- O'Fallon Township High School
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O'Fallon Township High School 
Address 600 South Smiley Street
O'Fallon, Illinois, 62269
United StatesCoordinates 38°35′12″N 89°54′06″W / 38.5867160°N 89.9017677°WCoordinates: 38°35′12″N 89°54′06″W / 38.5867160°N 89.9017677°W[1] Information School type Public Founded 1901 School district 203 Grades 9-12 Enrollment 2,508 Athletics conference Southwestern Mascot Panther Team name Panthers Newspaper Prowler Yearbook Panther Website www.edline.net/pages/O Fallon High School/ (JavaScript required) 
O'Fallon Township High School is a public secondary school in O'Fallon, Illinois. In 2009, OTHS was ranked 49th out of the top 100 high schools in Illinois by the Chicago Sun Times.[2]
Contents
History
The first high school was founded in 1901 as a two-year school by William R. Dorris, who became the first principal, according to Brian Keller of the O’Fallon Historical Society.
In 1901, the city had built a new building to serve as the elementary school. One room, Room 10, was set aside for the high school studies.
In 1903, the first graduating class of O’Fallon had only five people.
O’Fallon’s high school officially became OTHS of District 203 in 1920, and the original school song, “Blue and Old Gold” was first sung at graduation in 1925. The school's mascot is the Panthers, which the 1934 basketball team takes credit for choosing. According to Mr. George Bender, class of 1937, the basketball team visited a sports store in 1934 and was impressed by the large picture of a panther in the store’s display window. The team, not having a mascot of their own yet, liked the idea of using the panther. By November 1934, the team was nicknamed the 'Panthers,' a name which would eventually represent the entire school.
Campuses
The current main campus, which houses grades 10-12 (Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors) was built and opened in 1958. Also, the district expanded the main campus by extending the street-side hallway, thus adding another hallway stretching the length of the school along with multiple new classrooms.
The district completed construction on the strictly 9th grade or Freshman campus (Milburn) in the summer of 2009. The two campuses are approximately 5 minutes apart.
Extracurricular activities
Sports
The Panthers compete in the Southwestern Conference.
- Baseball
- Basketball
- Bowling
- Cross Country
- Cheerleading
- Ice Hockey
- Football
- Golden Girls Dance Team
- Golf
- Intramurals: Softball, Ultimate Frisbee
- Lacrosse
- Marching Band
- Soccer
- Softball
- Swimming
- Tennis
- Track and Field
- Volleyball
- Wrestling
School rivals
- Edwardsville High School
- Belleville East
- Belleville West
- East St. Louis
- York Community High School
- Naperville North
- Roxana High School
Other extracurricular activities
- Art Club
- Astronomy Club
- BETA Club
- Bleachermaniacs
- Broadcast Staff
- Camera Club
- Comics and Drawing Team
- Chess Team
- Chamber Choir
- Cross Country
- Concert Choir
- Culture Mix
- Drama Club
- Ecology Club
- Endeavours Literary Magazine
- Fall Play
- Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA)
- Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA)
- French Club
- French Honor Society
- Freshman Choir
- Future Educators of America (FEA)
- Gay Straight Alliance (GSA)
- Geology Club
- German Club
- German Honor Society
- Government Club
- History Club
- Hockey
- International Action (Interact) Club
- Jazz Band
- Jazz Choir
- Orchestra
- Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC)
- Lifesavers
- Madrigals
- Marching Band
- Math Team
- Mock Trial Club
- Model United Nations
- National Honor Society
- Newspaper Staff (Prowler)
- Odyssey of the Mind
- Otaku Club
- Players with a Passion
- Prom Planning Committee
- Religions United Interfaith Mosaic (RUIM)
- Robotics Team
- Saturday Scholars
- Scholar Bowl Team
- Science Olympiad Team
- Show Choir
- Speech Team
- Spanish Club
- Spanish Honor Society
- Spring Musical
- Sports Medicine Club
- Sport Psychology Club
- Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD)
- Student Council
- Thespian Society
- (Varisity) Winter Guard
- (Junior Varsity) Winterguard
- Woman's Choir
- Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering (WYSE) Team
- Yearbook Staff
Team achievements
The O'Fallon track team's 4x1mile relay placed 6th in the nation at New Balance Outdoor Nationals 2011 attaining All-American Status.
O'Fallon Winter Guard 2011 claimed the National title at Winter Guard International World Championships.
The Varsity Cross Country Team placed 5th in the 2010 State Meet with a team average of 14:59 for 3 miles. The team finished the season ranked 25th in the Nation.
The Varsity baseball team earned the school's first team state trophy in school history by placing third in the IHSA State Tournament in 2006[3] and 2009. That years team also made the school as the highest winning baseball team in Illinois.
The Junior ROTC Drill Team placed 1st overall at the Gateway International Drill Competition held at Alton High School, Illinois.
The Varsity Cheerleading team placed 2nd at state in 2007 and 4th at state in 2008 and second again in 2009.
The boys' basketball team finished second at the 2007 State Basketball Tournament held annually in Peoria, Illinois at Bradley University and finished fourth in 2010.
The Golden Girls dance team placed first in state competition in March 2008.
The O'Fallon Hockey Panthers won the MVCHA league 2A championship in the 1998-99 season, and also the 2A south division in 98-99, 99-00, and 01-02 seasons.
The JV Hockey Panthers won the south division in 03-04 and the JV 2A championship in 96-97, 97-98, 02-03, and 2010-11
The Marching Panthers have won the veiled Prophet Parade for 16 consecutive years.
The Winter Guard placed 3rd at MCCGA Championships and 1st in state in 2009-2010.
The competitive Journalism Team placed 2nd in the IHSA State competition in April
The 2009 Girls' Volleyball team won regionals for the first time in 17 years and advanced on to the sectional finals
The 07-08 Scholar Bowl team went 37-4 and went to the IHSA class AA tournament for the first time in the school's history [4]
Notable alumni
- Bob Cryder, Former NFL player
- Ron Stein, sports
- Dawn Stern, American actress
References
- ^ Detail
- ^ Chicago Sun-Times. 10 September 2011. http://www.suntimes.com/news/education/1854961,top-100-high-schools-1009.article.
- ^ "Error: no
|title=specified when using {{Cite web}}". http://www.ihsa.org/activity/ba/records/alltime.htm#0X100. - ^ http://www.ihsa.org/activity/scb/records/xbysch1.htm
Categories:- Educational institutions established in 1920
- High schools in Illinois
- Schools in St. Clair County, Illinois
- School districts in Illinois
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