Flint Central High School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Established | 1928 |
|---|---|
| Type | Public secondary |
| Affiliation | Flint Community Schools |
| Principal | Lynn Jenkins |
| Students | 1450 |
| Grades | 7th–12th |
| Location | Flint, Michigan, USA |
| District | Flint Community Schools |
| Colors | Red and Black |
| Mascot | Phoenix |
| Website | Flint Central High School |
Flint Central High School is one of the Flint Community Schools, located in Flint, Michigan, USA, is the city's oldest school. Its first building was built in 1875, and the school moved into the present building in 1923. It was called Flint High School until Flint Northern High School was built in 1928. Approximately 1,450 students attend the school. Graduation ceremonies are held at Whiting Auditorium. The School is located in the East Village, near the corner of Crapo Street and Court Street.
Contents |
[edit] Mascot controversy
In 2005, Central's mascot was changed from "Indians" to "Phoenix" after pressure from the Michigan High School Athletic Association. There was a cry of outrage from the public, especially considering the support of Native American groups. And adding to the controversy, school officials entered the historic high school under the cover of darkness to remove every vestige of the 75 year old Indian mascot from the school. The public outcry and outright hostility toward the politically correct move to ban the Indian turned to a mostly silent determination to remain, as the locally popular phrase puts it, "once an Indian, always an Indian".[citation needed]
[edit] Athletics
Flint Central competes in the oldest athletic conference in the State of Michigan, the Saginaw Valley League. Their Athletic Director is longtime Track and Field and Cross Country Coach Michael Vance. The football teams play their home games at Atwood Stadium in Flint. They field teams in:
| Sport | Coach |
|---|---|
| Men's Basketball | Chris Chaffer |
| Baseball | Paul Makowski |
| Bowling | Lincoln Ward |
| Men's Swimming | Jason Lesciewicz |
| Women's Volleyball | |
| Men's Wrestling | Vernon Ward |
| Women's Basketball | Tommy Tucker |
| Cross Country | |
| Men's Football | James Hurd |
| Women's Golf | Rick Robart |
| Men's Golf | Chad Rivette |
| Women's Soccer | Rick Bridgett |
| Men's Soccer | Rick Bridgett |
| Women's Softball | Raquel Gonzalez |
| Women's Swimming | Char Farrar |
| Tennis | Lovell Menzie |
| Track & Field | Carlos Benton |
[edit] Athletic History
From 1976 through 2001 the Indians were coached in football by Joe Eufinger. His lifetime record was 138-102 which is the Ninth highest win total amongst coaches in Genesee County. [1] Longtime Baseball coach Bob Holec is now leading the Flint Baseball Commission and is the Commissioner of the Baseball contingent for the Canusa Games. The Men's Basketball team was coached for many years by Stan Gooch. They won state championships in 1981, 1982 and 1983. He won over 500 games and is in numerous Hall of Fames. The softball team was led by Cuban refugee Margarita Calvo to an unprecedented 22 consecutive City League titles.
The Flint Central Tennis team won their first city championship in over 7 years in the Spring of 2007, and still maintain their position.
[edit] Principals
2007 - Present Lynn Jenkins
2007 - Joan Mckinnie-Sanders (Interim)
2007 - Chris James
2006 - 2007 Maria Boyd-Springer
2003 - 2006 Corinne Archie-Edwards
1998 - 2003 Jim Beaubien
1995 - 1997 Michael Schultz
1983 - 1994 Dean C. Ludwig
1976 - 1981 Don Crowder
1976 - 1980 Theodore Fisher
1973 - 1975 Thomas J. Herron
1968 - 1972 Donald Crowder
1966 - 1968 John Kouzouzian
[edit] Theatre Program
The Magnet Program for the Flint Community Schools ran the secondary school Theatre Program through Flint Central from 1976-2006. Prior to that Flint Central was long known as a leader in educational theatre locally, statewide and nationally. The program was led for many years by such notable teachers as Helen Brown, Maude Biegel, Jacqueline Oriet Kramer, Shirley Parola, James Olson, Jeanne Shoemaker and Martin Jennings, one of the longest lasting theatre directors and teacher at Flint Central in the history of the school from 1981-2006. The program generally produced 3 productions every year in addition to a magnet student showcase which raised thousands of dollars for a fine arts scholarship in the name of Donn Jensen, a supporter of the program who met an untimely death in 1997. The theatre students of Flint Central have performed internationally and in numerous states. In 1989 and 1991, The Educational Theatre Association of America named Flint Central's Theatre Program as one of the top six high school theatre programs in the country. The theatre has also had an affiliated membership with The International Thespian Society since 1925. Many Alumni have gone on to have careers in the theatre. After changes made by the school board in 2006 to reform the school district, the magnet program was dissolved. In the fall of 2006, Rhonda Young was named director of the theatre program.
[edit] Notable alumni
- Lynn Chandnois, Class of 1943 - 1st round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers after playing collegiately at Michigan State University.
- Gene Gavin (Tuttle), Class of 1946 - New York City Actor, dancer with New York City Ballet and appeared in the original Broadway production and film version of West Side Story.
- Dale Kildee, Class of 1947 - Member of the United States House of Represntatives 1977 - present.
- Casey Kasem
- Donald Riegle, Class of 1956 - United States Senator 1976 - 1995.
- Ron Pruitt, Class of 1967 - Professional Baseball Player for 9 seasons.
- Herb Washington, Class of 1968 - Former World Record Holder 60 yard dash. Played Professional Baseball for the Oakland Athletics.
- Eric Turner, Class of 1981 - Second Place Mr. Basketball, Played at the University of Michigan.
- Mark Harris, Class of 1982 - Basketball Player, Third Place Mr. Basketball.
- Terrence Greene, Class of 1985 - Basketball Player, Played at DePaul University.
- Jim Abbott, Class of 1985 - Professional Baseball Player, pitched no-hitter for New York Yankees. Distinguishing feature because he was born with only one hand.
- Coquese Washington, Class of 1989 - Former WNBA player after playing at Notre Dame University. Was the first President of the WNBA Player Association. Presently the Head Women's Basketball Coach at Penn State University.
- Ross Richardson, Class of 1990 - Played basketball at Loyola Marymount University, Replacement Player for the Detroit Tigers.
- Dayne Walling, Class of 1992 - Rhodes Scholar and a recent candidate for mayor of the City of Flint.
- Andre Weathers, Class of 1994 - Former Professional football player with the New York Giants, played in the Super Bowl in 2001. Won a National Championship in 1997 playing for the University of Michigan.
- Lakisha Jones, Class of 1998 - American Idol finalist
- Tim Bograkos, Class of 1999 - NCAA Championship Basketball Player for Michigan State University.
|
|
|
|---|---|
| High Schools | Flint Central | Flint Northern | Flint Southwestern Academy | Flint Northwestern |
| Middle Schools | Whittier | Longfellow | Emerson | Lowell | Zimmerman | Bryant | Holmes | |
| Elementary Schools | Anderson | Brownell | Bunche | Carpenter Road | Civic Park | Coolidge | Cummings | Dort | Doyle Ryder | Durant - Tuuri - Mott | Eisenhower| Freeman| Garfield| Gundry | Merrill | Neithercut | Pierce | Potter | Scott | Stewart | Summerfield | Washington | Wilkins | Williams | |
