Randolph-Henry High School

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Randolph-Henry High School, as seen from the front.

Randolph-Henry High School is the only high school located in Charlotte County, Virginia, enrolling approximately 710 students in grades 9-12 according to the 2007 yearbook. The high school has been recognized by numerous sources as a high standard achieving rural high school [1], and is led by administrators Mrs. Gloria Talbott, Principal; Mr. Scott "Shep" Critzer and Mr. Robbie Mason, Assistant Principals; and Mr. Joe Freeland, Athletic Director. Notable aspects of the school include the school agricultural farm, on which students in Agriculture classes "work", as well as Statesmen Computers, a company that provides computers to colleges and universities throughout Virginia; these computers are built and distributed by students as well. [2]

1 Mission
2 History
3 Athletics
4 Clubs
5 Academic teams
6 Notable Alumni

[edit] Mission

The mission of Randolph-Henry High School is to prepare its students to be responsible, knowledgeable, and productive members of families, communities and society as a whole. The school believes in working with the community to offer a wide range of academic and vocational courses and activities that are designed to foster social and democratic values, to develop personal dignity, and to promote life-long inquiry. [3]

[edit] History

The school is named after John Randolph and Patrick Henry, patriots of the Revolutionary era who had a debate in Charlotte Court House, one mile to the east. It was established in 1938 with the help of David Bruce [4], a former ambassador and descendant of Robert Bruce of Scottish royalty. The school has a World War II memorial plaque in honor of its students who fought for their country, a commitment to freedom few remaining high schools can boast.

[edit] Athletics

Randolph-Henry is classified as a single A school by the Virginia High School League and is part of the A James River District and A Region B. Their mascot, the Statesmen was inspired by the patriotism of the country's early leaders, such as John Randolph and Patrick Henry, for whom the school is named. The school's baseball team has won two state championships in 2002 and 2005 and has won the Regional Championship eight times. Over fifty former Baseball players from Randolph-Henry have gone on to play college or professional baseball in the past 40 years. The school's golf team, coached by Kelly Powell, is one of the best in the state, winning the state in 2005. They also placed third in the state in 2006. The varsity boys tennis team, coached by Kenny Howard, is also extremely talented, winning the A James River District for seven consecutive years, and being the A Region B runners-up during each of those years. In 2007, Zack Pack became the A State Boys' Tennis Singles Champion, following three years of being the Region B runner-up. Pack also teamed up with Jay Howard in doubles play for three of his four years at the school, having three undefeated regular seasons, three James River District Championships, and three Region B runners-up titles. Chris Boyd won the State Title for Randolph-Henry as a Junior in the 215 division of wrestling.

Two Randolph-Henry athletes have signed with NCAA Division I football teams since 2000: John McCargo and Ryan Hathaway. John McCargo of Drakes Branch, VA signed with the North Carolina State Wolfpack in 2002. After being a redshirt as a freshman, McCargo played three years with the Wolfpack until entering the NFL draft in 2006 and signing with the Buffalo Bills as a defensive lineman.[5] Ryan Hathaway of Keysville, VA signed with Norfolk State University in 2007.[6][7]

[edit] Clubs

Randolph-Henry has a wide variety of clubs for its students to choose from. The most outstanding club is the Hacky-Sack Club. The Hacky-Sack Club gave its members the chance to improve upon their skills in hacky-sack. Another club is the unique Electronic Gaming Club, founded by Sameera Gadiyaram and Kaitlin Klien in 2005, it is currently sponsored by Mr. Brian Hamilton. This club give students the opportunity to stay after school and play their favorite video games with one another. There is also a club called Spanish Club where students can have fun learning Spanish, teachers, Ashley Burke and Mr. Sloper sponsor the club. Along with Spanish Club, another foreign language club is French Club where students can participate in games and other such French related activities, this club's sponsor is Mrs. E. Williams.

[edit] Academic teams

Among other academic teams, Randolph-Henry has very strong ACE and Forensics teams. The ACE, or Scholastic Bowl team has won the James River District Championship in the All-Around category for six consecutive years, and competed in the State Championship in 2002. The Forensics Team won the State Championship in 2004, and has been in very high standings since.[8]