Walt Whitman High School

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Walt Whitman High School
Location
7100 Whittier Boulevard Bethesda,  Maryland,  USA
Information
School district	Montgomery County Public Schools
Principal	Dr. Alan Goodwin
Enrollment	1872 (2007-2008)
Type	Public Secondary
Grades	9-12
Campus	Suburban
Motto	Pride + Determination = Success
Mascot	Viking
Nickname	WWHS
Color(s)	Black, White, and Columbia blue
Yearbook	Saga
Newspaper	The Black & White
Established	1962
Information	301-320-6600
Homepage	Walt Whitman Home Page

Walt Whitman High School is a public secondary institution serving roughly the western part of Bethesda--an unincorporated suburban area of Washington, DC, in Montgomery County, Maryland.

The school, which takes its name after the American poet, is closed enrollment; students are required to have residency within the school's territorial boundary to attend. It is fed into by just one school, Pyle Middle School.

[edit] History

The school opened in the fall of 1962 with 1,418 students. It was built on 17 levels, with a center courtyard and a geodesic dome for its gymnasium and auditorium until renovation in 1992. A Ford Foundation grant underwrote the design and construction of the dome. During the first school year, Broadway composer and lyricist Meredith Willson visited the school to assist teacher Monica McMindes with her production of The Music Man, which was his creation. In 1981, a 1,200-seat auditorium was added to the school. Legendary Dr. Jerome Marco was Principal from 1975 until his retirement in 2004. Currently, the Principal is Dr. Alan Goodwin, who was Assistant Principal for several years before taking his current post. Six elementary schools feed Thomas W. Pyle Middle School, which in turn feeds to Walt Whitman. The elementary schools are Wood Acres, Bannockburn, Burning Tree, Carderock Springs, Bradley Hills, and Bethesda.

[edit] The Black & White

The Black & White is a national, regional and state award-winning newspaper that is student-financed and student-run. In addition to informing students, teachers, parents and community members of relevant issues and events, it also provides an open forum for an exchange of student ideas. It was established in 1961 and produces 12 issues each academic year. The newspaper was inducted into the National Scholastic Press Association Hall of Fame in 1991, during the tenure of longtime adviser Mr. Atwood. In 2001, the staff of the Black & White collaborated to launch the Spectator, a supplementary paper covering sports features and recreation. The newspaper has gathered numerous national awards for its print edition as well as its website, Black & White Online, established (at a different URL) in 2001 and remade in 2008. The Black & White has over 70 staff members (print and online positions included) and the Spectator has more than 30 members. Some staff positions, like photographers, graphic artists, business and advertising managers, are shared by both papers. Louise Reynolds is currently the adviser to the Black & White, succeeding Dr. Jan Bowman, who retired in 2007.

[edit] Performing Arts

WWHS is known for its successes in the performing arts.

The CHORAL MUSIC department contains 5 regular ensembles and smaller chamber groups and is directed by Jeff Davidson. The Chamber Choir (formerly Chamber Singers) has been regularly recognized as one of the top groups on the East Coast for many years. Like the INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC department, the Choral Music department regularly wins straight 1's ("Superior"--highest rating) for Level VI (most advanced) choral arrangements in county, state, and national competitions. Combined, the Choral and Instrumental Music programs regularly place graduating students in top U.S. music schools and conservatories.

Musical Ensembles:

General Chorus A and B: A freshmen only Ensemble.

Treble Chorale/Chorus 2A and 2B: For Sophomore, Junior and Senior females.

Concert Choir/Chorus 3A and 3B: Open to all Juniors and Seniors by audition only as well as advanced sophomores. Many different styles of music will be performed from early to contemporary. This is the touring/traveling choir.

Chamber Singers: Open to all Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors by audition only. It is the most selective and advanced of all choral groups at Whitman. This group has the heaviest performing schedule of all the choral groups.

Music Theory and Composition: Open to all freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors. By the end of the course, students are able to compose original music for various voice/instrument combinations.

The INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC department oversees 6 standard ensembles and is directed by Chris Allen and Terry Alvey.

Musical Ensembles:

Advanced Band: Open to all all Freshman with more than one year of experience, this ensemble performs at four or five home football games.

Advanced Orchestra: Open to all students who have played an orchestra string instrument for more than one year.

Concert Orchestra: By audition only, this freshmen and sophomore ensemble is a traveling, competing group and members are chosen to make up the pit orchestra for the fall musical.

Concert Band: By audition only for upper level musicians. This ensemble is a traveling, competing group whose members also perform at four or five home football games.

Symphonic Band: By audition only for upper level musicians, this advanced performing group is a traveling, competing group whose members also perform at four or five home football games.

Symphonic Orchestra: By audition only for upper level musicians, the Symphonic Orchestra is a traveling, competing group whose members also make up the pit orchestra for the fall musical.

Jazz Ensemble: By audition only, the Jazz Ensemble has the heaviest performance schedule of all the ensembles. The members of this group also perform at four out of five home football games.

Awards and Competitions for the 2007-2008 School Year:

Heritage Music Competition, Orlando

Gold Award and First Place for Jazz Ensemble Gold Award for Symphonic Orchestra Gold Award and Second Place for Symphonic Band Gold Award and First Place for Concert Band Silver Award for Concert Orchestra

Heritage Music Festival Outstanding Orchestra Award for the Symphonic Orchestra

Heritage Music Festival Adjudicator Awards: (All ensembles receiving a score of 92 or above) Concert Band Symphonic Orchestra Jazz Ensemble

Sweepstakes Award for the entire music department (choral and instrumental) for highest scoring musical ensembles overall.

Heritage Music Festival Outstanding Soloist Awards

Damjan Korac, Gavin Palmer

Junior County Band

Siddhu Anandalingam, Jonathan Kaufman, Erik Koritzinsky, Adam Polis, Ethan Senator

Junior County Orchestra

Clara McCreery, Andrew Weinstein

Junior County Jazz Ensemble

Siddhu Anandalingam, Sahil Ansari, Max Light, Colin MacKnight, Adam Polis, Ethan Senator

Junior State Band

Siddhu Anandalingam, Jonathan Kaufman, Adam Schefkind, Ethan Senator

Junior State Orchestra

Clara McCreery

Senior County Band

Brian Lin, Neha Mehta, Rebecca Newman, Rachel Zhang, Kiki Abu-Sharr (alternate), Kate Amrine (alternate)

Senior County Orchestra

Alexander Buria-Hellbeck, Mai Segawa, Pam Schrenk, Dena Goodman, David Poznansky, Dan Pappalardo

Senior State Band

Emily Massey

Senior State Orchestra

Jhee Soo Ahn, Stephanie Chow, Lakshman Mody, Lauren Song, Caleb Woo Senior County Jazz Ensemble

Daniel Lee, Mandy Mamlet, Polly Membrino, Sam Raim, Gavin Palmer (alternate)

Senior State Jazz Ensemble

Sam Raim, Michael Deem (alternate)

WHITMAN DRAMA is an award winning theater department directed by theater professional Christopher Gerken and produces a fall musical (with a student Pit orchestra), a student-directed talent show, and a winter play. The home of the theatre program, the Daryl Shaw Auditorium, holds 1,200 seated audience members. The school is a member of the Critics and Awards Program for High School Students (Cappies) National Capital Area and has been nominated for and won several awards at the annual Gala. In June 2008 Whitman was awarded the most coveted Cappie award - BEST MUSICAL for their production of AIDA and won one of the most competitive awards - LEAD ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL for graduating senior Andrea Carroll's stellar performance in the title role of AIDA.

Last year Whitman presented an outstanding performance of Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida and in February of 2008 performed a comedic play The Nerd with two separate and successful casts. The dual cast worked very well in the eyes of Director, Christopher Gerken, that he plans on casting two separate casts in the future winter plays. In May 2008 Senior Mandy Mamlet was the student director of REALITY BITES - TS2K8 and the Drama Department produced and performed Jason Robert Brown's SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD at their auditorium and at Imagination Stage in Bethesda Maryland.

In 2007 Whitman Drama was recognized as one of the top 50 American high school drama programs by the American High School Theater festival and invited to perform at the International Fringe Festival, Edinburgh Scotland in August 2008. 19 Whitman students will travel to Scotland to perform their production of Jason Robert Brown's Songs For a New World.

Whitman Drama has announced it will produce the popular musical DAMN YANKEES in November 2008 and both the male and female version of Neil Simon's THE ODD COUPLE in February 2009.

Shakespeare Club

Every other year, Whitman holds a schoolwide Shakespeare Festival for one day in April. It is based in student projects, which encompass posters, food, live performances, videos, demonstrations, costumes, and trebuchets. Everything is linked to some aspect of Shakespeare, his work, or the Renaissance. The festival is organized and run by students, with the aid of the English department.

This year the Shakespeare Club produced The Taming of the Shrew, which was also student run and student directed.

In the 2008-9 school year, the Club will put on Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and the Shakespeare Festival 2009.

[edit] Role in popular culture

Walt Whitman High School was the subject of the 2006 best-selling book, The Overachievers. The non-fiction book concerns itself with several students who were members of Whitman's class of 2004 and 2005. From July 20, 2004 - December 9, 2004, she followed eight Whitman juniors and seniors around. It uses the lives of the Whitman students to show pressure in academia and the negative effect in today's society. The author, Alexandra Robbins, is a Whitman alum of the class of 1994.

In 2005, in wake of Hurricane Katrina, a Whitman student and her two younger sisters started Project Backpack, an organization which donated backpacks filled with toys to displaced children. The project exceeded all expectations and received thousands of backpacks which were delivered to the New Orleans victims. To honor their deed, President Bush invited them to light the national Christmas tree.

[edit] Statistics

88% of the seniors attend 4-year colleges.
9% attend 2-year colleges.
More than 72% attend college out-of-state.
Some foreign students return to college in their own country.
Students come from more than 40 countries.
Whitman's average SAT score for the 2006-07 school year was 1880, highest in the Montgomery county public school system

[edit] Athletic Championships

Golf State Champions (new state record)- '07
Boys State Cricket Champions- '07
Boys Tennis County Champions- '07
Girls Basketball 4A West Region Champs- '07
Boys Basketball Division 4A State Champions- '06
Girls Field Hockey Regional Champions- '06
Will Sharbaugh - Wrestling State Champion- '06
Eren Civan - Wrestling State Champion- '04, '05, '06
Wrestling State Champions- '05
Boys Tennis Division I 1st Place- '05
Girls Soccer State Champions- '04
Boys Volleyball Regional Champions- '03
Boys Soccer State Champions- '00
Golf State Champions- '99
Boys Rowing State Champions- '98
Girls Volleyball State Champions- '98
Boys Soccer State Champions- '97
Girls Basketball Division 4A State Champions- '95
Boys Cross Country 4A State Champions- '95
Greco-Roman Wrestling- '68-'69

[edit] Notable Alumni

• Eric Pierpoint, '68, actor, "Star Trek: Enterprise"
• Gordon Smith, '70, U.S. Senator, Oregon
• Ken Navarro, '71, jazz guitarist, "Smooth Sensation" and "Love Coloured Soul"
• Lisa Pelikan, '72, actress, "Julia" and "Return to the Blue Lagoon"
• Bob Raba, '73, football player (tight end, New York Jets, Washington Redskins)
• Rodney Alan Greenblat, '78, artist
• Kate Seelye, '80, Middle-east reporter for National Public Radio
• Mark Pryor, '81, U.S. Senator, Arkansas
• Mark Halperin, '83, political analyst, ABC News, Time Magazine, Time.com; former Political Director, ABC News
• Anthony Dilweg, '84, football player (1988 ACC player of the year, Duke University; former NFL quarterback)
• Susan Dynner, '84, movie producer/director, "Punk's Not Dead", producer, "Brick".
• Michael Eisen, '85, noted proponent of open source scientific research
• Jeff Tremaine, '85, co-writer, director, creator, "Jackass: The Movie" (2002) and the MTV show by the same name.
• Richard Ault, '86, web/Internet entrepreneur, CNET, myplay, Napster, Technorati, Metroblogging.
• Harold Maroll, '86, editor-in-chief of the Washington Times
• Spike Jonze, '87, movie director, "Being John Malkovich," "Adaptation." and co-writer, "Jackass: The Movie"
• David Dobkin, '87, movie director, "Wedding Crashers", and "Shanghai Knights"
• Ryan Kuehl, '90, football player (defensive tackle, New York Giants)
• Giuliana DePandi, '92, celebrity news personality
• Alexandra Robbins, '94, published author
• Andy Corno, '01, lacrosse player (midfielder, New Jersey Pride)
• Will and Pete Anderson, '05 Rising musicians and song writers
• Ye Htut Lynn, '05 Burmese Political Activist

Eric Smith, '03 President of The Lords Of Naptown

[edit] External links

• Instrumental music Downloads
• Whitman Drama
• Walt Whitman Website
• Whitman's Award Winning Newspaper Online
• Montgomery County Public Schools Home Page
• Whitman Athletics
• Walt Whitman Alumni Tracking Website
• Walt Whitman Alumni Class of 1973 Website