- West Aurora High School, or WAHS, is a public four-year high school located in Aurora, Illinois. It is part of West Aurora Public School District 129. The school is also referred to as "West Side High School," "West High School," "West High," and "Aurora West".
- History
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High school classes were first offered in 1867 at Stone School (now defunct). The first graduating class of five students had their commencement in 1870.
- From 1905 until the 1950s the high school was located in a still–extant building on Blackhawk Avenue (so named after the school's athletics mascot). This same building was Benjamin Franklin Junior High School until the 1970s, when it was sold to Aurora Christian School, which used it as their school building until 2004. The current WAHS structure was built in the early 1950s, and was dedicated in 1953 as "West Side Senior High." From 1978–1981 the building was briefly known as the "West Aurora South Campus," when two buildings existed on Aurora's west side to house the high school population. The building formerly known as the "West Aurora North Campus" now houses the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy.
- The present building has had multiple additions and renovations, with the major additions occurring over four phases. The first added classrooms to an existing two-story classroom wing in the early 1960s. The largest addition, to the north and east sides of the building, added the auditorium, classroom space and other amenities in 1966–1967. This addition was responsible for the creation of the building's first two courtyard spaces. The 1997–1998 addition was constructed as a two–story wing on the south end of the building, giving it a new facade, and closing a portion of New York Street. This addition included a new library, a technology center, a new cafeteria, and additional classroom space. The most recent addition was completed in time for the 2004–2005 academic year. This included a new fieldhouse, a new single–story classroom wing on the northwest corner of the building, and a new choral rehearsal space.
- Today West High is a diverse school, with several academic and athletic programs available.
- The school's fight song, "Roll On, You Blackhawks," dates from the 1940s, and was written by Sten Halfvarson. A plaque commemorating the composition of the song hangs in a hallway just south of the auditorium, where the opening bars of the song have also been placed into the floor tile.
- Academics
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In 2008, West Aurora had an average composite ACT score of 19.3, and graduated 79.1% of its senior class. West Aurora has not made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) on the Prairie State Achievement Examination, a state test, which with the ACT, are the assessment tools used in Illinois to fulfill the federal No Child Left Behind Act. All four of the student subgroups at West Aurora failed to meet minimum expectations in reading and math, as did the school as a whole.
- Athletics
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West Aurora, since 1997, competes in the DuPage Valley Conference. Prior to this, the school was a member of the Upstate Eight Conference. WAHS is a member of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA), which governs most interscholastic sports and competitive activities in the state of Illinois.
- Officially, Chief Blackhawk serves as the mascot for the school. The red and blue logo of the chief is painted on the back of the school's football stadium, as of 2006, replacing the school's WA logo. Use of the "Chief" character has been controversial for its depiction of a Native American. For a time, the school strictly used the WA symbol, which appears in place of the logo of Chief Blackhawk on all official DuPage Valley Conference logos. The school also invented new characters named "WA Man" and "WA Woman" as mascots, but has recently reinstated the Chief as official mascot. Teams continued to compete as "Blackhawks" during this time.
- The school sponsors interscholastic sports teams for young men and women in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, and volleyball. Young men may compete in baseball, football, and wrestling, while young women may compete in badminton, bowling, cheerleading, and softball. While not sponsored by the IHSA, the Athletic Department also sponsors a poms team for young women.
- The following teams have finished in the top four of their respective IHSA sponsored state tournament or meet:
- Badminton: 4th place (1983–84); 3rd place (1982–83, 92–93)
- Baseball: 4th place (1990–91)
- Basketball (boys): 4th place (1957–58); 3rd place (1948–49, 72–73, 79–80, 83–84, 2003–04); 2nd place (1927–28, 58–59, 75–76, 96–97), State Champions (1999–2000)
- Basketball (girls): 2nd place (1989–90)
- Bowling (girls): 4th place (1975–76, 82–83, 94–95); 3rd place (1988–89); 2nd place (1991–92, 2000–01)
- Golf (boys): 4th place (1964–65)
- Tennis (boys): 4th place (1985–86, 89–90); 3rd place (1980–81); 2nd place (1977–78)
- Tennis (girls): 4th place (1975–76, 94–95, 1999–2000); 3rd place (1981–82, 98–99, 2001–02); 2nd place (1982–83); State Champions (1996–97, 97–98)
- Track & Field: 4th place (1907–08, 2008–09); 3rd place (1900–01); 2nd place (1898–99); State Champions (1905–06)
- The 2006 football game with rival East Aurora High School was the 114th played between the two schools, and was won 33–0. The rivalry between these two public high schools is the second oldest in the state of Illinois.
- Activities
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West Aurora offers 47 clubs and activities ranging from cultural and artistic to social awareness and occupational. The entire list can be found here.
- Among the activities are chapters or affiliates of these national organizations: DECA, FCCLA, Business Professionals of America (BPA), Health Occupations Students of America, and Model UN.
- The West Aurora band program is a member of district nine in the Illinois Music Educators Association (IMEA). The Jazz Ensemble performed at the Chicago Jazz Festival on 1 September 2006, becoming only the second high school group ever invited to perform at the Festival. The band participated in festivities and performed at the 2006 Chick-fil-A Bowl.
- The school's drama troupe is an official member of the International Thespian Society. Its charter lists it as troupe #2013, which has been incorporated into the official name since becoming a member. The "Theatre Troupe 2013" has performed annual musicals such as Les Misérables, and Cats.
- Notable alumni
- Kenny Battle (class of 1984) is a former NBA player (1989–1993).
- Rich Becker (class of 1990) was a Major League Baseball outfielder (1993–2000).
- John Drury (class of 1945) was a local Chicago news anchor (WGN, WLS)
- Andrea Evans,1967 Award Winning Actress
- Ruth VanSickle Ford (class of 1915) was a commercial illustrator who became a noted art teacher.
- Phillip E. Johnson (class of 1958) is a former University of California-Berkeley law professor, noted as an AIDS denialist and the founder of the Intelligent design movement.
- Stana Katic, 1996, actress
- Donald Laz was a silver medal winning pole vaulter at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki.
- Wendell Minor, 1962 is an award winning illustrator whose illustrations have appeared in over 2000 works.
- Nicole Narain (did not graduate) is an actress, model, and Playmate.
- Alvin Ross (class of 1981) was an NFL running back (1987-88) for the Philadelphia Eagles.
- Randy Shilts (class of 1969) was a journalist and author (The Mayor of Castro Street, Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic, Gays and Lesbians in the US Military).
- Jeffrey Skilling (class of 1971) was the CEO of Enron, who was convicted of crimes related to the Enron scandal.
- Tom Skilling (class of 1970) is a meteorologist who works with WGN-TV and the Chicago Tribune.
- External links
- Official Website
- Official Athletics web page
- Source: Wikipedia; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.
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