of Fame. In order to qualify, a student must be an individual state champion, be named first team all-state in a sport, earn all-Northwest in music, the Founders Degree in theater or receive 12 varsity letters. That student must then check off two of the following: holding a leadership role on student council or another student club, letter in multiple activities, be a member of a state championship team or finish the season as academic all-state, finishing with a grade point average of 3.5 or above.

The requirements, which necessitate that a student isn’t just good at activities, but also at the academic life of being a high-school student, were thought to be tough enough that school officials planned for only about four or five students a year to meet the marks.

The strict requirements have kept out some of the more notable athletes to adorn navy and green, including a few state champions and record setters.

The wall, which stretches most of the hallway, is stacked three deep and has enough space for 97 plaques. It would be 99 save for a light switch and fire alarm positioned in the way.

At four or five students a year, the expanse would be plenty to last a few decades.

That plan lasted for a few years.

The school inducted nine in first class in 2009, encapsulating the first two years of the school following the first graduating class. Four more were inducted in 2010.

Then 16 former students were inducted in 2011. In 2013 there were 25 and this year 21 were inducted.

Now seven years into the process, there are 92 student-athletes adorning the wall, and just five spots left to fill.

“A couple of years ago someone made a comment to me that Glacier is a school that never sleeps,” Langohr said.

“This really shows that. These kids have gone after it since the first days we opened the doors. This is a testament to it. All walks. You have people that have been tennis players, football players, theater. We have everything on this wall.”

While it may not have been part of the original plan, the next class is likely to jump to a nearby wall, hopping across a doorway leading to more classrooms and running until the nearby exit. In the future, the permanent plaques may be replaced by a monitor that rotates the faces and accomplishments of the many high achievers that have walked through the doors of Kalispell’s newest high school.

“These kids have gone on to do incredible things in college and in work,” Langhor said. “They haven’t stopped.”

While the wall may have stopped, it’s good to know that there’s still plenty of space to celebrate some of the area’s best.