Virgil Grissom High School

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Virgil I. Grissom High School is a public 9th through 12th grade high school in Huntsville, Alabama with approximately 2000 students. It is known academically as one of Alabama's finest public high schools.^[1]

The high school's building is well-known for having no windows, save for a small one in room FF4 prior to the addition of a new science wing in 1997. This addition added about five windows to the school. The building still has no windows in the downstairs classrooms, to the dismay of some students. Grissom's building is divided into "pods", lettered A-H on the first floor and AA-HH on the second. The building itself follows a roughly octagonal format. Students jokingly refer to the school as "Grissom Penitentiary" or "The Dungeon" because of the symmetric design. Legend says that because this school was built in the 1960s, a view from above the school will show you a giant flower, but with the addition of the new gym as well as H & HH pods it would not look that way today.

Academically, the school has a tradition of success. Grissom's math teams and academic team are among the best in the state of Alabama, and they have also earned national recognition. Recently, Grissom produced 28 National Merit Semifinalists for 2007, the highest number in the state.^[2] Also, Grissom's 2006 Science Olympiad team placed 3rd overall in Alabama.^[3] Grissom's 2007 Science Olympiad state team placed 2nd at the state competition at Samford University. They will be going to the national Science Olympiad competition in Kansas in May. Grissom's academic rigor results in relatively high SAT scores; their GPA average is similar to other schools in the area.

As of 2007, Grissom has football, boys/girls basketball, volleyball, baseball, cross country, track, golf, swim/dive, boys/girls soccer, boys/girls tennis, wrestling, and cheerleading teams, as well as regionally acclaimed marching, symphonic, and jazz bands. The Grissom wrestling team has won numerous state championships in the State of Alabama. The school also has numerous social, academic, and athletic organizations, or clubs.

The school is named for astronaut Virgil "Gus" Grissom, and its mascot is affectionately called "Gus." Gus Grissom was nearly drowned during a space capsule retrieval in the Pacific Ocean when the hatches prematurely opened following explosive bolt actuation. He was killed in the Apollo 1 fire at Cape Kennedy on January 27, 1967.

[edit] Layout

The school consists of octagonal pods radiating from a circular main hallway. There are three double staircases and one elevator (reserved for those demonstrating need) along this hall to provide access to upstairs classrooms.

Each pod is labeled with letters A through H on two stories. Each pod has two levels, with the second level being denoted by double letters. Each level has seven rooms, numbered 1-7, with a teacher workroom and hallway occupying the 8th spot. The oldest pods (A,B,D,E) have fold away walls that allow all rooms to be combined into one. These have since been secured with wood so they no longer open. Two to three rooms in each pod have fire exits, and some pods have connecting doors between rooms.

The rooms are triangular in shape, and do not have windows. The only exceptions are five rooms in HH and FF pods.

• A pod- Art. A pod is unique in that it has six rooms along a linear hallway.

The pod is still octagonal, resulting in strangely shaped rooms.

• B pod- Family and Consumer Sciences
• C pod- Mathematics. C pod is further from the main hallway and has two feeding hallways, lockers, exits, and a staircase. The Clinic is also contained in this area. The C pod stairs are considered the least crowded.
• D pod- Computer and Business
• E pod- Computer lab and miscellaneous rooms. E pod is similar to C pod in that it has two hallways. E pod provides access to HH pod.
• F pod- Science/ Physics. F pod provides access to H pod, and contains square rooms.
• H pod- Science/ Chemistry H pod contains windows along one hall, and two chemistry labs. H pod, also known as the science wing, is different from the rest of the pods. It is rectangular, with rectangular rooms.

• AA pod- History
• BB pod- History
• CC pod- Mathematics. CC pod is laid out like C pod, with extra lockers in place of exits. The teacher's lounge replaces the clinic.
• DD pod- English
• EE pod- Foreign Language (German, French, Latin, or Spanish)
• FF pod- English FF pod provides the only access to HH pod. FF 4 contains a small window.
• HH pod- Biological Sciences. HH pod is shaped like H pod, and has a central linear hallways with rooms on either side. All of these rooms have laboratory counters and sinks.

The main hallways are adjoined by a single story circular commons, which provides access to the gyms, lunchrooms, and a fine arts area including a band room and an auditorium. Grissom has one main gym and one auxiliary gym. It also has one main lunchroom and one senior lunchroom.

Outside, there are two soccer fields, a ROTC workout area, a football field, two sets of bleachers, and two sets of tennis courts.

[edit] Advanced Classes

Grissom High School offers the most AP courses in the area, including, but not limited to:

• Language & Composition
• Literature & Composition
• Foreign Language
• Calculus AB
• Calculus BC
• United States History
• European History
• Studio Art
• Chemistry
• Biology
• Physics B
• Physics C
• Politics/Government
• Comparative Government
• Chemistry
• Psychology
• Macroeconomics
• Microeconomics
• Computer Science
• Environmental Science
• Statistics

Students from Grissom can participate in a Dual Enrollment program and take classes at the University of Alabama in Huntsville or at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa through correspondence.

[edit] ROTC

Grissom high school has an Army ROTC program.

[edit] Newspaper

Grissom's bimonthly newspaper is the Imprint, or Tiger Rag. Since the change of sponsorship to Mr. Whilhoite and Coach Collins it has become financially independent and award winning.

[edit] External links

• Grissom High School website
• Grissom Band Website
• Grissom Dance Website
• Grissom Football
• Grissom Choral Website

[edit] Notes

1. ^  The Complete List of the 1,000 Top U.S. Schools, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7723397/site/newsweek/page/7/
2. ^  Grissom puts 28 in Merit semifinals, http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/1158139154164640.xml&coll=1
3. ^  2006 Science Olympiad Results, http://physics.samford.edu/Resluts2006.htm