Clay High School (Portsmouth, Ohio)

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Clay Junior-Senior High School
"The District that Encourages the Child to Discover" [2]
"Cognitiones Artes Habitus Virtutes" [1]
Location
44 Clay High Street

Portsmouth, Ohio,
USA
Information
School district Clay Local School District
Principal W. Todd Warnock, Principal

Terri Boldman, Asst. Principal Dick McCleese - Athletic Director Mark Rose - Athletic Director
Students 300 (2006) [3]
Faculty 22 [3]
Type (Ohio) public, rural, high school
Grades 7-12
Athletics baseball, boys' and girls' basketball, boys' and girls' cross country, boys' golf, boys' soccer, fast pitch softball, boys' tennis, and girls' volleyball [4]
Athletics conference Southern Ohio Conference - Division I [4]
Mascot Panthers [4]
Color(s) Royal Blue█ and
Gold █ [4]
Established 1940
Homepage Clay Local School District
Clay Junior-Senior High School, opened in 1956 at a cost of $600,000
Clay Junior-Senior High School, opened in 1956 at a cost of $600,000[5]

Clay Junior-Senior High School (CHS) is located four miles north of the Portsmouth, Ohio, city limits on U.S. Route 23 in Clay Township in Scioto County--which is 85 miles south of Columbus, Ohio; 50 miles west of Huntington, West Virginia; and 100 miles east of Cincinnati, Ohio. Clay is a rural, Ohio, public high school serving 300 students in grades 7-12 in Southern Ohio. The year 1940 marked the first time a class graduated from Clay High School.[5]

CHS is one of three buildings currently being used in the district. Rubyville Elementary School (4-6), which is on Maple Benner Road at the intersection of State Route 139, and Rosemount Primary School (K-3), which is on Rose Valley Road just off Rosemount Road in Rosemount, Ohio, are the other two buildings.[3]

Contents

[edit] General information

The enrollment for Clay Junior-Senior High School, grades 7-12, is 300 with 190 students in grades nine through twelve. The school's mascot is the black panther while the school colors are royal blue and gold. Ninety-six (96.22) percent of the students that attend the school are white. The other four percent are Hispanic (1.15), African American (.82), multiracial (.82), Asian (.66), or American Indian (.33).[6] The district covers 22.12 square miles. There are twenty-two full time faculty members serving the 300 students. The athletes complete in the small division in every Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) sport. The school competes with ten (10) sports teams at the high school level and three at the junior high level. The school belongs to the OHSAA and to the Southern Ohio Conference - Division I (SOC I).[4]

The district received communication from the Ohio School Facilities Commission on May 3, 2007, that the district has been approved for state funds. The district has plans to place a bond issue on the November 2007 ballot to build a new K-12 facility.[7] Because of recent state legislation the district has decided to postpone their decision to place a bond issue on the ballot.

Rubyville Elementary (served as Clay High School from 1940 to 1956) The Clay Township High School was built as part of the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. At the time Harold L. Ickes was the administrator of the Public Works program.
Rubyville Elementary (served as Clay High School from 1940 to 1956) The Clay Township High School was built as part of the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. At the time Harold L. Ickes was the administrator of the Public Works program.[8]

[edit] Brief history

The Clay Local School District was created in 1940 to serve the residents of Clay Township and the individual communities of Eden Park, Rosemount, Rubyville, and Twin Valley. For those students who desired to go on to high school before the opening of the high school in 1940, the board of education provided their tuition to Glenwood High School or to Portsmouth High School.[5] When the school was built in 1940 "there were buses to transport students to and from school, but there was no cafeteria, therefore, students brought their lunches."[9] The first graduating class in 1940 was nicknamed the "Dirty Dozen" because there were twelve students who walked across the stage for the first time as Clay graduates.[5]

The district began with four buildings - one high school and three elementary schools. There were two buildings in Rubyville - the current elementary building, which served as the high school from 1940-1956, and an elementary building (originally Sumers, later renamed Long Run School), which is now a local church. The district also had an elementary building in Eden Park, which still stands but is no longer used by the district, and one in Rosemount (Scioto Trail School), which was located on the current site of JW Village Market.[5]

In 1956, the Rubyville building (built in 1939) became the elementary building. With a bond issue to raise $325,000 (along with matching funds from the state and federal government for a total cost of nearly $600,000) a new high school building, which opened its doors on February 1, 1956, was built on Clay High Street. Mr. Carl Bandy was the Executive Head of the Clay (Rural) Local School District when the high school was built in 1955 . At that time, the enrollment of the district was 719. One year later, it was 915. During the period of peak employment at the Atomic Plant in Piketon (now U.S.E.C.), the enrollment was 1100. A new elementary building was then built in Rosemount (Rosemount Primary, built in 1964).[5]

The district currently uses these same three buildings. At the time the Rosemount building was constructed in 1964, a band room and a junior high wing were added to the high school. In 1998 an additional "wing" was built on to the high school structure. Additional upgrades and renovations have occurred to all three buildings over the years including improvements to the high school gym, new science laboratories, renovations to all the restroom facilities, new roofs, and air conditioning for all three buildings.[10] The enrollment for the district is currently 600.[6]

[edit] Campus

Clay Junior-Senior High School (aerial view, fall of 2003)
Clay Junior-Senior High School (aerial view, fall of 2003)
Clay Junior-Senior High School (aerial view, fall of 2003)
Clay Junior-Senior High School (aerial view, fall of 2003)

Clay Junior-Senior High School is located in the rolling hills of Southern Ohio (Appalachian Ohio) just north of the Ohio River near Portsmouth. The building and grounds are located on Clay High Street just off U.S. Route 23 and Lochner Road in Rosemount, which is nestled in a rural, community area of apartments, small businesses, homes, and farmland. The campus consists of several acres in which the high school building and several athletic fields (baseball and soccer) are located.

The Clay Jr.-Sr. High School building is shaped somewhat as an "E" (facing east) from an aerial view. In the middle of the vertical arm is the main entrance, which faces west toward U.S. Route 23. The industrial arts and drafting rooms are located in the top wing while the lower arm (or "old junior high" wing) houses additional academic classrooms. The middle wing consists of the cafeteria, band room, gymnasium, health facility, and the "new junior high" wing.

There are twenty-seven academic classrooms in the Clay High School building including three computer labs, an industrial arts shop and drafting room, a chemistry/physics lab, a biology lab, and a home economics lab. The district's superintendent and treasurer also have offices in the building. The CHS softball field is located on the grounds of Rubyville Elementary. The school does not have home tennis courts nor a cross country course.[11]

[edit] Academics

Academically, Clay has a reputation as one of the better schools in Southern Ohio. The latest Ohio Department of Education report card indicated CHS met the graduation, AYP (average yearly progress), and attendance percentages/rates.[12]

The school year is divided into two semesters for grading and course scheduling purposes, with a three-day finals schedule at the end of the year (see Academic term). The majority of the courses offered are year-long courses, but students have the opportunity to take a few courses on a semester basis. Although the school meets on a 41-minute, nine-period schedule in which students attend each class daily, two days a month operate on an activity schedule. This 30-minute time period on these days are set aside to allow for curricular and extracurricular clubs to meet that would not otherwise fit into either the regular school day or after school because of scheduling.[13]

While student enrollment (300)[3] and class sizes are small (17:1)[6], Clay offers many opportunities for its students including both curricular and extracurricular activities. These academic opportunities include, but are not limited to, AP courses, Art I-IV, band, Chemistry I & II, chorus, computer applications, pre-engineering courses, economics, industrial arts, physics, senior composition, Spanish I-IV, and web page design.[14]

Recent graduates of CHS have attended/graduated from such universities/colleges as Berea College, Eastern Kentucky University, Marshall University, Miami University, Morehead State University, Ohio University, Ohio Northern University, Purdue University, Shawnee State University, The Ohio State University, Transylvania University, University of Cincinnati, University of Kentucky, Valparaiso University, St. Bonaventure University, the University of Dayton, West Point, Wittenberg University, and Wright State University. Clay's graduating classes, which average about 35 students, have received in excess of $300,000 each year in scholarship money.[3] The 2007 Clay graduating class was offered close to $450,000 in scholarships.[15]

Likewise, the CHS staff members have also attended/graduated from many of these same institutions. The CHS staff members have an average of 16 years of educational experience.[6]

[edit] Extracurricular activities

[edit] Athletics

Clay Junior-Senior High School is a "small division" school in every Ohio High School Athletic Association sports' division. The school participates in ten OHSAA sanctioned sports - baseball, boys' and girls' basketball, boys' and girls' cross country, boys' golf, boys' soccer, girls' fast pitch softball, boys' tennis, and girls' volleyball. The district also fields boys' and girls' basketball and volleyball teams in our junior high. The district also has baseball, golf, and softball as sports at the junior high level even though these teams are not recognized as official school teams.[4]

There are ten school districts and eleven high schools in Scioto County along with one parochial school as well several private and community schools.[21] The school's athletic affiliation is with the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) and the Southern Ohio Conference (SOC), which has sixteen member schools and is divided into two divisions (SOC I & SOC II) based on the schools' enrollment. The SOC includes teams from four different Ohio counties - Jackson County (Oak Hill High School), Lawrence County (Symmes Valley High School), Pike County (Waverly High School, Eastern High School, and Western High School), and Scioto County (Clay High School, Green High School, Glenwood High School, Sciotoville Community School, Valley High School, Northwest High School, Minford High School, Portsmouth West High School, Notre Dame High School, South Webster High School, and Wheelersburg High School).[22]

See also Ohio High School Athletic Conferences and the Southern Ohio Conference

[edit] Softball

In athletics, the Clay softball team has won three OHSAA State Championships--1980, 1981, & 1983.[23][24] The team was 79-1 in those three years under the direction of Carol Vice, a member of the Clay Coaches' Hall of Fame.[25] In 1979 and 1988, the softball team was runner-up.[23][24] The softball team has won 22 league titles, 28 sectional titles, 20 district titles, and ten regional titles along with three state championship banners.[26] The softball team is the only team from Scioto County ever to win a state championship. In fact, the team was in the Final Four in nine out of the 11 years from 1978 to 1988.[23][24] Carol and Clay Vice have their names/stars on the Portsmouth Wall of Fame in honor of their success and contributions to the Portsmouth area.[27] The team's last appearance in the state tournament was in 2007.[24]

[edit] Boys' basketball

The boys' basketball team made it to the OHSAA Final Four in 1969 under the direction of Arch Justus, who is also a member of the Clay Coaches' Hall of Fame[25] and the Ohio Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame.[28] The team has also won 14 league titles (most recently in 2004-5), 23 sectional titles, three district titles, and one regional title.[26]

[edit] Girls' basketball

The girls' basketball team went to the OHSAA Final Four in 1980. The team is still the only girls' Scioto County team and one of only two in the Southern Ohio Conference (Oak Hill being the other one) to reach that level. Terri Boldman, a member of the Clay Coaches' Hall of Fame[25] and current high school assistant principal, guided the girls to the OHSAA Final Four. The girls' basketball team has won three league titles (1980, 2005, & 2005-06), 12 sectional titles, two district titles, and one regional title.[26]

[edit] Baseball, golf, soccer, tennis, and volleyball

While softball, boys' basketball, and girls' basketball may have garnered the spotlight in years past, Clay teams have won numerous league, sectional, district, regional, and state titles. The boys' baseball team won the Regional title in 1944 and has also captured 21 conference titles, 8 sectional titles, and 5 district titles. The volleyball team has won six league titles, 14 sectional titles, four district titles, and went to the regional tournament as recently as 2007. Most recently, the golf team won its seventh straight league title. The team also qualified for the state championships for three straight years between 2004 & 2006.[29][30][31] The tennis team captured its first SOC title in 2005 and won it again in 2007. In addition, the soccer team has won two league title and three sectional titles.[26]

[edit] Ohio High School Athletic Association state championships, appearances, and records

  • Boys' Basketball - OHSAA Final Four Appearance - 1969 (Arcanum def. Clay 76-61)[32]
  • Girls' Basketball - OHSAA Final Four Appearance - 1980[33]
  • Boys' Golf - OHSAA Division III State Championship Appearances - 2004, 2005, 2006[29][30][31]
  • Girls' Softball
OHSAA State Championships[23][24][34]
1980 - (d. Archbold 18-6 & d. New Madison Tri-Village 12-3 to finish season at 25-0)
1981 - (d. Jeromesville Hillsdale 7-2 & d. Beverly Fort Frye 21-0 to finish season at 29-0)
1983 - (d. Pioneer North Central 8-7 & d. Mineral Ridge 6-2 to finish season at 24-1)
OHSAA State Runner-up[23][24][34]
1979 - (d. New Madison Tri-Vilalge 11-2 & lost to Jeromesville Hillsdale 1-4 to finish the season at 19-1)
1988 - (d. Sycamore Mohawk 10-0 & lost to Strasburg-Franklin 0-14 to finish the season at 27-3)
OHSAA Final Four Appearances (besides the Championships and Second Place Finishes)[23][24][34]
1978 - (lost to Jeromesville Hillsdale 5-0)
1984 - (lost to Arcanum 10-4)
1986 - (lost to Archbold 5-4)
2007 - (lost to Triad 13-3 to finish season at 22-5)
OHSAA Softball Tournament Records[35]
Most Runs (Game, One Team) - Portsmouth Clay (Division III) 21 v. Beverly Fort Frye, 1981
Most Hits (Game) - Portsmouth Clay (Division III) 19 v. Archbold, 1980
Most Hits (Game) - North Lewisburg Triad (Division IV) 13 v. Portsmouth Clay, 2007
Most Hits (Game, Both Teams) - Portsmouth Clay (Division III) 28 v. Archbold, 1980
Teresa Ruby - played in first four OHSAA state softball tournaments (1978-1981), coach (2007)

[edit] School fight song

"Clay High! / Clay High! / Three cheers for old Clay High. / Clay High! / Clay High! / For you we'll do or die. / Our hearts so true we give to gold and blue. / And so we pledge the best we have to you. / P / A / N / T / H / E / R / S / PANTHERS! / PANTHERS! / Panthers are the BEST!"

Words to the school fight song were written by Wanda Lake, a Clay alumna.[36]

[edit] Notable alumni, coaches, faculty, and staff

While many of the alumni, coaches, faculty, and staff listed below have not gained notable recognition abroad, all of these individuals are well-known figures in the Portsmouth and surrounding areas and they have made considerable contributions to the Clay Local School District, to the educational field, to the sports' teams they coached, and to the athletes and students.[37]

  • Carl Bandy - He was a long-time teacher and administrator in the district.
  • Dale Bandy - He is a 1956 Clay HS graduate and the son of long time administrator, Carl Bandy.[5] He went on to play baseball and basketball at Ohio University. He was an assistant under legendary OU basketball coach Jim Snyder before taking over the reins in 1974 (1974-1980).[38] He currently lives in Texas half of the year. The other half of the year he lives in Pennsylvania and is an assistant men's basketball coach for the California University of Pennsylvania Vulcans' squad under Bill Brown. [39]
  • Terri Boldman - She is a 1968 Clay graduate, teacher (1972-current), coach (1974-81 & 1983-85), dean of students, current assistant principal, and member of the Clay Coaches' Hall of Fame.[25]
  • Arch Justus - He was a teacher (1950-53 & 1958-83), principal (1968-77), superintendent (1978-82), and basketball coach (1959-83). He had a record of 394-169 while at Clay. His overall record was 532-220. He is also a member of Clay Coaches' Hall of Fame[25] and a member of Ohio Basketball Coaches' Hall of Fame.[28]
  • David Leightenheimer - He was a teacher (1963-86) and coach (1972-86). He is a member of the Clay Coaches' Hall of Fame[25] and a member of the Ohio High School Officials' Hall of Fame[40]
  • Kinney Long - He was a teacher (1939-71), principal (1946-47), and baseball coach (1939-71). He had a 408-160 record while at Clay and is a member of the Clay Coaches' Hall of Fame[25]
  • Teresa Ruby - She was a student-athlete and a 1981 Clay graduate who holds numerous girls' basketball records, including most points (1,846). Her jersey number (14) was retired.[41] She was a member of the 1980 Final Four girls' basketball and 1980 & 81 state softball championhsip teams and the 1979 state softball runner-up team. She was in the state softball final four tournament the first four years of its existence (1978, 79, 80, & 81) and returned as a coach in 2007. She played softball and basketball at Morehead State University. She is currently the director of Southern Ohio Medical CenterHospice and is the softball coach at Clay.[37]
  • Carol "Burgess" Vice - She was a 1952 Clay graduate, teacher (1972-2002), coach (1978-88), and member of the Clay Coaches' Hall of Fame. As a softball coach, she finished with a 261-20 record.[25] Her softball teams won three OHSAA state titles and were runners-up twice. [23][24] She has a star on the Portsmouth Wall of Stars.[27]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Latin for Knowledge, Art, Character, and Virtue
  2. ^ Clay Board of Education. Clay Local School District's Motto. Retrieved on 2007-05-14.
  3. ^ a b c d e Clay High School. About Clay?. Retrieved on 2007-05-10.
  4. ^ a b c d e f OHSAA. OHSAA Member School Info. Retrieved on 2007-05-10.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Clay Local School District. "Clay High School Souvenir Booklet", Kah Printing Co., 22 April 1956, p. 2-5. 
  6. ^ a b c d Ohio Department of Education Cupp Report. Retrieved on 2007-05-11.
  7. ^ Ohio School Facilities Commission. Retrieved on 2007-05-11.
  8. ^ Ohio Historical Society. "Public Works Administration". Retrieved on 2007-05-16.
  9. ^ Clay Local School District. "Clay High School: 50 Years of Excellence", Clay Local Schools, Spring 1990, p. 1. 
  10. ^ Rose, Mark. Clay Local School District Renovations. Retrieved on 2007-05-17.
  11. ^ Clay Local School District. "Clay High School Floor Plan/Diagram", Clay High School, 20 August 2007. 
  12. ^ Ohio Department of Education Report Card. Retrieved on 2007-05-09.
  13. ^ Clay High School. CHS Schedules. Retrieved on 2007-05-10.
  14. ^ Clay High School. Course Selections.
  15. ^ Bob Hayes. Clay High School Graduation. Retrieved on 2007-06-05.
  16. ^ Clay High School. CHS Athletics. Retrieved on 2007-05-10.
  17. ^ a b Clay High School. CHS Extracurricular Activities. Retrieved on 2007-05-11.
  18. ^ American Red Cross-Ohio River Valley Chapter. Retrieved on 2007-05-22.
  19. ^ Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Retrieved on 2007-05-22.
  20. ^ Sierra's Haven. Retrieved on 2007-05-22.
  21. ^ Ohio Department of Development. Ohio County Profiles: Scioto County. Retrieved on 2007-05-11.
  22. ^ Southern Ohio Conference. "Southern Ohio Conference Constitution and By-laws", January 2007. 
  23. ^ a b c d e f g Yappi. Yappi Sports Softball. Retrieved on 2007-02-12.
  24. ^ a b c d e f g h OHSAA. Ohio High School Athletic Association Web site. Retrieved on 2006-12-31.
  25. ^ a b c d e f g h Clay High School Athletic Department. Clay Coaches' Hall of Fame. Retrieved on 2007-05-11.
  26. ^ a b c d Clay High School. Clay Athletic Championships.
  27. ^ a b Portsmouth's Wall of Stars Selections Committee. Portsmouth's Wall of Stars. Retrieved on 2007-05-15.
  28. ^ a b Ohio Coaches' Basketball Association. Ohio Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Retrieved on 2007-05-11.
  29. ^ a b OHSAA. 2004 Boys Division III Golf Championship. Ohio High School Athletic Association website. Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
  30. ^ a b OHSAA. 2005 Boys Division III Golf Championship. Ohio High School Athletic Association website. Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
  31. ^ a b OHSAA. 2006 Boys Division III Golf Championship. Ohio High School Athletic Association website. Retrieved on 2007-07-06.
  32. ^ OHSAA. "OHSAA 84th Annual State Basketball Tournament Program", p. 49 & 59. 
  33. ^ OHSAA. "OHSAA State Girls' Basketball Tournament Program". 
  34. ^ a b c OHSAA. "OHSAA 30th Annual State Fast Pitch Softball Tournament Program", p. 34-39. 
  35. ^ OHSAA. "OHSAA 30th Annual State Fast Pitch Softball Tournament Program--All-Time Tournament Records", p. 40. 
  36. ^ Clay High School. Clay High School Fight Song. Retrieved on 2007-05-13.
  37. ^ a b Clay Local School District. Notable Clay Alumni. Retrieved on 2007-05-15.
  38. ^ Ohio University Athletic Department. Ohio University Men's Basketball Records. Retrieved on 2007-05-25.
  39. ^ Vulcans' Men's Basketball Coaching Staff. California University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved on 2007-08-13.
  40. ^ Ohio High School Athletic Association Officials. Ohio High School Officials' Hall of Fame. Retrieved on 2007-05-15.
  41. ^ Clay Athletic Department. Clay Girls' Basketball Records. Retrieved on 2007-05-16.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Education in Scioto County, Ohio
Colleges and Universities
Shawnee State University · Southeastern Business College
High schools
Middle schools · Junior High Schools
Green Junior High · Minford Junior High
Elementary schools
Green Elementary · Minford Elementary · Northwest Elementary · Notre Dame Elementary · Oak Street Elementary (New Boston) · Portsmouth Elementary · Portsmouth West Elementary · Rosemount Primary (Clay, K-3) · Rubyville Elementary (Clay, 4-6) · South Webster Elementary · Stanten Elementary (New Boston) · Valley Elementary
Others
Scioto County Joint Vocational School