Bloom High School
Encyclopedia
Bloom High School is a public school in Chicago Heights, Illinois
. It is part of Bloom Township High School District 206
.
The school was founded in 1900. A second Chicago Heights high school, Bloom Trail
, was established in 1976 to offset overcrowding. Since 1995, however, Bloom and Bloom Trail have shared the same sports programs, drawing from over 3,000 students in grades 9
to 12
.
The present Bloom High School building, erected during the Great Depression
, was named to the National Register of Historic Places
on June 3, 1982. It is an Art Deco
structure with six WPA
mural
s.
The frescoes were created by Edgar Britton in 1935. The two limestone sculptures were designed by Curtis Drewes. The main structure of the high school was designed by the architectural firm of Royer, Danley, and Smith of Urbana, Illinois
. Major additions were finished in 1956 and 1976.
(SICA) until the conference dissolved in 2005. Since 2006, the program has been a member of the Southland Athletic Conference
.
The following teams won their respective IHSA sponsored state championship tournament/meet.
Chicago Heights, Illinois
Chicago Heights is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 31,373 at the 2005 census. Chicago Heights is nicknamed 'Crossroads of the Nation'.-History:...
. It is part of Bloom Township High School District 206
Bloom Township High School District 206
The Bloom Township High School District 206 is a public high school district that serves Bloom Township, Illinois. The district consists of 3,558 students in grades 9-12 in two high schools and one alternative high school.-Administration:...
.
The school was founded in 1900. A second Chicago Heights high school, Bloom Trail
Bloom Trail High School
Bloom Trail High School is a public high school in Chicago Heights, Illinois, United States. It is part of Bloom Township High School District 206. Originally Bloom Township Freshman-Sophomore Division, in 1976 it became a four-year high school and was renamed Bloom Trail High School.-External...
, was established in 1976 to offset overcrowding. Since 1995, however, Bloom and Bloom Trail have shared the same sports programs, drawing from over 3,000 students in grades 9
Ninth grade
Ninth grade is the ninth post-kindergarten year of school education in some school systems. The students are 13 to 15 years of age, depending on when their birthday occurs. Depending on the school district, ninth grade is usually the first year of high school....
to 12
Twelfth grade
Twelfth grade or Senior year, or Grade Twelve, are the North American names for the final year of secondary school. In most countries students then graduate at age 17 or 18. In some countries, there is a thirteenth grade, while other countries do not have a 12th grade/year at all...
.
The present Bloom High School building, erected during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, was named to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
on June 3, 1982. It is an Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
structure with six WPA
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
mural
Mural
A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...
s.
The frescoes were created by Edgar Britton in 1935. The two limestone sculptures were designed by Curtis Drewes. The main structure of the high school was designed by the architectural firm of Royer, Danley, and Smith of Urbana, Illinois
Urbana, Illinois
Urbana is the county seat of Champaign County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 41,250. Urbana is the tenth-most populous city in Illinois outside of the Chicago metropolitan area....
. Major additions were finished in 1956 and 1976.
Athletics
Since 1995, Bloom and Bloom Trail have operated a cooperative athletic program. Prior to consolidating their athletic programs, Bloom teams were known as the Trojans. When combined with Bloom Trail (which used the name Blazers), teams are called the "Bloom Township Blazing Trojans". Both alone, and as a part of the cooperative program, Bloom was a member of the South Inter-Conference AssociationSICA (high school sports)
The South Inter-Athletic Association Conference is a former conference on the south side of Chicago and the predecessor of the current South Suburban Conference, Southwest Suburban Conference, and Southland Athletic Conference. At one point it was the largest conference in Illinois. -Former...
(SICA) until the conference dissolved in 2005. Since 2006, the program has been a member of the Southland Athletic Conference
Southland Athletic Conference
The Southland Athletic Conference is a high school athletic and activity conference which comprises six schools located in the south and southwest suburbs of Chicago, Illinois....
.
The following teams won their respective IHSA sponsored state championship tournament/meet.
- Cross Country (boys): 1950–51, 74–75, 75–76
- Track & Field (boys): 1955–56, 56–57, 57–58, 58–59, 76–77, 87–88
- Wrestling: 1974–75, 75–76
Notable alumni
- Terry Boers is the co–host of a weekday afternoon sports talk radioSports radioSports radio is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A popular format with an almost exclusively male demographic in most areas, sports radio is characterized by an often-boisterous on-air style and extensive debate and analysis by both hosts and...
show in Chicago. - David S. BroderDavid S. BroderDavid Salzer Broder was an American journalist, writing for The Washington Post for over forty years. He also was an author, television news show pundit, and university lecturer....
is a Pulitzer Prize winningPulitzer Prize for CommentaryThe Pulitzer Prize for Commentary has been awarded since 1970. The Pulitzer Committee issues an official citation explaining the reasons for the award.-List of winners and their official citations:...
journalist, author, and television commentator. He is currently the White House correspondentWhite House Press CorpsThe White House Press Corps is the group of journalists or correspondents usually stationed at the White House in Washington, D.C. to cover the president of the United States, White House events and news briefings. Their offices are located in the West Wing....
for the Washington Post. - Jim BoutonJim BoutonJames Alan "Jim" Bouton is a former American Major League Baseball pitcher. He is also the author of the controversial baseball book Ball Four, which was a combination diary of his season and memoir of his years with the New York Yankees, Seattle Pilots, and Houston Astros.-Amateur and college...
is a former Major League BaseballMajor League BaseballMajor League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
pitcherPitcherIn baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
(1962–70, 78), playing most of his career for the New York YankeesNew York YankeesThe New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
. He is also an author (Ball FourBall FourBall Four is a book written by former Major League Baseball pitcher Jim Bouton in . The book is a diary of Bouton's 1969 season, spent with the Seattle Pilots and then the Houston Astros following a late-season trade. In it Bouton also recounts much of his baseball career, spent mainly with the...
). - Jerry ColangeloJerry ColangeloJerry Colangelo , is an American businessman and sports executive.He formerly owned the Phoenix Suns of the NBA, the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, the Arizona Sandsharks of the Continental Indoor Soccer League, the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League and the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major...
is a sports mogul; former owner of the Arizona DiamondbacksArizona DiamondbacksThe Arizona Diamondbacks are a professional baseball team based in Phoenix. They play in the West Division of Major League Baseball's National League. From 1998 to the present, they have played in Chase Field...
, Phoenix SunsPhoenix SunsThe Phoenix Suns are a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association and the only team in their division not to be based in California. Their home arena since 1992 has been the US...
, Phoenix MercuryPhoenix MercuryThe Phoenix Mercury is a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association . The team was founded before the league's inaugural 1997 season began; it is one of the eight original franchises...
, and Arizona RattlersArizona RattlersThe Arizona Rattlers are a professional arena football team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Conference in the Arena Football League . The Rattlers were founded in 1992 as an expansion team. They play their home games at US Airways Center...
. He is currently the national director of USA BasketballUSA BasketballUSA Basketball is a non-profit organization and the governing body for basketball in the United States. The organization represents the United States in FIBA and the men's and women's national basketball teams in the United States Olympic Committee...
, and is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. - Mike DowneyMike DowneyMike Downey is an American newspaper columnist.From 2003 to 2008, Downey wrote the "In the Wake of the News" column for the Chicago Tribune originated by Ring Lardner in 1913...
is a sports journalist - Debbie HalvorsonDebbie HalvorsonDeborah L. "Debbie" Halvorson is the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 2009 until 2011. She is a member of the Democratic Party...
is a US Congresswoman representing Illinois's 11th congressional district. - Lynn Hamilton is an actress, best known for her work on television (Sanford and SonSanford and SonSanford and Son is an American sitcom, based on the BBC's Steptoe and Son, that ran on the NBC television network from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977....
, The WaltonsThe WaltonsThe Waltons is an American television series created by Earl Hamner, Jr., based on his book Spencer's Mountain, and a 1963 film of the same name. The show centered on a family growing up in a rural Virginia community during the Great Depression and World War II. The series pilot was a television...
, Roots: The Next GenerationsRoots: The Next GenerationsRoots: The Next Generations is a 1979 television miniseries that continues the story of the family of Alex Haley from the 1880s, and their life in Henning, Tennessee, to the 1960s, with Haley researching his family history and his travels to Africa to learn of his ancestor, Kunta Kinte...
). - Jan JohnsonJan JohnsonJan Johnson was an American athlete who competed mainly in the pole vault. He graduated in 1972 from the University of Alabama, where he holds the school record in the pole vault at 18 feet, 1/2 inch....
is a pole vaultPole vaultPole vaulting is a track and field event in which a person uses a long, flexible pole as an aid to leap over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the ancient Greeks, as well as the Cretans and Celts...
er who won the bronze medal at the 1972 OlympicsAthletics at the 1972 Summer OlympicsAt the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, 38 events in athletics were contested, 24 for men and 14 for women. There were a total number of 1324 participating athletes from 104 countries.-Men's events:-Women's events:-Medal table:-References:*...
. - Carol MannCarol MannCarol Mann is an American professional golfer.Mann was born in Buffalo, New York and grew up in Baltimore, Maryland After attending the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Mann joined the LPGA Tour in 1961. She won 38 tournaments on the tour, including two major championships, the 1964...
, LPGA Hall of Fame golfer - Bryant YoungBryant YoungBryant Colby Young is an American football coach serving as defensive line coach for the University of Florida and former NFL player for the San Francisco 49ers...
is a former defensive lineman (1994–2007) for the San Francisco 49ersSan Francisco 49ersThe San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
. He is a member of the NFL 1990s All–Decade Team.