Wausau East High School

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Wausau East High School
Everyone Achieves Success Together
Location
Wausau, Wisconsin, USA
Information
School district Wausau School District
Principal Bradley J. Peck, PhD
Enrollment

Approx. 1,340 (2006 actual)
Type Public secondary
Grades 9–12
Mascot The Lumberjacks
Color(s) Red and White (& Black)
Yearbook The Wahiscan
Newspaper The Skyrocket
Established 1898 as Wausau High School

Originally named Wausau Senior High School before the opening of Wausau West High School[1] in the early 1970s, Wausau East High School is a comprehensive public secondary school of the Wausau School District, located in the city of Wausau, Wisconsin. 2006 enrollment figures show 1,340 students [2] in grades 9-12 attended the school from September to June. The current principal is Dr. Bradley J. Peck.

The school newspaper, in publication since 1918 is called The Skyrocket. Its yearbook, in publication since 1912 is called the WAHISCAN or Wausau High School Annual. Both publications references the life of Wausau East High School students. The school's colors are red and white (although sometimes thought to be red and black because black is an important accent color). Its mascot is a Lumberjack.

Contents

[edit] History

Wausau East High School
Wausau East High School

The first high school in Wausau was a two room school house in 1880 and was occupied by different grades. When Washington School was erected as the new high school in 1889 for $12,400, the city felt that the school was too big. Years later in 1897, the school became overcrowded and five rooms in the court house were rented for classroom space. In 1898, a new high school was built at the cost of $65,000 by Van Ryn and DeGelleke of Milwaukee, on the corners of Seventh and Eighth streets. Far from the center of the city, many city residents complained that it was too far from the city and still others thought it was too big. The school officially opened its doors in 1900. Charles C. Parlin was the school's first principal, and he served until 1911. This high school became what was known as Wausau High School, and it is today known as Wausau East High School.

In the early years, Wausau East housed two sections for seventh- and eighth-graders, kindergarten,and the Marathon County Normal School. The school also taught various subjects such as Home Economics, Sciences, and Social Studies. Students who did not behave could be expelled and placed in vocational schools. There were no buses to take students to and from school and few rural students attended. Students had about an hour and a half for lunch. They were also required to dress formally. Boys wore short pants and ties. Girls wore dresses that went down to their knees.

The school had an assembly room capable of holding 1,000 students. It was once said that students and teachers were proud of its angeled floors, which gave them a good view of all activities on the stage.

During the Great Depression, with the help of the Works Progress Administration, the city expanded the 1898 building with a new three story Victorian style addition facing Seventh Street. There were supposedly three phases for the building, each to proceed in a set number of years. The first phase began in 1934. The entire building consisted of various hand-crafted wall tiles, and the main entrance displayed a large mural depicting lumberjacks cutting trees. The building also contained a series of tunnels, which were used mainly for heating of the building. This addition to Wausau High School opened in 1936.

The second phase began in the sometime in early 1950s. This phase consisted of the construction of the theater, band, art, and social sciences classrooms. This phase was officially completed in 1954.

The last phase occurred in the 1960s, adding the gymnasium, cafeteria, and a nuclear fall-out shelter below the school. Due to a lack of funds, the plan to demolish the 1898 structure and replace it with an identical extension of the 1936 phase was never put into motion.

However, in 1979, the original 1898 building was eventually demolished by Williams Wrecking of Wausau at the cost of $53,000 because officials thought that it was an unsafe structure. The lost classroom space then was replaced with portable classrooms until a two-story addition with a second floor library was constructed and opened in 1986. The newly constructed addition consisted of classroom space for special education, administrative offices, teacher offices, and science classrooms. Also during this time, Wausau East High School went through extensive renovation, including lowering of the ceilings and dividing the old library into three discussion rooms and classrooms (primarily English Language Learner (ELL) rooms).

The school's name changed multiple times, first from Wausau High to Wausau Senior High. The final name change occurred in 1970 with the opening of the new Wausau West High School on the city's west side. Wausau Senior High then became known as Wausau East High School.

Due to overcrowding at the aging high school in the late 1990s, the community began to discuss the school's future, debating whether the land locked school should be expanded, converted into Horace Mann Middle School, leaving the middle school building to be renovated into a high school. The option of building an entirely new high school was also discussed. In 1999, voters of Wausau passed a referendum to construct a new high school. The new school was to be located on 18th Street, a site that has been proposed in the 1970s. The very last class to walk the halls of the old Wausau East High School was the graduating class of 2004. The new school opened its doors in September 2004. The first class to graduate from the new building was the class of 2005. The former high school has been renovated into apartments for middle and lower income families, while still keeping the building's character and school identity. The school is also on the National Register of Historic Places.[3] The 1960 and 1986 additions have been demolished, and made into a parking lot for tenants of the complex. The site of the later additions is to used for townhouses. The future of the theater remains unknown.

[edit] Past Principals

  • J.A. Eakin , 1891-1900
  • Charles C. Parlin , 1901-1911
  • Ira C. Painter , 1912-1937
  • Gilbert W. Bannerman, 1938-1946
  • E.H. Boettcher , 1947-1961
  • Marshall R. Taylor, 1962-1966
  • G.A. Jacobson , 1967
  • James Bollinger, 1968-1969
  • Pat Morey, 1970
  • Herbert Reitz, 1971-1976
  • John Crubaugh ,1977-1984
  • Tom Beattie , 1985-1993
  • Bradley J. Peck, 1994-present


[edit] Gallery

Original Wausau East High

Wausau East High School sign

Another view of old Wausau East High

The administrative center of old Wausau East High

The new Wausau East High complex

[edit] Philosophy

Wausau East High School's philosophy is to provide "an active quality learning environment that develops life-long learners who contribute responsibly to a changing global society[4]."

The school motto is EAST: "Everyone Achieves Success Together."

[edit] Academics

Wausau East has a great variety of classes, here are a few examples:

[edit] Ethnic Groups

According to the School Matters and data from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, about 72.5% of students during the 2005 year were Caucasian. About 20.6% were either Asian or Pacific Islanders, and about 4 percent were either African American, Hispanic, or Native American.[6]

[edit] Extracurricular Activities

Wausau East provides a variety of extracurricular activities for students. Here are some examples:

  • Art Club
  • Band [7]
  • Key Club
  • Math Club
  • Drama Club (The Eastend Players)[8]
  • Fellowship of Christian Athletes
  • FFA (Future Farmers of America)
  • Intramurals, Fall- Flag Football, Winter- Co-Ed Volleyball, Spring- Basketball
  • Outdoor Club
  • Ultimate Frisbee
  • School Newspaper (The Skyrocket)
  • School Yearbook (The Wahiscan)
  • Student Council
  • WEHS Tech Crew
  • Forensics
  • French Club
  • German Club
  • Spanish Club
  • Skills USA
  • National Honor Society
  • Junior Girls
  • Students Against Dangerous Decisions (SADD)
  • Trap & Skeet Club
  • WAIY
  • Youth Culture Club

[edit] Mascot & Sports

The official mascot of Wausau East High School is the Lumberjacks. This was also the mascot from the original Wausau Senior High. Wausau was a very strong logging community and the mascot was selected for this reason.

Wausau East High School Sports (List may be incomplete)

  • Boys & Girls Curling
  • Boys & Girls Basketball
  • Boys & Girls Track
  • Girls Cheerleading
  • Boys & Girls Cross Country
  • Boys & Girls Cross Country Skiing
  • Girls Dance Team
  • Football
  • Boys Hockey
  • Girls Hockey (city team)
  • Boys Wrestling
  • Boys soccer
  • Girls Soccer
  • Girls Softball
  • Boys Baseball
  • Boys & Girls Tennis
  • Boys Golf
  • Girls Volleyball
  • Boys & Girls Swimming
  • Alpine Skiing
  • Snowboarding

Wausau East also has intramural flag football, basketball, and volleyball, advised by Rob Hughes. Intramural teams also collect food for local food pantries.

  • The Wausau East Curling boys' curling team won two consecutive state titles (2006 and 2007). The team was made up Fritz Prehn (skip), Alex Johnson (third), Josh "Chuck" Kernosky (second), and Jake Veldhuizen (lead).
  • Former football coach Win Brockmeyer was the coach at Wausau High School from 1937 to 1970. Brockmeyer's teams had a 230-33-9 record, were undefeated in 13 seasons, and won 26 conference titles. In the 1940s, he had a 72-2-4 record that included a 46 game winning streak. A scholarship was later inaugurated in his honor.

[edit] Administration

Principal:

  • Bradley J. Peck, Ph.D.

Assistant Principals:

  • Chris Budnik
  • Jeff Lindell
  • Joe Svitak

Activities Director:

  • Mike Younggren

Guidance Director:

  • John Boulanger

[edit] IB Info

Wausau East High School has been an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School since October 1978. Wausau East High School is the 10th oldest IB school in United States and fifth in the state of Wisconsin. The program is opened to all students in grades 11-12th. Students taking IB courses also may earn college credit through their IB exams at the end of the year which could allow them to begin college with sophomore status.[9] It offers the IB Diploma to those who successfully complete the program. The program is offered in English to 22 students. The program is state funded.

Students at this school usually take IB exams in May. In the last examination session, students completed the following exams: Biology HL, Chemistry SL, English A1 HL, Environmental Systems SL, French B SL, German B SL, History HL, Mathematics Studies SL, Mathematics SL, Physics SL, Psychology HL, Sociology SL, Spanish B SL, Theory of Knowledge TK and Visual Arts HL.

[edit] ACT Info

[edit] No Child Left Behind Annual Progress

Wausau East High School is currently not identified as "in need of improvement" by the Department of Public Instruction.[10]

Objective 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007
Test Participation Satisfactory Satisfactory Satisfactory
Other Academic Indicator Satisfactory Satisfactory Satisfactory
Reading Satisfactory Satisfactory Satisfactory
Mathematics Satisfactory Satisfactory Satisfactory
Met Annual Progress Yes Yes Yes

The average class size is 15.6 students per one teacher.[11]

[edit] External links