Pisgah High School (North Carolina)
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Pisgah High School is a public senior high school located in Canton, North Carolina, USA approximately 25 miles west-southwest of Asheville. The school was founded in 1966 and is administered by the Haywood County school system. The school's primary mascot is the Black Bear, while the school colors are traditionally red and black. Pisgah's yearbook is The Pisgahteer and its literary magazine is Perspectives.
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[edit] History
On September 30, 1963, the joint boards of education recommended that the schools of Haywood County consolidate. At that time there existed two educational boards in the county, the Haywood board of Education and the Canton City School Board. In a move designed to promote a better educational environment for the children of Haywood County the two merged as one unit. Due to the popular thought that larger schools could provide more opportunities at a more cost-effective price, plans were made to build two senior high schools, one on each side of the county. The construction of these new schools was to be financed by a 2.5 million-dollar bond, along with additional state and local funds. In 1964, thirty acres were purchased from the W.J. Smathers estate for $2,500 per acre as the site of the new Pisgah High School. In January of 1965, the editors of the local papers, the Mountaineerand the Enterprise, along with the managers of two radio stations and Mr. Curtis Russ were chosen to recommend names for the new school. The committee requested public input, and on February 9th, 1966 the name of Pisgah High School was selected at approximately two a.m. by the joint board of education. Mr. Jerome Melton was elected the first superintendent of the Haywood County School system.
On August 29, 1966, Pisgah Senior High School opened its doors for the first time with Mr. B.F. Maree as its first principal. Pisgah High School replaced Canton, Reynolds, Bethel, and Clyde High Schools. The first student enrollment was figured at nine hundred and seventy four students. There were forty-nine teachers, five teacher's aids, one guidance counselor, eleven vocational teachers, one driver's education teacher, and one special education teacher. Due to an unusually heavy rain the night before the new school was to open, and without the construction of sidewalks completed teachers were prompted to take their shoes off as they entered the new building. The school held twenty-seven classrooms and six science labs. Seventy-four courses were offered and teachers were paid a salary ranging from $3600 to $6200 a year. In 1967 and 1968 Pisgah High School Library was chosen as a demonstration library as it held one of the few super 8mm film strip projectors in the nation. The Naval ROTC program became a part of the curriculum in 1970.
In 1967 Pisgah High School was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and to this day maintains its academic standards as well as its accreditation status.
Pisgah High has been led by such principals as B.F. Maree, Clark Morton, Malcomb Brown, Bill Upton, Mike Matthews, Dyatt Smathers, and presently, Mr. Danny Miller.
[edit] Academics
For its college-bound students, Pisgah offers advanced placement tests. Commonly referred to as AP Exams, these tests are administered by the College Board and are intended to give students a chance to earn college credits by taking college level courses in high school. Currently, Pisgah offers AP courses in Calculus AB, Chemistry, English Literature & Composition, Psychology, U.S. History, and several others. Pisgah also offers numerous honors classes, as well as many vocational classes in subjects such as agriculture, auto-mechanics, horticulture, computer sciences, and more. Pisgah has a strong vocational department which includes several courses offered through Haywood Community College, HCC for short. Through HCC's Dual Enrollment Program, students are allowed to take college courses, in addition to his or her course load at Pisgah, for free. Many students take advantage of this opportunity to earn college credit. Pisgah employees a faculty of experienced teacher, with 68% having taught for more than ten years. There are currently five national board certified teachers at Pisgah. On average, there are fifteen students per one teacher at Pisgah.
[edit] Rivalry
As one of the two major high schools in the Haywood County Schools System, there is a friendly rivalry between Pisgah and the other, Tuscola High School. This rivalry takes head each year in a traditional football game between the two schools, which draws between ten thousand and twelve thousand fans.
[edit] Athletics
Pisgah is a member of the AA Western Athletic Conference. Most recently, Pisgah's men's varsity basketball team won the 2005 state championship. The celebrated football team has one five state championships (1955, 1966, 1971, 1975, and 1976), though none in the last thirty years. The fall sports Pisgah offers are: cross country, JV and varsity football, women's tennis, JV and varsity volleyball, and men's soccer. Winter sports offered are: JV and varsity men's basketball, JV and varsity women's basketball, and wrestling. Spring sports offered are: women's softball, JV and varsity baseball, track, women's soccer, golf, and men's tennis.
