Richwoods High School
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| Established | 1957 |
|---|---|
| Type | Public secondary |
| Principal | John Meisinger (1998-present) |
| Students | 1,351 |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Location | 6301 North University Street Peoria, Illinois, United States |
| Campus | Suburban |
| Colors | Forest Green and White |
| Mascot | Knights |
| Newspaper | 'The Shield' |
| Website | [1] |
Richwoods High School is the most northern of the four regular public high schools in Peoria, Illinois, United States. The current principal is Mr. John Meisinger. The principal from 1994-1998 was Mrs. Jeanne Williamson. Richwoods or "RHS" is currently a member of the Midstate 6 Conference which includes five regular members: Peoria High School (Central), Woodruff High School, Manual High School, Peoria Notre Dame High School for all sports, and includes Quincy Notre Dame High School for football only.
Richwoods was originally the high school of Richwoods Township. The name of the school when it opened in 1957 was "Richwoods Community High School". In the 1960s, the school was annexed to the city of Peoria, causing it to come under the purview of Peoria Public Schools (District 150). A lengthy legal battle ensued, and District 150 was required to allow students from the original school district to attend Richwoods until Peoria Heights High School could be built to replace it. Once PHHS was completed, Richwoods became an exclusively District 150 school.
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[edit] Richwoods Fight Song
- Fight on for Richwoods!
- Fight on to Glorify Her name!
- Honor in Battle
- Fight on for Her name
- Rah! Rah! Rah!
- Sing out for Richwoods
- Sing out the royal battle cry
- Go! Fight! Win! Knights!
- For dear old Richwoods High!!
[edit] Mission Statement
The mission of Richwoods High School, a community of learners building upon its tradition of academic excellence, is to ensure each student reaches his or her academic and personal potential and becomes an engaged, responsible, contributing citizen: this is accomplished by providing a safe and supportive environment that respects diversity and by guaranteeing a professional, dedicated, caring staff, working in partnership with students, families, alumni and community.
[edit] The School
Richwoods High School is the only of 7 schools in Illinois and the only one outside of the Chicago area to offer the International Baccalaureate program to students. Richwoods has forensics, football, ultimate, and basketball programs, among others.
Feeder middle schools are Mark Bills, Lindbergh, and Rolling Acres Edison, and Washington Gifted.
Richwoods uses an unweighted grade point average system, and a weighted class-ranking system.
As of the 2007-2008 school year, Richwoods is making AYP for No Child Left Behind as a result of the PSAE (Prairie State Achievement Exam) results from the RHS Class of 2008.
[edit] International Baccalaureate Program
The IB Program is an educational program examined in one of three languages (English, French or Spanish) and is a leading university entrance course. It is taught in 2,075 schools, often in international schools, in 125 countries all around the world (as of 2007).In 2005, the first class of International Baccalaureate students graduated from Richwoods High School. Students in the IB Diploma program must take Higher Level Biology, History, and English, and have a good variety of choices as to their Standard Level Classes. The class size of IB has been growing rapidly, from 17 in 2006 to 48 in 2007.
[edit] Activities
The school publishes its own in-school newspaper, The Shield, and the school yearbook, The Excalibur.
[edit] Forensics program
The Richwoods High School speech team is one of the largest in Illinois south of Chicago. The team regularly produces state qualifiers. The Richwoods speech team also hosts the Camelot Classic each year at Richwoods High School.
[edit] Marching band
The band plays at three concerts a year, at two parades, and at the home football games. It has a large percussion section, and also plays at the home games of the Boys' Basketball team.
[edit] Operation Snowball
Richwoods High School holds an Operation Snowball event annually. This event promotes awareness of substance abuse, mental health awareness, and healthy relationships. The adult sponsors are Tracey Ziegenhorn and Joanna Moe. Past Themes:
2005: Survivor 2006: "Stayin' Alive in the Seventies"
2007: Las Vegas-"Don't Gamble with your Life"
2008: Candyland-"Life's Too Sweet to be a Dum-Dum"
[edit] WYSE Academic Challenge
Every year, Richwoods sponsors a team for the Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering Academic Challenge, which regularly qualifies for the state tournament. In 2005, the team placed fourth overall at State with three individual medalists.
[edit] Plays and musicals
Twice a year, Richwoods High School students perform on-stage. With the arrival of Mrs. Steffeck, a new speech coach and debate teacher in the 2005-2006 school year, the fall musical was switched to a fall play: in 2004, Damn Yankees; in 2005, The Bad Seed; in 2006, Peter Pan; and in 2007, Arsenic and Old Lace. RHS continues to produce musicals in the spring time: in 2005, Guys and Dolls, and in 2006, Fiddler on the Roof, both directed by Todd Schiefling. In 2007, Mrs. Steffeck directed The Boy Friend.
[edit] Madrigals
Every year, Richwoods has a madrigal dinner, done in a traditional 16th-century style. Much of the singing is a cappella. Along with a core group of Madrigal Singers, there are other musical student groups which participate, including Ladies in Waiting, Men in Tights, a recorder ensemble, and a string quartet. As well as music, a variety of actors are involved in the madrigal dinners. There is usually a king and queen.
[edit] School dances
RHS hosts three dances for the entire school yearly: Homecoming, Vice Versa, and Prom. Homecoming involves:
- Spirit Week with dress-up days for the whole school and Class Colors Day (freshmen: green; sophomores: white; juniors: blue; seniors: red).
- Pep assembly. Part of the competition for the Spirit Stick and to encourage the football players for their game later that evening.
- Assembly introducing the Homecoming Queen nominees. Since the whole school votes for the Homecoming Queen, the candidates are introduced during a second hour assembly.
- Stunt Show involves the Olympics (three point shot contest, wheelbarrow race, tug-of-war) and a skit by each class. Each skit contains two dances by dancers from each respective class.
- Homecoming Game: a home game that is usually well-attended.
- Homecoming Dance takes place in Richwoods' terrazzo area (like a foyer) and lasts until 23:00.
Vice Versa is not as well attended as Homecoming, but there is a theme and the dress is based on that theme. Traditionally, girls asked the boys to Vice Versa, hence the name of the dance. Vice Versa involves:
- Assembly introducing the Vice Versa King nominees during second hour. This assembly usually has more excitement because the candidates have on thematic dress.
- Vice Versa Dance. Couples dress up according to the theme. Voting and crowning of the Vice Versa King occurs before the dance ends at 23:00.
[edit] Sports
Richwoods has a quality athletic program with several state qualifiers and medalists over the years. The school colors are green and white and their mascot is the Knight.
[edit] Football
The Peoria Richwoods football team has won the Mid-State conference championship 5 years in a row. The Knights are coached by Dave Lang.
[edit] Women's track
In the past eleven seasons, Richwoods has won seven conference titles. They have a detailed website that is regularly updated. The head coach of the track team is Rich Thole. The assistant coaches are Mark Rose, Terry Camp, Shad Hickman, and Joe Maier. Coach Maier coached for 30 years before retiring after 2005 season, and returning in 2007.
[edit] Cross country
Richwoods has a large cross country program. The teams are coached by Todd Hursey, Ed Ricca, Michelle Allen, and Matt Peharda. They have won 22 Conference championships and have qualified for the State meet 25 times.
[edit] Notable alumni
- Ambassador Nancy Brinker - founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, an organization named after her only sister, Susan, who died from breast cancer. Brinker was nominated to be the United States ambassador to Hungary by President George W. Bush on May 23, 2001 and the Chief of Protocol of the United States in 2007.
- Ryan Spain - served on the Peoria City Council
- Jim Morris - served on the Peoria City Council
- Aaron Schock - elected youngest member of District 150 council in 2001, eventually becoming school board president. Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 92nd district elected in 2005.
- Shaun Livingston, professional basketball player for the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers
[edit] Sources
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This article is missing citations or needs footnotes. Using inline citations helps guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. (November 2007) |
