About

Highlights

  • Daily enrichment and intervention are offered during BOLT period to allow students the opportunity to select activities that further explore curriculum-targeted instruction where needed.
  • Supplemental reading program for all students during BOLT period to further strengthen and enhance student’s reading abilities and confidence.
  • Award-winning fine arts program provides many musical offerings and two plays each year for students interested in participating.
  • Very dedicated and passionate staff who do whatever it takes to help students achieve academic success.
  • A school that recognizes students for being respectful, responsible, successful, and safe. Students earn incentives for positive attendance, academics, and behavior.
  • Extracurriculars include both clubs and athletics. Staff work closely with students to foster ideas for student clubs and coaches help students grow both on and off the field.

Nickname: Lance Lightning
Mascot: Lightning Bolt
Grades: 6 – 8

Gilbert Simmons Lance

Gib Lance was born on December 2, 1894 to Andrew Lance and Emma Bell Simmons Lance and died on June 25, 1960. In December that year a junior high school was named in his honor because of his outstanding contributions and commitments to Kenosha society. The new school opened on September 5, 1962 with 800 students having 139,000 square feet. A dedication was held on November 12, 1962, with an Open House for all interested citizens. Gib was a sponsor of Cooper’s Boy Scout Troop and helped to establish the annual Girl Scout cookie sale. He was key in developing a children’s section in the library his grandfather Zalmon G. Simmons built in Kenosha. College educational scholarships were given to deserving youth who might not have had a chance to go to college by Lance as he continued his interest in youth of the community his entire life. He was proud of his early education at Durkee School in Kenosha. He received a citation for the Battle at Cantigny, after joining the US Army in December 1917, and was discharged in 1919. During World War II, Gib served his country by serving on the Gasoline Rationing Board for two years. Lance supported recreation by helping develop Simmons Field in Kenosha and Memorial Park in Twin Lakes. He actively supported the Kenosha pro football and Cooper Cardinal Baseball teams in 1918. He helped Wrigley develop a major baseball team in Chicago to gain a larger market for sports viewing. Other community organizations benefited from his interest. Gib was a founding member of the Patriots Fund for the American Red Cross and served as the Director of the Kenosha Manufacturers Association. He also was on the Board for St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, the Kenosha Rotary Club, and Board of Trustees for Kemper.

For a number of years, Lance had been the secretary-treasurer for Cooper’s (now Jockey International), as well as a major stockholder in the same company. The Kenosha News reported his death and said, “Gib was a quiet man with a deep heart and will be sorely missed by this community.”