Webb City High School (Missouri)
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| Current Principal | Stephen Gollhofer |
| School type | Public |
| Founded | 1877 |
| Opened | 1968 (current facility) |
| Location | Webb City, Missouri USA |
| Enrollment | 1068 (as of Aug 2006) |
| Faculty | 77 |
| Mascot | Cardinal |
| School colors | Blue, Red, & White |
Webb City High School, or WCHS, is a public high school in the Webb City R-7 located in Webb City, Missouri USA.
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[edit] Location and campus
The school's main campus, located at 621 North Madison, Webb City, Missouri is currently housed in a one-story sprawling structure originally built in 1968. It was expanded in 1971, 1975, 1983, 1987, 1994, 1997, 1999, and 2004. The most recent addition added a new band room, two drama classrooms, a new automotive technology annex, an industrial arts technology classroom, and a new weight room.
The central part of the school was built with an "open classroom" in mind, which means there are no doors on the classrooms. The library, although it possesses doors for security reasons, the walls do not reach all the way to the ceiling in most places. Adjacent to the main building are several annex structures including a football stadium, tennis courts, a soccer field, a baseball complex and an indoor swimming pool. The campus also contains a sprawling parking lot that runs for several blocks along North Madison; it serves not only students, but also attendees of after school events including sports games and theatre performances.
[edit] History
The Webb City School District was established in 1877 to serve the students of Webb City. Prior to the establishment of the Webb City Reorganized School District in 1968, area youth who lived outside the Webb City School District were educated in numerous one room rural school districts and in high school districts in incorporated communities nearby. Over the years, consolidation and reorganization plans were initiated with the goal of providing better quality educational programs in a more efficient manner. In September, 1968, final reorganization took place when the Carterville School District voted, as had Alba in 1967, to become a part of the Jasper County Reorganized School District R-VII, to be known and referred to as the Webb City R-7 School District.
[edit] Sports and traditions
WCHS offers baseball, men's and women's basketball, cheerleading--Cheerleaders, Chanters (wrestling), and the "Redettes (dance team), football, golf, soccer, softball, men's and women's swimming, track and field/cross-country, tennis, and wrestling.
Other extracurricular activities include, Band (Marching and Jazz), Choir (standard and Jazz), JR ROTC, and several clubs.
WCHS has won seven football championships, two baseball championships, and one in both basketball and softball. All of these have come since 1985.
[edit] Controversy
WCHS was the center of a gay rights controversy when Brad Mathewson, a recent transfer student, was suspended from school for wearing a gay pride shirts on two separate occasions in November of 2004 [1]. The ACLU issued press releases about the incident and created a national controversy about students' free speech rights on high school campuses. The ACLU filed a civil lawsuit on November 23, 2004 against the school[2]. The controversy attracted the attention of the Westboro Baptist Church which announced it would hold a protest at the school[3].
In the days following Mathewson's suspension, students on both sides of the Mathewson issue wore t-shirts, bumper stickers, and other displays of their beliefs. Some opposed to Mathewson wore shirts supporting a ban on gay marriage, while at least one student in support of Mathewson wore a shirt reading "I Love Lesbians." Lastaysha Myers, a friend and supporter of Mathewson, was later suspended for wearing pro-gay rights shirts on several occasions. The ACLU filed a lawsuit in April of 2005 on her behalf[4].
On the day of the Westboro Baptist Church's protest, the protesters were greatly outnumbered by counter-protesters against the church. While the counter-protesters were not necessarily supporting the rights of Mathewson, or of gays in general, they were protesting the incendiary tactics of the church.
Mathewson's suit was withdrawn because he dropped out of school. Myers' suit was withdrawn when the school district agreed to not limit the free speech of their students[5].
[edit] Notable alumni
- Grant Wistrom Professional Football Player (NFL) currently with the Seattle Seahawks, Class of 1994.
[edit] References
- ^ ACLU Sues Missouri High School for Censoring Gay Student. American Civil Liberties Union web site. ACLU. Retrieved on 2006-10-23.
- ^ Complaint - Mathewson v. Webb City High School. American Civil Liberties Union web site. ACLU. Retrieved on 2006-10-23.
- ^ Press Release (site contains language which may be offensive). Press Release. Westboro Baptist Church. Retrieved on 2006-10-23.
- ^ Myers v. Thornsberry Declaration of LaStaysha Myers. American Civil Liberties Union web site. ACLU. Retrieved on 2006-10-23.
- ^ ACLU Secures Promise from Missouri High School to Stop Censoring Student's Gay-Supportive T-Shirts. American Civil Liberties Union web site. ACLU. Retrieved on 2006-10-23.
