Kickapoo High School (Springfield, Missouri)

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Kickapoo High School is a high school in Springfield, Missouri. In 2002 it had 1,774 students and 96 teachers. Kickapoo opened in 1972, and is the fifth of Springfield's five high schools. It is named "Kickapoo" after its location in a part of Springfield known as the "Kickapoo Prairie." Also after the Native American Tribe that were famously known for inhabiting the area. The School property is historically believed to be on top of an ancient Kickapoo Indian Village and burial grounds. The School's mascot is the "Chief".

The school's characteristics include: Honors and Advanced Placement courses, an Orthopedically Handicapped Program, a Learning Resource Center for special-needs students, and a Japanese language program.

The school makes use of mandatory identification badges for all students and staff to prevent unauthorized entry into the school. This policy is heralded as an important part of building security by some, and also a needless frivolity by others. The 'ID badges' as well as school-wide video surveillance were introduced following a series of nationwide school shootings in the late 1990s.

The school schedule is a four block system. That is, students attend the same four classes for an entire semester, then switch to four different classes for an entire semester. At the end of the year, students have completed the equivalent of eight one year-long classes.

The 2004-2005 school year saw the introduction of a program called 'Chief Time.' This modified the school schedule, and the school day was extended significantly. An extra block, formally called 'intervention,' was added between second and third block every Tuesday and Thursday. The beginning of the school day on Wednesdays was delayed in order to add time for detention and for students to make up missed tests.

Intervention, or Chief Time, is a flexible block. Students are allowed to do different things during this block, depending on their status in a ranked system. The lowest rank, "Brave," is automatically given to Freshmen, Sophomores, and first-semester Juniors. Students with this rank must remain in their assigned Chief Time classes and work silently. The next rank, "Warrior," is automatically given to second-semester Juniors and all Seniors. Students with this rank are allowed to leave their Chief Time classes and go to the cafeteria for early lunch or to the gym for free activity time. Although it is stated that students with this rank are permitted to leave for lunch several minutes early, this rule is often overlooked by teachers.

The highest Intervention rank, "Chief," is for those Juniors and Seniors who have applied and been accepted to be "Freshman Mentors." These students are charged with assimilating small groups of freshmen into the school culture. They also assign rudimentary study skill and research tasks to all freshmen. Chiefs are allowed to leave several minutes early from school, leave early for lunch, and walk freely around the school without a written hall pass. Additionally, Chiefs are given preferential parking near the front door of the school. The heavy incentives for Chiefs are generally disliked by the student population, since Chiefs are virtually indistinguishable from students with Warrior cards in terms of actual responsibilities, except that chiefs participate in the Freshman mentoring prgram, designed to help new freshman adjust to high school life. This program takes place during chieftime.

Students may be demoted to a lower rank due to behavioral or academic problems. Students with extreme academic issues can be assigned to a Chief Time class where they receive tutoring for the duration of Chief Time. Students in these rooms are, in practical terms, the only group lower than Braves in terms of freedoms during Chief Time. In between classes, the song MMMBop is playing, until the students raise $2,000 dollars. They do not have enough yet, as the song is still playing. This is to annoy the students enough so that they would donate money to some camp; the idea is to play it until the $2,000 is raised. Note that in the next few weeks, as of 2/20/07, this article will likely be edited many times to support the opinion of any given student who would like to voice their opinion about this matter.

Kickapoo's name has led to the making of a number of creative spirit shirts sold to the students. The most widely known of these being the famous "Fear the 'Poo" shirts in both brown and gold.

[edit] Notable alumni

• Brad Pitt (b. 1963), actor, voted best dressed in the school, 1982

• Sterling Robert Macer Jr., Actor in the television series "Homefront" and "Harts of the West" "CSI: Miami" "NYPD Blue" and the films "Dragon. The Bruce Lee Story", "Double Take" and many others. Macer also wrote, produced and directed the feature film "Park day" Staring Hill Harper and Brock Peters.

• Lucas Grabeel, star of the Disney Channel Original Movies "Halloweentown High" and "High School Musical" and guest on the television series Boston Legal, 2003 and young Lex Luthor on the Smallville episode "Reunion," 2003. He also has the lead in Alice of Lester McKinley and is the voice of a dog in the upcoming animated film, Walking With Jesus.

• Kim Crosby, actress on New York's Broadway circuit, 1978

• Jay Kenneth Johnson, actor in the television series "Days of Our Lives" and "North Shore, 1995

• Jack Jewsbury, midfielder for Major League Soccer's Kansas City Wizards, 1999

[edit] External links

• School website
• [1]

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