Parkersburg High School

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Parkersburg High School


Motto:	School of Champions
Established:	1867
Type:	Public coeducational
Principal:	Ralph Board
Faculty:	73 teachers
Students:	1,357
Location:	Parkersburg, WV, USA
Colors:	Red and White
Nickname:	Big Reds
Mascot:	The Big Red Indian
Website:	[1]

Parkersburg High School (PHS) is a secondary school located in Parkersburg, West Virginia, that serves grades ten through twelve and is part of the Wood County School District. As of the 2007-2008 school year, the school has 1,357 students and the average classroom size is sixteen. The Wood County School District has 13,746 students in 29 schools. Its partner in education is DuPont. ^[1]

Parkersburg High is one of the largest schools in the state of West Virginia and has one of the largest campuses in the state. The feeder schools that contribute to this student population are Hamilton Junior High, Jackson Junior High School and VanDevender Junior High.

1 History
2 Mascot, Alma Mater, and School Colors
3 Music
- 3.1 Choral Music
- 3.2 Instrumental Music
4 Athletics
5 State Championships by Sport
6 Schools
7 References
8 External links

[edit] History

Parkersburg High School was one of the very first high schools in the state of West Virginia. The school was founded in 1867, and the original location of Parkersburg High School was in downtown Parkersburg. The current building housing PHS is a Tudor-style building with three stories. It was built in 1917, making it one of the oldest school buildings in West Virginia and it remains one of the largest high school campuses in the state. Later additions included Stadium Field and a multi-story gymnasium. ^[2]

PHS continued to serve as the only high school in Parkersburg, at one point holding a population of around three thousand students. It was only after graduating a class of one thousand that a second public school was founded in 1967. This in turn started a rivalry between the two schools that continues to be one of the largest and most famous in the state of West Virginia. The rivalry between the two sides of Parkersburg originated much earlier in the town's history, so the rivalry between the two schools was a natural spin-off that has brought about some dramatic competition.

[edit] Mascot, Alma Mater, and School Colors

The mascot of PHS is the Big Red Indian. The mascot was adopted in 1915, and it coincides with the arrival of Ralph Jones. He came from Denison College, who were known as the Big Red, and their colors were red and white. The name and colors have remained a constant since this time. ^[3]

The Alma Mater of PHS is set to the Christian hymn "Come Christians, Join to Sing," better known to many as Carmen Ohio. The words are presented below:

 O PHS to you sing praise 

And songs to alma mater raise,

While we strive to keep thy name

Forever in the halls of fame

Mountains fair and valley bright

Renew the path for banners bright

Times of joy or times of stress

We’ll always love you, P-H-S

[edit] Music

PHS is home to musical ensembles that are regarded as some of the most successful ones in the state. The two most recognizable ensembles are the A Cappella Choir and the Big Red Band. In addition to these groups, Parkersburg High School has a percussion ensemble, jazz ensemble, and a chamber choir.

[edit] Choral Music

The A Cappella Choir idea came about in 1931 with its first director, Dr. Marie Boette, after she sent some of the students to Detroit to an A cappella singing competition. This led to the formation of West Virginia's first A Cappella Choir in 1932, as a way to present advanced music without accompaniment. The robes are white tops with red bottoms, similar in form to Catholic altar boy vestments, and have remained the same since the inception of the choir. They were initially created by Hazel McHenry.

The choir is best known for its annual Christmas Concert, which begins with "Fanfare for Christmas Day" sung in the hall. The choir will then process to "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" by candlelight (originally real candles and then replaced by electronic ones). The end of the concert is with the "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's Messiah, where all alumni come up to sing with them. Finally, they will recess to "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" by candlelight.

They have performed for two presidents: Harry S Truman in 1949 and Lyndon B Johnson in 1966. They also performed in Washington DC in 1997. They were selected as an honor group for the 2000, 2002, and 2005 West Virginia Music conferences. ^[4]

The Chamber Choir sang at two professional basketball games, in 2004 and 2005. They were invited to sing again in 2006. In addition to this, they were with Parkersburg South's Chamber Choir and West Virginia University at Parkersburg's chorus in premiering "The Unknown Region" by Kenton Cole.

The current choral director is Pamela McClain, a graduate of Parkersburg High School.

[edit] Instrumental Music

The Big Red Band was first a concert band only and was under the direction of C. O. Chapman. The first Big Red Band as a marching band was organized under George Dietz in 1924. It was all-male and women were not allowed into the band itself until 1970. It is the only organization in the state of West Virginia that practices strict military-styled maneuvers. They pride themselves on being a music-making organization first. ^[5]

One noticeable change to the band is the lack of a color guard. This is now done by the Navy Junior ROTC. In addition to this, it is known that the Big Red Band previously had a rifle corps. ^[6] The current incarnation of the Big Red Band has no auxillary units.

The original uniforms for the band were all white with red trim and buttoned down the middle. They featured red capes and red navy-style dress uniform hats (similar to the ones worn by the Navy ROTC at PHS). The current uniforms have been essentially the same since at least 1955, with the only noticeable change being the crossbelts. Originally they were just one sash crossing over the body; the current ones have two sashes (which in 1955 were worn by the field commanders) that criss-cross the band member with the right one over the left one. The current uniforms also are made of wool and are red tops with white bottoms. The uniform top has two sets of silver buttons, one for each side, and the uniform pants have a red stripe down each outward facing side.

The field commander's uniform has seen its share of changes also. Originally, there were multiple field commanders/drum majors. One wore an all red uniform with the same styled white hat, and the others wore the white uniforms that eventually became the current field commander's uniform. The current field commander uniform was all white with a tall white hat with the 1955 set, this was changed slightly to include a red breastpiece and yellow shoulderpieces. The crossbelts worn by them in 1955 became the current crossbelts for the band.

The Big Red Band has its own fair share of recognition, performing at the World's Fair in 1982. They were also in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in November 1992. They also performed in the Kentucky Derby Pegasus Parade in 2005, and are regularly invited to participate in New Year's Day "bowl festivities."

Also, the Big Red Band won two Veterans of Foreign Wars junior band championships, one in Boston (1955) and one in Dallas (1956) ^[7] ^[8] and are one of only a few groups at PHS to be able to call themselves national champions. The band also won the Lion's Club International Band Contest four times from 1936 to 1941. They performed for the National Moose Convention in 1948. In addition, they were selected as the best band in the state in 1930 and won the tri-state band concert in 1933. ^[9]

The concert and jazz band also traveled to New Orleans for the Heritage Festival national competition in the 2004-2005 school year, the jazz band ended up taking 2nd place nationally and the concert band 1st place.

The band has performed for two presidents: Ronald Reagan and George W Bush during their visits to Parkersburg. They also played for Queen Marie of Romania during an incidental visit to Parkersburg (this was due to a snow squall hitting the area, forcing the Queen's train to stop) in 1926.^[10]

The current director of the Big Red Band is Daniel B. White. A 1989 graduate of PHS, he marched as a sousaphone player from 1986-88, and is the first alumnus to be named director. His percussion instructor is E.J. Oesterle, himself a 2002 graduate of PHS and a member of the "Long Red Line" as well.

[edit] Athletics

Parkersburg High is well known for its athletic achievements. The school is known as "The School of Champions" and holds twice as many state titles in athletics as any other high school in West Virginia. The football team has the 8th most victories in the United States with 737 (as of 1/1/2007) and is only 3 victories from 7th place. The football team is also the reigning 2007 AAA State Champions with a 13-1 record. In addition to this, for the first time in one hundred three years of PHS football, 2007 marks the first time the team has won back to back state champtionships (2006 and 2007). The boys and girls soccer teams are also 2006 state champions with the boys' team having successfully won two in a row, making for a state record four state championship wins for one high school. The boys' team is also currently ranked 24th in the nation. Parkersburg High School is also famous for the achievements of its wrestling team including a 2006-07 and 2007-08 AAA State Championship of their own, tying the Wrestling team with the PHS Boys Tennis Team , which has 21 titles, the record for the most amount of titles for one team in West Virginia.

PHS was rated by Sports Illustrated as the #9 sports high school of all time due to its long winning traditions and graduates such as Earl "Greasy" Neale who is in the Football Hall of Fame as well as other graduates such as Chicago White Sox outfielder Nick Swisher.