By Kari Hartman Daily Herald Staff Writer

If you're a student or teacher at Naperville Central, you'll likely wear red and white tonight.

If you attend or teach at Naperville North, you'll probably don blue and orange.

Seems like pretty much a no-brainer as fans gear up for the big game between two of the state's best high school football teams.

If you spend your days at North, you're a Husky. If you walk the hallways of Central, you're a Redhawk.

But what if you feel a bond to both schools? What if you've spent many a morning and afternoon in both buildings?

A handful of staff members are facing just that dilemma as they think about who to root for in tonight's showdown, which will kick off at 7:30 p.m. at North Central College's Cardinal Stadium.

Take Shanna Lewis-Bajusz, who started this year as a dean at Central. Before taking the job, she spent six years teaching social studies at North.

Lewis-Bajusz has "made the transition to red and white" but still feels a bond to North. While her office is mostly decorated with Redhawks paraphernalia, she holds onto a few Huskies items, too.

As the former girls' basketball coach at North, Lewis-Bajusz has plenty of mementos from her coaching days, including a team photo.

The staff and students at Central have been supportive since she's come on board, but Lewis-Bajusz still gets some good-natured ribbing when she runs into a former colleagues from North.

"Oh, you're at that other school," they'll say.

As for tonight, Lewis-Bajusz doesn't feel too much pressure to pick one side over the other.

"It's all about the kids; I'm just hoping it's a good game," she said.

While she'll probably spend most of her time in Central's portion of the stands, she said she'll cross to the other side to chat with North teachers and students she knows.

"I'll probably wear red, but I'll go over and say 'Hi,'æ" Lewis-Bajusz said.

Amy Cargill, on the other hand, is steering clear of the game altogether; the Naperville North teacher will be at the University of Illinois game this weekend.

Cargill taught last school year - her first year of teaching - at Naperville Central. This year she's teaching Latin at North.

"When I started the school year the students said they were trying to help me shed my red," Cargill said.

Anytime the North teacher wears red to school, she hears about it from her students. Students often want to know "how true my orange is," she said.

Cargill says her rooting philosophy is fairly simple.

"I root for nobody getting hurt," she said, "either on or off the field."