Joliet Central High School

and Joliet East (now defunct).

Building

The school itself is four stories tall, two city blocks long, and includes four separate buildings. The campus underwent a moderate expansion during 2005 when the old shop building was knocked down and a new building was erected in its place. A catwalk now connects the main building to the T&I building and allows students to cross unencumbered during inclement weather. The facilities also include a daycare center (on the ground floor of the Little Theater building), a planetarium, 6 tennis courts, a soccer field, 4 baseball fields, 1/16 mile indoor track, and a 1/4 mile track across the street to the east.

There is an historical display on the second floor near the South Entrance that is maintained by the Joliet Central Historical Society. Many archived items are kept in a vault, but the display includes the original Steelman sculpture and conceptual models of it from the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. The Steelman was sculpted by Louise Lentz Woodruff and is positioned with its hands behind a male and female, symbolizing technology advancing man. It is surrounded by the original relief panels representing the basic sciences: astronomy, mathematics, physics, chemistry, botany, zoology, medicine, and geology. It has long been considered good luck to rub the right knee of the male before any test or sporting events, therefore, the knee has been worn away and reconstituted over the years.

In 1994, Central and West combined athletic teams due to a lack of funding. The Steelman became the mascot of both schools. Joliet Township was a member of the IHSA SICA West conference and its arch-rivals for the past 10 years have been Joliet Catholic Academy and Providence Catholic High School. In 2005 however, Joliet Township became a part of the Southwest Suburban Conference, or SSC.

After finishing a new parking lot in 2007, Central began constructing a Field House over the parking lot. A Field House is also being added to Joliet West High School. Completion of the Field House is speculated to be in October 2008. During the 2008 - 2009 school year, Central and West began to divide the schools athletic programs, causing the West mascot to become the Tiger once again, leaving Central as the Steelmen. The split began with Joliet's Freshmen football team dividing. By the 2010 - 2011 school year, Joliet Central and Joliet West will have there own football teams. It is still unknown if other sports and activities between both schools will divide, and if conferences exclusive to West and Central will be attended by both schools.

Education

There are now two levels of study at Central (in order of conceptual difficulty): Honors and College Prep.
* The Honors curriculum is concentrated for students who grasp concepts more readily. The difficulty is reflected in the AP level classes and the pace at which materials are taught. The grade weighting of 1.2 attempts to reflect the challenges with which Honors students are presented.
* College Prep level classes are weighted 1.0 and spend still more time on material and provide more homework to students to help them understand difficult concepts.

The student grade point average is based on a 4.0 scale and weighted grades are awarded for higher curriculum classes, with 5.6 being the highest GPA obtainable by an honors student. The student with the highest GPA in recent history is Crystal Lovell, class of 1996, who graduated as valedictorian with a 5.51 GPAJoliet Herald News, Archives, Annual Local Graduates Section, May 1996] . Central separates freshmen from the rest of the student body by primarily locating their classes in a localized area within the main building and giving them an earlier start. This provides an environment that is more supportive of new students and allows more freedom and time to find classrooms in a building of this size. Freshman during the 2008-2009 school year are being put in mobiles while Air conditioning is being put on the freshman part of the building.

Notable alumni

* Ken Strickland, 1985 [ [http://www.jths.org/jths/alumni2/spotlight.asp Joliet Township High School ] ]
* Jesse Barfield, 1977
* Lionel Richie, 1967
* Margaret Leinen, 1964
* Kathryn Hays, 1952
* Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (1951)
* Robert Novak (1948)
* John "Jack" Goeken, 1948
* George Munroe, 1939
* John Houbolt, 1936
* Audrey Totter, 1936
* Larry Parks, 1932
* Ernest "Pug" Rentner, 1929
* Katherine Dunham, 1926
* Edwin Way Teale, 1918

External links

* [http://www.jths.org/jths/schools/central/index.asp Joliet Central homepage]

References