Oak Harbor High School

For the high school in Ohio, see Oak Harbor High School (Ohio).

Oak Harbor High School (Washington)
Location
No. 1 Wildcat Way
(Previously 950 NW 2nd Ave.)
Oak Harbor, Washington, USA

Information
Type Public High School
Established 1906
School district http://www.ohsd.net/ Oak Harbor School District #201
Principal Dwight Lundstrom
Grades 9-12
Number of students 1,800 (2006)
Color(s) Purple and Gold

           

Athletics conference WESCO 3A/4A (North Division)
Mascot Wildcats

Oak Harbor High School (OHHS) is a public grade 9–12 high school that is located in Oak Harbor, Washington on Whidbey Island. The school is in the Oak Harbor School District #201. Dwight Lundstrom is the current Principal, Bill Weinsheimer and Rae Wood are the current Associate Principals.

Contents

History

Oak Harbor's first high school was housed in a building on the waterfront, where the upstairs was used both as a school room and as a community hall for various social functions. In the lower storey, hay and freight were stored as they came off the steamers of the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet. In 1911 a new school was built on property donated by Will Izett, where until 2006 the old Memorial Stadium stood. The high school students used the basement and lower floor and the elementary grades were housed on the top floor. Only the basement of this building remains and is now used to house maintenance services.

In 1934 with the aid of WPA labor, a school was built to house secondary students. This brick building (still in use as the North wing of Oak Harbor Elementary School) was a great source of pride to the community and housed high school students until 1956.

In 1956 another new high school was completed and initially contained 330 students in grades 9-12 and an eighteen member staff. This building (which later was used as Oak Harbor Junior High School, and then North Whidbey Middle School) contained the high school program until June 1974 at which time the enrollment was 975 students in grades 10-12. (This building was demolished in 2006.)

In 1968 planning for the current high school began. It was to be located on a 45-acre (180,000 m2) site near 800 Avenue West (now called NW Second Avenue) and Heller Road. It was built to house 1200 students initially and meant to be expandable to accommodate an enrollment of 1800 student grades 10–12. The facility was built with a brick exterior, steel frame throughout except for the field house dome which consists of laminated wood beams and a wood roof deck. This facility was completed in 1975 and total construction costs were $4,111,071.09. In 1991, the school was expanded to include ninth grade, reaching a capacity of 1,700 students.

By 2006 the school was at the end of its planned life, meaning that the infrastructure – plumbing, and roof – were considered worn out or outdated to the point of being costly. In addition, the school is was not well-suited for modern technology and undersized for the number of students (classrooms were too few and too small, hallways too narrow).

On May 16, 2006, voters approved a plan to completely modernize the high school. Construction will be phased in with completion expected by September 2010. The six buildings that make up the campus will be consolidated into one or two buildings. Approximately 38,000 square feet (3,500 m2) would be added, for a total of 240,000 square feet (22,000 m2). Modernization is projected to cost $74 million, of which $20 million would come from state matching funds.

School information

The current high school facility, initially constructed during the 1970s, rests on 47 acres (190,000 m2) in northwest Oak Harbor. The school was remodeled, with the addition of the Student Union Building and the Career & Tech building opening in 2009. Currently, the school is finished with construction as of the 2010-2011 school year. In 2008, "North Campus" was opened in the old Clover Valley Elementary school. Students in grades 9 and 10 had their core classes at North Campus, and were then bussed back to the main campus for lunch, electives, and lab sciences.

A-Wing

Departments:

B-Wing

Departments:

C-Wing & D-Wing

Career & Tech Building (CAT)

Departments:

Gym & Field House

Departments:

Student Union Building (SUB)

Departments:

Academics

Oak Harbor High School offers Advanced Placement courses in Art, Calculus, Statistics, US History, Government, Biology, Economics, Spanish, Literature and Composition, Language and Composition and Chemistry.

Foreign languages available for students to take are French, Spanish, and Japanese. For those students whose first language is not English, ESL classes are offered.

Cable Channel

Available to most Comcast Cable subscribers on Whidbey Island, Wildcat TV (Channel 21) is Oak Harbor High School’s student-run Public-access television cable TV channel. Operational since 2005 it features a variety of programs ranging in topic from the Island County Fair to Drama Club theatrical performances. Students in Chris Douthit’s Monster Media and Broadcast Communications classes create content for the channel.

Sports

OHHS is a member of the Western Interscholastic Conference, and plays within the 3A division.

Wildcat Memorial Stadium

A new stadium to replace the aged Memorial Stadium was constructed in 2007 on the west end of the OHHS campus. The new stadium, dubbed "Wildcat Memorial Stadium", had its grand opening on September 7, 2007, eight months after construction began in January. The Wildcat Memorial Stadium was built by Ebenal General Contractors of Bellingham at a cost of $8.3 million. The new facility has a covered main grandstand with 2,500 home seats, and a smaller covered grandstand with 500 visitor seats. The playing field is a FieldTurf surface and is encircled by a new track and field oval. The stadium also includes locker rooms, bathrooms, a concession area, and storage space.

The entrance to the stadium is graced with a memorial to veterans of the 5 branches of the military. The main spire is a pentangle, with the seals of the Navy, Army, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard mounted on each of the five sides. At the top, as a special tribute to the active Navy personnel stationed at NAS Whidbey, there is a ship's bell. The bell is rung on special occasions, and after every Wildcat touchdown. The memorial was designed by Carlos Sierra of Sierra-Martin Architects.

Football

Oak Harbor High School football is encapsuled by the 1977-78 Wildcat 'Dream Season' success during the first year in the WESCO Conference. The Dream Season team consisted of only 26 players and thrived under the direction of the imfamous Coach "Duck" Daugherty. The team was considered the "Hicks from the Sticks" at the time by the Northern Seattle schools. It was expected that the new school to the conference, from Whidbey Island, would be substancially trounced in every game during the season. During the season, the team became the Cinderella Story, Shutting out 5 teams, winning 8 of 9 games, and ending the season ranked 4th in the state. Their only loss to the state champions. If you knew the players and the bond they shared since Junior High, you would know they knew no limits.

The Dream Season Team Key Player List:

John Irvin - Brent Matson - Ken Parker - Mike Maletich - Tim Zumwalt - Loni Kyser - Neal Parker - Brad Yates - Bruce Bull - Ozell Jackson - Rod Sullivan - Les Boon - Ron Durant - Rex Bebee - Steve Eidsmoe

The Oak Harbor High School football team, under the direction of head football coach Dave Ward, made it to state in the 2006 season. Playing in the Tacoma Dome, the Wildcats defeated Bothell High School 21-14 to win the Washington Class 4A State Championship.

Fight song

Fight, Fight, Fight for Oak Harbor High
Win that Vic-tor-y
We’re gonna win that game for purple & gold
Best in the west
So we’ll all do our best, so
On, On, On, On, fight to the end
Honor and glory we must win.
So, fight, fight, fight for Oak Harbor High & Victory
W-I-L-D-C-A-T-S
Wildcats!
So Fight, Fight, Fight for Oak Harbor High & Vic-tor-y
F-I-G-H-T !

Oak Harbor High School Alma Mater

Close by the shores of old Pacific,
where ocean waves roll high and free;
Nestled above our peaceful harbor,
guarded by snow-crowned majesty;
Purple and gold we rise to honor

Glory and pride of every heart.

Loyal forever doubt us never Alma mater hail hail hail!

The Super Fan "Hey Oh" Cheer

Can I get a "Hey Oh!"
"Hey Oh"
Let me hear that "Hey OOOooh!"
"Hey OOOooh!"
Where is my "hey OOOH!"
"hey OOOH!"
Give me that "Hey ooOOH!"
"Hey ooOOH!"
"HEY OOH!"
"HEY OOOH!"

References

External links