Danville High School (Illinois)
Encyclopedia
Danville High School is a public high school located in Danville, Illinois
Danville, Illinois
Danville is a city in Vermilion County, Illinois, United States. It is the principal city of the'Danville, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area' which encompasses all of Danville and Vermilion County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 32,467. It is the county seat of...

. DHS is part of Danville District 118, which also includes two middle schools and eight elementary schools.

The school is perhaps best known for three of its alumni who went on to success in acting: Gene Hackman
Gene Hackman
Eugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde...

, and the brothers Dick
Dick Van Dyke
Richard Wayne "Dick" Van Dyke is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer with a career spanning six decades. He is the older brother of Jerry Van Dyke, and father of Barry Van Dyke...

 and Jerry Van Dyke
Jerry Van Dyke
Jerry Van Dyke is an American comedian and actor. He is the younger brother of comedian and actor Dick Van Dyke, and made his acting debut on The Dick Van Dyke Show with several guest appearances as Rob Petrie's brother, Stacey...

, and one who became an important figure in popularizing early twentieth century popular music, Bobby Short
Bobby Short
Robert Waltrip "Bobby" Short was an American cabaret singer and pianist, best known for his interpretations of songs by popular composers of the first half of the 20th century such as Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Noel Coward and George and Ira Gershwin.He...

.

Principals of DHS

Mark Neil, the current principal of Danville High School, is the school's 29th principal since 1870.

Academics

In 2008, DHS had an average composite ACT
ACT (examination)
The ACT is a standardized test for high school achievement and college admissions in the United States produced by ACT, Inc. It was first administered in November 1959 by Everett Franklin Lindquist as a competitor to the College Board's Scholastic Aptitude Test, now the SAT Reasoning Test...

 score of 18.5, and graduated 75.3% of its senior class. Danville High School has not made Adequate Yearly Progress
Adequate Yearly Progress
Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, is a measurement defined by the United States federal No Child Left Behind Act that allows the U.S. Department of Education to determine how every public school and school district in the country is performing academically according to results on standardized...

 (AYP) on the Prairie State Achievement Examination
Prairie State Achievement Examination
The Prairie State Achievement Examination is a two-day standardized test taken by all High School Juniors in the U.S. state of Illinois. On the first day, students take the ACT, and on the second day, a WorkKeys examination and Illinois State Board of Education-developed science examination....

, which the state of Illinois uses to fulfill mandates set forth in the federal No Child Left Behind Act
No Child Left Behind Act
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is a United States Act of Congress concerning the education of children in public schools.NCLB was originally proposed by the administration of George W. Bush immediately after he took office...

. The school, overall, failed to meet minimum expectations in mathematics and reading, in addition to two of the three student subgroups.13.7% of juniors last spring scored high enough on at least three of the four parts of the ACT to be considered “college-ready” for key freshman classes.

In September 2009, the school hosted several education administrators from Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

 who were visiting to not only see how the school functions, but to participate in a learning opportunity for the school's Global House.

Activities

The school offers approximately 30 clubs and activities ranging from service oriented clubs to academic competition, to art appreciation. Among the clubs which are chapters for more national organizations are Key Club
Key Club
Key Club International is the oldest and largest service program for high school students. It is a student-led organization whose goal is to teach leadership through serving others. Key Club International is a part of the Kiwanis International family of service-leadership programs...

, and National Honor Society
National Honor Society
The National Honor Society is a recognition program for high school students in grades 10-12 in the United States and in several other countries...

.

The choral music program supports a choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...

, show choir
Show choir
A show choir is a group of people who combine choral singing with dance movements, sometimes within the context of a specific idea or story.-History:...

, and madrigal
Madrigal (music)
A madrigal is a secular vocal music composition, usually a partsong, of the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. Traditionally, polyphonic madrigals are unaccompanied; the number of voices varies from two to eight, and most frequently from three to six....

 program.

The instrumental music program supports two symphonic bands, a pep band
Pep band
A pep band is an ensemble of instrumentalists who play at functions or events with the purpose of entertaining and "pepping" up a crowd. Often members of a pep band are a subset of people from a larger ensemble such as a marching band or a concert band. Pep bands are generally associated with...

 (the Maroon Maniacs), percussion ensemble
Percussion ensemble
A percussion ensemble is a musical ensemble consisting of only percussion instruments. Although the term can be used to describe any such group, it commonly refers to groups of classically-trained percussionists performing primarily classical music. Percussion ensembles are most commonly found at...

, jazz ensemble, madrigal brass band, and marching band
Marching band
Marching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...

 (Band of Vikings).

In 2004, the school staged the musical Bye Bye Birdie, which (at its 1958 Broadway premier) had starred alum Dick Van Dyke
Dick Van Dyke
Richard Wayne "Dick" Van Dyke is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer with a career spanning six decades. He is the older brother of Jerry Van Dyke, and father of Barry Van Dyke...

 in the role of Albert Peterson. For the 2004 production, Van Dyke returned to the school, and learned one of the numbers (Put On a Happy Face) alongside the students, performing both nights of the show. Van Dyke, who joined the military before receiving his diploma, was also granted his high school diploma at a ceremony.

Athletics

DHS competes in the Big Twelve conference and is a member of the Illinois High School Association
Illinois High School Association
The Illinois High School Association is one of 521 state high school associations in the United States, designed to regulate competition in most interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level. It is a charter member of the National Federation of State High...

 (IHSA); the organization which organizes most interscholastic high school sports and competitive activities in the state of Illinois. Teams are stylized as the Vikings (or Lady Vikings for women's teams).

The school sponsors interscholastic teams for young men and women in basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, cross country
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...

, soccer, swimming & diving
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...

, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

, and track & field. Young men may participate in baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

, football
High school football
High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....

, golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

, and wrestling
Scholastic wrestling
Scholastic wrestling, sometimes known in the United States as Folkstyle wrestling, is a style of amateur wrestling practised at the high school and middle school levels in the United States. This wrestling style is essentially Collegiate wrestling with some slight modifications. It is currently...

, while young women may compete in cheerleading
Cheerleading
Cheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...

 and softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...

. While not sponsored by the IHSA, the Athletic Department also sponsors a poms
Pom-pon
A pom-pon is a fluffy, decorative ball or tuft. Pom-pons may come in many colors, sizes, and varieties and are made from a wide array of materials, including wool, cotton, paper, plastic, and occasionally feathers....

 team (Pompettes).

The following teams finished in the top four of their respective IHSA sponsored state championship tournament or meet:
  • Basketball (boys): 3rd place (1970–71, 92–93); 2nd place (1935–36, 49–50)
  • Football: 2nd place (1976–77) semifinals (2009-10) semi finals(2010-2011)
  • Golf (boys): 4th place (1938–39); State Champions (1981–82)
  • Swimming & Diving (boys): 3rd place (1939–40, 40–41)
  • Tennis (boys): 4th place (1952–53, 58–59, 66–67); 3rd place (1946–47, 47–48, 2002–03); 2nd place (1951–52, 59–60); State Champions (1945–46, 53–54)
  • Track & Field (boys): 3rd place (1983–84, 89–90); State Champions (1924–25)

Traditions

The school has two songs: a fight song and a cheer song. The cheer song's lyrics were borrowed from the cheer song written for Illinois Wesleyan University
Illinois Wesleyan University
Illinois Wesleyan University is an independent undergraduate university located in Bloomington, Illinois. Founded in 1850, the central portion of the present campus was acquired in 1854 with the first building erected in 1856...

, substituting "Danville High" for "Wesleyan" and "maroon" for "green".

The school claims no knowledge as to why the school colors were chosen, though they date to at least 1906. The school's teams were originally stylized as the Maroons. The school's teams briefly used the name Silver Streaks before adopting Vikings in 1960. While the Vikings name stuck, an attempt to change the school's primary color from maroon to light blue failed to catch on.

Notable alumni

  • Susan Wittig Albert
    Susan Wittig Albert
    Susan Wittig Albert is a mystery writer from Vermilion County, Illinois, United States. She currently resides in Bertram, Texas, near Austin, with her husband, Bill Albert.- Career :...

     is an author, best known for her works in the crime
    Crime fiction
    Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...

     and mystery genre
    Genre
    Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...

    s.
  • Jason Anderson is a former Major League Baseball
    Major League Baseball
    Major 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...

     relief pitcher
    Relief pitcher
    A relief pitcher or reliever is a baseball or softball pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed due to injury, ineffectiveness, fatigue, ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as being substituted by a pinch hitter...

     (2003–05).
  • Irving Azoff
    Irving Azoff
    Irving Azoff is an American personal manager, representing recording artists in the music industry such as Christina Aguilera, Journey, Jewel, the Eagles, X Japan, Bush, REO Speedwagon, Seal, David Archuleta, Alter Bridge, Van Halen, 30 Seconds to Mars, Neil Diamond, New Kids on the Block, Steely...

     is a personal manager to several notable musical talents. He is the former head of MCA Records
    Music Corporation of America
    MCA, Inc. was an American talent agency. Initially starting in the music business, they would next become a dominant force in the film business, and later expanded into the television business...

    , and has produced several films (Fast Times at Ridgemont High
    Fast Times at Ridgemont High
    Fast Times at Ridgemont High is a 1982 American coming-of-age teen comedy film written by Cameron Crowe and adapted from his 1981 book of the same name...

    ). In 2008, he became Chairman of Ticketmaster
    Ticketmaster
    Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. is an independent American ticket sales and distribution company based in West Hollywood, California, USA, with operations in many countries around the world. In 2010 it merged with Live Nation to become Live Nation Entertainment...

    .
  • Kenneth D. Bailey
    Kenneth D. Bailey
    Major Kenneth Dillon Bailey was a United States Marine Corps officer who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for heroic conduct during action during the Battle of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands...

     was a major
    Major (United States)
    In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, major is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel...

     in the United States Marine Corps
    United States Marine Corps
    The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

    . He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor
    Medal of Honor
    The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...

     for his actions at Matanikau River
    Actions along the Matanikau
    The Actions along the Matanikau in September and October 1942—sometimes referred to as the Second and Third Battles of the Matanikau—were two separate but related engagements among a series of engagements between the United States and Imperial Japanese naval and ground forces around the Matanikau...

     during the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942. The destroyer USS Kenneth D. Bailey
    USS Kenneth D. Bailey (DD-713)
    USS Kenneth D. Bailey was a in the United States Navy during World War II. She was named for Kenneth D. Bailey. The name Kenneth D. Bailey was originally was assigned to the destroyer escort USS Kenneth D. Bailey on 30 November 1943; that ship was cancelled on 10 June 1944, and the name was...

    was named in his honor.
  • William B. Black is a member of the Illinois House of Representatives
    Illinois House of Representatives
    The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The state House of Representatives is made of 118 representatives elected from...

     (1986–2010).
  • Keon Clark
    Keon Clark
    Arian Keon Clark is a former American National Basketball Association player.After a collegiate career at two different junior colleges and UNLV, Clark was selected 13th overall by the Orlando Magic in the 1998 NBA Draft but was traded to the Denver Nuggets...

     is a former NBA basketball player (1998–2004). He was selected in the first round of the 1998 NBA Draft
    1998 NBA Draft
    The 1998 NBA Draft took place on June 24, 1998 at General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This draft helped turn around three struggling franchises: the Dallas Mavericks, the Sacramento Kings, and the Toronto Raptors....

    .
  • Gene Hackman
    Gene Hackman
    Eugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde...

     is an Academy Award winning actor, best known for his work in film (The French Connection
    The French Connection (film)
    This article is about the 1971 film. For the British fashion label, see French Connection .The French Connection is a 1971 American crime film directed by William Friedkin. The film was adapted and fictionalized by Ernest Tidyman from the non-fiction book by Robin Moore...

    , Unforgiven
    Unforgiven
    Unforgiven is a 1992 American Western film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood with a screenplay written by David Webb Peoples. The film tells the story of William Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job years after he had hung up his guns and turned to farming...

    ).
  • Greg Meidel
    Greg Meidel
    Greg Meidel is the president of Twentieth Television , and president of MyNetworkTV, a former television network in the United States, which is owned by News Corporation.-References:...

     is a television producer.
  • Donald O'Connor
    Donald O'Connor
    Donald David Dixon Ronald O’Connor was an American dancer, singer, and actor who came to fame in a series of movies in which he co-starred alternately with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talking Mule...

     was an Emmy Award winning actor and dancer, perhaps best known for his role in the film Singin' in the Rain
    Singin' in the Rain
    Singin' in the Rain is a 1952 American comedy musical film starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds and directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, with Kelly also providing the choreography...

    .
  • Scott Shaw is a photojournalist who received the 1988 Pulitzer Prize
    1988 Pulitzer Prize
    -Journalism:-Letters and Drama:...

     for spot news photography
    Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography
    The Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography was awarded from 1968 – 1999, thereafter being renamed as the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography.-List of winners:...

    .
  • Bobby Short
    Bobby Short
    Robert Waltrip "Bobby" Short was an American cabaret singer and pianist, best known for his interpretations of songs by popular composers of the first half of the 20th century such as Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Noel Coward and George and Ira Gershwin.He...

     was a singer and musician known for his interpretations of early 20th century American usic, and for promoting the compositions of African American composers.
  • Matthew Stover
    Matthew Stover
    Matthew Woodring Stover is an American fantasy and science fiction novelist. He is perhaps best known for his four Star Wars novels, including the novelization of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. He has also written several fantasy novels, including Iron Dawn and Jericho Moon...

     is an author who writes predominantly in the genres of science fiction
    Science fiction
    Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

     and fantasy
    Fantasy literature
    Fantasy literature is fantasy in written form. Historically speaking, literature has composed the majority of fantasy works. Since the 1950s however, a growing segment of the fantasy genre has taken the form of films, television programs, graphic novels, video games, music, painting, and other...

    . In addition to works such as Heroes Die
    Heroes Die
    Heroes Die by Matthew Stover is the first of a series of novels blending science fiction and fantasy and featuring the protagonist Caine.-Setting:...

    , he has also written novels set in the Star Wars universe, including Revenge of the Sith
    Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (novel)
    Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith is a novelization of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith written by Matthew Stover and published on April 2, 2005 by Del Rey Books....

    .
  • Joseph R. Tanner
    Joseph R. Tanner
    Joseph Richard "Joe" Tanner is an American instructor at the University of Colorado at Boulder, a former military jet pilot, and a former NASA astronaut. He was born in Danville, Illinois. He is unusual among astronauts as he did not have a background in flight test nor did he earn any advanced...

     is a former NASA
    NASA
    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

     astronaut
    Astronaut
    An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....

    . He flew into space four times as a mission specialist
    Mission Specialist
    A Mission Specialist is a position held by certain NASA astronauts during Space Shuttle missions. A Mission Specialist is assigned to a limited field of the mission, such as for medical experiments or technical quests....

     where he performed work on the Hubble Space Telescope
    Hubble Space Telescope
    The Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by a Space Shuttle in 1990 and remains in operation. A 2.4 meter aperture telescope in low Earth orbit, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared...

     and International Space Station
    International Space Station
    The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...

    .
  • Edward R. Telling was the Chairman and CEO of Sears, Roebuck and Company
    Sears, Roebuck and Company
    Sears, officially named Sears, Roebuck and Co., is an American chain of department stores which was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in the late 19th century...

     (1978–85).
  • Dick Van Dyke
    Dick Van Dyke
    Richard Wayne "Dick" Van Dyke is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer with a career spanning six decades. He is the older brother of Jerry Van Dyke, and father of Barry Van Dyke...

     is an Emmy
    Emmy Award
    An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

     and Tony
    Tony Award
    The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...

     award winning actor. He was in the original Broadway
    Broadway theatre
    Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

     cast of Bye Bye Birdie, in addition to his work on film (Mary Poppins
    Mary Poppins (film)
    Mary Poppins is a 1964 musical film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, produced by Walt Disney, and based on the Mary Poppins books series by P. L. Travers with illustrations by Mary Shepard. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, with songs by...

    ) and television (The Dick Van Dyke Show
    The Dick Van Dyke Show
    The Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom that initially aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System from October 3, 1961, until June 1, 1966. The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. It was produced by Reiner with Bill Persky and Sam Denoff....

    , Diagnosis: Murder
    Diagnosis: Murder
    Diagnosis: Murder is a mystery/medical/crime drama television series starring Dick Van Dyke as Dr. Mark Sloan, a medical doctor who solves crimes with the help of his son, a homicide detective played by his real-life son Barry Van Dyke. The series began as a spin-off of Jake and the Fatman...

    ).
  • Jerry Van Dyke
    Jerry Van Dyke
    Jerry Van Dyke is an American comedian and actor. He is the younger brother of comedian and actor Dick Van Dyke, and made his acting debut on The Dick Van Dyke Show with several guest appearances as Rob Petrie's brother, Stacey...

     is an actor and musician best known for his work on television (My Mother the Car
    My Mother the Car
    My Mother the Car is an American fantasy sitcom which aired for a single season on NBC between September 14, 1965 and September 6, 1966. A total of thirty episodes were produced by United Artists Television....

    , Coach
    Coach (TV series)
    Coach is an American television sitcom that aired for nine seasons on ABC from 1989 to 1997. The series starred Craig T. Nelson as Hayden Fox, head coach of the fictional Division I-A college football team, the Minnesota State University Screaming Eagles...

    ).
  • Reg Weaver
    Reg Weaver
    Reg Weaver is the immediate past president of the National Education Association, the largest professional association and one of the most influential educator groups in the United States...

     is the former president of the National Education Association
    National Education Association
    The National Education Association is the largest professional organization and largest labor union in the United States, representing public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college students preparing to become...

    , and is a vice president for Education International
    Education International
    Education International is a global union federation of teachers' trade unions. Currently, it has 401 member organizations in 172 countries and territories, representing over 30 million education personnel from pre-school to university...

    .

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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