East St. Louis Senior High School

High school in East St. Louis, Illinois, United States

^[2]SloganAll gas, No breaksSportsBasketball (men's & women's), Football, Wrestling, Volleyball (men's & women’s) Cheerleading, Track & Field (men's & women's), Baseball, Softball, TennisMascotFlyerTeam nameFlyers/Flyerettes^[2]^[1]

East Saint Louis Senior High School is the only high school located in East St. Louis, Illinois. The school serves about 1,438 students in grades 9 to 12 in the East Saint Louis Public Schools district.^[1] It was featured in the Jonathan Kozol book Savage Inequalities. In 1998, East St. Louis Lincoln High School consolidated with East St. Louis High.^[3]

In addition to East St. Louis, the district (this is the sole comprehensive high school of the district) also includes portions of Canteen, Centreville, and Stites Townships in northwestern St. Clair County. The district also includes all of Washington Park, much of Alorton and Centreville. and portions of Caseyville, Fairmont City, Fairview Heights, and Madison.^[4]

Sports

East St. Louis Senior High School won the 2008 Class 7A football state championship against Geneva High School.^[5] The Flyers have a storied history in Illinois high school football, having won the state championship over a half-dozen times and the national championship twice. The Flyers beat Prairie Ridge in 2022 for the Class 6A football title.^[6] From 1976 to the beginning of the 1995 season, the Flyers' coach was Bob Shannon. Two years of Flyers football during that period were the subject of a book, The Right Kind of Heroes.

The Flyers compete in the Southwestern Conference.

Notable alumni

Hank Bauer, former MLB right fielder (New York Yankees, Kansas City Athletics) and manager (Kansas City Athletics, Baltimore Orioles); 8x World Series champion; member of Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame.
Ed Blake, former MLB pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds and the Kansas City Athletics
Rose Marion Boylan, (ca. 1875-1947) known professionally as Rose Marion, newspaper reporter and clubwoman
Walter Boyne, author of 32 books and 500 articles about aviation; was the director of the National Air & Space Museum
Homer Bush, former MLB second baseman; 1998 World Series Champion
Jimmy Connors, tennis Hall of Famer
Bryan Cox, former NFL linebacker; NFL assistant coach
Al Dixon, former NFL tight end
William Dollar, one of the nation's leading performers in the terpsichorean art of ballet
Thomas L. Fekete, Illinois state representative and lawyer
Larry Gladney, Professor of Physics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
Kerry Glenn, former NFL cornerback
Dawn Harper-Nelson, Olympic hurdler; Gold medalist in 100-meter hurdles at 2008 Summer Olympics
Dana Howard, former NFL linebacker; 1994 Dick Butkus Award winner; 2017 College Football Hall of Fame inductee.
Sam Jethroe, oldest baseball player to win "Rookie of the Year" award with the Boston Braves
Shelby Jordan, former NFL offensive tackle for the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Raiders
Al Joyner, Olympic gold medal winner in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics
Bennie Lewis, small forward for Frankston Blues of Australia's SEABL.
Jean Madeira, opera mezzo-soprano.
Joe May, gospel singer known as the "Thunderbolt of the Midwest"
Darius Miles, former NBA power forward^[7]
Victor Scott, former NFL defensive back
Bob Turley, former MLB pitcher; 1958 Cy Young Award winner, World Series MVP, and AL wins leader.
Bill Walker, former MLB pitcher with the New York Giants and St. Louis Browns; 2x NL ERA leader.
Johnny Wyrostek, former MLB outfielder; 2x MLB All-Star with Cincinnati Reds.
Marion Lee Wilde, class of 1939, one of the Wilde Twins. Movie actress 1942-1949.
Mary Lynn Wilde, class of 1939, one of the Wilde Twins. Movie actress 1942-1953.
Kellen Winslow, class of 1975, former NFL tight end for San Diego Chargers; NFL and College Football Hall of Fame inductee.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "East St Louis Senior High School]". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
^ ^a ^b "East St. Louis Senior High School". Illinois High School Association. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
^ "East St. Louis Lincoln". illinoishsglorydays.com. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
^ "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: St. Clair County, IL" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
^ "Geneva falls short of first championship bid". Shaw Local News Network. December 5, 2008.
^ "East St. Louis shows off talent, routs Prairie Ridge for Class 6A state title". Shaw Local. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
^ "East St. Louis' Miles faces fantastic future". Daily Herald. March 18, 2000.^{[dead link]}