Hononegah Community High School


Hononegah Community High School is a public high school in Rockton, Illinois and is the only high school comprising Hononegah Community High School District 207. Located between Rockford and the southern border of Wisconsin, the school serves students from the towns of Rockton, Roscoe, Shirland, and parts of South Beloit. Specifically, the school districts Kinnikinnick School District 131, Prairie Hill School District 133, Rockton School District 140, and Shirland School District 134 all feed into the high school.
Hononegah Community High School opened in 1923. The school is named after the Native American Hononegah, wife of Stephen Mack Jr.. Stephen Mack Jr. is credited to the founding of Rockton, Illinois. The school's namesake is honored with a large mural of Hononegah in the school's main lobby.
One of the unique aspects of Hononegah was its inflatable "bubble" field house, the first of its kind for any Illinois public school, until its collapse in December 2015. It was replaced by a field house in March 2019, which cost taxpayers a total of $17.8 million.

History

Hononegah was the wife of Stephen Mack, Jr. an employee for The American Fur Company, a pioneer to the Rock River Valley in northern Illinois and founder of the community of Rockton, Illinois. Hononegah had a strong influence on the Roscoe-Rockton area; the high school of the four towns and the main thoroughfare connecting the towns are both named after her.
Hononegah High School was built in 1922, and dedicated in February 1923. Additions to the building have taken place in the 1950s, 1971, 1981 classroom addition, 1996, 2003, and 2019.
The cafeteria was originally the theater and gym.
The concession area in the metal gym was the location of the Hononegah Theater in the 1970s through 1996.
District 207 purchased land near Interstate I-90 to accommodate a second campus if enrollment continues to rise. Notable additions to the base campus include a Performing Arts Center capable of seating 1,100 and an athletic practice dome.
As of the 2019 - 2020 school year, the school's demographics is 84.6% White, 7.4% Hispanic, 3.3% 2+ Races, 2.5% Asian, 1.9% African American, 0.2% Pacific Islander, and 0.1% American Indian.

Academics

In 2008, the Chicago Sun-Times listed Hononegah as the 50th best public high school in the state of Illinois based on average scores on the PSAE, and one of the ten best outside of the Chicago area.
In 2010, Newsweek announced that Hononegah qualified for the magazine's 2011 list of the nation's top high schools. Over the past three years Hononegah has increased the amount of advanced placement tests its students are taking.
In 2012, Hononegah had an average composite ACT score of 22.9, and graduated 89.39% of its senior class. Though from 2006 to 2014, Hononegah students have achieved 9 perfect scores.
As of 2014, 72.6% of students met or exceeded standards in reading, 75.9% met or exceeded in mathematics, and 69.% met or exceeded in science on the Prairie State Achievement Examination, a test used to estimate the school's Adequate Yearly Progress for the No Child Left Behind Act.

Athletics

Hononegah competes in the Northern Illinois Conference and is a member of the Illinois High School Association, which governs most high school athletics and competitive activities in the state. Teams are stylized as the Indians.
The following teams have finished in the top four of their respective IHSA sponsored state championship tournaments or meets:
Hononegah is also one of five drafting schools of the Rockford Icemen hockey program. Along with Boylan High School, Guilford High School, Harlem High School, and Christian Life, Hononegah contributes nearly ten student athletes to the Rockford Icemen who recently won their fifteenth consecutive Illinois state championship.

Dome Collapse

After an ice storm in December 2015, the 13-year-old dome collapsed. It housed several events for indoor track athletes, including practices and meets, practice room for all winter sports teams, physical education classes, and various community events.
The dome was designed by Air Structures American Technologies Inc. and cost $3 million at the time of its construction in 2002. It was meant to last 15–20 years.

Field House Construction & Opening

In 2017, following the collapse of the dome, Hononegah School District officials proposed a $17.8 million referendum in order to construct a brand new 90,000 square-foot field house.
During the November 2016 general election, voters initially rejected a $44 million referendum that would increase taxes to supply funds to replace the dome and implement various other renovations throughout the school. After this rejection, a new $17.8 million referendum was added to the April ballot, which very narrowly passed with only 51% of voters approving the measure by a difference of 127 votes.
On November 7, 2017, a groundbreaking ceremony was held, signifying the beginning of construction. School officials say they fully intend for this space to be open to the public rather than only Hononegah students.
On April 5, 2019, an opening ceremony was held to officially open the field house. It started with a ribbon cutting ceremory following by activities throughout the day.

Controversies

In mid 2018, Madison Oster opened a lawsuit against the high school. They claimed that the school breached her civil rights to be for gun rights during the mass walkout of school on February 14, following the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.
On January 8, 2020, a group of Hononegah students in a group called "Hononegah SDS" started a petition to remove the mascot of their school and change it to something else. The controversy created a spinoff petition meant to keep the mascot. As of February 1, 2020 18:30 UST, the first petition has nearly 2,500 signatures and the spinoff petition to keep the mascot has nearly 15 thousand signatures.

Notable alumni