There are more than 60 coaches who assist in numerous sports, but don’t teach classes here at LHS. Although these head and assistant coaches aren’t constantly at the school, they make big impacts in our community.
REED CHRISTENSEN
Many of us know the Christensen Clan, consisting of Madi, Demmi, Callie, Tori, Sofia and Luke, all different ages, some attending LHS now and some alumni from LHS. Reed Christensen keeps the Clan strong by staying involved here at Libertyville after graduating from here in ‘94.
His primary job is teaching P.E. and Driver’s Ed at Mundelein High School, but he also makes time to coach sophomore and varsity football and has been assisting for three years now.
His large family takes up a lot of his time with his four children, two boys and two girls, ages 4, 6, 8 and 10. With the constant activity in the household, Christensen said he usually just “[spends] time with family, go[es] to church, and…[just] go[es] to my kid’s sporting events. If I’m not coaching, basically I’m watching them.”
TOM CARLUCCI
Carlucci kneels with his youngest son, Joey.
Carlucci has been coaching baseball and basketball since 2002. As a 14-year veteran coach for Little League and JCats Basketball, a feeder program for the Libertyville Basketball program, Tom Carlucci is well known in the community.
“I’ve got three sons so two of my boys played baseball, Luke and Nick, and my youngest [,Joey,] plays baseball but he’s only 10,” Carlucci explained.
However, it doesn’t just end at coaching for Carlucci; he also owns his own business, Integra Print and Data Services, Inc.. The business focuses on marketing plans for other companies as well as print production.
JEFF McKENZIE
After retiring from his dean position here at LHS in 2011, McKenzie worked for security for two years, until 2013, but currently he coaches girls and boys junior varsity soccer. He’s been coaching soccer since 1981, with the occasional break to coach his three sons when they attended Antioch High School. However, he’s not just tied to soccer. He’s coached track, swimming and basketball in the past.
He explained that “[it’s] nice being retired, to have the opportunity to just kind of make decisions…The main thing I’m doing right now to keep my time is I’m president of my church congregation,” McKenzie said. The church frequently does roadtrips to view major landmarks, and they have visited Graceland and the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, TN, Vicksburg, a national military park in Mississippi, and in June, they are visiting Machu Picchu in Peru.
JENNY SMITH
Ellie, Smith’s dog, sits guard at the Barkery’s door.
The Prospect High School alumna attended Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis. While attending Carthage, she ran track and field and played volleyball all four years. She started her coaching career while she was still attending college in 2004 for a small school in Mt. Prospect. Post graduation, she began coaching for Rolling Thunder, a club volleyball team, and soon after, she obtained an assistant women’s volleyball coaching position at Elgin Community College.
She began coaching in District 128 in 2008, acting as the assistant coach for Libertyville’s girls varsity volleyball team, and she also coached the boys volleyball team for Vernon Hills High School. Smith explained that she gained new responsibility when she “was announced [as] the Head Coach for boys [varsity] volleyball at LHS last year” and on top of that, she owns and manages Bentley’s Corner Barkery on Milwaukee Avenue, which opened two years ago,
with her husband.
Smith said that “after the old pet store downtown shut down, there seemed to be need for a nice place to help educate customers on the product they were buying for their four legged friends.” She explained that “the barkery specializes in nutrition” and said that dog and cat foods containing corn, wheat, soy and any product made in China aren’t healthy for your pets, ingredients that Bentley’s doesn’t have.
Aside from coaching volleyball and tending to the Barkery, Smith believes that “volunteering is a huge part of being a well rounded and happy adult.” She participates in Feed My Starving Children with family, in REI service projects, where she helps “create more ‘regionally appropriate’ parks” by eradicating invasive species and constructing trails to walk on, and also plans on volunteering for Phil’s Friends Pack, which provides care packages for cancer patients.
DAN HENNEBERRY
Henneberry (right) carries his daughter, Harper, in his arms with wife, Lindsay, by his side.
Dan Henneberry’s a man of many skills. He currently coaches two sports at Libertyville — head freshman boys lacrosse and assistant coach for varsity football — as well as junior high wrestling at Oak Grove School.
Many people have known Henneberry since middle school. Some got to know of him through sports and other got to know him during his local band’s, Henneberry, performances.
Henneberry explained that the band formed after he and the other members of the band graduated from Libertyville in ’96. He said that “[it] was after we had kind of gone away and come back. We hooked up on the karaoke circuit and that’s kind of how it started.”
But his responsibilities don’t stop there. Henneberry also teaches 4th grade classes at Oak Grove, he works part time at Mickey Finn’s and he and his wife, Lindsay, have recently welcomed a new addition to the family, a 6-month-old daughter named Harper.
