Plano West Senior High School

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Plano West Senior High School is a public secondary school in Plano, USA serving high school juniors and seniors. The school is part of the Plano Independent School District, with admission based primarily on the locations of students' homes. Students at Plano West attended one of two high schools: Jasper or Shepton. Plano West is accredited by the Texas Education Agency, which designates the school as "Recognized". The school colors are royal blue, black, and white, and the mascot is the Wolf.

This mascot was selected by future students of the school prior to its opening, and represents a departure from the theme of feline-related mascots used by the other two senior high schools. Before the founding of Plano West, there was a push by students to have the school mascot be the bulldog, but this was vetoed by the administration.^[1]

[edit] In the news

In July 2003, Taylor Hooton, a student athlete at Plano West, committed suicide which many believed was connected to depression caused by the use of steroids used for performance enhancement. This incident drew national focus to the issues of high school athletes and steroid use. Chris Wash was featured on the cover of the December 20, 2004, Newsweek magazine wearing a Plano West Senior High School shirt in an article about the use of steroids in high schools. On March 10, 2005, Taylor's father, Don Hooton, testified before a Congressional Subcommittee about the use of steroids in high school. This was a widely covered event as several prominent baseball players including José Canseco and Mark McGwire testified as well.

[edit] Academics

Plano West operates on a 9:00 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. schedule, which includes seven periods and a break for off-campus lunch during which all students may leave campus to eat lunch. There is one period from 8:00 a.m. to 8:50 a.m. called "Zero Hour" which students can opt to attend, thus enabling an 8:00-to-3:19 school day. ^[2]

Plano West offers 26 Advanced Placement courses out of the 31 possible courses. The school currently offers many vocational courses in agriculture, early childhood education, home economics, journalism, fashion design, advertising design, drafting, automotive technology, criminal justice, and clinical rotation.^[1]

In 2005-2006, students achieved an average composite SAT score of 1158 out of 1600 and a mean ACT score of 24.6 out of 36. Both scores are the highest out of all three PISD senior high schools.^[3] Many Plano West students received National Merit Scholarship accolades in the 2005-2006 school year, including 30 finalists, 40 semi-finalists, and 59 commended students.^[1]

Plano West is ranked 186 in Newsweek's Top Public High Schools 2007.

[edit] Athletics

The Plano West hockey team has won back-to-back state championships in the Southwestern Bell High School Hockey League for the years of 2004 and 2005. However, during the 2004 Southwestern Bell High School Hockey Championship (Texas Cup) Plano West had to forfeit all games due to ineligible players. The 2004 Texas Cup was not awarded to any team. The team has played in the state championship game in four of the six years of its existence.[1]

In addition, the women's soccer team was ranked #1 in the nation and claimed the Texas state championship the first three years in the school's existence.

The men's lacrosse team for Plano West has also won state title honors, back in 2005. Plano West completed a 10-3 season in the Texas Division 2 North conference with the only losses coming to Division 1 teams. West then went 5-0 in the playoffs, including two riveting games against rival Plano East. West defeated East 15-14 in overtime in the conference finals, and 13-12 in the state finals to capture its first state championship in only its fourth season of existence.

The Plano West Wolves have also competed in a UIL Record four consecutive State 5A High School Tennis Championships at the Lakeway World of Tennis, Austin, Texas, (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006) winning the UIL State Championship 5A Title in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Plano West made it to the Final Four in each of its seven years of existence, to the State Championship Match five times, and won the championship title four of those years, 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2006. Two of the "Fabulous Freshman" of 2003, Don Murray and Joe Hattrup, both highly ranked USTA Superchampions, were "Super Seniors" leading the Wolf Pack during the 2006 - 2007 school year to help accomplish the school's UIL record-setting performance of four consecutive state championship appearances. Murray signed a National Letter of Intent to play for Southern Conference Division I NCAA College of Charleston, (CofC), Charleston, South Carolina, in the Fall of 2007, while Hattrup will play for Texas Tech. Murray and Hattrup played No. 1 Doubles together winning the No. 1 State Doubles championship in straight sets in the fall of 2006 over Westlake's Calon Alpar (Illinois) and Drew Peterson (SMU) 7-6(5), and 7-5. Coach Morgen Walker indicated the the 2006-2007 Plano West Team "...set the standard by which all other Texas High School Tennis Teams will be judged in the future." It looks as though 2007 is poised to be another exceptional year with the addition of Ben Guthrie to the tennis line up, a nationally ranked freshman USTA junior talent that will help the Plano West team tennis legacy grow to new heights.

The Plano West Runnin Wolves Cross Country team swept the 9-5A district meet in 2006, placing first in all four races. Both varsity teams advanced to regionals. The Plano West Girls Cross Country team qualified for state for the third time in school history. They placed first at regionals for the first time in 2006. The Plano West Boys Cross Country team qualified for the state meet for the first time in school history in 2006. The Girls team finished in 4th place, while the Boys team finished 6th. The Plano West Cross Country team won the district 9-5A again in 2007, placing first in all four races once again.

The Plano West Swim team completed a stellar 2006-2007 campaign with the guy's team finishing higher at state than ever before. Led by senior Jordan Hawley, the Wolves were able to place 8 swims at the state meet. Two unfortunate disqualifications in a second place and winning relay negated a chance to place in the top three overall for the boys team. The DQs were a result of Vadim K. leaving early on both relays, one of which was by .01 of a second. Sophomore Brendan McIntee was named by coach Kris Jones as Plano West Male Swimmer of the year based on his leadership and performance throughout the season. The award follows up his award from the 2005-2006 academic year of Newcomer of the Year.

In 2007, both the Plano West Boys and Girls Soccer Teams advanced to the State Final. The Plano West Girls defeated previously undefeated Deer Park 3-0 to win its 4th state championship. Sophomore Lauren LaGro was named the Championship Match MVP.^[8]. Meanwhile, the Boys team lost to undefeated Flower Mound Marcus in a shootout, 3-2, despite having the lead with less than 2 minutes remaining.^[9].

At the end of the 2007 school year, West was awarded with the Texas Dodge Dealers Lone Star Cup, given to the top sports high school in the state due to how far high schools went or final rank in all district, regional, and state playoff competitions. West tied with Humble Kingwood, but won the tie breaker with 2 overall state championships (Girls Soccer and Team Tennis) to Kingwood's 1 (Boys Swimming).

In 2007, Plano West won the Dallas Morning News SportsDay's All-Sports High School Award as the top athletic program in North Texas. ^[10].

[edit] Notable alumni

• David Lofton (Class of 2002) — NFL defensive back with the Miami Dolphins, formerly at Stanford University.^[11]
• Vickiel Vaughn (Class of 2002) — NFL defensive back with the San Francisco 49ers, formerly at the University of Arkansas.^[12]
• James Barnett (Class of 2005) — Owner of a social networking site.

[edit] Music

The Plano West Chamber Orchestra has been named the outstanding string orchestra for the state of Texas by the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) 4 consecutive times. Directed by Mrs. Jo Wallace-Abbie, the orchestra is made up of 38 musicians. TMEA rules prohibit a school from entering the competition the year after it has won, so the title of Texas "Honor Orchestra" was won in 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2008. The orchestra has been featured on the Disney Channel series "Totally in Tune" which aired in 2001. In 2005 , the orchestra won a Cappie Award for Outstanding Pit Orchestra in a musical, for the school production of Les Miserables. The Plano West band is directed by James Tiberius Hannah and assistant director David DeSoto.

The James Hannah Mighty Wolf band has a marching and concert season, and also has a winterguard program. In the 2006-2007 school year, the band had 126 members.

[edit] Theatre

The Plano West Theatre Department is currently under the direction of Ms. Carla Ford-Rich, who has been named the Secondary Teacher of the Year by the Texas Educational Theatre Association.^[13] Past theatre productions include performances of West Side Story, Les Misérables, The Laramie Project, To Kill a Mockingbird, Little Shop of Horrors, and Dark Side of the Moon.

[edit] See also

• Plano East Senior High School
• Plano Senior High School
• Shepton High School
• Jasper High School

[edit] External links

• Plano West Senior High School is at coordinates 33°02′37″N 96°48′48″W / 33.0436, -96.8133 (Plano West Senior High School)Coordinates: 33°02′37″N 96°48′48″W / 33.0436, -96.8133 (Plano West Senior High School)

[edit] References