Plano East Senior High School

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Plano East Senior High School
Motto Winning With Class, East Side Pride
Established 1979
School type Public
Grade levels 11th and 12th
Principal Karen McDonald
Location East Plano
Faculty 239
Mascot Panther
Colors Gold and Black
Homepage http://k-12.pisd.edu/schools/planoeast/

Plano East Senior High School (commonly East, Plano East, or PESH) is a secondary school serving high school juniors and seniors located in Plano, Texas. The school is part of the Plano Independent School District. Plano East is the only senior high school in Plano ISD to offer an International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. [1] Plano East's graduating classes are among the largest for high schools in the United States. Plano East's Class of 2005, with 1220 graduates, was the largest high school graduating class in the U.S. that year. [2] The school colors are black and gold, and the school mascot is the Panther. Plano East has been awarded the U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon School of Excellence, Best High School in Texas designation by Redbook magazine, Texas Education Agency Blue Ribbon School, and State and National Academic Decathlon Championships.

Buildings B2, B3, and B4 seen from building A
Buildings B2, B3, and B4 seen from building A

Contents

[edit] History

To meet the demand of the growing population in Plano, Plano East Senior High School opened in 1979 as the second Senior High School in the city. The school opened with 3 academic buildings connected by second floor walkways, a fine arts building, and a gymnasium. Later an addition to the athletics complex was added as a result of Title IX laws which require equal space for male and female athletics. Later a 4th building connected to the other 3 was added. In 2002, a new student activity center was constructed for indoor athletic practice. In the 2006-2007 school year, the outside is being repainted and a new band hall is being built. The school has/had a fierce rivalry with the oldest High School in Plano, Plano Senior High School, although their rivalry with Allen High School to the north has recently become just as intense.

[edit] Athletics

The school's football team won an ESPY award in 1995 for showstopper of the year: High school football: Incredible comeback/letdown, Plano East vs. Tyler [1] [2].

On the evening of November 26, 1994, Plano East was trailing against John Tyler 41-17 with 3 minutes remaining in regulation. Plano East had possession of the ball at John Tyler's 20 yard line. With a quick touchdown pass from Jeff Whitley to Terrence Green, the drive began as the score closed to 41-23 (failed two point conversion). On the ensuing onside kickoff, a member of John Tyler's team picked up the ball and fumbled it, and Plano East was there to pick it up. With the ball on John Tyler's 44, Whitley hit another pass to Terrence Green, taking them up to the 26 yard line with 2:24 left. On the next play, a hard blitz caused an errant pass from Whitley, however the pass was still caught and taken to the 11 yard line. 3 plays later, on 4th and 5 at the 5 yard line, Whitley completes a touchdown pass to John Braddick. The conversion was good, which took the score to 41-31. On yet another onside kick, Plano East yet again recovered possession when a John Tyler player let the ball bounce off of him. With the ball on their own 45 and 1:24 left, a screen pass to Green took the ball to the John Tyler 12 yard line, where he took the ball out of bounds to stop the clock. On the next play, Whitley completed yet another touchdown pass to Braddick. The failed conversion left the score 41-37. Plano East recovered yet another onside kick following the attempted conversion, which left them at midfield. On 2nd and 10, facing a hard blitz from both sides, another screen pass to Green took the ball to the John Tyler 22 yard line. With 31 seconds remaining, Whitley threw yet another touchdown pass to take the lead 43-41. After a successful extra point, John Tyler was ready to receive the ball with 24 seconds remaining. In yet another shocking play, John Tyler's kickoff returner went 98 yards for a touchdown, which led to the final score of 48-43.

3 minute summary for Plano East: Jeff Whitley - 219 passing yards, 4 TD John Braddick - 23 yards, 2 TD Terrence Green - 91 receiving yards, 1 TD

[edit] Football

In the 2006 season, Plano East saw a return to their former football dominance by going 9-1 in the regular season after two straight 5-5 seasons. This was certainly aided by the great play of Keenan Robinson, the nations No. 97 top recruit, (as ranked by Rivals.com) who has signed with The University of Texas. They finished second in District 9-5A behind Division I Semi-Finalist Allen High School. The winner of the division was determined in the game between Allen and Plano East on Nov. 10th. This game was a intense for both teams, as well as extremely cold. (38 degrees, 25 mph winds) In the playoffs East squeaked out two close victories against Rockwall High School and Tyler Lee High School in the first two rounds of the Texas 5A State Playoffs before facing undefeated Spring Westfield High School. East, led by quarterback Riko Smalls dominating performance against the highly touted Westfield defense, jumped out to a quick 21-10 lead with minutes to go in the first half. As Smalls ran for a first down with two minutes to go in the second quarter, he was knocked out of the game with a broken collarbone, an injury he suffered earlier in the season. Without their leader, East coughed up their first half lead and lost 31-28. Even though East had its most successful season in 10 years, people can only wonder what might have happened had Riko Smalls not suffered his injury.

[edit] Orienteering

Plano East is home to PISD's only orienteering team. Hosted by the ROTC program, the orienteering team won the North Texas Orienteering Association championship for the competitive year of 2005-2006, the first such victory in the school's history. Members of the team also represented the city of Plano at the national championship in North Carolina that same year.

[edit] Academics

Plano East Senior High School operates on an 8:00 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. schedule, which includes eight periods and a break for off-campus lunch during which all students may leave campus to eat lunch. Traditionally, students attend from 9:00 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., but the school offers a program where students may elect to attend a "Zero Hour" class before 1st period at 8:00 a.m. This allows students the option of taking an additional class or leaving early at 3:19 p.m.

Plano East offers International Baccalaureate, Advanced Placement, Honors, Regular Level, Special Education and Remedial classes. The school offers 6 foreign languages including American Sign Language, Chinese, French, German, Latin, and Spanish. There are ROTC programs, English as a Second Language classes, as well as vocational and career track programs.

[edit] The Fine Arts and Performing Arts

PESH Building "A" houses its fine arts department.
PESH Building "A" houses its fine arts department.

[edit] Band

The Plano East Band consists of three concert bands (The Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, and Concert Band), The Marching Panthers marching band, and a jazz ensemble.

The Bands are directed by Evelio Villarreal, Director of Bands, Jana Harvey, Associate Director of Bands, and John Brennan, Associate Director of Bands. Under the guidance of the directors, the band has become one of the most decorated bands in Texas. In 2000, the band was named the winner of the Dale C. Harris Exemplary Band Program Award by the American School Band Directors Association. This distinction is annually awarded to the top band program in the United States. In addition the band has 25 consecutive years of Superior Ratings and Sweepstakes Awards in the University Interscholastic League (UIL) for marching, concert and sightreading competitions. In 2006 the wind ensemble was named the first runner-up at the State UIL Honor Band competition.

[edit] Orchestra

The Plano East Orchestra is also among the top programs in the state. The orchestra under direction of Betsy Thomas was as recently as the 2002-2003 school year, named as the High School String Orchestra Honor Orchestra for the state. The orchestra also received the award of Honor Orchestra from the Texas Music Educators Association in 1998-1999, 2000-2001, and 2004-2005. TMEA restrictions allow the school to participate in the honor orchestra contest only every other year.

[edit] Theatre

Plano East offers various theatre-related classes. Not only does Plano East provide acting/performance classes, but also tech theatre and theatre major studies. (TMS)

Students are under the direction of theatre veteran Lisa Hale. Lisa Hale has been the theatre director at Plano East since 1984 and has directed over 60 plays. She has a BFA from the University of Texas at Austin and a masters from the University of North Texas.

Students in the theatre program are able to take advantage of experts that are brought in for workshops. In the past, students have learned about Kabuki, Laban, Sanskrit, Chinese Opera, stage combat, theatre dance, acting for the camera and auditioning techniques. The theatre department also takes adavantage of the professionals at neighboring Southern Methodist University, UT Dallas and Collin County Community College.

The theatre department produces four major productions each school year. A theatre major studies show (one where only students involved in the TMS program are allowed to audition), an open audition show, senior-directed one act plays, and the open audition one act.

Plano East theatre competes in the state UIL one act play competition each spring. In 2006, Plano East received the state championship for their production of The Marriage of Bette and Boo. [3] The theatre department operates its own website which can be found here.

[edit] Recognition

[edit] Panther Hall of Fame

The highest honor a Plano East student can be awarded is induction into the Plano East Panther Hall of Fame. Since 1989, several students have been inducted into the Hall of Fame usually as a result of winning a Texas state championship in an extracurricular activity.

Hall inductees: 1989- 1990-

[edit] Notable persons

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] Notable staff

[edit] Feeder Schools

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ International Baccalaureate: Plano ISD. Plano Independent School District. Retrieved on July 10, 2006.
  2. ^ Some Numbers from NEWSWEEK's Best High Schools List - Newsweek America's Best High Schools - MSNBC.com. Newsweek. Retrieved on July 10, 2006.

[edit] External links

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