Glenwood High School (Illinois)

Glenwood High School
Address
1501 East Plummer Blvd.
Chatham, Illinois, (Sangamon County), 62629
United States
Coordinates 39°41′22″N 89°41′22″W / 39.6895°N 89.6894°W / 39.6895; -89.6894Coordinates: 39°41′22″N 89°41′22″W / 39.6895°N 89.6894°W / 39.6895; -89.6894
Information
School type Public, Coeducational
School board Ball Chatham Community Unit School District 5
Superintendent Carrie Hruby
Principal Jim Lee
Grades 9–12
Enrollment 1388[1] (2014)
Campus Urban
Color(s) Red and White         
Slogan Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Safe
Song Fight Song
Athletics conference Central State Eight[2]
Mascot Titans
Team name Titans (Previously known as Redskins) (m)/ Redskins (f)
Newspaper Titan Torch
Athletic Director Dan Rourke
Website ghs.chathamschools.org

Glenwood High School is a public high school in Chatham, Illinois. It is the only high school of Ball Chatham Community Unit School District 5, which is in southern Sangamon County and includes Chatham, Glenarm, and the southern portion of Springfield, Illinois.[3] As of 2014, Glenwood High School had 1,388 students and an average class size of 18.[1]

History

Ball Township

Ball Township High School, sometimes called Ball Township Community High School, opened in September 1923 with 35 students; 2 seniors graduated at the end of the 1923–1924 school year. The school was established on New City Road, approximately four miles east of Chatham,[4] three miles north and one mile east of Glenarm.

There were numerous additions to the original school building, including the 1935 gymnasium.[4]

Ball Township graduated 21 seniors in May 1948, after which it picked up all the students from Chatham High School. The first combined Ball Township graduating class, under Ball Chatham Community Unit School District 5, was 34 seniors in May 1949.[4]

The last Ball Township High School graduating class was 1956, with 43 students; students moved to the first Glenwood High School when it opened in March 1957. Since then various combinations of grades have used the Ball Township site. The original 1924 section of the school was torn down in June 2013, but newer sections remain and continue to be used as Ball Elementary School.[4]

Chatham

The Caldwell School was a combination grade school and high school built in 1895, paid for by local resident Ben Franklin Caldwell, who later became a state representative and state senator in the Illinois General Assembly and afterwards a congressman. The 1895 schoolhouse burnt down in 1904, and a new one built in 1905. Chatham High School, operating in this Cadlwell School, was a recognized 4-year high school until 1919; it was reduced to 2 years from 1919 to May 1924, then extended to 3 years from 1924 to 1938.[5]

In 1938, Chatham High School became a 4-year high school again, with its own new building that cost $32,000.[5]

Chatham ended as a high school in May 1948, with 34 students, of which 8 were graduating seniors. Upon consolidation into Ball Chatham Community Unit School District 5 in 1948, students went to Ball Township High School.[5]

Glenwood

Originally located in Chatham, the school has moved twice. As the district outgrew the original school, Glenwood was moved eastward, where it was not confined by the residential boundaries of the older locations. In more recent years, however, that location likewise became too crowded. The school district put up a referendum and won funding, allowing it to move the high school again, to its current location at 1501 East Plummer Blvd. The new 27-million-dollar building was built to accommodate Glenwood's rapidly growing list of pupils. The Ball Chatham Schools Official Website.

Academic statistics

Glenwood High School (GHS), based on the 2008 PSAE scores, was ranked in the top 50 high schools in Illinois. All students in Illinois are required to take the ACT examination during their junior year in high school. Each year, several GHS students score 34 or higher on the ACT's. In the class of 2010, one student scored a 36 on the ACT. The SAT examination is optional, and few students elect to take this test. In 2008, though, one GHS student scored 2350 and was a National Merit Scholar. There were four students in the 2010 graduating class advancing in the National Merit competition as semifinalists. Academic averages are:

ACT[6]

PSAE Meets/Exceeds [7]

Sports

Glenwood participates in various Illinois High School Association (IHSA) sports, including: baseball (boys), basketball (boys' teams and girls' teams), competitive cheerleading (girls' teams and boys/girls team), competitive dance team (girls), cross country (boys/girls), football (boys), golf (boys' teams and girls' teams), soccer (boys' teams and girls' teams), softball (girls), swimming (boys' teams and girls' teams), tennis (boys' teams and girls' teams), track & field (boys' teams and girls' teams), volleyball (girls), wrestling (boys), Mock Trial, Show Choir, Speech, and Scholastic Bowl. The school also participates in ice hockey competition outside the IHSA.

GHS has a longstanding rivalry with Sacred Heart-Griffin High School, a Catholic school in nearby Springfield. Glenwood won the 1996 IHSA Class AA State Baseball Championship, 1998 IHSA Class 4A State Football Championship, 2005 IHSA Class AA State Boys' Soccer Championship, the 2010 IHSA 3A State Baseball Championship, and the 2014 IHSA 3A State Softball Championship.

The mascot of Glenwood High is the Titans. The previous mascot, the Redskins, was changed to the more culturally sensitive "Titans" by the school district in August 2001, upon the opening of the new high-school facility. This action upset some Chatham residents who had previously defeated several referendums seeking to change the Redskin mascot. The Redskin mascot continues to appear on the Chatham water tower.

Notable athletes from Glenwood High School include Major League Baseball player Jayson Werth.[10]

Television programming

Glenwood High School also offers award winning news and sports coverage that goes under the name GCNN, which is short for Glenwood Cable News Network. This program was founded in 1984. Award winning programs include the weekly sports show known as "The Rush" and daily news known as "Titan TV". The network is also known for Live Sports, which include Football and Basketball.[11]

Fine arts

Glenwood High School is home to the award winning Titan Fever Show Choir, which has won multiple grand championships in addition to many awards at competitions around the country. Including their most notable win in 2015 at the Show Choir Nationals Competition hosted in Nashville, TN. There they beat multiple groups that were undefeated, one group hadn't lost in three years.

The school also has a 150 member band, which marches during football season as the Glenwood Marching Titans and also functions as a symphonic band and basketball pep band. The band has won many awards and has even played for US President Gerald Ford.

Demographics

Notable alumni

References

  1. 1 2 "Glenwood High School (9-12)". Illinois Report Card. Springfield, Illinois: Illinois State Board of Education. Retrieved 2014-11-09.
  2. ↑ See List of Illinois High School Association member conferences.
  3. ↑ "Click here to access a PDF of the district's elementary school boundaries." (PDF). Ball Chatham Community Unit School District 5. 2011-05-03. p. 4. Retrieved 2014-11-09.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Ball Township High School "Redskins"". Illinois High School Glory Days. Chicago. Retrieved 2014-11-08.
  5. 1 2 3 "Chatham High School". Illinois High School Glory Days. Chicago. Retrieved 2014-11-08.
  6. ↑ http://ghsonline.net/forms/ACT%202000-05.pdf
  7. ↑ http://ghsonline.net/forms/PSAE%202001-04.pdf
  8. ↑ http://ghsonline.net/forms/PSAE%20Reading%202001-05.pdf
  9. ↑ http://ghsonline.net/forms/PSAE%20Math%202001-05.pdf
  10. 1 2 3 "Jayson Werth 28 / RF". New York City: MLB Advanced Media, L.P. March 7, 2011. Retrieved 2014-11-09.
  11. ↑ gcnn.net Archived June 10, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.
  12. ↑ http://dist5.bcsd.k12.il.us/2007SchoolReportCards/SRCGHS.2007.pdf

External links

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