Homewood-Flossmoor High School

Infobox Secondary school
name = Homewood-Flossmoor Community High School
picture =
principal = Mr. R. Pitcock
city = Flossmoor
state = Illinois
country = United States
established = 1959
campus = Suburban
campus= Suburban
type = Public (magnet) secondary
students = 1367
students= 1367
grades = 9–12
free_label_2 = Accreditation
free_2 = Blue Ribbon Schools Program
website = [http://www.hfhighschool.org/ hfhighschool.org]

Homewood-Flossmoor High School (HF) is a public high school (grades 9-12) in Flossmoor, Illinois, in the Chicago metropolitan area. The majority of HF students live in Flossmoor and nearby 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 was ranked 763rd in "Newsweek" magazine's 2008 "America's Top Public High Schools".cite web |title=America's Top Public High Schools |url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/39380/ |accessdate=2008-09-26 |publisher=Newsweek]

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 auditorium.

History

Homewood-Flossmoor Community High School opened in 1959. HF'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.

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 IHSA Class 6A (the largest classification at the time) football champions, defeating Naperville North 13-12 in the title game for their first and only football state championship.

In 1996, the school gained publicity from a Bill Clinton visit during his 1996 reelection campaign. 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. Secret Service divers found a Volkswagen Beetle at the bottom of HF's campus pond. In 2007, a student at the school is believed to have found the steering wheel to that car in the lake. Fact|date=July 2008

In 2003-04, junior Julian Wright led the Vikings to a school best second place finish in the IHSA class-AA state playoffs, losing 53-47 in Peoria to Peoria Central in the final game. Peoria Central was led by 27 and points and 9 rebounds from Shaun Livingston, who was drafted 4th overall later that year by the Los Angeles Clippers. H-F would finish the season ranked 25th in the USA Today national high school poll. Fact|date=July 2008

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. Fact|date=July 2008

In 2005, H-F 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. Fact|date=July 2008

On April 5th, 2007, national recording artist Pete Francis of the band Dispatch performed a sold out concert in the H-F Auditorium to benefit the Elias Fund. The show was organized by H-F's own Andrew Gertler and the students of the Viking Broadcasting Company, the school's very own broadcasting (radio & television) station. Fact|date=July 2008

On Wednesday May 7, 2008 a student found a bullet and a note in a bathroom in the south building explaining that the next day there would be a shooting. An extra amount of authorities were brought in for safety. Fact|date=July 2008

On Monday September 15, 2008, the school was closed for the first time since 1979, due to extensive flooding of the Bio Pond. The path between South Building and North Building was completely submerged in knee-deep water, and E-Building and G-Building were flooded.

Trivia

* HF's Viking Choir was the first United States high school choir to perform in the Soviet Union in April, 1971

* HF's Viking Choir was featured in the 1986 movie "Lucas". The scene, however, was filmed at Glenbard West High School.Fact|date=June 2007

* HF is one of the only two schools in the nation with an ice arena on campus.Fact|date=June 2007

* WHFH 88.5 FM is the highest powered high school radio station in the nation, at 1,500 wattsFact|date=June 2007

* Principal Dr. Von Mansfield was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons of the NFL in 1982 and played football for NFL Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers and USFL Michigan PanthersFact|date=June 2007 [ [http://www.nfl.com/draft/history/fulldraft?abbr=M&abbr
] ] , [ [http://www.thisistheusfl.com/84michroster.htm This is the USFL 1984 Michigan Panthers Roster ] ]

* Former college counselor, guidance department and English department chairman Charles J. Shields is the author of Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee (Henry Holt & Co, 2006), which was a New York Times bestseller for 12 weeks. Mockingbird was also an alternate selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club and the Literary Guild; a main selection of the Quality Paperback Book Club; a nominee for the Quill Awards in nonfiction, and winner of the 2007 Southern Independent Booksellers Association award for best nonfiction book of the year. He is currently at work on the authorized biography of Kurt Vonnegut, author of Slaughterhouse-Five and other novels.Facts|date=June 2007 [http://www.hfhighschool.org/hfmain/home/archives/Admin_Teach_Staff.pdf]

* The movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off was originally supposed to be filmed at Homewood Flossmoor High School

*In 2008, a student from Homewood Flossmoor was pulled over in one of the school's Driver's Ed cars by police. Luckily, that student was let off with a warning.

Notable alumni

* Marc Hansen '71, Des Moines Register Columnist and Sportswriter
* Larry Rothschild '71, Chicago Cubs pitching coach
* Wes Hamilton '71, former All-Pro Minnesota Vikings center
* Paul Sullivan, '76, Chicago Tribune Baseball Writer
* Paul Gilmartin, '81, comedian and co-host of Dinner and a Movie on TBS.
* Nolan Harrison '86, 10-year NFL veteran defensive lineman
* Borzou Daragahi '87, newspaper journalist, former "Los Angeles Times" Baghdad bureau chief
* Chuck Garfien, '89, Comcast Sports Net Chicago.
* Randy Merkin, '88, producer, Wadle and Silvy radio show
* Kevin R. Brennan '05, President & CEO of KBRE
* Ben Bradley '93, general assignment reporter for ABC 7 News Chicago
* Shawnna '96 Hip Hop artist
* Sean McGarvey '96, producer at WTTG-5 "Fox 5" in Washington D.C.
* 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
* John Ely '04 baseball pitcher at Miami University in Ohio, selected in the 3rd round of the 2007 amateur draft by the Chicago White Sox.
* Matt O'Brien '03, principal at web development company V9 Design
* Julian Wright '05 McDonald's All-American and 2005 Illinois Mr. Basketball, basketball player for the New Orleans Hornets
* Scott Merkin '83, Chicago White Sox beat writer, MLB.com
* Brittany Riley '04, member of Team USA track & field, won the 2007 NCAA Indoor National Championship in the weight throw with a world-record throw of 83-10.25 (25.56m)

References

External links

* [http://www.hfhighschool.org/ Official site]
* [http://www.thehomewoodflossmoorvikings.com/ Official athletics site]
* [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/more/03/15/hs.brawl/index.html/ United Center riot - news story]
* [http://www.usatoday.com/sports/preps/basketball/2004-final-boys-super25.htm/ 2005 final USA Today basketball rankings]