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West Aurora High School

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West Aurora High School
Logo of WAHS
Location
Map
1201 W. New York St
Aurora
,
Illinois

USA
Information
TypePublic secondary
Motto"...West is Best"
Established1867
1953 (current building)
PrincipalDan Bridges
FacultyApproximately 300
Grades9–12
Enrollment3,292
CampusSuburban
Color(s)Blue, Red
MascotChief Blackhawk
NewspaperThe Red and Blue
YearbookEOS
NicknameBlackhawks
Websitewww.sd129.org/westhigh
File:Westaurora.jpg

West Aurora High School, or WAHS, is a public four-year high school located in Aurora, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. 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

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 building (still standing) 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.

The major additions occurred 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.

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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.

In June of 2007, West Aurora High School garnered national media attention as a result of a massive food fight which resulted in the injuries of one police officer and multiple staff and students. The incident was evidently the result of a senior prank for the 2007 graduating class, for which the food fight occurred on their last day of classes. Felony charges against the instigator and multiple misdemeanor charges against other various individuals were filed by prosecutors.

Academics

In 2006, West Aurora had an average composite ACT score of 20.1, up slightly from the previous year's 19.8, and graduated 80.5% of its senior class, down 3 percentage points from 83.7%. The average class size is 19.7, down slightly from the previous year's 21.0. West Aurora has not made Adequate Yearly Progress on the Prairie State Achievements Examination, a state test part of the No Child Left Behind Act. The school is on the State of Illinois Academic Watch List for 2006-2007.[1][2]

Athletics

Chief Blackhawk, school mascot, as depicted on a 2006 staff pin.
Chief Blackhawk, school mascot, as depicted on a 2006 staff pin.

West Aurora competes in the DuPage Valley Conference and Illinois High School Association. Prior to 1997, it competed in the Upstate Eight Conference. 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, as it has been for other area schools (e.g. Waubonsie Valley High School, Naperville Central High School) that use or have used a mascot derived from Native Americans. 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.

As of 2007, the school's Athletic Director is Andrew Lutzenkirchen, formerly the assistant athletic director.

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 oldest in the state of Illinois. With the 2005 win in that year's "East-West Game", West Aurora became the third high school in Illinois with a varsity football team to achieve 500 or more wins.

Fall Athletic Season teams

  • Boys Cross Country
  • Boys Football
  • Boys Golf
  • Boys Soccer
  • Girls Cross Country
  • Girls Golf
  • Girls Swimming and Diving
  • Girls Tennis
  • Girls Volleyball

Winter Athletic Season teams

  • Boys Basketball
  • Boys Swimming & Diving
  • Wrestling
  • Girls Basketball
  • Girls Bowling

Spring Athletic Season teams

  • Boys Baseball
  • Boys Tennis
  • Boys Track & Field
  • Boys Volleyball
  • Girls Badminton
  • Girls Softball
  • Girls Track & Field
  • Girls Soccer

Multiple Seasons

  • Cheerleading
  • Poms (also known as the Dance Team)

Activities

The West Aurora band program is a member of district nine in the Illinois Music Educators Association (IMEA). The West Aurora High School band program is known throughout the Chicago area for its accomplished musical ensembles. However, with Melody Balicki's resignation at the end of the 2005-2006 school year (to become the Director of Education for the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic), the Jazz Ensemble will be directed by both Stephen Orland and Patty Sampson. 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.[3] Stephen Orland was the president of the IMEA's ninth district until 2006. The current West Aurora High School band directors are Stephen Orland, Patty Sampson, and John Sierakowski. The band participated in festivities and performed at the 2006 Chick-fil-A Bowl.

The school's "Madrigal Singers," an a cappella choir under the direction of Meg Papadolias, are also well-respected locally, and have made a few recordings. Choral music and keyboarding classes are taught by Mrs. Papadolias and Jon McLear.

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" had already established a high local profile and following, particularly with the production of annual musicals such as Carousel and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in the late 1990s, and Les Miserables, Jesus Christ Superstar, Beauty and the Beast, and Cats from 2003-2006. The school was only the second high school in Illinois to stage Beauty and the Beast and the third to stage Cats. In May 2007, the school became the first high school in Illinois to perform a fully staged production of Miss Saigon. In August 2007, the school's production of Miss Saigon was named a USA Weekend High School Musical Showstopper runner-up. [4] Some productions have been restaged in the same summer at the Paramount Arts Center in downtown Aurora. Drama at WAHS is led by Donna Letzter and Ken Ruffalo.

Other activities include the school's "Step Team" dance ensemble, and many clubs, including:

  • African American Heritage Club
  • Anime Club
  • Chess Club
  • French Club
  • Games Club
  • Multi-cultural Club
  • Science Fiction and Fantasy Club
  • Spanish Club
  • Student Council

Notable alumni

References

  1. ^ 2005 Illinois School Report Card
  2. ^ 2006 Illinois School Report Card
  3. ^ Aurora Beacon News story on the Jazz Ensemble's performance at the Chicago Jazz Festival.
  4. ^ http://www.usaweekend.com/hsm/index070812.html
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