Pasco High School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pasco High School, located at 1108 N. 10th Avenue in Pasco, Washington, is the largest high school in the Tri-Cities of Washington. Its mascot is the Bulldog and its colors are purple and white. Pasco High has a very diverse student body and a strong football program, but is challenged by low tax revenues and it being the only public high school in the city of Pasco.
In 2006, the voters of Pasco approved a $90 million+ bond to construct a new high school on Argent and Road 84 to ease the overcrowding of Pasco High. The new school, named Chiawana High School, is scheduled to be completed in 2009 along Argent Street, leaving the current students to remain in an overcrowded building. In the mean time, the school has turned the old Captain Gray Elementary School, located at 1102 N. 10th Avenue into an annex, where a majority of freshman classes are held.
[edit] Academics
Pasco and the Pasco School District's "Can Do" attitude deal with the problems in a pragmatic way. There are many teachers dedicated to helping students overcome the formidable obstacles set in front of Pasco's young men and women—possible racial tension between the slight Hispanic majority, the sizable White American minority, and small numbers of black and Asian students; the fact that many come from low-income backgrounds, with limited computer, Internet, and technological expertise and experience.
Due to the quantity of relatively poor families in Pasco, college is simply not an option for some students and Pasco High School has programs to train these students in various occupational areas. One of these is the "Bulldog House" where students help build a house in the community and sell it, with the proceeds going towards next year's house and various scholarships. Still, students have consistently been accepted to top tier schools such as Harvard, Columbia University, University of Washington, University of Notre Dame, Tufts University, BYU, West Point,and The Johns Hopkins University.
One avenue pursued to overcome prejudice and inequity in the Hispanic community has been the pursuit of academic excellence and participation in the Hispanic Academic Achievers Program (HAAP) where students and families are recognized annually for the student maintaining a 3.0 or greater GPA. Senior HAAP members also apply for substantial scholarships to college and act as role models to younger siblings making it possible for the next generation to be even more competitive in America.
[edit] Athletics
Pasco High School's sports program excels in comparison to other schools in the area. The football team won the state championship in 1998, 2000 and 2003, and followed it up with a conference championship the following year. The Bulldogs were ranked 27th in the nation[citation needed] and had a twenty-seven game win streak during this period, which was snapped in the state championship. Football in Pasco has been a sport of unity in the community. Games at Edgar Brown Memorial Stadium are community events where everyone goes to support not just the football team, but Pasco in general. Not only is the football team recognized, but other sports teams do well, often going to district finals.
Pasco High School also holds State Championships in Boys Basketball (1947) and Boys Soccer (1999), http://www.wiaa.com/history/school.aspx
[edit] Alumni
Jeremy Bonderman, Detroit Tigers pitcher
- The only player ever drafted as a junior in high school.
Michael Jackson - Football
His personal sports resume is several pages long and his bio with the Seattle Seahawks is even longer, yet Michael Anthony Jackson has never truly gained the fame he deserves. A 1975 graduate of Pasco High School , no other Bulldog has ever enjoyed the success or accumulated the career achievements that Jackson has. A three-year/three-sport letterman, he was the team captain in both football and baseball while garnering All-State honors and receiving the Denning Award for Outstanding Athlete by the Pasco Jaycees as a senior.
At the University of Washington , Jackson earned four varsity letters and was named to their All-Centennial Football Team. He was also selected as the Inland Empire Amateur Athlete of the Year in 1977, a season in which he helped lead the Huskies to the Rose Bowl. The eyes of the nation were on him during that game as he made a vital end zone interception that helped seal Washington ’s victory over Michigan.
Jackson still holds several defensive school records for the Huskies, including single season (210) and career (569) tackles. Among the several honors he received for the U of W include Sports Illustrated Player of the Week (11-12-77), Husky Team Captain (1978), All Pac-8 & Pac-10 Linebacker (1977-78) and several All-American selections.
In 1979, he was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the third round of the NFL Draft, where he began an eight-year career as a starting linebacker. One of the team’s all-time defensive greats, he led the Seahawks in tackles for a number of seasons and is among the career leaders in that category. He also earned 21 game balls for his outstanding play and has received numerous other awards including team MVP, Most Improved Player and the Seattle P.I.’s Sports Star of the Year.
Jackson is also very active off the field with several charities including the March of Dimes, Special Olympics and the United Way. He has also acted in 14 movie and television roles and was voted into the Pasco High School Hall of Fame in 1996.
Karen Murray-Hodgins - Basketball
Karen Murray graduated from Pasco High in 1980. To this day, she is still the record-holder for the most career points (1,338) among female basketball players for the Bulldogs.
Murray played four seasons for the University of Washington where she finished third in career scoring with 1,745 points. She holds the University of Washington individual career highest field goal percentage at .541 (734 out of 1,365 attempts) and holds the season record for free throws made at .848 (89 out of 105 attempts). Murray also shares the career record for most free throws made with 269. In 1992, Murray was the first female basketball player to be inducted into the University of Washington Hall of Fame.
During the 1980’s and early 1990’s, pro basketball was available to women in Europe where Murray played with various teams for several years. She currently assists the girl’s basketball program at Pasco High and works with her husband Mike assisting younger players in developing their skills.
Ron Howard - Football
Ron Howard played varsity football, basketball and track for Pasco High for three years. As a senior, Howard led the Pasco hoop squad to a 25-1 record – with the one loss coming in the state championship game to Snohomish - 53-51 in overtime.
After graduating in 1970, Howard went on to become a basketball star at Seattle University . Although Seattle University had no football program, Howard was drafted by the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, who had had their eye on him since he was a sophomore at Seattle U. Despite the odds, Howard made the Cowboys as a tight end and spent two seasons with the Cowboys, before moving back to Seattle for another three seasons with the Seattle Seahawks before injuries forced him out of the game. Howard’s team record for receptions by a tight-end in a season stood for nearly 30 years before being broken.
Howard works today as the House Administrator in the Seattle School District . He is part of the coaching staff for football, basketball and track at Rainier Beach High School and is working towards his principleship credentials.
A little known fact, Super Bowl X featured two Tri-Citians, and now Central Washington Hall of Famers, playing against each other; Howard for the Cowboys, and Ray Mansfield for the Pittsburgh Steelers (Central Washington Sports Hall of Fame Class of 1999). Also, Mansfield interned at Pasco High where Howard was one of his students. Who could have predicted these two paths would cross again on the NFL’s biggest stage!
Bruce Kison - Baseball
When Bruce Kison pitched for Pasco High back in 1968, he was already 6-foot-4 1/2 and so slender that one manager later cracked he could look right through him. But his size did have its advantages.
When Kison uncoiled his long right arm and stretched out to the plate, there were very few right-handed hitters who could keep both feet in the batter’s box. Kison also threw mostly sidearm back then and intimidation was as much a part of his game as his 95-mph fastball.
He threw three no-hitters during his senior season at Pasco and only a bad hop kept him from throwing three-in-a-row. Three years later, he was pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Kison pitched 15 years in the Major Leagues, but coming out of high school, he hoped to play college baseball. When no offers came, he signed with the Pirates for $1,000 after a tryout camp in Sunnyside.
Kison was 30-9 in the minors and was called up in the middle of the 1971 season and was the winning pitcher when Pittsburgh beat San Francisco to make it into the World Series. He later became the winning pitcher in the first night game ever played in the classic.
After tearing his rotator cuff during winter ball (which was usually a career-ending injury at the time), he spent 14 more years in the Majors and changed his throwing motion.
The Pasco grad also has spent time as pitching coach for both the Kansas City Royals and the Baltimore Orioles. Currently, he is a scout and pro baseball pitching instructor.
Talmadge "Duke" Washington - Football
Pasco’s Duke Washington is still thought of by many as the greatest running back in Pasco High School history. His accomplishments at PHS and later with the Washington State Cougars in the early and middle 1950’s compare to other great backs of his day. It is not for this that Duke is best known, however, though his accomplishments warrant mention in any list of Central Washington football greats. Duke Washington is best known, at least around the country, as the first black man to ever play in the University of Texas’ Memorial Stadium.
Washington, a captain on the 1954 WSU squad was given the option to not play against the Long Horns in their home stadium, which had an “unofficial” rule that forbid blacks from playing either for or against Texas. Washington said “no” and despite having to stay at a private home instead of with the team in the hotel the night before, Duke played and played well in the Cougar loss. In addition to becoming the first black athlete to play football in Memorial Stadium, Washington also became the first black athlete to score a touchdown in Memorial Stadium, torching the Longhorn defense for a 73-yard touchdown – much to the delight of the Texas crowd.
Duke Washington’s momentous color-breaking game and touchdown run are just one of many accomplishments he achieved on the gridiron. He played in the 1954 East West Shrine Game, helped the Cougars beat Washington three out of four times, and ran for 115 yards in a win at Oregon State. Duke’s career at Washington State was good enough to attract the NFL and the Philadelphia Eagles, who drafted Washington in 1955.
