Rich East High School Explained

Rich East High School
Streetaddress:300 Sauk Trail
City:Park Forest
State:Illinois
Zipcode:60466
Country:United States
Coordinates:41.4809°N -87.6905°W
District:Rich Township HS #227
Superintendent:Dr. Johnnie Thomas [1]
Principal:Dr. Albert Brass, Jr.[2]
Staff:71.69 (FTE)
Ratio:12.74
Avg Class Size:13.5[3]
Act:17.8
Gender:coed
Schooltype:public secondary
Grades:9–12
Conference:South Suburban Conference
Motto:Leadership, Scholarship, Sportsmanship
Accreditation:North Central Association of Colleges and Schools[4]
Team Name:Rockets[5]
Colors: green
yellow
Yearbook:Lagoon
Newspaper:The Reveiller
Opened:1952
Closed:2020
Enrollment:913 (2017–18)[6]
Homepage:http://www.richeast.org

Rich East High School or REHS was a public four-year high school located in Park Forest, Illinois, a southern suburb of Chicago in the United States. Rich East's campus serves the cities of Park Forest, Matteson, Olympia Fields, Chicago Heights and Richton Park serving sections of school districts 162 and 163. Oscar W. Huth Middle School, Illinois Elementary School, Barack Obama School of Leadership and STEM and Michelle Obama School of Technology and the Arts served as feeder schools. It is a part of Rich Township District 227, which also includes Rich South High School and Rich Central High School. As of October 16, 2019, District 227 has decided to close the school.

Until its closure it was the oldest of the three district high schools.[7]

History

Rich East High school was the first of its district to open in 1952, but was originally called Rich Township High school. This was the school's name until the construction of Rich Central High School in 1961 and Rich South High School in 1972, which now make up the three schools of District 227. Rich East was originally held in the Faith United Protestant Church until Park Forest gave them the open land to build the school. The land was only open and given to them for free by the villagers of Park Forest because it was mostly composed of clay, which is not suitable to build upon.

Many old students remember that for many years, cement had to be pumped underneath the school's main gym so that it would not sink.
The Media Center, in the front of the building was also built on unstable ground and after several days of rain, water would rise up into the carpet, making it difficult to breathe. The head librarian would scramble to save books.

There is a lagoon on the campus. In nice weather, students would sit around it during lunch times. In the winter, if it froze enough, the surface would be smoothed and people would ice skate on it. The school yearbook was named The Lagoon after it.

In the 1970s, the school newspaper, The Reveillier, won numerous journalism awards for the quality of its writing. Some in the school administration and on the school board tried unsuccessfully to censor and put other limits on the paper, but those efforts were largely unsuccessful.[8] [9]
Another notable fact about Rich East was that it had a working, student-run radio station in the 1970s, very progressive for high schools at the time. The station's call letters were WRHS and operated on FM frequency 88.1.

On Oct. 15, 2019, Rich Township High School District 227 board members approved by a 4-3 vote a measure to consolidate the school district. In doing so, Rich East High School shut its doors in 2020. The two other township high schools, Rich Central and Rich South, will be retained. Board members cited declining enrollment numbers and aging facilities in need of millions in repairs as reasons for the move. [10]

Activities

The activities included at Rich East are band, computer arts, chorus, dance, photography, ceramics/sculpture, drawing/painting, theater/drama, yearbook, debate, science and technology and student council/government.

Student resources

Students with learning disabilities have the option of being in a self-contained room with other students with learning disabilities or they can be completely included in the general education classroom. Students who are English-learners also have two options. They may group together in one self-contained class all day, or they can be pulled out of the classroom as a group for only part of the day. Other student resources are the school nurses, guidance counselors, peer counselors, psychologists, tutors, the media center and the technology center.

Notable alumni

Notable staff

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Office of the Superintendent. Rich Township High School. 25 June 2015.
  2. Web site: Rich East Administration. directory. Rich East High School. 20 October 2009.
  3. Web site: Illinois School Report Card. Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). 2012. 18 February 2014. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140223005353/http://www.rich227.org/assets/files/report%20cards/RE_ReportCard_12.pdf. 23 February 2014.
  4. Web site: Institution Summary for Rich East High School. AdvancED profile. North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. 19 October 2009.
  5. Web site: Park Forest (Rich East). directory. Illinois High School Association (IHSA). 19 October 2009. 19 October 2009.
  6. Web site: Rich East Campus High School. National Center for Education Statistics. December 23, 2019.
  7. Web site: District 227 votes to close Rich East High School . WGN-TV. 2019-10-16. 2021-07-11.
  8. Chicago Tribune, "Communications Gap Plagues School Board, March 26, 1970, p.5, section 1B - Clipping from Newspapers.com
  9. Web site: Interview with Ken Lingner. 1 March 2014.
  10. Web site: District 227 board votes to close Rich East High School in Park Forest as part of consolidation plan.
  11. News: Durando. Stu. Close to home meant a lot to Illini lineman. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, MO, USA. 28 August 2009. 17 October 2009. The undersized offensive lineman was lightly regarded out of Rich East High, a two-star recruit who didn't project as a Big Ten offensive guard.. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090829085521/http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/illini/story/A21D2F813946360686257620000336E5?OpenDocument. 29 August 2009.
  12. Web site: 52 Jon Asamoah. statistics & biographical sketch. University of Illinois Department of Athletics. 17 October 2009. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20091026172031/http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/asamoah_jon00.html. 26 October 2009.
  13. Web site: Tom Berenger. https://web.archive.org/web/20071124224433/http://movies.nytimes.com/person/5539/Tom-Berenger/biography. dead. 24 November 2007. Movies & TV Dept.. The New York Times. Hal Erickson. Hal Erickson (author). 2007. 17 October 2009.
  14. Deitsch. Richard. Q + a [tom berenger]]. Sports Illustrated. 97. 22. 2 December 2002. 17 October 2009. Q: You played tight end at Rich East High in Park Forest, Ill. Could you ever have survived Bryant's Junction camp?.
  15. News: Trost. Joe. Hodges' Rich tradition Former NBA player back at alma mater to share experience. Chicago Sun-Times. 18 December 2000. https://web.archive.org/web/20121102084005/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4574976.html. dead. 2 November 2012. 17 October 2009. Rich East coach Bill Yarborough remembers it like yesterday when former Bulls guard Craig Hodges spoke ... "He came back in 1991 ..." said Yarborough about the 1978 graduate of Rich East..
  16. Web site: Craig Hodges. statistics & biographic information. basketball-reference.com. 17 October 2009.
  17. News: Bell. Taylor. GRIDIRON GREATS. Chicago Sun-Times. 9 September 1994. https://web.archive.org/web/20121102084013/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4246656.html. dead. 2 November 2012. 17 October 2009. L Larry McCarren, Rich East 1968.
  18. News: Park Forest honors builders, artists, first families. SouthtownStar. Chicago, IL, USA. 20 July 2008. One week from Wednesday, Park Forest will connect some generational dots as they pay homage to three - Philip Klutznick, Nathan Manilow and Carroll Sweet Sr. - who dreamed, planned and built the village along with two - Dawn Upshaw and Art Hodes - who contributed heavily to the world's culture ... Dawn Upshaw, a Rich East High School graduate.
  19. News: Macey. Alan. 'Turf War' trophy on the line for H-F, Marian. Chicago Sun-Times. 28 August 2009. 17 August 2009. Coaching the receivers will be Ryan Yarborough, a former Rich East and New York Jets star..
  20. Web site: Ryan Yarborough . biography & statistics . New York Jets . 1995 . 17 October 2009 . earned all-area and all-conference honors as a senior at Rich East High School in his hometown of Park Forest, IL. . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081123024031/http://www.newyorkjets.com/team/all_time/player/843-ryan-yarborough . November 23, 2008 .
  21. News: Crowe. Jerry. NCAA basketball tournament - Michigan Coach Steve Fisher Isn't a Rookie, He's Now 2-0. Los Angeles Times. 23 March 1989. 17 October 2009. Yes, (I was a head coach) on the high school level ... "It doesn't matter if you're at Rich East High School (in Park Forest, Ill., where he started), or coaching in a CYO rec league, where my 10-year-old plays, or coaching at the University of Michigan.".
  22. News: Pille. Bob. Fisher, not Michigan, taking Cinderella role. Chicago Sun-Times. 29 March 1989. https://web.archive.org/web/20121102084022/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-3935712.html. dead. 2 November 2012. 17 October 2009. Michigan's Steve Fisher had two victories and Smith's autograph. "I got it on my program at a clinic in Chicago when I was a high school coach (at Rich East)," says Fisher..
  23. News: Berkowitz. Steve. Fisher and Michigan Continue to Make for a Perfect Match. Washington Post. Washington, DC, USA. 20 December 1989. 17 October 2009. "He's still the same Steve Fisher that he was before," senior guard Rumeal Robinson said. The same Steve Fisher who coached for eight years at Rich East High School in Park Forest, Ill. ... "I'm not doing anything different now than I did when I was at Rich East," Fisher said..
  24. News: Jenkins. Chris. Hard times, hot market propel keepsake sales. USA Today. 7 March 2001. 17 October 2009. Hodges, who helps coach the basketball team at Rich East High School in suburban Chicago, won't talk about the dispute..

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