Kewanee High School, or KHS, is a

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 ''Öffentlichkei ...

four-year

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 at 1211 E. Third Street in

Kewanee, Illinois Kewanee () is a city in Henry County, Illinois, United States. "Kewanee" is the Winnebago word for greater prairie chicken, which lived there. The population was 12,509 at the 2020 census, down from 12,944 in 2000. Geography According to the ...

, a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

in Kewanee Township of

Henry County, Illinois Henry County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. The 2010 United States Census, listed its population at 50,486. Its county seat is Cambridge. Henry County is included in the Davenport- Moline- Rock Island, IA-IL Metropolitan ...

, in the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

. KHS is part of Kewanee Community Unit School District 229, which also includes Central Junior High School, Central Elementary School, Irving Elementary School, Belle Elementary School, and Lyle Preschool. The campus is northeast of

Galesburg, Illinois Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria. At the 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County and the principal city of the Galesburg Micropolitan Statistical ...

, southeast of

Moline, Illinois Moline ( ) is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. With a population of 42,985 in 2020, it is the largest city in Rock Island County. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline, Illinois, East M ...

, and serves a mixed

and

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

residential community. The school is one of two

s in the

of Kewanee, the other being Wethersfield High School. The school is within the

Davenport Davenport may refer to: Places Australia *Davenport, Northern Territory, a locality * Hundred of Davenport, cadastral unit in South Australia **Davenport, South Australia, suburb of Port Augusta **District Council of Davenport, former local govern ...

- Moline- Rock Island, IA- IL

metropolitan statistical area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...

Academics

In 2009, 52% of students tested met or exceeded standards on the

Prairie State Achievement Examination The Prairie State Achievement Examination (PSAE) was a two-day standardized test taken by all high school Juniors in the U.S. state of Illinois. On the first day, students take the ACT, and on the second day, a WorkKeys examination and Illinois ...

, a state test that is part of the

No Child Left Behind Act The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was a U.S. Act of Congress that reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; it included Title I provisions applying to disadvantaged students. It supported standards-based education ...

. The percent of KHS students considered low income is 60%. The school's average high school graduation rate between 1999-2009 was 80%. In 2009, the faculty was 99 teachers, averaging 12.7 years of experience, and of whom 46% held an advanced degree. The average class size was 17.1 The student to faculty ratio was 19.2. The district's instructional expenditure per student was $4,289. School enrollment decreased from 607 to 539 (11%) in the period of 1999-2009 The Kewanee High School Drama department has also had many successes. The Group Interpretation team has travelled to state in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. They have also sent many students to compete in the state individual events (speech). The following students have competed at the state level in speech: 2008: Betty Maes, Special Occasion Speaking 2009: (results unavailable) 2010: Blake Bullock and Caitlin Arrington: Dramatic Duet Acting/ Brooks Bullock and Austin Peed, Humorous Duet Acting/ Ryan Branom, Impromptu Speaking 2011: Blake Bullock, Dramatic Interpretation/ Blake Bullock and Caitlin Arrington, Dramatic Duet Acting 2012: Blake Bullock, Dramatic Interpretation (3rd place) and Prose Reading (7th place) 2013: John Williams III, Original Comedy / Zach Murphy, Humorous Interpretation / Em Grebner and Ellen Johnson, Dramatic Duet Acting In 2010, KHS Alumni Elizabeth VanDamme (nee Maes) became the novice state champion in Poetry Interpretation at the IIFA State speech and Debate tournament hosted at Illinois Central College.

Athletics

Kewanee is a member school in 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 ...

; its mascot is the Boilermaker. The school has three state championships on record in team athletics and activities: boys' cross country (1996), boys' golf (1948), and debate (1948). For nearly 50 years, Kewanee High School competed in 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 ...

(NCIC). However, after the 2009-2010 school year, KHS left the NCIC and joined the Three Rivers Conference.

History

Notable alumni

Walter T. Bailey Walter Thomas Bailey (January 11, 1882 – February 21, 1941) was an American architect from Kewanee, Illinois. He was the first African American graduate with a bachelor of science degree in architectural engineering from the University of Illin ...

, first licensed American-African architect in the state of Illinois *

Neville Brand Lawrence Neville Brand (August 13, 1920 – April 16, 1992) was an American soldier and actor. He was known for playing villainous or antagonistic character roles in Westerns, crime dramas, and ''films noir'', and was nominated for a BAFTA Aw ...

, actor *

Abbey Curran Abbey Nicole Curran (born ) is an American beauty pageant contestant from Davenport, Iowa, who competed in the Miss USA pageant in 2008 as Miss Iowa USA. Curran is the chairwoman of her own non-profit pageant "The Miss You Can Do It Pageant" fo ...

, American beauty queen who represented Iowa at

Miss USA 2008 Miss USA 2008 was the 57th Miss USA pageant, held in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 11, 2008. At the conclusion of the final night of competition, Crystle Stewart of Texas was crowned the winner by outgoing titleholder Rachel Smith of Tennessee. ...

and was the first contestant with

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sensa ...

to compete. She also made an appearance on

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' (often shortened to ''Ellen'' or ''The Ellen Show'') is an American daytime television variety comedy talk show that was created and hosted by its namesake Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it was prod ...

and CBS 'The Early Show'. *

Em Lindbeck Emerit Desmond Lindbeck Jr. (August 27, 1934 – August 27, 2008) was an American professional baseball outfielder whose seven-year career included two appearances as a pinch hitter for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball. Lindbeck was a ...

, 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), ...

player (

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

) *

Sod Ryan John Joseph "Sod" Ryan (December 31, 1905 – December 9, 1964) was an American football tackle who played two seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Chicago Bears and Portsmouth Spartans, playing 5 games with the Bears in 1929 an ...

, American football player

References

Kewanee Community Unit School District 229

Interactive Illinois Report Card

Illinois High School Association

External links

Kewanee High School

Kewanee High School
{{authority control Public high schools in Illinois Schools in Henry County, Illinois Kewanee, Illinois