O'Fallon Township High School explained

O'Fallon Township High School
Streetaddress:	600 South Smiley Street
City:	O'Fallon
State:	Illinois
District:	203
Zipcode:	62269
Country:	USA
Coordinates:	38.5867°N -89.9018°W^[1]
Principal Label1:	Superintendent
Principal1:	Beth Shackelford
Principal Label2:	Principal
Principal2:	Rich Bickel
Staff:	149.10 (FTE)
Ratio:	16.91
Schooltype:	Public
Enrollment:	2,521 (2022–23)^[2]
Grades:	9-12
Conference:	Southwestern Conference
Motto:	"Excellence in Education for Every student Every day"
Mascot:	Panther
School Colors:	Blue Gold
Yearbook:	The Panther
Publication:	Panther Beat
Newspaper:	The Prowler
Founded:	1901
Homepage:	www.oths.us

O'Fallon Township High School is a public secondary school in O'Fallon, Illinois.

As of 2023, it is the second largest public high school in Illinois by enrollment outside of the Chicago area (Belleville High School-East being the largest).^[3]

History

As stated in the 1962 edition of The Panther, the symbology on O'Fallon Township High School's crest reflects the town's history of farming, industry, and coal mining.^[4] Today, the school's coat of arms/crest can be found in the Smiley Campus's 600 hallway on a bronze plaque gifted by the Class of 1961.

After a short tenure as an assistant principal, longtime teacher Rich Bickel became the principal in 2009, following the retirement of Steve Dirnbeck who served as the school's principal from 2003-2009.^[5]

Team achievements

• The varsity baseball team earned the first team state trophy in school history by placing third in the IHSA State Tournament in 2006^[6] and again in 2009.
• The varsity cheerleading team placed second at AmeriCheer's National Cheerleading Competition and at state in 2007,^[7] fourth at state in 2008,^[8] and second again in 2009.^[9]
• The boys' basketball team AA finished second at the 2007 State Basketball Tournament held in Peoria, Illinois at Bradley University, and in 4A it finished fourth in 2010.^[10]
• The Marching Panthers placed first with Best Visual and General Effect at the 2015 Bands of America Clarksville, TN Regional Championships; and placed 3rd at the 2017 Bands of America St. Louis Super Regional.^[11]
• The Marching Panthers placed 2nd at the 2023 Bands of America St. Louis Super Regional, winning Class 4A with best Visual Performance and tying best General Effect in their class. They also set their highest ever score at this competition, with a score of 90.075.^[12]
• The Winter Guard placed third at MCCGA Championships^[13] and 1st in state in 2009-2010.
• The 2010 Boys Cross Country team placed fifth in the 3A State meet, with a team average of 14:59 for 3 miles.^[14]
• The 2011 Boys Cross Country team placed second in the 3A state meet,^[15] O'Fallon's first Cross Country trophy.^[16]
• The 2012 Boys Cross Country team placed second in the 3A state meet.^[17]
• The 2011 Winter Guard placed first in Class A at the World Championships.
• The 2007-08 Scholar Bowl team went 37-4 and went to the IHSA class AA tournament for the first time in the school's history.^[18]

Notable alumni

• Bob Cryder — NFL^[19]
• Bernie Fuchs — illustrator^[20]
• Roosevelt Jones — NBA^[21]
• Tucker McCann — NFL^[22]

• Andrew Sanchez — UFC^[23]
• Gabby Windey — Denver Broncos cheerleader, winner of the 2021 Pop Warner Humanitarian Award, and reality television personality.^[24]

Notes and References

1. http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:426176 USGS Detail
2. Web site: O Fallon High School. National Center for Education Statistics. April 7, 2024.
3. Web site: 2024 Largest Public High Schools In Illinois. 2023-11-30. Niche. en.
4. Book: OTHS Yearbook Club . 1962 . The Panther .
5. Web site: Outgoing principal helped shaped big changes at OTHS. STLtoday.com. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 3 September 2019.
6. Web site: IHSA Boys Baseball All-Time Records . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20061101022302/http://www.ihsa.org/activity/ba/records/alltime.htm . 2006-11-01 . 6 July 2012.
7. Web site: Illinois HR262 . trackbill.com . 10 June 2024 . en.
8. Web site: IHSA Competitive Cheerleading Results 2008 . www.ihsa.org . 10 June 2024.
9. Web site: Records & History . www.ihsa.org . 10 June 2024.
10. Web site: IHSA Boys Basketball Tournament Scores . www.ihsa.org . 10 June 2024.
11. Web site: 2015-2016 Results and Awards. OTHS Band. OTHS Band Boosters. 28 March 2016.
12. Web site: St. Louis, MO 2023 . 2023-12-19 . BOA Marching Championships . en-US.
13. Web site: 2010 Championships . mccga.org . 10 June 2024.
14. Web site: IHSA Boys Cross Country Class 3A State Final Results 2010 . www.ihsa.org . 10 June 2024.
15. Web site: IHSA Boys Cross Country Class 3A State Final Results 2011 . www.ihsa.org . 10 June 2024.
16. Web site: IHSA Team Titles: O . www.ihsa.org . 10 June 2024.
17. Web site: IHSA Boys Cross Country Class 3A State Final Results . www.ihsa.org . 10 June 2024.
18. http://www.ihsa.org/SportsActivities/ScholasticBowl/RecordsHistory.aspx?url=/data/scb/records/series-index.htm Records & History
19. Web site: Bob Cryder visits his "House" at Fulton Jr. High . O'Fallon Weekly . 21 July 2019 . 20 March 2019 . The famous Bob Cryder, an O’Fallon Township High School graduate ....
20. Web site: O'Fallon Library completes remodel, holds dedication ceremony . O'Fallon Weekly . 21 July 2019 . 19 April 2016 . Fuchs, who passed in 2009, was a class of 1950 graduate of O’Fallon Township High School..
21. Web site: Reynolds . Dave . O'Fallon has a basketball Jones . Journal Star . 21 July 2019 . en.
22. Web site: Palmer . Tod . September 5, 2017 . O'Fallon's McCann refocused after hard freshman season at Mizzou . June 8, 2020 . Belleville News-Democrat.
23. Web site: Eschman . Todd . Shiloh's Sanchez wins TV show finale and contract with UFC . Belleville News-Democrat . 21 July 2019 . July 13, 2016.
24. Web site: O'Fallon Homecoming offered pleasant end of summer celebration. STL Today. August 14, 2008. March 9, 2022.