Adrian C. Wilcox High School

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Adrian C. Wilcox School
Image:Wilcox highschool.JPG
Enter to learn go forth to serve
Location
Santa Clara, California, United States America
Information
Principal Tab Taber
Students 2000
Faculty 210
Type Public
Grades 9-12
Athletics 250
Mascot Charlie the Charger
Established 1961
Homepage www.wilcoxhs.com

Adrian C. Wilcox High School is a public school located in Santa Clara, California. It is one of four high schools serving those living within the boundaries of the Santa Clara Unified School District. The school is named after Adrian C Wilcox, who served on the Santa Clara Union High School Board of Trustees for over 30 years. Wilcox was first accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) in 1966 and is accredited through 2009. In April 2005, Wilcox officially became a California Distinguished School.

Contents

[edit] History

Construction of the school began in the late 1950s. The school was named for the ranking member of the Santa Clara Union High School Board of Trustees, Adrian C. Wilcox. Contrary to popular belief the land for the school was not donated by Wilcox. The school opened its doors in the fall of 1961 to what would become its first graduating class, the class of 1964. The first graduating class to attend Wilcox for all four years was the Class of 1965.

The student body was split when Peterson High School (named after Marian A. Peterson) opened in the district and then later recombined when Peterson and Buchser High School (named after Emil R. Buchser, School Superintendent when Buchser High School opened. His son, Emil R. Buchser, Jr. was the first principal of Wilcox) were converted into middle schools. At that time, the student body voted to change the name of the mascot, newspaper, and yearbook, along with the school colors, to be more inclusive of the new students. The original mascot for Wilcox was The Warrior, the school colors were Green and Gold, the newspaper was The War Chants, and the yearbook was The Promethean.

The school saw a total of seven students (either students at the time, former students, or alumni) killed in action during the Vietnam War. They are Doyle W. Clark (Class of 1965, K.I.A. 12 Nov 68, age 21), Fredric B. Davis (Class of 1965, wounded in action during the 1968 Tet Offensive he died on 14 Jan 73 after being in a comma for several years, age 25), Alvin "John" Wesolowski (member of the Class of 1965 though he transferred to Homestead High School prior to graduation, K.I.A. 30 Jan 68, age 20), John R. Kunkel (Class of 1966, K.I.A. 3 Jan 69, age 21), Michael W. Issenmann (Class of 1967 K.I.A. 17 Sep 68, age 19), John E. Young (Class of 1968, K.I.A. 1 Apr 70, age 20), and Kenneth J. Auston (Class of 1969, K.I.A. 12 Mar 70, age 18). The body of each one was recovered and returned home.

In 2001, head custodian Joe Miller undertook an ambitious project to honor the school's past. The idea came about when Miller located several panoramic class pictures while clearing out a dusty cabinet. As a result of this discovery, he decided to make a wall consisting of the pictures of every graduating class in school history. After successfully tracking down the nine pictures not in the cabinet (by way of e-mails and telephone calls to past students), the Alumni Wall was completed and dedicated on 7 November 2003. Now, the panoramic photo of each subsequent graduating class is added to the wall, which is housed on walls on the inside of the school's main building, just outside the main offices.

Miller is also responsible for the Wilcox Vietnam Memorial Plaque, which lists only the six Killed In Action who actually graduated from Wilcox, and is currently working on a Walk of Fame honoring each graduating class.

Miller was presented with a plaque and certificate by a representative of the Class of 1966 Reunion Committee making him an honorary class member and alumni in a special ceremony given as part of a student rally on January 26, 2007.

In February 2005, the Mission City Center for the Performing Arts, a building constructed adjacent to the school and across Calabazas Creek from the main campus, in an area that was the original Student Parking Lot, opened.

[edit] Student life

The school year typically begins in late August or early September, consists of 180 school days, and usually ends on the third Friday of June.

The school newspaper is known as The Scribe and usually publishes eight issues per year.

The school yearbook is known as The Phoenix. Extracurricular groups include a marching band (known as the Black and Gold Regime), orchestra, drill team (Chargerettes), a step squad (Untouchables), cheerleaders (Spirit Squad), a theatre troupe (Wilcox Stage Company,) Color guard, a dance team, a debate team, and a choir. They also have a winterguard, which is solo colorguard, and a winter percussion program that is basically a traveling drumline. They compete with schools from all over the state and in 2007, led by battery captain Trevor Smith, they won the Scholastic Division Championship. They had another strong season in '08, finishing second in the Scholastic Division.

Some extracurricular clubs include Montebello Ridge Club (an environmental outdoors organization), Chinese Club, Japanese Club, Best Buddies, UnGarbage Crew, Interact Club, Cycling Club, Math Club, Ping Ping Club, Biology Club, Physics Club, Bowling Club, Black Student Union, Latino Student Union, Fashion Club, Art Club, California Scholastic Federation, Creative Writing Club, Travel Club, Thespian Club, New Life Campus Outreach Club, Indian Club, Korean Club, and Vietnamese Student Association.

Each class is also designated a class color. The current colors are:

Class of Year Class Color
2008 Seniors Green
2009 Juniors Yellow
2010 Sophomores Red
2011 Freshmen Blue

A way for the students to display class spirit and unity, the colors are mainly used for the annual battle of the classes, known as Fantastics. Fantastics was formed as a spirit activity by Ha Tran (class of 1998) and other members of the student council in 1997. Held in March, all classes compete against each other in various physical contests (such as a tug of war). The competitors wear shirts with the color of their class.

The colors are on a four-year rotation, with the color of the graduating seniors being handed off to the upcoming year's freshmen. The class of 2008 is green, and the class of 2012 will be green.

[edit] Athletics

Wilcox competes in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL), a league which is split into two divisions: De Anza and El Camino.

Sports offered at Wilcox include:

Wilcox is probably best known for their baseball team, which claimed three CCS titles in a five-year span at the beginning of the 21st century.

The team won 10 consecutive league titles from 1995 to 2004 as part of the De Anza Division of the SCVAL.

The Chargers received unwanted notoriety in the fall of 2003, when it was revealed that a reserve on the football team had forged signatures on a document so he could retain his academic eligibility (at least a 2.0 GPA). At the time, the football team boasted a 6-1-1 record. Because the reserve had participated in six of those eight games, the team forfeited those games (five victories and one tie), and their record plummeted to 1-7.

[edit] Notable alumni

  • Lance K. Gordon, PhD., Class of 1966, President and CEO VaxGen, a developer and supplier of a new type of vaccine for Inhilation Anthrax, inventor of ProHibit, a vaccine for infant meningitis. Gordon led efforts that, in turn, led to a new, more effective vaccine for Whooping Cough. He currently sits on the Board of Directors for ImmuneRegen

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Lance_K._Gordon http://www.immuneregen.com/management.php

  • William H. Wade II, Class of 1966, Major General, Adjutant General California National Guard.

http://www.calguard.ca.gov/otag/Pages/MG_Wade.aspx

  • Kathy E. Thomas, Class of 1966, Major General, U.S.A.F. Reserve (highest ranking woman in the A.F. Reserves), crew qualified as an operational space operator.

http://www.af.mil/bios/bio.asp?bioID=11055

  • Trent Keeble, Class of 1971, Graduate Air Force Academy, Astronaut qualified, inductee Santa Clara Unified School District Hall of Fame..

http://www.scu.k12.ca.us/news_and_events/hall_of_fame.htm