Webb City High School (Missouri)

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**Webb City High School**

Current Principal	Stephen Gollhofer
School type	Public
Founded	1877
Opened	1968 (current facility)
Location	Webb City, Missouri USA
Enrollment	1068 (as of Aug 2006)
Faculty	77
Mascot	Cardinal
School colors	Blue, Red, & White

Webb City High School, or WCHS, is a public high school in the Webb City R-7 located in Webb City, Missouri USA.

1 Location and campus
2 Controversy
3 Athletics
- 3.1 Football
- 3.2 Baseball
4 Notable alumni
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Location and campus

The school's campus, located at 621 North Madison, Webb City, Missouri is currently housed in a one-story structure originally built in 1968. It was expanded in 1971, 1975, 1983, 1987, 1994, 1997, 1999, and 2004. The most recent addition added a band room, two drama classrooms, an automotive technology annex, an industrial arts technology classroom, and a weight room.

The central part of the school was built with an "open classroom" in mind, which means there are no doors on the classrooms. The library, although it possesses doors for security reasons, the walls do not reach all the way to the ceiling in most places. Adjacent to the main building are several annex structures including a football stadium, tennis courts, a soccer field and an indoor swimming pool.

[edit] Controversy

WCHS was the center of a gay rights controversy when Brad Mathewson, a recent transfer student, was suspended from school for wearing a gay pride shirts on two separate occasions in November of 2004 ^[1]. The ACLU issued press releases about the incident and created a national controversy about students' free speech rights on high school campuses. The ACLU filed a civil lawsuit on November 23, 2004 against the school^[2]. The controversy attracted the attention of the Westboro Baptist Church which announced it would hold a protest at the school^[3].

In the days following Mathewson's suspension, students on both sides of the Mathewson issue wore t-shirts, bumper stickers, and other displays of their beliefs. Some opposed to Mathewson wore shirts supporting a ban on gay marriage, while at least one student in support of Mathewson wore a shirt reading "I Love Lesbians." Lastaysha Myers, a friend and supporter of Mathewson, was later suspended for wearing pro-gay rights shirts on several occasions. The ACLU filed a lawsuit in April of 2005 on her behalf^[4].

On the day of the Westboro Baptist Church's protest, the protesters were greatly outnumbered by counter-protesters against the church. While the counter-protesters were not necessarily supporting the rights of Mathewson, or of gays in general, they were protesting the incendiary tactics of the church.

Mathewson's suit was withdrawn because he dropped out of school. Myers' suit was withdrawn when the school district agreed to not limit the free speech of their students^[5].

[edit] Athletics

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[edit] Football

Here are some facts concerning Webb City Cardinal football over the years.

• Since 1985, the Cardinals have a combined regular season/playoff record of 231-39. Since 1985, the Cardinals have a postseason record of 46-9.

• Since 1985, the Cardinals have reached the postseason in 16 out of 22 football seasons. Here is a breakdown of the team’s postseason success: • Quarterfinalist (2) = 1988 and 2005 • Semifinalists (5) = 1985, 1991, 1996, 2002 and 2003 • State Runner-up (2) = 1990 and 2004 • State Champions (7) = 1989, 1992, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2006

• Since 1985, the Webb City Cardinal teams, collectively, have scored 8,574 points through 22 football seasons. These teams gave up 2,974 total points. Only 2 of Webb City’s 22 teams since 1985 have allowed more than 200 opponent points in a single season. On the flipside, Cardinals teams have held their opponents to less than 100 points in a season 5 times, with the 1993 team allowing just 53 total points. Webb City has been better than 10-2 each year, on average, since 1985.

[edit] Baseball

The Webb City baseball team won back to back state championships in 2005 and 2006. The Cards were a state contenders in 2007 finishing the season with only one loss. But, the Cardinals were eliminated by the Carl Junction Bulldogs, 8-4.^[6]. After the season was over for the Cards, Coach Bryce Darnell decided to move on to coach college baseball. In 2008, Darnell will be coaching the Missouri Southern State Lions. The Cards new coach for 2008 will be Shawn Mayes. He was an assistant for Coach Darnell for the past 2 years. Coach Cole Shewmake,Brett Power, and Jackson Boyer have also been added to the coaching staff for the upcoming year.

[edit] Notable alumni

Grant Wistrom - Retired Professional Football Player (NFL), Class of 1994.
Lisa Myers - NBC News Senior Investigative Correspondent, Class of 1969.
Ken Boyer - Professional Baseball Player (MLB), St. Louis Cardinals, National League MVP in 1964, Class of 1949.
Kathy Lewis - Journalist, Houston Post and the Dallas Morning News, Class of 1966.
W.H. Perry - Founder, Cardinal Scale Manufacturing Company, Class of 1934.
Clete Boyer - Professional Baseball Player (MLB) 1959-1969, member of the 1961 and 1962 New York Yankee World Championship team, Class of 1955.
Christopher A. Pittman - Renowned Barrister and University of Oklahoma Letterman, Class of 1993.
Cloyd Boyer - Professional Baseball Player (MLB) 1949-1955, St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Athletics, Class of 1945.
Kelli Pryor - Author and Journalist, Class of 1982.