Big Creek High School

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Big Creek High School
Location
War, West Virginia 24892
Information
School board	McDowell County Schools
School type	High School
Grades	9-12
Language	English
Mascot	Owl
Team name	Big Creek Owls
Color(s)	Green And White
Founded	1932
Homepage	http://boe.mcdo.k12.wv.us/bigcreek/default.htm

Big Creek High School is a 9-12 public high school located in War, West Virginia. It is operated by the McDowell County Schools and governed by the McDowell County Board of Education.

Contents 1 History 2 Architecture 3 The Owl 4 The Fight Song & Alma Mater 5 October Sky 5.1 Background To The Rocket Boy Story 6 Southside School 7 Closing 8 External links 9 References

[edit] History

Construction of Big Creek High School began November 1930. Completion was anticipated in late August 1931. This, however, was not the case and the 1931-1932 school year began with BCHS still under construction. Big Creek High School's first Principal, George Bryson, and his faculty of twelve began the school year on the top floor of Caretta School. By Christmas 1931, BCHS construction was completed and students entered the building for the first time on January 4, 1932. BCHS began in 1932, with a principal, 12 teachers, and 205 students from three all-white schools: Berwind, Coalwood, and War Excelsior. By 1965, McDowell County was fully integrated.^[1]

[edit] Architecture

BCHS exemplifies a 1930's interpretation of the Collegiate Gothic style of architecture with its simplified crenelated parapet and pointed arch over the main entrance. The school is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. In 2005, BCHS was one of twelve schools that were selected to be published in the National Register of Historic Places for the West Virginia's Historic Schools, West Virginia Division Of Culture and History. Big Creek High School was pictured for the month of August 2005.

[edit] The Owl

Big Creek High School was the first school in McDowell County and Southern West Virginia and the second in West Virginia to play football after dark. Funding for field lights came from the War Kiwanis Club, who donated $2,000 (Approx. $28,000 after adjusted for inflation) in early 1931. In November 1931, BCHS students held an election to determine the school emblem. Because the school was playing night games, the Kiwanis Club suggested the OWL as the school emblem. BCHS students decided to adopt the OWL as the schools emblem, with green and white as the school colors.

[edit] The Fight Song & Alma Mater

Mr. Bryson, a then recent graduate of the University of Kentucky, suggested the UK fight song music be used as the basis of the school song. This was agreeable to staff and students. Mr. Bryson then wrote the words to the BCHS fight song, a variation on the Kentucky fight song. Which he called " On, On, Green and White". Four decades later, in 1970, the BCHS Alma Mater was written by music and band director, Robert Tibbs.^[2]

[edit] October Sky

Big Creek High School received fame in the 1999 film October Sky as the school attended by Homer Hickam, Jr. (writer and former NASA engineer) and the "Rocket Boys." Although Big Creek High School was not the school filmed for the movie (Fountain City Elementary at Knoxville, TN was), Big Creek and the surrounding communities take pride in their alumni.

[edit] Background To The Rocket Boy Story

In the late 1950's, in and around the little mining town of Coalwood, West Virginia, six Big Creek High School students captured the attention of a nation by building and launching their own homemade rockets. America was still recovering from WWII and the Cold War with the Soviets was beginning to heat up. The Russians had just launched their first Sputnik spacecraft and the American space program was still in its infancy. McDowell County of that era had only one industry . . . Coal. Nearly every man you met was a coalminer and young men were generally expected to follow the family traditions of employment in the coalmines. Those who aspired to greater things and dreamed of a life beyond the coalfields had to become motivated, self-starters if they were to follow their dreams. But these Big Creek students were intrigued by the coming Space Age and were determined to be a part of it. They called themselves the "Big Creek Missile Agency", but the name that most remember was the one given to them by the residents of Coalwood: "the rocket boys". Their first rocket, using handmade components with flashlight casings for the rocket body and powder removed from cherry bombs for fuel, exploded on the ground and destroyed Mrs. Hickam's rose garden fence, causing an uproar in the small community. In spite of their early failures and the criticism from friends and neighbors over the potential danger in their experiments, they were not to be stopped. Armed with the strength of their determination and aided by a diverse assortment of local supporters, the Rocket Boys continued their quest to successfully launch their rockets. And succeed they did! Between 1957 and 1960, the Rocket Boys launched dozens of rockets of ever increasing sophistication. Using a college textbook on rocket propulsion supplied by their mentor and advisor, Big Creek High math teacher Freida Riley, they taught themselves the advanced physics and complex mathematical formulas necessary to design, build and launch bigger and better rockets. They began building steel bodied rockets using the same convergent nozzle combustion chamber with divergent cone exit chamber used on modern rockets. The two fuels they used for most of their rockets were made from potassium nitrate and sugar, which they called "rocket candy", and a combination of zinc dust, sulphur, and alcohol, which they called "zincoshine" (generally made from West Virginia moonshine). Ultimately, their efforts won for them the Gold and Silver medal in the National Science Fair of 1960. The original members of the "Big Creek Missile Agency" were Homer "Sonny" Hickam (from Coalwood), Quentin Wilson (from Bartley), Roy Lee Cooke (from Coalwood), Sherman Siers (from Coalwood), Jimmie O'Dell Carroll (from the Frog Level camp of Coalwood), and William "Billy" Rose (from Coalwood). Sherman Siers is deceased now. At least one of the Rocket Boys was able to touch the Final Frontier. Homer Hickam was an engineer for NASA from 1981 until his recent retirement. There he worked on several projects including the International Space Station slated for construction over the next couple of years. During this time, Homer wrote an historical account of the WW II U-Boat campaign along the Eastern Atlantic seaboard called "Torpedo Junction", and many articles for various magazines including a story about the Rocket Boys for the Smithsonian Air & Space Magazine.[3]

[edit] Southside School

In 2005, a groundbreaking ceremony was held on the BCHS football field. The field was to be converted into a consolidated school of War, Bartley, and Berwind Elementaries. Although Native American remains from the Late Woodland period were found on the site, the construction continued ^[4] until April 9, 2007 when the new school, named "Southside" opened.

[edit] Closing

A groundbreaking ceremony was held on September 21, 2005. The location for the new consolidated school will be in Bradshaw, West Virginia at Oozley Branch. The new school will house 9th-12th grade students and will include a wellness clinic and the standard high school program as well as a vocational/technical program. The vocational program will encompass health occupations, corrections, forestry, cosmetology, and computer technology. Adult services will also be provided in the evening. A complete sports facility will be located at the school site, which embodies a football field, baseball/softball field, and tennis courts. A new name, mascot, and school colors will be selected by the student body/staff from Big Creek High school and Iaeger High School. Construction is scheduled to begin after February, 2008. The administrative staff will be selected 18 months prior to the school opening to help facilitate school construction, curriculum development, and teacher selection. ^[5]

[edit] External links

• School Homepage
• Big Creek High School Alumni Web Site

[edit] References