Compared to some highschools, Worthington Kilbourne High School is relatively small. However, there are still some spaces in Kilbourne that many students don’t know about, or can’t find that are super interesting. Mr. Robey’s black box theater, the newsroom, and the mysterious third floor are some examples.
If anyone has taken theater before, or plans to at any time while they’re at Kilbourne, they will have class in room 113, also known as the black box, because the whole room has been painted black. You can find it by walking down the fine arts hallway and taking the first right turn. Then walk past the band practice cubicles, and the black box is the first door on the right. When you walk in, there will most likely be backpacks strewn around the room, and an odd collection of props, costumes, and other miscellaneous items. Mr. Robey is the head of the theater department, and teaches some English classes as well. He can often be found in the black box as well, if he is not teaching English or leading rehearsals. If anyone is interested in taking theater, or participating in any of the shows, you will first take theater art survey, and then once you take theater repertory, you can participate in other productions. However, for some shows, students do not have to take theater in order to audition. Students can also take theater tech in order to work backstage on productions. Be sure to support the theater program by attending their shows!
The newsroom is often hidden by the traffic in the hallways. You can find it by going up the central staircase, taking a
left, and it will be the first classroom on the right. The newsroom is where both WKHS News and The Ravine are produced. When you first walk in, the news set is to the left, with large tables in the center and computers lining the perimeter of the room. The former journalism and comm tech teacher, Mrs. Hemmelgarn, or more commonly known as Hemme, left last school year in order to stay home and take care of her two small children. She was replaced by Miss Brooks, who was previously an English teacher here at Kilbourne. In order to join the news team, you have to take comm tech first, and then you can take advanced Comm tech and work on the news. In order to be on the Ravine, students interested can either take journalism first, and then take advanced journalism to be on the Ravine. Students can also submit a piece of writing to Miss Brooks asking to join the Ravine, and then you can be allowed to take advanced journalism and write for the Ravine without taking journalism. If anybody has any ideas they would like to see on the Ravine or the news, feel free to let Miss Brooks or any students on the news or ravine team.
The third floor of Kilbourne is only accessible by going up the stairs by the science hallway. With no classrooms being up there, no one has any reason to climb the extra set of stairs in order to reach the top. However, people definitely have been to the top, because of the rumor of a third floor pool. When you reach the top of the stairwell, there is a small platform of grimy linoleum tiles and a large wooden door. The door has a metal handle with a key hole and a large piece of metal bolted to the door covering the section of door directly next to the handle. If you try to open the door, it stays firmly shut. No students know what is behind that door, and some staff members do not know either. However, some staff members, water polo players, and swim and dive students claim to have seen the third floor pool. Until there is concrete proof, nobody will know.
Kilbourne has plenty of interesting places that will soon be blocked off or destroyed because of the upcoming construction. Take the time to appreciate our current school, and look forward to the improvements coming to our building!
