Galena High School (Illinois)

Galena High School is the public secondary school in Galena, Illinois, and is part of Galena Unit School District 120. As of 2007^[update], GHS has roughly 260 students. Its current building was built in 1957.

School Song- "Old Galena High" (1928)

Fight Song- " Minnesota Rouser"

Notable alumni

• James Wright, is the former president of Dartmouth College serving from 1998-2009. He is credited with making Dartmouth a more multiracial and multigender campus, hiring more women and minorities to the faculty.
• LaMetta Wynn, the first African-American female mayor in Iowa, served as Mayor of Clinton, Iowa from 1995-2007.

Athletics and Activities

Galena High School competes in the Northwest Upstate Illini Conference and is a member school in the Illinois High School Association. Its teams are known as the Galena Pirates, have the mascot Petey the Pirate, and the colors royal blue and white.^[1] The school has 3 state championships on record in team athletics, Boy's Football in 1997-1998 (1A), 2003-2004 (1A), and 2007-2008 (1A).^[2]

Football

Galena High School football has experienced notable success since 1985, having Galena has qualified for the state 1A and 2A playoffs every year except two since 1985. The Galena Pirates Football Team won the IHSA Division 1A football championships in 1997, 2003, and 2007. They were runners-up in 1999.^[2]

From 1988 to 2003, the football team was coached by Chuck Korte, a former graduate of the school and 8th grade history teacher who retired in 2006. Coach Korte never played high school football as a student, but turned out to be one of the notable coaches in Northwest Illinois: he was inducted into the Illinois Football Coaches Hall of Fame, and the Galena football field is now named for him. The Pirates' rivalries include the East Dubuque Warriors and Stockton Blackhawks; in recent years the Pirate football team has built a rivalry with Milledgeville High School.

References