Woodlawn, IL

Woodlawn is a Jefferson County village in the Mount Vernon micropolitan area, but its strongest local tie is the school system that carries the village name. Woodlawn Community High School District 205 and Woodlawn C. C. School District 4 divide the local school story between a K–8 elementary program and the high school years. That arrangement gives the village a clear center of gravity: the same name appears on the grade-school and high-school signs, connecting families across the years.

The basketball court has added another layer to Woodlawn’s shared identity. The high school boys’ team reached the Illinois 1A state tournament four times in the 2000s and 2010s, including a state championship in 2012, a detail that still travels well in a town this size. Beyond the gym, Woodlawn’s place in the Mount Vernon area keeps it tied to Jefferson County’s larger service and work network. It is a small village with a straightforward story: school names, team colors, and county connections doing much of the work of community life.