Brent Johnston spent 34 years teaching driver education and coaching four sports at Hinsdale Central High School. On Thursday, Sept. 17, the school will formally thank him for it.

Johnston is one of four inductees in the Hinsdale Central Foundation's 2026 Hall of Fame class, joining William Robert "Bob" Clark, Adam T. King, and Dr. Michael M. Kuhn. The induction dinner runs from 6 to 10 p.m. at Butterfield Country Club in Oak Brook, kicking off Homecoming week one night before the Red Devils host Downers Grove South on Dickinson Field.

Johnston arrived at Hinsdale Central in 1975 and taught physical education and driver education while coaching football, basketball, gymnastics, and girls' track. In the early 1980s he took over the driver education department, a role he held for his final 20 years at the school.

His influence extended well beyond the building. As president and legislative task force co-chair of the Illinois High School and College Driver Education Association, Johnston helped shape state laws on primary seat belt enforcement, Graduated Driver Licensing, zero tolerance for drivers under 21, and the .08 blood-alcohol standard.

He also led Hinsdale Central's Students Against Destructive Decisions chapter for 25 years, from 1984 to 2009, partnering with Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists to reduce teen crash rates.

"Very few teaching disciplines are afforded the ability to have an influence every single day on someone's life for the next 60–70 years," Johnston wrote in his staff profile at the University of St. Francis, where he now serves as an adjunct professor in the Illinois Driver Education Teacher Endorsement Program.

The family connection runs deep. Johnston's father taught driver education at York High School, and his daughter Christie is a certified instructor at Oak Park–River Forest High School. In his University of St. Francis profile, Johnston wrote that his family's legacy is, without question, "teaching."

The dinner is co-chaired by Julie Schlueter and Susan Langenfeld. Tickets and details are available through the Hinsdale Central Foundation website.