When Crystal Lake High School District 155 opened its Prairie Ridge High School this year, school officials relieved the pressure valve at other schools in the district.
No one would dispute the benefits of that. Suddenly, jammed classrooms were back to manageable occupancy. Facilities crippled by rapid increases in enrollment were able to function again.
But there was an unforeseen side effect at nearby Crystal Lake Central, a school with 1,865 students last year that gave up 750 kids in the transaction.
Students and teachers alike felt the loss at Central. Old friends were gone; the hustle and bustle of wall-to-wall students had been replaced by halls and classrooms that seemed almost ghostly by comparison.
A thriving football program had been reduced to only 31 eligible players, far fewer than those fielded by other teams on their schedule. The girls cross-country team, which had been best in the conference with 50 runners, had only 13 this year.
When Maggie McGibbon walked down the halls this fall, she had the eerie feeling she was late, no matter what the clock said.
“You think you’re late because no one is in the halls,” she said as she sat in study hall with two friends. “But it’s just because they’re so empty.”
Sure, there are more parking spaces and faster lunch lines, but the corridors seem so empty they “almost echo,” McGibbon said. She is one of the many seniors who chose to stay at Central, to graduate from where they started.
To combat malaise, school officials and student leaders are refocusing their efforts on school spirit at the 73-year-old institution.
“We’re more organized. There is a big emphasis on spirit this year,” said Leah Miller, a cheerleader, before running out to the gym floor during the Homecoming pep rally.
The wild cheering at the rally for the Tigers assured them the energy was still there, and the football team, almost decimated by transfers to Prairie Ridge, seemed even closer than before.
Senior football player Rich Dickerson, who lives within walking distance of Prairie Ridge, decided to end his high school career wearing Central’s orange and black. For him, as with many who stayed, it was a matter of loyalty.
“Most of my friends are here. . . . We played pee-wee football since we were 8 or 9 years old,” he said.
So students miss classmates and teachers miss colleagues who transferred, but they are striving to rebuild.
“It’s been difficult, but also an exciting time to analyze everything we do and move forward,” said Principal Joyce Hammer at a recent school board meeting.
She said faculty are re-examining the school’s mission statement and establishing goals with teaching and learning as focal points.
One change with teachers has been to take over special roles of those who left. For example, science teacher Rick Podraza tries to fill the shoes of Tim DeVries as senior class co-sponsor.
“We’re realizing the bottom line is everybody is . . . breaking new ground, taking risks, doing something they haven’t done before. In a way, it’s invigorating,” Podraza said.
DeVries distributed all his orange and black clothing to teachers remaining at Central, as a signal for them to carry on the Tiger spirit.
With 190 juniors at Central, the school will have the smallest graduating class in the district next year, Hammer said, and the school was forced to form cooperative teams with other District 155 schools to save some sports, such as girls gymnastics and boys swimming.
But there is a bottom line. Some call it spirit and some call it tradition, but it’s very real to students such as Tim Mosolino.
To Mosolino, a senior, finishing at Central is of the utmost importance. His brother, father and grandfather all graduated from Central, and he plans to follow in their footsteps.
Tom Kellner, a math teacher for 17 years, feels the same tug of tradition.
“I preferred to stay here,” Kellner said. “I graduated from this school, so I feel a bond.”
