Whitney M. Young Magnet High School

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Whitney M. Young Magnet High School
Location
211 S. Laflin Street
Chicago, Illinois, 60607
USA
Coordinates 41°52′42″N 87°39′49″W / 41.8782°N 87.6636°W / 41.8782; -87.6636Coordinates: 41°52′42″N 87°39′49″W / 41.8782°N 87.6636°W / 41.8782; -87.6636
Information
School type Public magnet high school
Established 1975
School district Chicago Public Schools
CEEB Code 141383[1]
Principal Joyce Dorsey Kenner
Grades 7-12 (including Academic Center)
Enrollment 2192 (2013)[2]
Campus type Urban
Color(s)      Blue
     Orange
Athletics conference Chicago Public League
Team name Dolphins
Newspaper The Beacon
Website http://www.wyoung.org

Whitney M. Young Magnet High School (commonly known as Whitney Young) is public 4-year magnet high school located in the Near West Side neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It is operated by Chicago Public Schools. Whitney Young opened on September 3, 1975 as the city's first public magnet high school. The school consistently scores among the top high schools in the U.S. state of Illinois. In 2009, Whitney was accorded the Blue Ribbon Award. Admission to Whitney Young is granted based on entrance exam performance and elementary school grades, and is open to all residents of Chicago. Admissions are based on academic grades, standardized test scores, and entrance exam results. The school was named after Whitney M. Young Jr, a prominent civil rights leader.

Contents

History [edit]

Plans for a public magnet school on Chicago's Near West Side began in 1970. A proposal called for a high school to be built at 211 S. Laflin on an empty lot burned out during the riots[citation needed] following the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in April 1968. The school opened on September 3, 1975, as a selective enrollment school with seven teachers under the school's first principal, Bernarr E. Dawson.

Academic Decathlon [edit]

The Academic Decathlon team has won many city and state titles and has finished as high as second place in the nation.[3][4] At the 1995 Illinois State Championship, Whitney Young was outscored by the team from Steinmetz High School, though it was later revealed that Steinmetz had obtained a copy of the test in advance. The Steinmetz team was stripped of the title and it was awarded to Whitney Young.[5] This was dramatized in the HBO film Cheaters.

Debate team [edit]

A two-student debate team from Whitney Young won the National Forensics League National Speech and Debate Tournament[6] in policy debate in 2010, becoming the first team from an urban debate league to achieve a national championship.[7] Whitney Young also won the NAUDL Chase Urban Debate National Championship[8] in 2010.

School sports [edit]

Whitney Young has 52 athletic teams of 12 different sports. The boys' basketball team won IHSA state championships in 1998 and 2009.[9] The girls' basketball team won the state championship in 2008 and 2012.[10]

Extracurricular activities [edit]

The Whitney Young Streaming Radio Station, known as WY Stream, was started on December 9, 2004 to showcase the achievements of students and staff. Stream TV was added in 2006, and includes shows about the school, as well as news clips and internal features. The Whitney Young theater company ("The Company") has performed such works as Tommy, Les Misérables, Jesus Christ Superstar, Beethoven's Last Night, Moulin Rouge!, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and West Side Story.

In 1996, several students worked to organize the student body and find faculty and administration support for the Gay Pride Club. One of the organization's founders later became a member of the Chicago School Board.[11] Also, students were inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame. The Whitney Young Chess Team won the IHSA state championship in 2010-2011.[12][13]

The Academic Center [edit]

The Whitney Young Academic Center is an accelerated program for seventh and eighth graders. Seventh and eighth graders are immersed in an intense high school experience, taking courses for high school credit. Classes include Honors Algebra I and Honors Environmental Science in seventh grade, and Honors Geometry, Honors Survey of Literature, and Honors Biology in eighth grade. In addition, students are allowed to select an elective class each year. There are many extracurricular programs for the students who attend the Academic Center. In 2011, the Academic Center cross country team was the first of both boys and girls in CPS (Chicago Public Schools) to qualify for the Illinois Elementary School Association.[citation needed] The boys' team then went on to win the state championship for that year.[citation needed] In 2012, Keduse Worku went on to qualify for the IESA track competition, earning 1st place in the mile with the time of 4:43 and 3rd place in the 800m run.[citation needed]

Project 30 [edit]

On October 29, 2005 Whitney Young celebrated 30 years of providing education in Chicago. In conjunction with the school's celebration, known as Project 30, the school kicked off the "A Bridge To The World" campaign to raise $300,000 in funds to enhance the school's programming, development and facilities.[citation needed]

Investigations into admissions [edit]

Whitney Young principal Joyce Kenner[14] and Chicago Board of Education President Michael Scott were subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury investigating how students were chosen for admission to the elite public schools. School officials released copies of a July 21, 2009 subpoena demanding the names of every student who applied to be among a select group of students hand-picked by principals of the elite high schools. The subpoena also sought e-mails and other correspondence with "public officials" about applicants.[15] Kenner testified before the federal grand jury in early September 2009.[16]

In 2011, the Chicago Public Schools Inspector General recommended that selective enrollment schools reevaluate their use of "principal picks". It was reported that several political figures had used their influence to secure their children's admission into schools like Young. Kenner responded that she had used her principal picks on a wide range of students, and that only one of those students in 16 years had failed to graduate.[17]

Notable alumni [edit]

See also [edit]

Portal icon Chicago portal
Portal icon Illinois portal
Portal icon Schools portal

References [edit]

  1. ^ "High School Code Search". College Board. Retrieved 3 September 2012. 
  2. ^ Chicago Public Schools: Whitney Young. cps.edu. Retrieved on September 1, 2012.
  3. ^ CPS CEO Brizard Congratulates Whitney Young High School Decathlon Team On Finishing 2nd in National Competition
  4. ^ Clark, Jack (18 May 2000). "All the Wrong Answers". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 11 January 2013. 
  5. ^ Ilaina Jones. "No. 2 Spot Lifts Spirit Of Young". Chicago Tribune. April 24, 1995. Retrieved on September 23, 2012.
  6. ^ Name (June 22, 2010). "Whitney Young Wins National Debate Championship - District 299: Chicago Public Schools Blog". Chicagonow.com. Retrieved September 16, 2010. 
  7. ^ Charles, Alfred (May 29, 2010). "Global Debate: Chicago Debate Chronicle June 2010". Globaldebateblog.blogspot.com. Retrieved September 16, 2010. 
  8. ^ "NAUDL : National Association for Urban Debate Leagues". Urbandebate.org. Retrieved September 16, 2010. 
  9. ^ Boys Basketball Champions & Runners-Up
  10. ^ Girls Basketball Champions & Runners-Up
  11. ^ "Student Elected (January 1997)". Personproject.org. January 8, 1997. Retrieved September 16, 2010. 
  12. ^ "Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame". Glhalloffame.org. Retrieved September 16, 2010. 
  13. ^ "Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame". Glhalloffame.org. Retrieved September 16, 2010. 
  14. ^ Rossi, Rosalind; Spielman, Fran (August 25, 2009). "Feds subpoena Chicago Public School principal; Aldermen asked Whitney Young's Kenner to get their kids in". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved August 25, 2009. 
  15. ^ Spielman, Fran (August 13, 2009). "Alderman helps his kid get into top high school; WHITNEY YOUNG; Munoz called principal". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved August 25, 2009. 
  16. ^ Banchero, Stephanie (September 17, 2009). "Whitney Young principal testifies in probe". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 17, 2009. 
  17. ^ Rosalind Rossi. "Inspector: Punish two principals". Chicago Sun-Times. January 4, 2011.
  18. ^ Sherman, Ed (7 June 1985), "Katrina Adams Up To New Challenge", Chicago Tribune, retrieved 20 August 2011, "Katrina Adams thinks she is starting to discover it. All the great ones have the ability to will themselves to victory when their top stuff isn`t there. Adams thinks that`s what got her over the top when she won the girls-18 title in the Seventeen Magazine Tournament of Champions May 11 in Mission Viejo, Calif. She defeated Jennifer Fuchs 7-6, 3-6, 6-1 in the finals. The championship was a big one for Adams, who won her second straight state high school title for Whitney Young last year." 
  19. ^ Stephan, Terry (Winter, 2004). "Tennis: A Great Match for Katrina Adams". Northwestern Magazine (Evanston, IL, USA: Northwestern University). Retrieved 20 August 2011. "At the age of 6, Katrina Adams joined a Chicago Park District program in her West Side neighborhood that offered tennis instruction for kids ... Later, as a student at Whitney Young High School, she won the Illinois State High School Championship in singles as a junior and a senior. That’s when she caught the eye of the Northwestern coaching staff." 
  20. ^ "Chicago native Sharif Atkins in 'Preacher's Kid'". ABC affiliate WLS-TV Channel 7, Chicago. 29 January 2010. Retrieved 20 August 2011. "Sharif Atkins performs a leading role in the upcoming Warner Brothers feature "Preacher's Kid." On television, he's a regular on the USA cable hit show "White Collar" and also stars in the romantic comedy series "My Manny" for TBS and TBS.Com. Born in Pittsburgh, Shariff grew up in Hyde Park and Chatham neighborhoods; he attended the McDade Classical School and Whitney Young High School." 
  21. ^ Jauss, Bill (2 November 1998), "Canty's Homecoming A Filling Experience", Chicago Tribune, retrieved 20 August 2011, "For Chicago native Dominique Canty, this has been a double-feast holiday weekend ... "Dominique is one great player, maybe the best ever at Alabama," coach Rick Moody said of the former All-State star from Young High School." 
  22. ^ "Joan E. Higginbotham: NASA Astronaut (former)". biographic sketch. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). November 2007. Retrieved 20 August 2011. "EDUCATION: Graduated from Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, Chicago, Illinois, in 1982 ..." 
  23. ^ "Gift From NASA". Jet (Chicago, IL, USA: Johnson Publishing) 96 (6): 12. 12 July 1999. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved 20 August 2011. "They are joined by ... NASA astronaut Joan Higginbotham, a graduate of Whitney Young ..." 
  24. ^ "5 - Marcus Jordan". biographic sketch. University of Central Florida. 2011. Retrieved 21 August 2011. "High School: Whitney Young" 
  25. ^ Hamlin, Deana (27 July 2011), "Local Olympian to hit the big screen", Stafford County Sun, retrieved 21 August 2011, "Arlene Limas, a Stafford County Power Kix instructor, is part of the inspiration for a new movie to hit the big screen ... nate enough to be accepted into Walt Disney Magnet Elementary School and then went on to Whitney Young Magnet High School. That’s the same high school Michelle Obama graduated from.”" 
  26. ^ Marotta, Jenna (April 2011). "Former Chicago Athletes: Where Are They Now?". Chicago Magazine (Chicago, IL, USA: Tribune Company) 60 (4): 17 (of 17). ISSN 0009-3602. Retrieved 21 August 2011. "ARLENE LIMAS - THEN First American Olympic gold medalist in tae kwon do (1988 Summer Olympics) ... Meanwhile, she has stayed connected to the Olympic idea. When Chicago vied for the 2016 Summer Games, she campaigned for her hometown—work that led her to the White House and bonding with the Obamas (Michelle was three years ahead of her at Whitney M. Young Magnet High School)." 
  27. ^ http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/09/10/120910fa_fact_hemon?currentPage=all

External links [edit]
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