Wheeling High School
Encyclopedia
Wheeling High School, or WHS, is a public four-year high school
located in Wheeling, Illinois
, a northwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States
. It is part of Township High School District 214
, which also includes Buffalo Grove High School
, Elk Grove High School, John Hersey High School
, Prospect High School
, and Rolling Meadows High School
. The school primarily serves most of Wheeling itself, along with a good portion of Prospect Heights
, smaller portions of Arlington Heights
, Buffalo Grove
and a very small portion of Mount Prospect
.
, Holmes Middle School
and MacArthur Middle School
. Students from private schools St. Alphonsus, St. James and St. Peter may attend Wheeling as well.
score of 22.1 and graduated 93.7% of its senior class. Wheeling has not made Adequate Yearly Progress
(AYP) on the combined Prairie State Achievement Examination and ACT, which in Illinois are used to fulfill the mandates of the federal No Child Left Behind Act
, because the entire school (and its three subgroups) did not meet minimum level on the Reading portion of the tests. As of 2009, Wheeling is on the Academic Watch Status because it is on its third year of not making AYP. WHS offers over 215 different classes, ranging from art, photography, and sculpture to band, choir, and orchestra to debate, acting, journalism, English, grammar, yearbook, and different types of reading and writing to preparatory math, algebra, geometry, functions, trigonometry, calculus, pre-calculus, and statistics to biology, physical science, chemistry, physics, ecology, space science, zoology, oceanography, environmental science, and human physiology to e-consumerism, information/word processing, fashion, foods, entrepreneurship, human growth and child development, early childhood education practicums, automotive repair, woodworking, and project lead the way's (PTLW) engineering design and computerized integrated manufacturing to French, Italian, Spanish for native speakers, and Spanish to world history, U.S. history, integrated social science, economics, psychology, sociology, government and politics, American law, and American problems to ELL/ESL courses to health, PE (physical education), adaptive PE, strength and conditioning, dance, junior and senior PE leaders, and sports medicine to web page design, web site programming, computer applications, computer science, and computer programming to drivers' education, special education, and NJROTC to everything else in between. Classes and subjects are divided by departments. The departments and subjects are grouped as follows: math/science, career and technology education, English/fine arts, PE/health/dance/drivers' education, foreign language/social studies/ESL/ELL, NJROTC, and special education.
(IHSA), which governs most of the interscholastic sports and competitive activities in Illinois. Wheeling High School teams are stylized as the Wildcats.
The school sponsors interscholastic sports teams for young men and women in basketball
, cross country
, golf
, soccer, swimming
& diving
, tennis
, track & field, volleyball
, and water polo
. Young men may compete in baseball
, football
, and wrestling
, while young women may compete in bowling
, cheerleading
, gymnastics
, badminton and softball
.
The girl's cross-country teams won IHSA state championships in 1979-80, 83-84, 84-85, and 86-87. The boy's cross-country team won a state championship in 1998-99.
Among the activities are chapters or affiliates with the following national organizations: DECA<>
, SADD, Science Olympiad
, and the National Honor Society
.
WildStang is a robotics team composed of students from Rolling Meadows High School
, Prospect High School
and Wheeling High School). The team, partnered with Motorola, won the 2006 Championship Chairman's Award at the FIRST Championship Event. WildStang has also won the FIRST Championship Event in 2003 with team 469 from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and team 65 from Pontiac, Michigan. WildStang went undefeated and won the 2009 FIRST Championships with team 67 of Milford, Michigan, and team 971 from Mountain View, California. Wildstang won the 2011 FIRST Championships with team 254 and Team 973. The WildStang FTC team, "MiniStang", has won the 2007, 2008, and 2009 Illinois State Championship with an undefeated record.
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
located in Wheeling, Illinois
Wheeling, Illinois
Wheeling is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, and a suburb of Chicago. The population was 34,496 at the 2000 census, and 38,555 at the 2006 special village census.-Geography:Wheeling is located at ....
, a northwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is part of Township High School District 214
Township High School District 214
Township High School District 214 is located in Cook County, Illinois. It is the state's second largest high school district by enrollment .-Schools:* Buffalo Grove High School* Elk Grove High School* John Hersey High School* Prospect High School...
, which also includes Buffalo Grove High School
Buffalo Grove High School
Buffalo Grove High School, or BGHS is a public high school located in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago. It is one of six four-year comprehensive high schools in Township High School District 214, serving portions of the Villages of Buffalo Grove, Arlington Heights and a small...
, Elk Grove High School, John Hersey High School
John Hersey High School
John Hersey High School, , is a four-year public high school located in Arlington Heights, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois in the United States, it has its students from Arlington Heights and also takes some students from Prospect Heights, Mount Prospect and a small part of Des...
, Prospect High School
Prospect High School (Illinois)
Prospect High School, or Prospect, is a public four-year high school located in Mt. Prospect, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Township High School District 214, which also includes Buffalo Grove High School, Elk Grove High School, John Hersey...
, and Rolling Meadows High School
Rolling Meadows High School
Rolling Meadows High School, or RMHS, is a public four-year high school located in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Township High School District 214. It is part of the second largest school district in Illinois, under Chicago...
. The school primarily serves most of Wheeling itself, along with a good portion of Prospect Heights
Prospect Heights, Illinois
Prospect Heights is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, which is a suburb of Chicago. The population was 17,081 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Prospect Heights is located at ....
, smaller portions of Arlington Heights
Arlington Heights, Illinois
Arlington Heights is a village in Cook and Lake counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it lies about 25 miles northwest of the city's downtown. The population was 75,101 at the 2010 census....
, Buffalo Grove
Buffalo Grove, Illinois
Buffalo Grove is an affluent village located in the northern suburbs of Chicago, and in Cook and Lake counties in Illinois, United States. The town was named for Buffalo Creek, which was itself named for bison bones found in the area....
and a very small portion of Mount Prospect
Mount Prospect, Illinois
Mount Prospect is a village in Elk Grove and Wheeling Townships in Cook County, Illinois, about northwest of downtown Chicago. As of the 2010 census, the village had a total population of 54,167.-Geography:...
.
Feeder Schools
Feeder schools include London Middle SchoolWheeling Community Consolidated School District 21
Wheeling Community Consolidated School District 21 is a school district that serves most of Wheeling, Illinois and surrounding communities, such as Buffalo Grove, Arlington Heights, Mount Prospect and Prospect Heights. As of 2006, there are ten elementary schools in the district and three middle...
, Holmes Middle School
Wheeling Community Consolidated School District 21
Wheeling Community Consolidated School District 21 is a school district that serves most of Wheeling, Illinois and surrounding communities, such as Buffalo Grove, Arlington Heights, Mount Prospect and Prospect Heights. As of 2006, there are ten elementary schools in the district and three middle...
and MacArthur Middle School
Prospect Heights School District 23
Prospect Heights School District 23 is a school district located in Prospect Heights, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. The majority of the schools, are located in the corner of Palatine Rd. and Schoenbeck Rd. Dwight D...
. Students from private schools St. Alphonsus, St. James and St. Peter may attend Wheeling as well.
History
Wheeling High School (WHS) first opened in 1964. The class of 1966 was the first graduating class from Wheeling High School. As of 2009, it has a total enrollment of 1,869 students and a 98.8% parent involvement rate. The average class size is 19.9 students for every one teacher. The current principal is Lazaro Lopez. WHS's school colors are blue, gold, and white, and the mascot is Willie the Wildcat. During the 2010–2011 school year, WHS was due to get their name changed to Wheeling High School Math, Science, Technology Academy and add the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) program to the school, but after several debates about the topic, the board of education and superintendent decided not to change the name of the school.Academics
In 2008, Wheeling had an average composite ACTACT (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 22.1 and graduated 93.7% of its senior class. Wheeling 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 combined Prairie State Achievement Examination and ACT, which in Illinois are used to fulfill the 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...
, because the entire school (and its three subgroups) did not meet minimum level on the Reading portion of the tests. As of 2009, Wheeling is on the Academic Watch Status because it is on its third year of not making AYP. WHS offers over 215 different classes, ranging from art, photography, and sculpture to band, choir, and orchestra to debate, acting, journalism, English, grammar, yearbook, and different types of reading and writing to preparatory math, algebra, geometry, functions, trigonometry, calculus, pre-calculus, and statistics to biology, physical science, chemistry, physics, ecology, space science, zoology, oceanography, environmental science, and human physiology to e-consumerism, information/word processing, fashion, foods, entrepreneurship, human growth and child development, early childhood education practicums, automotive repair, woodworking, and project lead the way's (PTLW) engineering design and computerized integrated manufacturing to French, Italian, Spanish for native speakers, and Spanish to world history, U.S. history, integrated social science, economics, psychology, sociology, government and politics, American law, and American problems to ELL/ESL courses to health, PE (physical education), adaptive PE, strength and conditioning, dance, junior and senior PE leaders, and sports medicine to web page design, web site programming, computer applications, computer science, and computer programming to drivers' education, special education, and NJROTC to everything else in between. Classes and subjects are divided by departments. The departments and subjects are grouped as follows: math/science, career and technology education, English/fine arts, PE/health/dance/drivers' education, foreign language/social studies/ESL/ELL, NJROTC, and special education.
Athletics
Wheeling High School competes in the Mid-Suburban League (MSL) East Division. Wheeling is also a member of the Illinois High School AssociationIllinois 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), which governs most of the interscholastic sports and competitive activities in Illinois. Wheeling High School teams are stylized as the Wildcats.
The school sponsors interscholastic sports 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...
, 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...
, 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....
, soccer, swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
& 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....
, and 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 bowling
Bowling
Bowling Bowling Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule...
, 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...
, gymnastics
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...
, badminton 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...
.
The girl's cross-country teams won IHSA state championships in 1979-80, 83-84, 84-85, and 86-87. The boy's cross-country team won a state championship in 1998-99.
Activities
Wheeling HS sponsors 61 clubs and activities for students, ranging from the arts and literature to cultural and community service. The list can change from year to year, but can be found at this site.Among the activities are chapters or affiliates with the following national organizations: DECA<>
DECA (organization)
DECA, also known as Collegiate DECA on the college level) is an international association of students and teachers of marketing, management and entrepreneurship in business, finance, hospitality, and marketing sales and service . DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing,...
, SADD, Science Olympiad
Science Olympiad
Science Olympiad is an American elementary, middle, or high school team competition which tests knowledge of various science topics and engineering ability. Over 6,200 teams from 49 U.S. states compete each year. Most teams compete in three levels of competition: regionals, states, and nationals...
, and the National Honor Society
National Honor Society
The National Honor Society is a recognition program for high school students in grades 10-12 in the United States and in several other countries...
.
WildStang is a robotics team composed of students from Rolling Meadows High School
Rolling Meadows High School
Rolling Meadows High School, or RMHS, is a public four-year high school located in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Township High School District 214. It is part of the second largest school district in Illinois, under Chicago...
, Prospect High School
Prospect High School (Illinois)
Prospect High School, or Prospect, is a public four-year high school located in Mt. Prospect, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Township High School District 214, which also includes Buffalo Grove High School, Elk Grove High School, John Hersey...
and Wheeling High School). The team, partnered with Motorola, won the 2006 Championship Chairman's Award at the FIRST Championship Event. WildStang has also won the FIRST Championship Event in 2003 with team 469 from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and team 65 from Pontiac, Michigan. WildStang went undefeated and won the 2009 FIRST Championships with team 67 of Milford, Michigan, and team 971 from Mountain View, California. Wildstang won the 2011 FIRST Championships with team 254 and Team 973. The WildStang FTC team, "MiniStang", has won the 2007, 2008, and 2009 Illinois State Championship with an undefeated record.
Notable alumni
- Michael R. BlanchfieldMichael R. BlanchfieldMichael Reinert Blanchfield was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in the Vietnam War.-Biography:...
(1967) was a U.S. Army Specialist 4Specialist (rank)Specialist is one of the four junior enlisted ranks in the U.S. Army, just above Private First Class and equivalent in pay grade to Corporal. Unlike Corporals, Specialists are not considered junior non-commissioned officers...
. During a tour of dutyTour of dutyIn the Navy, a tour of duty is a period of time spent performing operational duties at sea, including combat, performing patrol or fleet duties, or assigned to service in a foreign country....
in VietnamVietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
he was killed after throwing himself on an enemy grenadeGrenadeA grenade is a small explosive device that is projected a safe distance away by its user. Soldiers called grenadiers specialize in the use of grenades. The term hand grenade refers any grenade designed to be hand thrown. Grenade Launchers are firearms designed to fire explosive projectile grenades...
, and received the Medal of HonorMedal of HonorThe Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
. - Tom McManus is a former linebackerLinebackerA linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...
for the NFL Jacksonville JaguarsJacksonville JaguarsThe Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
(1995-96, 98-99). - Jorge Torres (1999) is a long distance runner who competed in the 10,000 meters at the 2008 Summer Olympics2008 Summer OlympicsThe 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
. - Michael Thomas Barry (1981) is an award winning author. His books Final Resting Places Orange County's Dead & Famous (2010, Schiffer Publishing), Fade to Black Graveside Memories of Hollywood Greats, 1927-1950 (2011, Schiffer Publishing) have won multiple national book awards. His third book Murder & Mayhem: 52 Crime Stories that Shocked Early California, 1849-1949 will be released in the spring of 2012.
- Jim Wendler (1993) is a record holding power lifter, trainer and author. He lettered 3 times in football at the University of Arizona as a walk on.
- Haley Reinhart (2009) American Idol Season 10 Contestant who placed 3rd.