public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
located in DeKalb, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of DeKalb Community Unit School District 428.
History
DeKalb High School dates its founding to the early 1900s as "DeKalb Township High School." The original campus was located on North First Street, now the site of Clinton Rosette Middle School. Then, constructed in 1967, a new campus building was completed on South Fourth Street and Barb Blvd., with three classroom and facility additions since then. During the 1990s and through 2008, the district experienced strong growth, resulting in severe overcrowding. On February 5, 2008, voters in the district approved a referendum to construct a new high school facility on Dresser Road; east of Annie Glidden Road. The groundbreaking ceremony was held on May 27, 2009. It opened for the 2011-2012 school year. The former campus has been repurposed for use as Huntley Middle School, the former Huntley Middle school has been repurposed as Founders Elementary School, and the former Chesebro Elementary was repurposed as an Early Childhood/Pre-K Center.
Academics
In 2014, DeKalb had an average composite ACT score of 25.3, and graduated 96.6% of its senior class. In addition, the school placed in the top 10% of schools in the nation, according to US News.
Athletics
DeKalb's 22 athletic teams are known as the Barbs. This name comes from the fact that barbed wire was invented in
DeKalb DeKalb or De Kalb may refer to:
People
* Baron Johann de Kalb (1721–1780), major general in the American Revolutionary War
Places Municipalities in the United States
* DeKalb, Illinois, the largest city in the United States named DeKalb
**DeKal ...
. Over the past century DeKalb has been a charter member of six high school athletic conferences: The Northern Illinois Football Conference in 1916, the
North Central Illinois Conference
The North Central Illinois Conference, far better known as the NCIC, was an IHSA recognized high school extra-curricular conference. Its location, as the name would indicate, was in the north-central part of the state. The schools all hailed fro ...
in 1929, the
Upstate Eight Conference
The Upstate Eight Conference (''UEC'', ''U8C'', or ''Upstate 8'') is an organization of ten high schools in northeastern Illinois, representing ten communities in Chicago's suburbs. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School A ...
in 1963, the
Western Sun Conference
The Western Sun Conference (WSC) was an organization of eight high schools in northern Illinois, representing eight communities in that part of the state. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association. The conference be ...
in 2006, the
Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference
The Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference was a high-school athletic conference with ten high schools in northern Illinois. The conference began competing during the 2010–2011 academic year and dissolved following the 2018–2019 academic year. I ...
in 2010 and has been a member of the
DuPage Valley Conference
The DuPage Valley Conference (DVC) is an organization of six high schools in northeastern Illinois, representing seven communities in Chicago's suburbs. These high schools are all members of the Illinois High School Association. The Conference, or ...
since 2019. DeKalb is a member of the
Illinois High School Association
The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) is an association that regulates competition of interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level for the state of Illinois. It is a charter member of the National Fe ...
.
National recognition
On February 7, 2009, the DHS basketball team gained national acclaim for an act of
sportsmanship
Sportsmanship is an aspiration or ethos that a sport, or activity will be enjoyed for its own sake. This is with proper consideration for fairness, ethics, respect, and a sense of fellowship with one's competitors. A "sore loser" refers to o ...
in a game against Milwaukee Madison High School. Just hours before the game began, Madison's senior captain Johntell Franklin learned of his mother's death. He initially informed his coach he would not play that night, but later came to the game and asked his coach to let him play. Since Franklin was not listed on the team roster, Madison would incur a
technical foul
In basketball, a technical foul (colloquially known as a "T" or a "tech") is any infraction of the rules penalized as a foul which does not involve physical contact during the course of play between opposing players on the court, or is a foul by a ...
, and DeKalb would get two
free throws
In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...
. DeKalb player Darius McNeal volunteered to take the free throws, and intentionally missed both, by rolling the ball out of bounds. Once the Madison team and fans realized that DeKalb had negated the foul to show support for Franklin, they stood and applauded. This act was reported extensively in the media, including ESPN.com, yahoo.com, World News Tonight, and the Lou Dobbs Report.
Music
*In 2008 and 2012 the DHS Jazz Ensemble was named a finalist in the
Essentially Ellington
The Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival is an annual high school jazz festival and competition that takes place every May at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. The festival is aimed at encouraging young musician ...
jazz ensemble competition, one of only 15 bands from all of North America to receive such honors.
*The Dekalb High School Guys' A Cappella group, Fly Check, won the ICHSA Midwest regional championship in 2007 and 2008, and they attended nationals in New York City both years. In 2011-12, 2014–15, and 2015–16 the mixed a cappella group "Enharmonic Fusion" was selected to go to New York City for the ICHSA Finals. In 2016-17, the group placed second at the national competition.
*In the 2012-2013 school year the DeKalb Marching Barbs were selected to perform, with other marching bands across the United States, at the half time show at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, Louisiana. During their stay in NOLA, the DHS Marching band competed against other bands in the region and won, with a clean sweep, making them able to be the band to hold the flag during the national anthem. At that time (senior), Max McArtor appeared on television on ESPN, and (sophomore) Veronica Sherman was shown on the Jumbotron twice.
Other extracurricular activities
DeKalb sponsors the following extracurricular activities:
*Art Workshop
*Anime Club
*Badminton
*DHS Marching Band
*Baseball
*Barb Wire Newspaper
*Basketball
*Bowling
*Cheerleading
*Class Organizations
*Crobotics Robotics team
*Cross Country
*DCP/SAFE
*Eco Buds
* F.F.A.
*Football
*Forensics
*French
*Gamer's Guild
*Graphics Club
*Golf
*Interact Club
*Intramural Sports
*Key Club
*Math Team
*Musicals
* National Honor Society
*New Pennies
*Outdoor Adventure club
*Peer Mediation
*Plays
*Pom Poms
* S.A.D.D.
*Scholastic Bowl
*Shop Club
*Sci-fi Club
*Soccer
*Softball
*Spanish Club
*String Band
*Student Council
*Swimming
*Tennis
*Track and Field
*Voices of Diversity
*Volleyball
* W.Y.S.E.
*Wrestling
*Yearbook
Notable alumni
*
Cindy Crawford
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Fred Eychaner
Fred Eychaner (born c. 1945) is an American businessman and philanthropist.
Eychaner is the chairman of Newsweb Corporation. He was included in ''Chicago'' magazine's 2014 list of the 100 most powerful Chicagoans. In 2005, the ''Chicago Tribune ...
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Newsweb Newsweb Corporation is a printer of ethnic and alternative newspapers in the United States, based in Chicago, Illinois. The company also owns several radio stations in the Chicago area. Newsweb was founded in 1971 by Chicago entrepreneur, political ...
and
Sportsvision
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Mike Heimerdinger
Michael Heimerdinger (October 13, 1952 – September 30, 2011) was an American football coach who held various coordinator and position coach roles during eighteen seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He began his career by coaching hi ...
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...
*
Richard Jenkins
Richard Dale Jenkins (born May 4, 1947) is an American actor who is well known for his portrayal of deceased patriarch Nathaniel Fisher on the HBO funeral drama series '' Six Feet Under'' (2001–2005). He began his career in theater at the Tr ...
-
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
Cirrus
Cirrus may refer to:
Science
*Cirrus (biology), any of various thin, thread-like structures on the body of an animal
*Cirrus (botany), a tendril
* Infrared cirrus, in astronomy, filamentary structures seen in infrared light
*Cirrus cloud, a typ ...
Mike Mallory
Mike Mallory (born November 16, 1962) is an American football coach and a former player who is thSpecial Teams Coordinator for the Denver Broncos NFL football team in 2022. Before that, he most recently worked as assistant special teams coordin ...
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...
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Karl Nelson
Karl Stuart Nelson (born June 14, 1960) is a former American football offensive tackle who played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants. He was a member of the 1986 Giants team that won Super Bowl XXI. ...
Mel Owens
Mel Tyrae Owens (born December 7, 1958) is a former American football linebacker. He played college football at the University of Michigan from 1977 to 1980. He was selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the first round (ninth overall pick) of the 1 ...
Richard Powers
Richard Powers (born June 18, 1957) is an American novelist whose works explore the effects of modern science and technology. His novel '' The Echo Maker'' won the 2006 National Book Award for Fiction.Pulitzer Prize-winning author of ''
The Overstory
''The Overstory'' is a novel by Richard Powers published in 2018 by W. W. Norton & Company. It is Powers' twelfth novel. The book is about nine Americans whose unique life experiences with trees bring them together to address the destruction o ...
soccer player
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
Daily Chronicle
The 'Daily Chronicle' was a British newspaper that was published from 1872 to 1930 when it merged with the '' Daily News'' to become the ''News Chronicle''.
Foundation
The ''Daily Chronicle'' was developed by Edward Lloyd out of a local newspap ...
'', September 4, 2013. Accessed January 10, 2013. "Nine years ago, a player with a bright future in professional soccer was ecstatic just to make the DeKalb High School varsity team. Hellah Sidibe had moved permanently from Mali to DeKalb in 2004, where his parents each earned their Ph. D. at Northern Illinois University, and he was one of just a few freshmen to make the team."
*
Evar Swanson
Ernest Evar Swanson (October 15, 1902 in DeKalb, Illinois – July 17, 1973 in Galesburg, Illinois), was a professional baseball and football player. He played outfielder in the Major Leagues from to . He would play for the Cincinnati Reds an ...
- Former
MLB
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...
*
W. Willard Wirtz
William Willard Wirtz Jr. (March 14, 1912 – April 24, 2010) was a U.S. independent agencies of the United States government, administrator, Cabinet of the United States, cabinet officer, attorney, and law professor. He served as the Secret ...
-
United States Secretary of Labor
The United States Secretary of Labor is a member of the Cabinet of the United States, and as the head of the United States Department of Labor, controls the department, and enforces and suggests laws involving unions, the workplace, and all ot ...
under
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...