Tom Higgenson, lead singer of the pop-punk band Plain White T’s, performed a solo acoustic set for Naperville Central students and staff on May 9 during lunch periods. 

The performance was held outdoors on the patio outside the cafeteria, with the doors open for students to see and hear the performance from the cafeteria. It was organized by High School Nation, a Los Angeles-based company that organizes special events at various high schools across the country. 

In addition to Higgenson’s performance, the company partnered with Dunkin’ Donuts to give out gift cards and provide samples of drinks.

“[The company] emailed me and said, ‘Would you be interested in doing this?,” said Sam Szopinski, Central’s Dean of Student Activities. “They gave three dates that they were available. We talked as an admin team, and we said, ‘Yeah, let’s do this and figure it out.’”

Plain White T’s, originally from Lombard, was asked by High School Nation to perform.

“Two brothers run the company, and one brother is really good friends with Tim [Lopez] from the Plain White T’s, who couldn’t be here today,” Szopinski said. “[They got] in contact with Tom, who still lives in the Chicagoland area, and so they were like, ‘Hey, like, let’s do this.’”

Higgenson played a three-song set, including “Our Time Now,” “1,2,3,4” and “Hey There Delilah.” Following his set, Higgenson spent time taking pictures with students and signing students’ white t-shirts, an effort organized by the Redhawk Rowdies.

“When I first found out about it, I told the Rowdies about it and they were like ‘That’d be so cool if we wore white shirts,’ and so they get all the credit for the signing of the shirts today,” Szopinski said. “I think that was a cool touch.”