West Carroll High School, or WCHS, 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 ''Öffentlichk ...

four-year high school in

Savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland- grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

Carroll County, Illinois Carroll County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the population was 15,387. Its county seat is Mount Carroll. History Carroll County was formed in 1839 out of Jo Daviess County. The county is named for ...

. WCHS serves Savanna, Mt. Carroll, Thomson and the surrounding area. The campus is located 20 miles north of

Clinton, Iowa Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 24,469 as of 2020. Clinton, along with DeWitt (also located in Clinton County), was named in honor of the sixth governor of New York, DeWitt C ...

. West Carroll High School was formed in 2005 from the consolidation of Mount Carroll High School, Savanna High School, and Thomson High School.

Extracurricular activities

Athletics

West Carroll High School competes in the

Northwest Upstate Illini Conference The Northwest Upstate Illini Conference is a high school conference in northwest and north central Illinois. The conference participates in athletics and activities in the Illinois High School Association. The conference comprises 20 small publ ...

and 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 Fe ...

. Its mascot is the Thunder, with school colors of black, white, and forest green. Predecessor high school, Savanna High School, won six state championships in boys' wrestling (1973–1974 A, 1974–1975 A, 1976–1977 A, 1978–1979 A, 1979–1980 A, and 1981–1982 A), making the school the third most successful boys' wrestling program in Illinois high school history in terms of championships. Two years before the opening of West Carroll, Savanna and Mount Carroll began a cooperative sharing program for several sports, including football. Prior to the cooperative, Savanna amassed a 63-game losing streak in football, dating to October 1995; the streak was once the subject of a ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

'' story by columnist Rick Reilly. The West Carroll cooperative football won its first game in 2003 and earned playoff berths in 2005, 2006 and 2007. During the 2016-2017 year, three wrestlers won their way to the state matches in 1A. Nate Schultz won 3rd in state at 182 lbs, Andrew VanKampen won 5th in state at 120 lbs, Josh Anderson won 5th in state at 285 lbs. During the 2017-2018 season, the football team lost in the 2nd round of the playoffs to GCMS, who became the 2A state champions. The team earned a final ranking of 7th in state for 2A IHSA by MaxPreps. Senior, linebacker, Devon Murray was also voted to 1st Team All-State as a linebacker and Kaleb Plattenberger was chosen to play in the Shrine All-State football game.

Music

The school has won five state championships in music: 2009–2010, 2010–2011, 2011–2012, 2012-2013, and 2016-2017 (Class B). West Carroll High School's music department has secured a music sweepstakes trophy (1st-3rd) every year the high school has existed (2005 – present). Since the 2005–2006 academic year, an IHSA music sweepstakes trophy requires a school to finish in the top 10 of its respective class.

References

External links

West Carroll High School

West Carroll Community Unit School District 314
{{authority control Public high schools in Illinois Schools in Carroll County, Illinois