Richland High School (Washington)
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| Established | 1910 |
|---|---|
| School type | Public |
| Principal | Sergio Fossa |
| Students | 1,935 (As of 2006) |
| Mascot Colors |
Bomber Green & Gold |
| Location | 930 Long Ave Richland, WA 99352 |
| Information | (509) 942-2500 |
| Website | Richland High School, Home of the Bombers |
Richland High School is a public high school located in central Richland, Washington. It was founded as Columbia High School in 1910 to serve the educational needs of the small town of Richland. The building was replaced with a much larger structure by the US Army Corps of Engineers in 1944 as part of the Manhattan Project. The campus is located at 930 Long Ave. The facilities have been remodeled in stages between 1995 and 2006. Until the founding of Hanford High School in 1972, Richland High served as the only high school in the entire city. The school is part of the Richland School District.
[edit] Name change
The school was named Columbia High School, or, as the students called it Col Hi, until the mid 1970s. The official name was then changed to Richland High. One of the reasons given for the name change was to avoid confusion with the nearby, and much smaller, Columbia High School in Burbank, Washington. Alumni still refer to the school as Col Hi.
[edit] Athletics
Richland High has roughly 2,000 students, making it a 4A school by Washington's state classifications. In 2005, the varsity boys' basketball team made it to regionals, the girls' basketball team made it to state, and the varsity baseball team won the state title.
Legendary Richland High coach Fran Rish died in early February 2006 at age 89, following a battle with lung cancer. Rish was Richland's football coach in the mid 1940's, and later was Richland's baseball coach. The football stadium, which is used for both Richland and Hanford High School events, is located on the grounds of the Richland High School, was named Fran Rish Stadium in his honor in 1986.
RHS has a very strong girls soccer program. The 1997 state champion team, led by future United States World Cup goalie Hope Solo, was undefeated and ranked fourth in the nation.
[edit] Mascot
Originally the school had no mascot (1910 to 1922). From 1922 to 1937 the mascot was the Colts; from 1938 to 1944, the Beaver. In the fall of 1945, after an atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, students changed the mascot to a bomb and called themselves the Bombers. The plutonium that was in that bomb was manufactured by workers at nearby Hanford as part of the Manhattan Project. Use of the mushroom cloud painted on a bomb as a mascot has been the subject of intermittent controversy. They also have a secondary mascot, a B-17 bomber named Day's Pay — Hanford workers gave up a day's pay and donated it to Boeing so they could build a plane.
