Belvidere High School (Illinois)

1967 tornado On the afternoon of April 21, 1967, an F4 tornado struck the school, killing 13 students and staff, tossing buses as students were being dismissed. The tornado was part of the 1967 Oak Lawn tornado outbreak. It was the sixth worse loss of life at an American school as a result of tornadoes, and the worst since 1955. To mark the 50th anniversary of the tragedy, a memorial to the lives lost in the tornado was erected in front of Belvidere High School in 2017. ==Athletics==

Belvidere competes in the Northern Illinois Conference (NIC-10), and is a member of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA). Teams are stylized as the Bucs (a shortening of Buccaneers). BHS Sports: Football, Poms, Cheerleading, Basketball, Dance, Baseball, Tennis, Bowling, Track & Field, Soccer, Softball, Golf, Volleyball, Swimming, and Cross Country. The school won back–to–back state championships in football in the autumns of 1993 and 1994. The Bucs branding is also carried over to Belvidere South Middle School. ==Notable alumni==

• Jeanne Gang ’82, award-winning architect, founder of Studio Gang Architects, and designer of the world's two tallest skyscrapers designed by a woman, Aqua and the St. Regis Chicago • William James Hurlbut, artist, playwright, and screenwriter • Bessie Leach Priddy, educator, social reformer, clubwoman, and leader of the Delta Delta Delta women's fraternity ==References==