Lockport Township High School

Lockport Township High School (LTHS) is a public high school in Lockport, Illinois, United States. It also serves the communities of Homer Glen, Fairmont, parts of Crest Hill, and parts of Joliet. More than 3,800 students are enrolled in grades 9 through 12.

History

The first settlers arrived in the Lockport area in 1830. Lockport is located on the old Illinois and Michigan Canal, which served as an important mode of transportation in the 1800s. The city derives its name from the locks that controlled the water level on the canal. In 1848 the I & M canal was opened and Lockport became a port on the 100-mile journey between Lake Michigan and the Illinois River. Although the canal was once a means of transportation of goods and passengers, it is now a picturesque link to the past and is the heart of the I & M National Heritage Corridor.

Soon after settlers arrived, school classes began in a log cabin on what is now Division Street. The first village school was built in 1857, and housed students of all ages. The three story building was built of local dolomitic limestone, with a four-sided clock tower on its roof. The first graduation commencement was June 28, 1888 with seven graduates. A fire destroyed the school on August 10, 1895. Classes were held in churches and other buildings until a new structure was ready.

Subsequently in 1896 a new school opened, also built of local dolomitic limestone and on the same site as the school that burned. John Barnes, the Joliet architect who designed it, was trained in the Richardson Romanesque style. The new school, like its predecessor, housed all of the village students.

Construction was started in 1909 on a high school at 1222 S. Jefferson.

Central Campus when it was built in 1909

In 1910, Lockport High School opened and was accredited by the North Central Association. Since the time of the dedication, two major additions in 1930 and 1953 have been made to the school. With these additions, the high school now occupies the entire block of Twelfth, Jefferson, Thirteenth, and Madison Streets.

In 1963, Lockport West High School opened as a four-year high school in Romeoville, and in 1964, Lockport Township High School-East Campus opened for freshmen and sophomores at 1333 E. Seventh Street. Juniors and seniors attended the older school, referred to as Lockport Township High School - Central Campus. In 1971, Lockport High School District 205 was separated into two districts. Both Lockport Central and East Campus remained in District 205, while the Lockport West Campus became Romeoville High School, part of Valley View Community Unit School District 365U.

In the spring of 1995, the communities within District 205 passed a referendum to remodel the interior of Lockport East Campus and increase its size, renovate areas of Central Campus, upgrade and expand the technology resources and infrastructure at both campus. The renovation project enabled District 205 to house 3,000 students at East Campus and 1,000 students at Central Campus. The project was finished in the fall of 1997. East Campus was designated to house grades 10-12 and Central Campus became the Freshman Center, housing grade 9. Enrollment in both campuses was 3997 students as of the start of the 2007-2008 year.

Enrollment grew by 1,200 students in the decade prior to 2007, with the result that Central and East Campuses both presently operate over their design capacities. The school board has proposed construction of a new high school building in Homer Glen to ease overcrowding and enable the district to close the Central Campus. In the spring of 2006, voters overwhelmingly rejected the first in a series of six referenda to provide funds for the new school. A later referendum on November 4, 2008, failed by a 55%-45% margin. Major issues of contention in the voting continue to include the proposed boundary line designating the areas to be serviced by each high school, and concerns that Homer Glen voters might try to break from the district and either form a new high school district or join with Homer Glen Elementary district 33-C.^{[citation needed]} To win support, the school board has scaled back its proposals. In the sixth referendum, in April 2011, a proposal for an $85 million bond issue for the new school lost by about 1,300 votes. Mobile classrooms were installed in the northeast area of East Campus in 2007 to help reduce overcrowding.

Sports

Athletics have long played an integral part of Lockport Township High School and the communities that feed into the school. Over the years LTHS has long been known for success in many athletic circles.

Swimming and Diving

The Lockport Swimmers for the past 4 years have been in at a very high point in its history. The 2009-2010 girls team became the first swim team in school history to make the hall of fame at Lockport. The Porters tied for 16th with 24 points that year, 23 of which were from senior superstar Courtney Pope. Pope finished 3rd in the 200 freestyle, 4th in the 500 freestyle and earned All-America honors in the 50,100,200, and 500 freestyle. The 200 freestyle relay that year was also an All American event with Pope, Jill Rothgery, Kirsten Zborek, and Chelsea Coneset.

Basketball

Lockport has long been known for its basketball success. In 1978, all of Lockport's levels of boys' basketball went undefeated with the varsity squad, under legendary Head Coach Bob Basarich, winning the Illinois State Championship with a record of 33-0. The basketball team has recently, under Head Coach Lawrence Thompson Jr., won back-to-back-to-back regional titles in 2005/06,2006/07 and 2007/08 and advanced to the Sweet 16. Lockport's 2006/07 squad advanced to the Elite 8 for the first time since 1979. Lockport won their third consecutive sectional championship in 2008 and finished 4th in the state in class 4A. A notable LTHS alumni is Alando Tucker.

Football

Since its inauguration, Lockport has had a football team. Long time head coach Bill Zimmer guided the Porter Gridiron teams from 1960 until retiring after the 1993 season. In recent years, the school has been known for having a competitive and successful football program. In the year 2002 and 2003 under Head Coach Bert Kooi,(who coaches at Minooka Community High School) Lockport won back-to-back class 8A football state championships with a combined record of 24-3.

Cross country

In 1996 Lockport High School, under Head Coach Larry Thompson, became the first south-suburban school to win a cross country state title since Bloom Township's win in 1975. The following year, 1997, Lockport won its second consecutive state championship narrowly defeating coach Joe Newton's powerhouse York High School by 1 point. Lockport joins Deerfield, Schaumburg, and York as the only teams to win consecutive cross country state titles since the class division split in 1976. Thompson's 1998 squad finished 4th in the state Class AA competition Lockport high school has produced 13 All-State runners, including two individual state champions. The current Head Coach is Tom Razo who coached the 1999 team to 3rd in state Class AA tournament competition, and 4th in 2000.

Softball

The LTHS girls' softball program has had success since its inception in the early 70's. Head coach Barb Burk guided the Lady Porters to state class AA title in 1996/97 with a 37-3 record. The Porters also finished class AA runner-up twice under Burk, in 1986/87 and 1989/90 with a combined record of 65-6. Burk's 1998/99 squad placed 3rd in class AA with a record of 34-3. In 20 seasons, Coach Burk led her Porter teams to a combined 657-184 record. In 2002 Coach Burk was succeeded by Coach Marissa Chovanec, and the success has continued as the Lady Porters won the Class AA title in 2003/04 with a record of 35-5.

Volleyball

As in softball, the Lady Porters volleyball program under head coach Julia Hudson, Lockport's Volleyball Coach since the program's inception, has had success as well. Coach Hudson's teams have placed well in state tournament competition, winning the Class AA Volleyball title in 1993/94 with a record of 40-3, 2nd in 1990/91 (34-9), 3rd in 1984/85 (41-4) and 1991/92 (39-4) and 4th in 1996/97 (34-9). In her coaching career, Hudson has won over 700 games and ranks among the top coaches in Illinois high school volleyball history.

Cheerleading

During the 2005-2006 season, the squad was regional, conference, and sectional champion. The Porters placed 2nd. During the 2006-2007 season, the Porters became back-to-back sectional champions, and went on to become state champions. The Porters then backed it up with another successful 2007-2008 season, becoming back-to-back state champions. Lockport's JV team won the state title in the 2007-2008 season and placed third in the 2008-2009 season.

Soccer

Lockport has men and women soccer teams.

Lacrosse

The Club lacrosse program at LTHS had its first inaugural season in the spring of 2011. In its first season, the team went 13-6 playing against mostly Freshman/ Sophomore teams with a few JV teams in the mix. The team had consisted of 26 players including 25 boys, and one girl. The team was led by the head coaches of Chuck Wenzel, and Tim Gabba. The team had a great first season and is looking to improve their record in the upcoming 2012 spring season.

Clubs

Porter Press

The Porter Press is the school newspaper of Lockport Township High School, with a staff of skilled writers and photographers. The paper is published 8-10 times a school year. The high school also offers a class in journalism.

AFJROTC

AFJROTC Unit "IL-761" AFJROTC is an Airforce sponsored organization. It engages in community service, honorguard and competitions, air rifle teams, sabre team, as well as holiday dancing and participation in community events such as Homecoming Parade, 9/11 ceremony, and Memorial Day Parade. The website is as follows: http://afjrotcil761.com/index.php?m=home

Performing arts

Band

LTHS Wind Symphony

The Lockport Band program consists of 230 students in a competitive marching band, two jazz ensembles, one freshmen band, Concert Band, Symphonic Band, and Wind Symphony. The band program has a rich history of many accomplishments dating back to 1960 where they were led by Ernest Caneva to the "Music Man" National Band Championship. Another performance of note was the marching band's contribution in the 1986 hit film "Ferris Bueller's Day Off". The LTHS Wind Symphony has established a reputation as one of the finest and most respected high school bands in Illinois as well as thorough recognition on the national level. They have been selected 19 times to play at the Illinois Superstate Band Festival and selected as the 1999-2000 and 2006-2007 class AAA Illinois Superstate Honor band. They also have performed at the Bands of America National Concert Band Festival in 1992, 1995, 1999, 2005, and 2008 (tied for the most performances by a single school in the festival's history). Also, the Lockport Township High School Wind Symphony was selected as one of four high school bands throughout the globe to play at the 2008 Midwest Clinic in Chicago, Illinois.

Drama

Every year the LTHS Porter Players put on three productions. The first is the Fall Show which is held at East Campus; they perform the Winter One Acts at Central Campus; and they perform a Spring Musical at East Campus. Along with the main stage productions the director for the Porter Players, Laura Gilbert, sets up auditions for a IHSA Competitive Group called, GI, which stand for Group Interpretation.

Notable alumni

• Tom Haller - Former MLB player in the 1960s
• Ron Coomer - Former All Star MLB player for the Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, and LA Dodgers
• Alando Tucker- 29th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. He has been a member of the Phoenix Suns and Minnesota Timberwolves
• Tony Pashos - Current NFL offensive lineman for the San Francisco 49ers
• Mike Zimmer - Current NFL Defensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals
• Nick Setta - CFL Rookie of the year/East. Scoring leader. All-Star kicker/punter for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
• Phillip Jack Brooks, better known as CM Punk - Current WWE superstar and former WWE World Heavyweight Champion. He is also a former ROH and OVW wrestler.
• Jake Christensen - Former Iowa Hawkeye's and former Eastern Illinois Panthers' starting quarterback.
• Dan Appel - current author who has published over 50 mystery novels, and also assists in numerous Hollywood screenplays (most notably "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo").

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External links

• Lockport Township High School
• Lockport Bands Online