Lockport Township High School
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Lockport Township High School, or LTHS, is a public high school in Lockport, Illinois, United States. It also serves the communities of Homer Glen, Fairmont, parts of Crest Hill, and parts of Joliet.
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[edit] History
Lockport, Illinois is a town rich in history with the first settlers arriving in the area in 1830. Lockport is located on the old Illinois and Michigan Canal, which served as an important mode of transportation in the 1800s. The city derives its name from the locks that controlled the water level on the canal. In 1848 the I & M canal was opened and Lockport became a port on the 100 mile journey between Lake Michigan and the Illinois river. Although the canal was once a means of transportation of goods and passengers, it is now a picturesque link to the past and is the heart of the I & M National Heritage Corridor.
Soon after settlers arrived, school classes began in a log cabin on what is now Division Street. The first village school was built in 1857, and housed students of all ages. The three story building was built of local dolomitic limestone, with a four-sided clock tower on its roof. The first graduation commencement was June 28, 1888 with seven graduates. A fire destroyed the school on August 10, 1895. Classes were held in churches and other buildings until a new structure was ready.
Subsequently in 1896 a new school opened, also built of local dolomitic limestone and on the same site as the school that burned. John Barnes, the Joliet architect who designed it, trained in the Richardson Romanesque style. The new school likewise, housed all of the village students.
Construction was started in 1909 on a high school at 1222 S. Jefferson.
In 1910, Lockport High School opened and was accredited by the North Central Association. Since the time of the dedication, two major additions in 1930 and 1953 have been made to the school. With these additions, the high school now occupies the entire block of Twelfth, Jefferson, Thirteenth, and Madison Streets. In 1963, Lockport West High School opened as a four-year high school in Romeoville, and in 1964, Lockport Township High School-East Campus opened for freshmen and sophomores at 1333 E. Seventh Street.
Juniors and seniors attended the older school referred to as Lockport Township High School - Central Campus. In 1971, deannexation took place and Lockport High School District 205 was separated into two districts. Both Lockport Central and East Campus remained in District 205. The Lockport West Campus became Romeoville High School part of Valley View Community Unit School District 365U.
In the spring of 1995, the communities within District 205 passed a referendum to remodel the interior of Lockport East Campus and increase its size, renovate areas of Central Campus, upgrade and expand the technology resources and infrastructure at both campus. The renovation project enabled District 205 to house 3,000 students at East Campus and 1,000 students at Central Campus. The project was finished in the fall of 1997. East Campus was changed to a Sophomore, Junior, Senior Campus. Central Campus became the Freshman Center. Current enrollment in both campuses was 3997 students as of the start of the 07-08 year.
Central and East Campuses both presently operate over their design capacity. In the spring of 2006, voters overwhelmingly rejected a referendum to build a second high school in Homer Glen. A major issue of contention in the referendum was the proposed boundary line designating the areas to be serviced by each high school.
[edit] Sports
Athletics have long played an intergral part of Lockport Township High Scool and the communities that feed into the school. These communities have provided strong, and proud support for Porter athletics, and share great pride in their success. Over the years LTHS have long been known for success in many athletic circles.
Baseball
Lockport has a long storied history in Illinois High school baseball. The program has won over 1,000 games under such legendry Head Coaches as Clyde Odle, and Jim Hall who guided the Porters to the 2004-'05 Class AA State Championship with a record of 40-3. The Porters, under Hall, also finished as Class AA Runner-Up in 1996-'97, and 4th in Class AA in 1991-'92. The current Head Coach is Steve Stanicek.
Basketball
Lockport was long been know for its basketball success. In 1978, all of Lockport's levels of boys' basketball went undefeated with the varsity squad, under legendry Head Coach Bob Basarich, winning the Illinois State Championship with a record of 33-0. The basketball team has recently, under Head Coach Lawrence Thompson Jr., won back-to-back-to-back regional titles in 2005-'06 ,2006-'07 and 2007-'08 and advanced to the Sweet 16. On the backs of players Bruce Durham, Doug Sexauer, and Brian Bradley Lockport's '06-'07 squad advanced to the Elite 8 for the first time since 1979. Lockport won their third consecutive sectional championship in 2008 and finished 4th in the state in class 4A. A notable LTHS alumni is Alando Tucker. Tucker played four full seasons at the University of Wisconsin. In 2007, not only did Tucker break the all time scoring record for the University of Wisconsin, but he was named Big-Ten Player of the Year and was selected as a First Team All-American. Tucker was drafted in 2007 to the Phoenix Suns late in the first round.
Football
Since its inauguration, Lockport has had a football team. Long time Head Coach Bill Zimmer guided the Porter Gridiron teams from 1960 until retiring after the 1993 season. In recent years, the school has been known for having a competitive and sucessful football program. In 2002 and 2003 under Head Coach Bret Kooi, Lockport won back-to-back class 8A football state championships with a combined record of 24-3.
Cross Country
In 1996 Lockport High School, under Head Coach Larry Thompson, became the first south-suburban school to win a cross country state title since Bloom Township's win in 1975. The following year, 1997, Lockport won its second consecutive state championship narrowly defeating legendary coach Joe Newton's perennial powerhouse York High School by 1 point. Lockport joins Deerfield, Schaumburg, and York as the only teams to win consecutive cross country state titles since the class division split in 1976. Thompson's 1998 squad finished 4th in the state Class AA compitition Lockport high school has produced 13 All-State runners, including two individual state champions. The current Head Coach is Tom Razo who coached th 1999 team to 3rd in state Class AA tournament competition, and 4th in 2000.
Softball
Since the inception of softball as a girl's sport at Lockport in the early 70's, the program has had great success in the sport. Legendary Head Coach Barb Burk, guided the Lady Porters to state class AA title in in 1996-'97 with a 37-3 record. The Porters under Burk also finished class AA runner-up twice in 1986-'87 and 1989-'90 with a combined record of 65-6. Burk's 1998-'99 squad placed 3rd in class AA with a record of 34-3 In 20 seasons Coach Burk led her Porter teams to a 657-184 record. In 2002 Coach Burk was succeeded by Coach Marissa Chovanec, and the success has continued as the Lady Porters won the Class AA title in 2003-'04 with a record of 35-5.
Volleyball As in softball, the Lady Porters Volleyball program under Head Coach Julia Hudson, Lockport's Volleyball Coach since the program's inception, has had great success as well. Coach Hudson's teams have placed well in state tournament competition winning the Class AA Volleyball title in 1993-'94 with a record of 40-3. They also finished 2nd in 1990-'91 (34-9), 3rd in 1984-'85 (41-4) and 1991-'92 (39-4) and 4th in 1996-'97 (34-9). In her Coaching career Hudson has won over 700 games and ranks among the top Coaches in Illinois High school Volleyball history.
Cheerleading
In June 2004, Lockport's Varsity Cheerleading squad was appointed a new head coach after Michelle Clement's 30+-year tenure. Danielle and Jim Calabrese, ex-Porters, have come in and turned the squad into a powerhouse. During the 2005-2006 season, the squad was regional, conference, and sectional champion, and placed 2nd in the state competition. During the 2006-2007 season, the Porters became back-to-back sectional champions, and went on to become state champions. The Porters backed it up with another successful 2007-2008 season. After a disappointing conference meet the Porters came back with a vengeance and easily won their 2nd consecutive sectional championship. At state the Porters performed a routine for the ages. They easily won their 2nd straight state championship en route to cementing Lockport's name as the best cheerleading factory in the state of Illinois.
[edit] Clubs
Math team The Lockport math team or "mathletes" to some, is part of the SWSC or South West Suburban Conference. There are four teachers, which head each of the grades "players". Each grade level usually consists of approximately 6-13 members. Ms. Herman, a Geometry teacher at Central Campus, heads the freshman part as she has done for many years.
Porter Press Another important club at Lockport is their newspaper The Porter Press. The Porter Press has a staff of very skilled writers and photographers. The paper is published 8-10 times a school year. There is also a journalism class held at Lockport.
[edit] Performing Arts
Band
The Lockport Band program has a rich history of many accomplishments dating back to 1960 where they were led by Ernest Caneva to the "Music Man" National Band Championship. The Lockport Band program consists of 230 students in a competitive marching band, two jazz ensembles, one freshmen band, Concert Band, Symphonic Band, and Wind Symphony. A good performance of note was the marching band’s contribution in the 1986 hit film “Ferris Buellers Day Off”. The LTHS Wind Symphony has established a reputation as one of the finest and most respected high school bands in Illinois as well as thorough recognition on the national level. They have been selected 19 times to play at the Illinois Superstate Band Festival and selected as the 1999-2000 and 2006-2007 class AAA Illinois Superstate Honor band. They also have performed at the Bands of America National Concert Band Festival in 1992, 1995, 1999, 2005, and 2008 (tied for the most performances by a single school in the festival's history). Also, the Lockport Township High School Wind Symphony has been selected as one of four high school bands throughout the globe to play at the 2008 Midwest Clinic in Chicago, Illinois. The Midwest Clinic is the most prestigious performance opportunity available to the high school band world. This will be Lockport's second time performing at Midwest. Their first Midwest performance was in 1957, directed by Ernest O. Caneva.
[1] - Unofficial Presence of the Lockport Township H.S. Bands
[edit] Notable alumni
- Tom Haller - Former Major League baseball player in the 1960s
- Ron Coomer - Former All Star Major League baseball player for the Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, and LA Dodgers
- Alando Tucker-29th overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft and member of the Phoenix Suns
- Tony Pashos- Current NFL offensive lineman for the Jacksonville Jaguars
- Mike Zimmer- Current NFL Defensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals
- Nicholas Setta- CFL Rookie of the year/East. Scoring leader. Allstar Kicker/Punter For Hamilton TigerCats.
- Tim Dierkes - Baseball rumor guru - runs popular MLB Trade Rumors blog.
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