Alan B. Shepard High School is a public secondary school located in Palos Heights

Palos Heights, Illinois

Palos Heights is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 11,260 at the 2000 census, and estimated to be 12,561 in 2005.-Geography:Palos Heights is located at ....

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

. The school, along with Dwight D. Eisenhower High School

Eisenhower High School (Blue Island, Illinois)

Dwight D. Eisenhower High School is a public four-year high school located in Blue Island, Illinois, a southern suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Community High School District 218 along with sister schools Alan B. Shepard High School and Harold L...

 and Harold L. Richards High School

Harold L. Richards High School

Harold L. Richards High School is a co-ed public high school located in Oak Lawn, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, and is a member of Illinois school district 218. The current enrollment is over 1,876 students. The school mascot is the bulldog. The school colors are Gold, Black, and White...

 are part of Community High School District 218

Community High School District 218

The Community High School District 218 is a public high school district with offices in Oak Lawn, Illinois. The district enrollment is 5,329 students in six high schools and one alternative high school. The district superintendent is John Byrne.-Schools:...

. Students who attend the school live in the communities of Palos Heights, Crestwood

Crestwood, Illinois

Crestwood is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 11,251 at the 2000 census. In April 2009 the Chicago Tribune reported that for 20 years the city had been drawing its drinking water from a well that was contaminated with toxic chemicals.-Geography:According to the...

, Worth

Worth, Illinois

Worth is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, a suburb of Chicago. The population was 10,789 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Worth is located at ....

, Alsip

Alsip, Illinois

Alsip is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 19,725 at the 2000 census. It is a suburb of Chicago.Alsip was settled in the 1830s by German and Dutch farmers. The village is named after Frank Alsip, the owner of a brickyard that opened there in 1885...

, Robbins

Robbins, Illinois

Robbins is a village in Cook County, Illinois. The population was 6,635 at the 2000 census. Irene H. Brodie is the current mayor of the city.-Demographics:...

, and Calumet Park

Calumet Park, Illinois

Calumet Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois. The population was 8,516 at the 2000 census.On May 13, 2010 Mayor Joseph DuPar and the Village Board approved renaming 127th Street as Obama Drive, in honor of the 44th President of the United States...

. The school is named in honor of Alan B. Shepard, the first American astronaut

Astronaut

An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....

 to travel into space.

History

As early as 1966, District 218 began looking for a site for a third high school. The school and local residents argued between two sites located on either side of the intersection of 120th Street and Pulaski Avenue in Alsip. In 1972, the district asked voters in the district to approve a bond issue to raise money for a new school to be located in Palos Heights.

Academics

In 2008, Shepard had an average composite ACT

ACT (examination)

The ACT is a standardized test for high school achievement and college admissions in the United States produced by ACT, Inc. It was first administered in November 1959 by Everett Franklin Lindquist as a competitor to the College Board's Scholastic Aptitude Test, now the SAT Reasoning Test...

 score of 19.7, and graduated 86.4% of its senior class. The school has not made Adequate Yearly Progress

Adequate Yearly Progress

Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, is a measurement defined by the United States federal No Child Left Behind Act that allows the U.S. Department of Education to determine how every public school and school district in the country is performing academically according to results on standardized...

 (AYP) on the Prairie State Achievement Examination

Prairie State Achievement Examination

The Prairie State Achievement Examination is a two-day standardized test taken by all High School Juniors in the U.S. state of Illinois. On the first day, students take the ACT, and on the second day, a WorkKeys examination and Illinois State Board of Education-developed science examination....

, which is the state assessment used to fulfill mandates of the federal No Child Left Behind Act

No Child Left Behind Act

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is a United States Act of Congress concerning the education of children in public schools.NCLB was originally proposed by the administration of George W. Bush immediately after he took office...

. Overall, the school failed to meet minimum standards in reading and mathematics, in addition to having three of the school's four student subgroups fail to meet expectations in reading and mathematics.

Activities

The school offers over 40 extracurricular clubs ranging from student publications and academic competitions to service and special interest clubs. Clubs which are chapters or affiliates of nationally notable organizations include Future Educators of America

Future Educators Association

The Future Educators Association , sponsored by Phi Delta Kappa International , is a professional organization that supports students who are interested in education-related careers...

, Key Club

Key Club

Key Club International is the oldest and largest service program for high school students. It is a student-led organization whose goal is to teach leadership through serving others. Key Club International is a part of the Kiwanis International family of service-leadership programs...

, Leo Club

Lions Clubs International

Lions Clubs International is a secular service organization with over 44,500 clubs and more than 1,368,683 members in 191 countries around the world founded by Melvin Jones Headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, United States, the organization aims to meet the needs of communities on a local and...

, and Quill and Scroll

Quill and Scroll

Quill and Scroll is an international high school journalism honor society that recognizes and encourages both individual and group achievements in scholastic journalism. According to the Quill and Scroll website, over 14,104 high schools in all 50 U.S. states and 44 countries have established local...

.

Athletics

Shepard competes in the South Suburban Conference

South Suburban Conference (Illinois)

The South Suburban Conference is a high school athletic and activity conference which comprises fourteen schools located in the south and southwest suburbs of Chicago, Illinois....

 and is a member of the Illinois High School Association

Illinois High School Association

The Illinois High School Association is one of 521 state high school associations in the United States, designed to regulate competition in most interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level. It is a charter member of the National Federation of State High...

 (IHSA); the organization which governs most sports and competitive activities in the state. Teams are stylized as the Astros (for men) and Lady Astros (for women).

The school sponsors interscholastic teams for young men and women in basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, bowling

Bowling

Bowling Bowling Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule...

, cross country

Cross country running

Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...

, soccer, swimming & diving

Diving

Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...

, tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

, track & field, volleyball

Volleyball

Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...

, and water polo

Water polo

Water polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Game play involves swimming, treading water , players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a...

. Young men may compete in baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

, football

High school football

High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....

, golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

, wrestling

Scholastic wrestling

Scholastic wrestling, sometimes known in the United States as Folkstyle wrestling, is a style of amateur wrestling practised at the high school and middle school levels in the United States. This wrestling style is essentially Collegiate wrestling with some slight modifications. It is currently...

, while young women may compete in badminton

Badminton

Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...

, cheerleading

Cheerleading

Cheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...

, and softball

Softball

Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...

. While not sponsored by the IHSA, the school also sponsors a poms team for young women.

The school's badminton team is the only athletic team to place in the top four of their IHSA sponsored state tournament, placing third twice (1979–80, 91–92) and second twice (1990–91, 97–98).

Notable alumni

• Ron Mahay
  Ron Mahay
  Ronald Matthew Mahay is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has previously played for the Boston Red Sox, Oakland Athletics, Florida Marlins, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Royals, and Minnesota Twins....
  
   is a Major League Baseball
  Major League Baseball
  Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
  
   relief pitcher
  Relief pitcher
  A relief pitcher or reliever is a baseball or softball pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed due to injury, ineffectiveness, fatigue, ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as being substituted by a pinch hitter...
  
  (1995, 97–present).