Joliet West High School
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| Joliet West High School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
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401 N. Larkin Avenue , Joliet | |
| Information | |
| Type | Public secondary |
| Established | 1964 |
| Principal | Teresa Gibson |
| Faculty | 322 |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Enrollment | 2392 |
| Campus | Suburban |
| Color(s) | Black, Gold, and White |
| Mascot | Tigers/Steelmen |
| Newspaper | Tiger Tales |
| Yearbook | Alpha Omega |
| Website | http://www.jths.org/west/default.aspx |
| File:Joliet West HS.jpg | |
Joliet West High School, along with Joliet Central, makes up the Joliet Township High School district in Joliet, Illinois. West's mascot is the tiger. When activities involve students from both West and Central, the Steelmen mascot is used.
Building
The school was originally constructed in 1964, one year after its identical sister school Joliet East, and has since been added on to 4 times. The first addition, completed in the early 1980s, added a bookstore to the cafeteria, additional space around the maintenance area, a multi-purpose room by the gymnasiums (primarily used for dance and wrestling), six additional classrooms, and a greenhouse.
The second and third additions (not shown in the picture) were completed as two consecutive projects, adding several additional classrooms, a new band room, cafetorium, conference room, dean's offices, and student commons area. The first phase broke ground on November 4, 2001 and was completed the following school year. The second phase began during the 2002-2003 year and was open for fall 2003 classes.
The most recent construction added a field house in late 2007. During the 2008 - 2009 school year, Central and West began to again divide the schools' athletic programs, allowing the West mascot to become the Tiger once again, leaving Central as the Steelmen. The split began with Joliet's Freshmen football team dividing. In the 2010 - 2011 school year, Joliet Central and Joliet West will have their own, entirely independent sports programs.
Music tradition
Joliet West has been known for its outstanding music programs for half a century. Many West alums continue on in music as a career. Some of which are listed below. The Marching Tigers, West's marching band, is one of the few groups that still carries the former mascot. There have been five band directors at West: Arthur D. Katterjohn, 1964-1967; Dean H. Sayles, 1967-1990; I. V. Foster, 1990-1992; Ted Lega, 1992-1993, and Kevin T. Carroll, 1993-present.
In April 2008, Joliet West High School was the first high school to perform a comic opera of Edwin Penhorwood entitled "Too Many Sopranos".
Recently, Joliet West High School's music program has come to note by being one of only a handful of high schools to have an "Opera Scenes" program. The music department has performed scenes ranging from "La Boheme" to "Die Fledermaus" to "Dialogues of the Carmelites". September 25, 2009's Scenes of Murder, featuring "Don Giovanni", "Hänsel and Gretel", "Dido and Aeneas", and the aforementioned "Dialogues of the Carmelites", surpassed the attendance of the 2008 spring play; 338 people attended the event. A 13-foot guillotine was built specifically for 2009's Opera Scenes.
Notable alumni
- Charlie Adams, drummer/percussionist (Chameleon, Yanni)
- John Barrowman, Broadway actor (Doctor Who, Torchwood)
- Jimmy Chamberlin, drummer (The Smashing Pumpkins)
- Andy Dick - actor-comedian (The Andy Dick Show)
- Anthony Rapp - actor (Rent)
- Adrianne Curry - model, tv personality (Dropped out in 11th grade)
External links
Arturo Garza-Rocker