Boulder High School

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Boulder High School
A Place For Everyone
Location
Boulder, Colorado
Coordinates	40°0′50.2446″N 105°16′25.4346″W / 40.013956833, -105.273731833Coordinates: 40°0′50.2446″N 105°16′25.4346″W / 40.013956833, -105.273731833
Information
Principal	Bud "Dr. Pudding" Jenkins
Enrollment	1,887 [1]
Type	Public high school
Grades	9-12
Athletics	CHSAA 5A
Mascot	pussy
Color(s)	purple and gold
Established	1875
Homepage	http://schools.bvsd.org/boulderhigh/

Contents 1 History 2 Architecture 3 Academics 4 Extracurricular Activities 4.1 Athletics 4.1.1 Stadium 4.2 Performing arts 4.3 Student Worker 4.4 Model United Nations 4.5 Panther TV 4.6 The Owl 4.7 Student Council 5 Events and Controversies 5.1 Safety Scares 5.2 Conference on World Affairs 6 Flood danger 7 Alumni 8 References

[edit] History

Boulder High School was founded in 1875 as part of the University of Colorado (as a preparatory school for the university), making it the first high school in Colorado - hence the slogan, "Still the First." The school is located in downtown Boulder along the Boulder Creek and near Boulder's Pearl Street Mall. The school property adjoins the University of Colorado.

[edit] Architecture

Boulder High School's current building was constructed in 1933 under the Works Project Administration.^[1] The facade is classic art deco. The school's art deco auditorium has also been preserved. The school is built with "Colorado Red" flagstone and limestone, the same materials from which the University of Colorado is built. Later additions to the building use the same materials but many do not match the original art-deco design.

[edit] Academics

Boulder High School has a strong academic reputation with one of the most extensive Advanced Placement programs in the state, offering almost 30 AP level courses as of the 2006-2007 school year.^[2] Because of its proximity to the University of Colorado, students can take courses which are not normally available at the high school level. Boulder High's Academic Decathlon team has won state and represented Colorado at the national competition for the past six years, and finished 2nd at the National Science Bowl in 2002. The school has an extensive foreign language program that includes instruction in Japanese, Latin, French, German, and Spanish. The Japan Bowl team, organized by Japanese instructor Dr. Michael Kleinkopf, won regional competitions in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006 and 2008 and placed 5th at the national competition in 2001.^[3]

In Newsweek's 2006 list of the best high schools in the US, Boulder High ranked 3rd in Colorado and 177th in the US. While Boulder High School is a "neighborhood" public high school where students of all walks of life and educational ability mix freely, the Newsweek list includes some of the best controlled-enrollment charter and magnet schools in the country, where students must prove their performance before being admitted.

[edit] Extracurricular Activities

[edit] Athletics

Most student athletes participate in the 5A athletic classification, which consists of the schools with the highest enrollments in the state of Colorado. The sports program has produced many athletes who have continued in NCAA athletic programs and as professionals, including golfer Hale Irwin and Miami Dolphins defensive back Dick Anderson.

Boulder High School is a member of the 5-A Centennial League of the Colorado High School Activities Association and participates in the following sports:

• Baseball
• Basketball
• Cheerleading
• Cross Country
• Dance
• Football
• Lacrosse
• Golf (Men's and Women's)
• Soccer
  • In 2006, Boulder High alumnus and Williams College soccer player Patrick Huffer was named the National Soccer Coaches Association of America / Adidas Men's Scholar Athlete of the Year for Senior Colleges and 1st Team All-American
• Softball
• Swimming (Men's and Women's)
• Tennis (Men's and Women's)
• Track and Field
• Volleyball
• Wrestling
• Ultimate Frisbee
• Ice Hockey

Boulder's local arch rival is crosstown Fairview High School. On September 20, 2007, the Boulder High School Football team snapped their three-year losing streak against Fairview by beating them 29 to 7.

Boulder High School has won state football championships in 1963 and 1992. The Boulder High varsity wrestling team were Cenntenial League conference champions in 2008, beating Grandview High School 37-30 in the last duel of the year[2]

Following the conclusion of the 2007-2008 year, Boulder High (along with rival Fairview) will most likely switch from its current place in the Centennial League to become part of the Front Range League, as a result of the distances involved in traveling to and from Boulder and the other schools in the conference (mostly in Aurora, Colorado)[3]

[edit] Stadium

Boulder High football, soccer, and lacrosse teams compete at Christian Recht Field, which is accessed from the school across a bridge spanning Boulder Creek. Christian Recht Field received a multi-million-dollar upgrade in 2003 when state-of-the-art artificial turf was installed to save water in the drought-prone area and to reduce injuries caused by frozen turf in winter.

Fairview High School shares the use of Christian Recht Field for varsity-level events. When Boulder High School and Fairview High School play each other in their yearly games, fans of each school use separate stands alternating the home and visitor stands each year.

[edit] Performing arts

Boulder High students participate extensively in the performing arts. The Boulder Jazz jazz band, run by Tom "Doc" Horst, frequently places well in regional jazz festivals. It also has participated in an annual jazz exchange with a noweigan art school, located in Trondheim, Norway: Trondertun. The Wind Ensemble is also an exceptional group and has been visited by guest director Ken Singleton, from the University of Northern Colorado.

The theatre department at Boulder High was established in 1937 and was one of the original members (Troupe #60) of the International Thespian Society. Boulder High's Theatre Guild currently has over 120 members and inducts upwards of 30 thespians into the Society each year. The department, currently under the direction of Nicole Kalayeh, hosts an array of unique productions, including Urinetown, The Breakfast Club, and Our Town. In October 2006, students performed Where I'm From, a student-written show examining contemporary issues as diverse as global warming, politics, heightened airport security, racial differences, text messaging, divorce, and MySpace. The winter show was a stage adaptation of the Woody Allen movie Bullets Over Broadway. This was followed by the school's spring musical Jesus Christ Superstar which featured the double casting of the two main roles. The role of Judas, oringally a male part, was cast as a female role in the school's production. The shows for 2007 are Little Shop of Horrors, a stage adaptation of the film Shakespeare in Love, and Into The Woods.

[edit] Student Worker

In 1999 Boulder High students founded Student Worker, a student-run activist group. Several of the group's efforts have received national attention, including a January 2005 sleep-in protesting the war in Iraq^[4] and a May 2001 kiss-in in support of alternative sexuality ^[5]. In May 2005 Student Worker along with Peace Jam erected 1,650 American flags in memory of soldiers killed in Iraq.^[6] In September 2007 Student Worker held a protest in Boulder High's Courtyard protesting the broadcast of the Pledge of Allegiance over the PA system during class as well as the use of the term 'under God' in the pledge.^[7]

[edit] Model United Nations

At the beginning of the 2005-2006 school year, the Boulder High School Model United Nations club was created. In Model United Nations (Model UN or MUN), students take on the roles of diplomats from various countries around the globe to discuss, debate, and come up with solutions to many issues confronting the world today. Students research and prepare materials to debate with at Model UN conferences around the state and nation, in front of delegations representing many top high schools in and out of state. In in December 2007, Boulder High MUN hosted its first ever Model UN Conference, with Boulder likely hosting its second conference in December of 2008. The Boulder High MUN team donated $1200 in proceeds from this conference to two BHS human rights groups: Educate Africa and Schools for Schools. Boulder High has taken part in three national conferences: The National High School Model United Nations (New York), PAXMUN (San Deigo), and the North American Invitational Model United Nations (Washington DC). BHSMUN will likely return to New York for NHSMUN in 2008.

[edit] Panther TV

Panther TV (PTV) is a short program run every Wednesday morning during the beginning third period to broadcast announcements. It is sponsored by John Matos, but the students are almost entirely responsible for the production, direction and editing of the broadcast. As well as shooting announcements, the crew also produces assorted special reports and humorous content. PTV was founded in 2001 under the supervision of Jim Kavanagh, and has been broadcasted through Boulder's CATV since 2003.

[edit] The Owl

The Owl is Boulder High School's student-run newspaper. The paper is overseen by a faculty advisor but is created, run, and financed entirely by the students. Issues come out once a month with a special Graduation edition in May. A total of eight or nine issues are printed each year. Even the staff members are not sure why The Owl is actually called the "owl", but the name has been in use for nearly 100 years. Subscriptions of The Owl are available for Boulder community members and BHS parents, as well alumnae who live across the United States.

[edit] Student Council

Boulder High Student Council is a year-long elective class where student leaders from every grade level come to plan and execute activities for the student body, host and participate in community service events, and represent the Boulder High student body to the faculty and community. While on most activities Student Council works as a whole, it is also broken up into class committees. Each class has their own independent leadership and sponsors, and work apart from the council on major projects like Prom (Junior Class) and Winter Ball (Senior Class). Every year, Student Council hosts its own school-wide elections for Student Body Officers and Class Officers. The current Student Council Advisor is Ruthie Palmer.

[edit] Events and Controversies

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This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can (February 2008).

[edit] Safety Scares

On May 10, 2007 a cafeteria worker claimed to see two masked men enter the school before class hours wearing camouflage and ski masks. The school was subsequently locked down by police and classes for that day were canceled as the school was searched. After several searches by police (including SWAT teams and bomb-sniffing dogs) nothing suspicious was found.^[8]

Rumors that a song performed at a school talent show would include Presidential death threats also stirred recent national controversy^[9], although these rumors proved to be false.

Currently, all doors leading into the school are constantly locked aside from the front doors, which are under constant watch by school security.

On April 19, 2007 the school was placed in a state of panic after the words "4/19 everybody dies" was found in a bathroom. As the threat was perceived to be a bomb, attendance for the day was made optional. No bomb was detonated or ever located.

[edit] Conference on World Affairs

The Conference on World Affairs, a premiere conference on international and domestic affairs, hosted by the University of Colorado, adjacent to the high school, rents the use of the Boulder High auditorium for several panels. Due to the respectable history of the conference, some Boulder High instructors required their students to attend several of these panels including a panel titled "STDs: Sex, Teens and Drugs" held on April 10, 2007.

During this panel, guest speaker Joel Becker, an associate clinical professor of psychology at the University of California at Los Angeles, allegedly encouraged students to have sex and use illegal drugs.^[10] In particular Becker allegedly informed the students where to easily find marijuana and appeared to make fun of using a condom^{[citation needed]}. Becker allegedly went on to encourage students to experiment with both hetero and homosexual sex and encouraged students to masturbate^{[citation needed]}.

On May 8, 2007 Boulder Valley School District board members were confronted by at the time Boulder High sophomore Daphne White and her mother, Priscilla White, with a complaint about the event. The board agreed to review what occurred.

After the subsequent review and listening to the entire 90 minute tape of the panel, on May 22, 2007 BVSD Superintendent George F Garcia and the school board found that the overall panel was appropriate for high school age students. However, the school board also recognized that certain comments were unnecessarily crude and recommended that in the future, because the conference is neither sponsored nor the content controlled by the school, Conference on World Affairs events should be optional for Boulder High students. ^[11]

The event sparked attention among media outlets after being broadcast on TV channels such as Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor. Host of the O'Reilly Factor, Bill O'Reilly, made several claims that students who attended this conference were harmed by its content, and called for the firings of Superintendent Garcia as well as Boulder High Principal Bud Jenkins.

The entrance of the media, Bill O'Reilly in particular, also sparked a student response, beginning with a student created petition calling for O’Reilly to apologize for allegedly making “borderline slanderous” comments against Boulder High and the community of Boulder while discussing the issue.^[12] The petition was originally authored by at the time sophomore Patrick Garrett, and later co-authored by at the time sophomore Mansur Gidfar. The petition was eventually signed by over 400 people.^[13] Gidfar, Garrett, and fellow student Jesse Lange were scheduled to appear on the O’Reilly Factor, but at the request of Fox News, Gidfar was the only one to appear, making him the first minor to ever appear on the O’Reilly Factor. Jesse Lange appeared on the O’Reilly Factor a few weeks later, with an opposing viewpoint from fellow student Andrew Wishner. Several radio interviews also took place between talk show hosts Dan Caplis and Craig Silverman and several students from Boulder High on the issue. Mansur Gidfar and Patrick Garrett also appeared on the program Colorado 2031, hosted by local news anchor Ron Zopollo, to discuss the issue with Caplis and Silverman.^{[citation needed]}

• A full transcript of the panel on the Conference on World Affairs is found here.

[edit] Flood danger

Boulder High school is located in the middle of the Boulder Creek flood zone. The school's adjacent soccer fields were housing less than 30 years ago, the houses were removed due to the high flash-flood danger along the creek. The City of Boulder, CO continues removing buildings in the path of the most dangerous portions of the creek, replacing them with parks and fields. The "100 year flood" last took place in Boulder in 1894 destroyed all buildings in the area.

[edit] Alumni

• Jello Biafra, political activist and former lead singer of Hardcore punk group Dead Kennedys.
• Scott Carpenter, American astronaut.

[edit] References