Kenmore West Senior High School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kenmore West Senior High School | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| 33 Highland Pkwy. Town of Tonawanda, NY 14223 |
|
| Information | |
| School district | Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda School District |
| Principal | Karen Geelan, Douglas Smith |
| Enrollment |
1550 |
| Type | Public |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Mascot | Blue Devil |
| Color(s) | Blue and White |
| Established | 1940 |
| Homepage | Link |
Kenmore West Senior High School is one of the Ken-Ton School District's two high schools, the other being Kenmore East Senior High School. It is located in the Town of Tonawanda, but is named after the nearby Village of Kenmore.
Contents |
[edit] History[1]
[edit] Highland Parkway building
In 1938, a WPA grant of about $700,000 was received from the federal government toward the creation of a separate building for the senior high school on Highland Parkway, and the school district provided over $1M in additional funds. The twenty acre plot on which the school is situated cost $35,000. The school opened in the fall of 1940 with fifty faculty members and 1,250 pupils. In 1959, Kenmore East High School was opened as the district continued to grow. At that time, the Highland Parkway school officially became Kenmore West High School. Raymond S. Frazier was appointed to the position of principal of Kenmore West in 1952.
The community continued to grow in the subsequent years, requiring a classroom addition to the west wing of school in 1967-68. The latest building project was the construction of the new library information center on the west lawn, and the athletic complex east of the original gymnasium. The additions were planned by Buffalo architects Duscherer Oberst Design, and completed at a cost of about $10M in the fall of 2000. The design for the library won an award for educational architecture in the summer of 2001.
Another notable architectural change to the building occurred after a fire in the cafeteria bay, causing a several month relocation of the student's cafeteria to the 'Old Gym' while a new cafeteria was erected, finally opening to a very appreciative student body.
Kenmore West's enrollment grew steadily through about 1970, and reached its peak in 1969 with over 3000 students in grades 10, 11 and 12. Alan MacGamwell, a 1944 graduate of the school, was appointed its third principal in 1971, after serving as a teacher, coach and assistant principal in the Ken-Ton Schools. In that era, the school boasted large numbers of National Merit Scholarship winners. The varsity football team under coach Jules Yakopovich won the national championship in 1969.
MacGamwell retired in 1980 and now serves the Ken-Ton District on the Board of Education. Another Kenmore graduate, Charles Kristich, class of 1955, succeeded him as principal that year. The Kenmore community, like the rest of western New York, lost population between 1970 and 1990. West's enrollment dipped to a low of under 1,400 students in the early 1990s, and many teachers were laid off. Despite the loss of population, however, Kenmore continued to be recognized for its achievements. In 1990-91, West won recognition as a New York State School of Excellence. The district was also honored with the Excelsior Award for Quality that same year. In 1997, school district voters narrowly approved a bond package that lead to the construction of the school's current gymnasium and library.
Currently, Kenmore West enrolls more than 1,900 students and has a full staff of over 175 people. The school's alumni include state and federal judges, nationally known scientists, authors, journalists, decorated military officers and local and state business leaders and humanitarians. They include nationally renowned journalist and author, Wolf Blitzer. Other noted alumni are Skylab astronaut Edward Gibson and a pair of brothers, Frank Easterbrook, Chief Judge of the federal appeals court for the upper Midwest, and author Gregg Easterbrook. Douglas H. Smith is the school's fifth and current principal, succeeding Kristich, who retired in December 1994. Smith was joined by Mrs. Karen Geelan as co-principal in December of 2005.
The school's colors are blue and white, and the mascot is the Blue Devil. There are many different images used for the Blue Devil all throughout the school, and most have been designed by students. In recent years, the old mascot costume was replaced by a newer, more 'pumped-up' Blue Devil costume, which continues to make appearances at school sporting events and even once in a while dares to penetrate enemy lines and sit on opposing teams' benches.
Kenmore West has the age old tradition of carrying their biggest rival's mascot on a stick. The "Bull Dog on a stick" is what what unifies the students against a common enemy. This common enemy has not been officially identified. Many argue that it is the Bull Dog itself, the Kenmore East mascot. For the rest, it is debatable; a certain administrator's name comes to mind for many.
Kenmore West also boasts a wonderful theatre program. The head of this theatre department is Mrs. Vanessa Scinta, who also teaches AP Literature to advanced seniors. Current directors include Mrs. Scinta, Mr. Philip Jarosz, Mr. Paul Laduca and Ms. Diana Gruninger. In recent years they have performed such shows as Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Titanic the Musical. The theatre program trains students in acting, directing, designing and historical research. Local patrons and students of other schools have said of the program "it puts on the best high school shows." Others say that "although they are technically limited due to low funding, they put on the most professional amateur shows."
[edit] References
[edit] Further reading
- Silsby, Robert W. (1997). Settlement to Suburb: A History of the Town of Tonawanda. Sterling C. Sommer, Inc..
- Percy, John W. (1997). Images of America: The Town of Tonawanda. Arcadia Press.
- Milner, John (1995). Schoolbook: A Teacher's Memoir.
