Herscher High School is a public coeducational high school in

Herscher, Illinois Herscher is a village in Kankakee County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,521 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Kankakee–Bradley metropolitan area. Geography Herscher is located in southwestern Kankakee County at (41.0 ...

, United States. The school's mascot is the Tiger and the school colors are gold and black.

History

Herscher High School's first graduating class in 1904 numbered seven students.

Athletics

Herscher is a member of the Illinois Central Eight Conference and participates in state tournaments sponsored by 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 Fed ...

. The school sponsors interscholastic sports teams for both men and women in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...

, cross country,

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

, and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

. The school sponsors

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, and

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

for men, while sponsoring

cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

, and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

for women. The following teams have placed in the top four of their respective state tournament sponsored by the

: *Men's Baseball – State Champion (1999); 3rd place (2012) *Men's Basketball – 3rd place (1981–1982) *Men's Cross Country – 4th place (1986–1987) *Men's Football – 2nd place (1988–1989) *Men's Soccer – 2nd place (2013) 3rd place (2014) *Women's Cross Country – 3rd place (1989–1990, 1997–1998); State Champion (1991–1992, 1992–1993, 1996–1997); 4th place (1993–1994, 1995–1996) *Women's Soccer – 4th place (2007–2008) 2nd place (2010–11) *Women's Softball – 4th place (1995–1996) *Women's Track and Field – State Champion (1996)

Music

Herscher High School sponsors the following musical activities:

chamber choir A chamber choir is a small or medium-sized choir of roughly 8 to 40 singers (occasionally called 'chamber singers'), typically singing classical or religious music in a concert setting. (This is distinct from e.g. a church choir, which sings in rel ...

colorguard In military organizations, a colour guard (or color guard) is a detachment of soldiers assigned to the protection of regimental colours and the national flag. This duty is so prestigious that the military colour is generally carried by a young ...

concert band A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion famil ...

concert choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

jazz band A jazz band (jazz ensemble or jazz combo) is a musical ensemble that plays jazz music. Jazz bands vary in the quantity of its members and the style of jazz that they play but it is common to find a jazz band made up of a rhythm section and a ...

marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Most marching bands wear a uniform, ofte ...

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

pep band A pep band is an ensemble of instrumentalists who play at events, usually athletic, with the purpose of entertaining and creating enthusiasm in a crowd. Often members of a pep band are a subset of people from a larger ensemble such as a marchin ...

, and

show choir A show choir (originally known as a "swing choir") is a musical ensemble that combines choral singing with choreographed dance, often with an overarching theme. It is most relevant in the Midwestern United States and was popularized by the America ...

. The school's music program has won the

Music Sweepstakes title a record 32 times. This record is more than any other school, outpacing its nearest competitor by at least double as of the 2009–2010 school year. They compete in class B. In 1982, the marching band won the overall title for the

Bands Of America Bands of America (BOA) is a music education advocacy organization and promoter of high school marching band competitions in the United States, such as the annual Grand National Championships. Established in 1975 as Marching Bands of America (MBA), ...

(then known as Marching Bands Of America) Summer National Championship. The Marching Tigers have also won the overall title of the Illinois State University Invitational Marching Band Championship three times (1980, 1981 and 1982).

Other activities

The school also sponsors a computer club, class plays, FFA, a math team,

National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is a nationwide organization for high school students in the United States and outlying territories, which consists of many chapters in high schools. Selection is based on four criteria: scholarship (academic achi ...

, a scholastic bowl team, a Spanish club, a speech team, and

student council A student council (also known as a student union, associated student body or student parliament) is an administrative organization of students in different educational institutes ranging from elementary schools to universities and research or ...

Notable alumni

Kerry Schall Kerry Schall (born August 9, 1971) is a retired American mixed martial arts fighter. His nickname "Meat Truck" is for his huge size and punching power. Background The Kankakee, Illinois native was a football and wrestling star at Herscher High ...

, competed on the reality show

The Ultimate Fighter 2 ''The Ultimate Fighter 2'' was the second season of the mixed martial arts reality television series ''The Ultimate Fighter''. The season featured a heavyweight and a welterweight division, with 9 fighters initially in each division. The UFC coa ...

, retired professional

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

fighter. *Steve Reick, Illinois Representative for the 63rd District. *

Helen Nethercutt Helen Richards-Nethercutt (born September 12, 1952) is an American businesswoman and autism philanthropist. Career Helen Wilkins was born in 1952 in Buckingham, Illinois and graduated from Herscher High School in 1969. She married U.S. Army s ...

, autism activist and businesswoman. *

Travis Richards Travis John Richards (born March 22, 1970) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. He played briefly in the National Hockey League with the Dallas Stars. Richards played ten seasons for the minor-league Grand Rapids Griffins. He ...

, businessman.

References

External links

*
Herscher High School Alumni Association

{{authority control Educational institutions in the United States with year of establishment missing Public high schools in Illinois Schools in Kankakee County, Illinois