West Valley High School (Alaska)
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West Valley High School is a public high school in Fairbanks, Alaska (USA), and part of the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District. It serves about 1,250 students from the western part of the Fairbanks area. West Valley's mascot is the Wolfpack, and its school colors are red and gold.
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[edit] History
West Valley was first opened in 1975 as West Lathrop, due to the overcrowding of Lathrop High School across town; in 1976 the name was changed to West Valley High School. A major renovation of the school was completed in 2000, roughly doubling the amount of classroom space.
There is a glass cage with three stuffed wolves, completed c. 1977, in West Valley's main commons. It is known as the "wolf cage" and is one way the school greets its students and visitors. West Valley has a trophy case housing the relics of all of its teams, as well as posters in the gym commemorating championships won.
Mrs. Shaun Kraska is the principal of West Valley.
[edit] Building and grounds
West Valley is located next to the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus. The grounds include a football field and track, a soccer field, and other recreational areas. The building has two floors and is divided into three main sections, one of which houses most of the classrooms, one the administrative offices and library, and one the gymnasium and other special-use rooms.
[edit] Academics
There are eight academic departments at West Valley: Vocational Education, Health and Physical Education, Fine Arts, Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, and World Languages. An appointed teacher chairs each department. Students are required to take a number of classes in most departments in order to graduate.
[edit] Graduation requirements
Students at West Valley are required to obtain:
- 4 credits in English/Language Arts
- 3 credits in Mathematics
- 3 credits in Science
- 3 credits in Social Studies
- 1.5 credits in P.E. (can be waived with school sports)
- 0.5 credit in Health
- 7.0 credits in general electives
It is highly recommended that students take at least two years of a foreign language. Languages offered are French, Spanish, German, and American Sign Language.
[edit] Language Programs
The school also regularly sends participants to both regional and state level Language Declamation contests. The regionals are held locally, and the state competition usually takes place in Anchorage. West Valley often is home to many state champions in this program.
[edit] AP academics
West Valley offers a number of Advanced Placement courses to juniors and seniors. These are college-level alternatives to, or enhancements of, standard high school courses. In 2007-08 West Valley offers the following AP courses:
Art History - Art Portfolio - Biology - Calculus AB & BC - Chemistry - English Language & Composition - English Literature - Government - Macroeconomics - Physics - Spanish - U.S. History
[edit] Extracurriculars
[edit] Sports
West Valley offers all standard high school sports, including swimming, baseball, basketball, cross-country running and skiing, football, hockey, soccer, softball, tennis, track and field, wrestling and volleyball. The West Valley girls' cross-country running team won the 2005 and 2006 state championships. They have competed in Nike Team Nationals in 2005 and 2006. In the 2005 season they earned 15th place Nike Team Nationals and in 2006 were ranked ninth in the nation. Other recent state championships include the 2003 state title earned by the schools wrestling team. West Valley's wrestling program (over the years) also has the most state titles compared to any other sport and also boasts the most individual state champions. The school also regularly sends participants to both regional and state. West Valley wrestling won state championships 5 years in a row from 1987 to 1991, and had a duel match record of 176-1-1.
[edit] Student government
West Valley has a student body council as well as a council for each class. Each student government has an advisor and five officers. There are often opportunites for members to also become involved in AASG, the Alaska Association of Student Governments, and serve on both the regional board of Fairbanks Student Councils, as well as on the state board.
[edit] Academic Decathlon
West Valley has competed in the United States Academic Decathlon since 1986. Its Academic Decathlon team has won 8 state championships, most recently in March 2008. It competed at the national finals in Hawaii in April 2007 and achieved Alaska's best national performance ever.
[edit] Newspaper
West Valley's newspaper was founded in 2005 and is named The Pipeline after the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. It puts out two to three issues per semester. A previous school newspaper named The Blizzard was published intermittently up to the late 1990s.
[edit] Yearbook
The yearbook is now published by Friesens and comes out in May.
[edit] Airband
Airband is not like other circulars or sports because there are no academic requirements other than being a full time student. Airband is a class competition where the different classes are given eight minutes to dance and lip sync to pre-recorded songs. Airband is one of the most popular events of the year and occurs in the spring semester.
