Homewood-Flossmoor High School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Name |
Homewood-Flossmoor Community High School |
| Address |
999 Kedzie Avenue |
| Town |
Flossmoor, Illinois 60422 |
| Established |
1959 |
| Superintendent |
Dr. Laura Murray |
| Principal |
Dr. Von Mansfield |
| Students |
Coeducational |
| Grades |
9 to 12 |
| District |
233 |
| Nickname |
Vikings |
| Colors |
Red and White |
| Website | |
Homewood-Flossmoor High School is a public high school located in the southern Chicago suburb of Flossmoor, Illinois. The majority of HF students live in Flossmoor, and Homewood, Illinois, but the school also serves areas of Olympia Fields, Chicago Heights, Glenwood, and Hazel Crest. The school as of late has seen a lot of growth, currently the school has a population of 3,000 students. The school is also often noted as one of Illinois' finer public schools, as HF has been a Blue Ribbon winner three times, an award given by the government to high achieving secondary schools. Only one other Illinois school has ever won three before. The school ranked 866th on Newsweek Magazine's 2006 list of America's top high schools.
The campus consists of a north and south building. The North building has been alternately used and rented out in the decades since its construction. The South building consists of a number of lettered buildings, including a radio station, science labs, a swimming pool with diving well and seating for 700, the music building, and a newly renovated auditiorium.
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[edit] History
Homewood-Flossmoor Community High School opened in 1959. H-F's opening year saw enrollment in all four grades at 1170 students. There were 51 classrooms, which included ten English classes, ten Social Science, eight Science, six Mathematics, five Foreign Language, three Physical Education, one Homemaking, three Industrial Arts, two Art, and three Music classes. A cafeteria, library and administrative area were also included.
[edit] In the News
In 1990, HF became the first high school in Illinois to require mandatory random drug testing for its student athletes. Today, HF has 32 varsity sports, the most in Illinois. Some of these sports include field hockey, water polo, and badminton, along with more traditional sports such as basketball, baseball, football and hockey.
1994 Illinois class 6A football champions
In 1997, the school gained publicity from a Bill Clinton campaign visit. Before having thousands show up to watch Clinton speak at the school, security searched the area for anything that could prove to be harmful to the president. According to a rumor, Secret Service divers found a Volkswagen Beetle at the bottom of H-F's campus pond.
In 2003-04, junior Julian Wright currently of the Kansas Jayhawks basketball team, lead the Vikings to a second place finish in the IHSA class-AA state playoffs, losing to Peoria Central high school, lead by Shaun Livingston, who was drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers
In 2004, H-F encountered controversy over a campaign led by three students, Alissa Norby, Jamison Liang, and Myka Held. The campaign aimed to promote homosexual acceptance. Students were encouraged to buy shirts of various colors that read "Gay? Fine by me." Students who did not share the belief of acceptance responded by creating T-Shirts that read "Crimes committed against God." These shirts were black with text that ran in a circle. The opposing campaigns were profiled in many local and national news publications. The HF administration was criticized by several news publications and local parents for not taking an official stance on the matter. As a result of the "Fine By Me" project, Norby, Liang, and Held formed an official school-wide Gay-Straight Alliance and persuaded the Homewood Flossmoor School Board to include sexual orientation under its non-discrimination policy.
In 2005, HF encountered another controversy when students attending a state playoff basketball game at Chicago's United Center engaged in an alleged gang-related riot. Students were told the following day that H-F students had no involvement in the incident. This statement has been criticized by both students and parents for being seen as a cover up by H-F's administration. However, it has yet to be proven whether or not H-F students had any involvement in the riot, considering that a wide variety of schools attended the game.
[edit] Graduation Requirements
At H-F students are required to earn 4 English, 3 math, 3 science, 3 social science, 4 PE, and 5 elective for a total of 22 credits in order to graduate and move on in life.
- English
- Students are required to take English 1 their freshman year. Sophomore year, they are required to enroll in separate semesters of Speech & Research and Literature & Composition. In their junior and senior years, students are allowed English classes of their choice, but are still required to take one.
- Math
- Students typically take Algebra 1 during their freshman year, Geometry during sophomore year, and Algebra 2/Trigonometry during their junior year. However, due to the large number of accelerated math programs that have recently developed at the local junior high schools, HF has seen more and more students with math credits completed before they come to HF. After the three required math credits, several math electives are open, such as Precalculus, Calculus AB, Calculus BC, and AP Statistics.
- Science
- Students typically take Biology their freshman year, Chemistry during their sophomore year, and Physics during their junior year. However, since these courses are available for summer school, it is possible to earn science credits faster than normal, opening up a plethora of Advanced Placement science classes and science electives to take afterwards.
- Social Science
- It is not required to take a social science course during freshman year, but there are a couple social science electives open to freshmen. World History is required during sophomore year, US History during junior year, and Economics during senior year. All these courses can be replaced with Advanced Placement counterparts for the ambitious student.
- Physical Education
- During a student's freshman year, one semester of Physical Education is supplemented with another semester of Health. During sophomore year, a semester of Physical Education is supplemented with a semester of Driver's Education. During junior and senior year, Physical Education is a year-long requirement. However, it can be replaced with other PE-related electives or, in special cases, with an academic class through use of an academic waiver.
Classes are offered at H-F through three levels of difficulty, Academic Core, College Prep, Honors. There are also Advanced Placement (AP) classes, which offer a college-level curriculum for college credit.
[edit] Activities
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[edit] Trivia
- HF's Viking Choir was featured in the 1986 movie Lucas. The scene, however, was filmed at Glenbard West High School.
- HF is one of the only two schools in the nation with an ice arena on campus.
- WHFH 88.5 FM is the highest powered high school radio station in the nation, at 50,000 watts
- Principal Dr. Von Mansfield played football for NFL Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers and USFL Michigan Panthers
[edit] Famous alumni
- Larry Rothschild '71, Chicago Cubs pitching coach
- Thomas Gardiner '72 Chicago attorney; U.S. v Wardlaw
- Wes Hamilton '71, former All-Pro Minnesota Vikings center
- Chad Smith '80, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer
- Paul Gilmartin '81, comedian and co-host of Dinner and a Movie on TBS
- Borzou Daragahi '87, newspaper journalist and Baghdad bureau chief of the Los Angeles Times
- Chuck Garfien '89 Comcast Sports Net Chicago
- Shawnna '96 Hip Hop artist
- Casey Driessen '97 an American bluegrass fiddler and singer
- Warren Holloway '00 Iowa Hawkeyes football wide receiver who caught a 56 yard touchdown on the final play of the 2005 Capital One Bowl to beat Louisiana State University.
- TJ Cummings '00 played basketball at UCLA, currently plays in the NBA developmental league
- Julian Wright '05 McDonald's All-American and 2005 Illinois Mr. Basketball, basketball player at Kansas
- Nolan Harrison, former Oakland Raiders DE
- Ben Bradley, ABC 7 Chicago news anchor
- Laurence Holmes - Host of the Me Show on 'The Score' 670 WSCR-Chicago
- Brittany Riley - World Record holder in the 20 lbs. Women's Weight Throw
