Rockford West High School (sometimes referred to as West) was a 9 through 12 grade high school of
Rockford Public School District 205
Rockford Public Schools, officially designated by the state as Rockford Public Schools District 205 is a large unit school district located in Rockford, Illinois. In 2012, the district had an enrollment of 26,980 students, making it the fourth- ...
in
Rockford, Illinois. Opened in 1940 to replace
Rockford High School, West opened simultaneous to
Rockford East to serve the quickly expanding population.
History
By 1935, the attendance in Rockford's single high school grew too large. The
board of education decided it would be best to establish two new high schools on the East and West sides of the
Rock River. In 1938, the school board approved $3 million in funding to build two new high schools to replace Rockford High School, with 45% of the budget funded by
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
. Rockford High School was renamed as Central High School and the two new schools were opened as East High School and West High School. Rockford West, located on North Rockton Avenue on the Northwest side of the city, remained open for 48 years as a high school, it now serves as
West Middle School. Rockford East, located on Charles Street, is still a functioning high school and maintains the traditions of Rockford High School.
High school athletics
The West basketball team won back-to-back
IHSA state championships in 1955 and 1956. Coached by Alex Saudargas, West was the third team in the history of the IHSA to win consecutive championships and gave Rockford its fourth and fifth state championships in basketball. West made the finals seven other times, 1942–43, 1943–44, 1948–49, 1958–59, 1965–66, 1966–67, and 1972–73; however, they only placed fourth in their 1967 appearance.
West had four other state championship teams while serving as a high school. The boys' golf team became state champions during 1940–41, debate won two championships, the first during the 1946–47 school year, the second in 1959–60. Finally, the 1975–76 girls' field hockey team won the last championship for West High School.
Individually, the school won an additional ten state championships in boys and girls swimming, boys golf, boys tennis and boys track and field.
Ronald Merriott, class of 1978, won an
Olympic bronze in
diving
Diving most often refers to:
* Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water
* Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes
Diving or Dive may also refer to:
Sports
* Dive (American football), a ...
during the
1984 summer games. Prior to the Olympics, Merriott won the NCAA championship in 3-meter springboard diving while attending the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
.
Facilities
Built in 1939 as part of the
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
project which also resulted in the construction of
East
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...
, the basic
design of both buildings was by Gilbert Johnson, the exterior facade, however, was designed by
Jesse Barloga in the
Art Modeme style. East exterior façade, on the other hand, was designed by
Willis Hubbard. East was also considered an excellent example of Art Modeme architecture, and a focal point from the community from its beginning. The gymnasium was named in honor of longtime boys basketball coach Alex Saudargas, who had a record of 435–198 while coaching West.
In fall 1969 a football stadium was built and opened next to
Auburn High School. Originally, and for many years, the stadium was called "Westburn Stadium", and was used by both West and Auburn High School, based on the fact that West had no stadium on their campus. Currently, Auburn shares the stadium (now named for their first principal, John W. Wyeth Stadium) with
Jefferson High School, as Jefferson also has no home stadium on its campus. Prior to the 1969–70 school year West played their "home" football games and track & field meets at
Charles Beyer Stadium located at 15th Avenue & Seminary Street from 1960 to 1968 and two games in the fall of 1969 before moving to their current facility during the fall of 1969. (Beyer Stadium was also the home of the
Rockford Peaches
The Rockford Peaches were a women's professional baseball team who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. A founding member, the team represented Rockford, Illinois.
The Peaches were one of two teams to pla ...
of the
AAGBL from 1943 to 1954.)
Information
Rockford Central's nickname, "Rabs", was based on the school colors; red and black, West inherited those same colors, but changed the mascot to "Warriors". Rockford East also uses red and black for their school colors and continues to use "Rabs" as the team nickname; however, based on their location, an ''E'' was added making their mascot the ''"E-Rabs"'', which stands for East-Red And Blacks.
School song
"Three Cheers for Rockford High School"
''"Three cheers for Rockford High School.''
''Cheer Rah Rah Rah !!''
''We’ve got a team boys''
''Cheer them Rah Rah Rah!''
''Faithful loyal fellows ''
''They shall not lack''
''Cheer them they fight''
''For the red and the black''
''Victory we must know (Rah! Rah! Rah!)"''
''"R-o-c-k-f-o-r-d W-a-r-r-i-o-r-s"''
''Yeah Warriors!!!''
Notable alumni
*
Nolden Gentry Class of 1956 – Three-year starter for the
Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball
The Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team is part of the University of Iowa athletics department.
The Hawkeyes have played in 28 NCAA Tournaments, eight NIT Tournaments, won eight Big Ten regular-season conference championships and won the Big Ten ...
team (1957–60)
*
John Wessels Class of 1956 – played basketball for the
University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...
, named a Converse Honorable Mention All-American in
1961
Events January
* January 3
** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015).
** Aero Flight 311 (K ...
and was
drafted by the
Chicago Packers
The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...
in 1961.
*
Richard Bulliet
Richard W. Bulliet (born 1940) is a professor of history at Columbia University who specializes in the history of Islamic society and institutions, the history of technology, and the history of the role of animals in human society.
Early life ...
Class of 1958 – a professor of history at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
who specializes in the history of
Islamic society and institutions, the history of technology, and the history of the role of animals in human society.
*
James E. Cartwright Class of 1967 – retired
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
four-star
general
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...
who last served as the eighth
Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
The vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (VJCS) is, by U.S. law, the second highest-ranking military officer in the United States Armed Forces, - Vice Chairman ranking just below the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The vice chairman ...
from August 31, 2007, to August 3, 2011.
*
Mark Sibley Class of 1969 – member of 1967, '68, and '69 basketball teams who went on to play at
Northwestern and earned All Big Ten honors his senior year and was
drafted by the
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January ...
in 1973.
*
Ernie Kent
Ernest Kent (born January 22, 1955)[GoDucks.com E ...](_blank)
Class of 1973 – Current head coach of the
Washington State Cougars men's basketball
The Washington State Cougars men's basketball team represents Washington State University and competes in the Pac-12 Conference (Pac-12) of NCAA Division I. The Cougars play their home games on campus in Pullman at Beasley Coliseum, which has a ...
team, played as well as coached at the
University of Oregon
The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
.
*
Aidan Quinn
Aidan Quinn (born March 8, 1959) is an American actor who made his film debut in '' Reckless'' (1984). He has starred in over 80 feature films, including ''Desperately Seeking Susan'' (1985), '' The Mission'' (1986), ''Stakeout'' (1987), ''Aval ...
Class of 1977 – Actor. Most recently playing
Captain Thomas 'Tommy' Gregson on the television show;
Elementary
Elementary may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* ''Elementary'' (Cindy Morgan album), 2001
* ''Elementary'' (The End album), 2007
* ''Elementary'', a Melvin "Wah-Wah Watson" Ragin album, 1977
Other uses in arts, entertainment, a ...
.
*
Ronald Merriott, class of 1978 –
Olympic bronze in
diving at the 1984 Summer Olympics
At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, four diving events (2 for men and 2 for women) were contested during a competition that took place at the Olympic Swim Stadium of the University of Southern California (USC), from 5 to 12 August, co ...
*
Ginger Lynn Allen
Ginger Lynn Allen (born December 14, 1962), known professionally as Ginger Lynn, is an American pornographic actress and model who was a premier adult-entertainment star of the 1980s. She also had minor roles in various B movies. ''Adult Vid ...
Class of 1980 – Adult film star
External links
Rockford West Basketball – YouTube
References
{{authority control
Educational institutions established in 1940
Educational institutions disestablished in 1989
Former high schools in Illinois
High schools in Rockford, Illinois
Public high schools in Illinois
1940 establishments in Illinois
1989 disestablishments in Illinois