Westerville Central High School (Ohio)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
|
| Established | 2003 |
|---|---|
| Type | Public comprehensive secondary |
| Principal | Todd D. Spinner |
| Students | 1,600 |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Location | 7118 Mount Royal Avenue, Westerville, OH 43082, USA |
| District | Westerville City Schools |
| Accreditation | North Central Association of Colleges and Schools |
| Colors | Black and Silver |
| Mascot | Warhawks |
| Yearbook | 'The Talon' |
| Newspaper | 'The Wire' |
| Stadium | Warhawk Field |
| Architect | Firestone Jaros Mullin, Inc./TMP Architecture |
| Website | http://www.wcsoh.org/Central/index.html |
Westerville Central High School is a public high school located in Westerville, Ohio northeast of Columbus, Ohio. It is the newest of three high schools in the Westerville City School District, the first classes starting in fall of 2003. It is located north of Westerville North High School.
Contents |
[edit] History
The late 1990s brought a surge of population growth to northern Westerville, particularly in Genoa Township. In order to keep up, the district announced that it would build two new elementary schools, as well as a third high school. Westerville was the first Greater Columbus city to have to build a third high school. The district turned to the taxpayers to help foot the bill for the new buildings, with Central costing the district $40 million, but voters turned the district down. Construction continued on the facility. Mark Raiff, former assistant principal at Westerville South High School, was announced as the school's first principal, and Andy Ey, would be its first athletic director, after previously holding the role at Westerville North High School. Raiff began hiring teachers, and Ey began hiring coaches. Controversy developed, however, as the school's new Head Football Coach, Jeff Jones, and Jeff Vincent, the Head Boys Soccer Coaches, were not offered teaching contracts by the district. Both ended up resigning before the school opened. Raiff also ended up resigning for personal reasons before the school's opening, and ended up taking a position with the Olentangy Local School District. Soon after, Superintendent George Tombaugh announced that Todd Meyer, previously Director of Secondary Curriculum for the district, would be the principal when the school officially opened. Bob Fresch was named Head Football Coach, after decades of teaching and coaching in the district, and Dave Pence was promoted from Assistant Boys Soccer Coach to Head Coach. Students had the opportunity to select the school mascot and colors. The winning nickname was the Wombats, but the Westerville School Board deemed it unacceptable, and thus selected the second choice, the Warhawks. [1] The colors chosen were Black and Silver.
[edit] The facility
Construction began on Central in 2002. The district hired Firestone Jaros Mullin, Inc./TMP Architecture to complete the project after being declared the best of various proposals. The school includes numerous facilities, including seven athletic fields, a 3,000 seat stadium, a 1,800 seat gymnasium, as well as a state of the art 750 seat auditorium/theatre. The school design called for four distinct academic "houses" for focus on individual subjects. Each academy is dignified by a distinct color; there are red, yellow, blue, and green houses. Central's centerpiece is its common area, known simply as Central Avenue. It serves as the school's dining area, is the point that connects all vectors of the school, and also is the site for many school functions. It reminds many of Westerville's histrionic business district, Uptown Westerville, with a design that resembles storefronts, including signs and lampposts. For its design, the school design earned the designation of "2004 Outstanding Design Award" from American School and University magazine.
[edit] Classes begin
Central opened its doors to students in Fall of 2003, with only freshmen and sophomores. The underclassmen had the opportunity to start new tradition and set the tone for years to come. Central added a third class in the 2004-05 school year, and had its first senior class in the 2005-06 school year. The school currently has approximately 1,600 students. In every year since its opening, the School has earned the designation of "Excellent" by the Ohio Department of Education on its annual report card, the highest possible distinction.
In spring of 2007, principal Todd Meyer announced that he would be leaving his position at Central to become the principal at Olentangy Orange High School, a new high school in the Olentangy Local School District set to open in 2008. Todd Spinner was chosen to be the new principal after an extensive search. Spinner previously was the assistant principal at Delaware Hayes High School.
On March 3, 2008, Central made national headlines after playing host to Democratic Party Presidential candidate Barack Obama. Over 2,500 attended the town hall meeting, with many watching his speech from an overflow room.
[edit] Music department
The music department is made up of many different instrumental and choral ensembles. The instrumental ensembles are led by Jason Jackson, a former Broadway performer for the show Blast!. There are six different instrumental ensembles: Orchestra, Symphonic Band, Concert Band, Marching Band, Jazz Band, and Jazz Ensemble.
The marching band competed for its very first time in the fall of 2004. In February of 2008, the band traveled to Orlando, Florida, where they marched in the pre-Spectromagic Parade at the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort.
The vocal department is led by Laura Fahning. It is made up of many different choirs, as well as an audition-only jazz group.
In the spring of each school year, the music department collaborates with the drama department to produce a musical. The instrumental department supplies students via audition to participate in the pit. In the past, musicals such as Grease, The Fantasticks, and Oklahoma! have been put to stage.
[edit] Instrumental directors
Lawrence Kelley (2003-2005)
Kenneth Peck (2005-2006)
Jason Jackson (2006-Present)
[edit] Vocal directors
Katherine Jokanimi (2003-2004)
Laura Fahning (2004-Present)
[edit] Marching band shows and state finals ratings
2003: "A Class Act"- Non-competitive
2004: "Latin Nights"- II, Excellent
2005: "The First Date"- Qualified for finals, did not compete
2006: "King Kong"- II, Excellent
2007: "Flight"- II, Excellent
[edit] Athletics
In athletics, students had the opportunity to play varsity schedules in their freshman and sophomore years in the initial two years of the school. Most teams struggled, but the school rallied around the Girls Soccer team, coached by Erik Ekis, winner of the 1997 National High School Coach of the Year award. Ekis led his team of 11 freshmen and 3 sophomores to a 15-3-1 record and an appearance in the OHSAA Division II State Semifinals. This was the beginning of a very successful run in girls soccer at Central, where the girls won the Ohio Capital Conference Cardinal Division and appeared in the Central District Championship in 2005. Seven members of the 2003 squad received scholarships to play soccer at the collegiate level. Central's 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 Girls Relay team also had success at the state level in their inaugural season, with the 4 x 400 team placing third in the state finals and the 4 x 100 team of Jeanetta Francy, Julia Francy, Raisa Garvin, and Vanessa Hardin winning the school's first state title.
The school has crosstown rivalries with Westerville North and Westerville South. The three schools will find themselves in the same division in the Ohio Capital Conference starting in 2008. The Warhawks are also rivals with the Big Walnut Eagles in football, with the two teams competing in the "Battle of the Birds" for the "WarEagle Trophy." Students on both sides feel that the rivalry was forced upon them, and Big Walnut considers Olentangy High School to be its primary rival.
The Boys Bowling team finished second at the state tournament in the 2005-06 season
In February 2007, Kicker Ben Buchanan became the first verbal commit of the 2008 Ohio State Buckeyes' football recruiting class, and was selected in September to play in the 2008 U.S. Army All-American Bowl. In addition, he was selected in December 2007 as a first-team USA Today All-USA Team Member.
At the 2007 OHSAA Swimming State Championships, Austin Staab defended his state titles in the 100 Free and 100 Fly, tying the national record in the 100 Fly with a 47.10, matching the time of Nate Dusing of Covington, Kentucky in 1997. For his efforts, Staab was named the Swimming World Magazine High School National Swimmer of the Year.
[edit] OHSAA Regional Championships
2003 - Girls Soccer
[edit] OHSAA Central District Championships
2003 - Girls Soccer
2007 - Boys Soccer
[edit] Ohio Capital Conference Championships
2005 - Boys Soccer
2005 - Girls Soccer
2006 - Girls Swimming and Diving
2006 - Football
2007 - Softball
2008 - Boys Basketball
[edit] OHSAA Individual State Champions
All except those noted are Division I State Champions
2004 - Jeanetta Francy, Julia Francy, Raisa Garvin, and Vanessa Hardin (Track and Field - 4X100)^
2005 - Bryan Blake (Golf)
2006 - Austin Staab (Swimming - 100 Free)
2006 - Austin Staab (Swimming - 100 Fly)
2006 - Brendan Barlow (Wrestling - 285 Wt. Class)
2007 - Austin Staab (Swimming - 100 Free)
2007 - Austin Staab (Swimming - 100 Fly)^^
2007 - Stuart Smith (Track - 100M Dash)
2007 - Stuart Smith (Track - 200M Dash)
^ Division III
^^ National Record
[edit] References
- ^ Westerville News and Public Opinion, 4/23/03 "Wombats Won't Work... School Board Goes With Warhawks.
[edit] External links
- http://www.westerville.k12.oh.us/ District Website]
