Plano West Senior High School

Plano West Senior High School (commonly West, Plano West, or PWSH) is a public secondary school in Plano, Texas (USA) serving high school juniors and seniors. The school is part of the Plano Independent School District, with admission based primarily on the locations of students' homes. Students at Plano West attended one of two high schools: Jasper or Shepton. Plano West is accredited by the Texas Education Agency, which designates the school as "Recognized". The school colors are royal blue, black, and white, and the mascot is the Wolf.

Academics

Plano West operates on a 9:00 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. schedule, which includes seven periods and a break for off-campus lunch during which all students may leave campus to eat lunch. There is one period from 8:00 a.m. to 8:50 a.m. called "Zero Hour" which students can opt to attend, thus enabling an 8:00-to-3:19 school day.^[1]

Plano West offers 28 Advanced Placement courses out of the 31 possible courses, as well as concurrent enrollment courses through Collin College.^[2] 56% percent of Plano West students are enrolled in at least one Advanced Placement course, above the Plano ISD average of 32% and Texas average of 20%.^[3] The school currently offers many vocational courses in agriculture, early childhood education, home economics, journalism, fashion design, advertising design, drafting, automotive technology, criminal justice, and clinical rotation.^[4]

In 2005-2006, students achieved an average composite SAT score of 1158 out of 1600 and a mean ACT score of 24.6 out of 36. Both scores are the highest out of all three PISD senior high schools.^[5] Many Plano West students received National Merit Scholarship accolades in the 2005-2006 school year, including 30 finalists, 40 semi-finalists, and 59 commended students.^[4]

Plano West was ranked 98 in Newsweek's Top Public High Schools 2011.^[6]

Athletics

Championships

Football

The Plano West Wolves have made the state football playoffs in 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. However, their only playoff win in school history occurred in 2004 against DeSoto High School. Annually, Plano West plays against the Plano Senior High School Wildcats and the Plano East Senior High School Panthers for the title of Plano City Champions.

Basketball

Under coach Anthony Morgan, the Plano West Wolves boys' basketball team has won district titles back to back in 2007-2008 and 2008-2009. The 2008-2009 won 30 games, more than any other in school history, but ended up falling in the area round to Duncanville High School, which was #1 in the nation at one point earlier that season. In 2009-2010, the Plano West Lady Wolves basketball team went undefeated in district to claim their second straight district title and third in the last four years. Despite only returning one starter from the 2008-2009 team, the Wolves advanced to the Region 1 finals before losing to Marcus High School of Flower Mound

Other

The Plano West hockey team won back-to-back state championships in the Southwestern Bell High School Hockey League for the years of 2004 and 2005. However, during the 2004 Southwestern Bell High School Hockey Championship (Texas Cup) Plano West had to forfeit all games due to ineligible players. The 2004 Texas Cup was not awarded to any team. The team has played in the state championship game in four of the six years of its existence.[1]

In addition, the women's soccer team was ranked #1 in the nation and claimed the Texas state championship the first three years in the school's existence.

The men's lacrosse team for Plano West also won state title honors in 2005. Plano West completed a 10-3 season in the Texas Division 2 North conference with the only losses coming to Division 1 teams. West then went 5-0 in the playoffs, including two riveting games against rival Plano East. West defeated East 15-14 in overtime in the conference finals, and 13-12 in the state finals to capture its first state championship in only its fourth season of existence.

The Plano West Wolves have also competed in a UIL Record four consecutive State 5A High School Tennis Championships at the Lakeway World of Tennis, Austin, Texas, (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006) winning the UIL State Championship 5A Title in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Plano West made it to the Final Four in each of its seven years of existence, to the State Championship Match five times, and won the championship title four of those years, 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2006.

The Plano West Runnin Wolves Cross Country team swept the 9-5A district meet in 2002,2003,2006, 2007, and 2008 placing first in all four races. Both varsity teams advanced to regionals. The Plano West Girls Cross Country team qualified for state for the third time in school history. They placed first at regionals for the first time in 2006. The Plano West Boys Cross Country team qualified for the state meet for the first time in school history in 2006. The Girls team finished in 4th place, while the Boys team finished 6th. The Plano West Cross Country team won the district 9-5A again in 2007, placing first in all four races once again. In 2008 the Plano West Girl's cross country team came in third place at the state meet.

The Plano West Swim team completed a stellar 2006-2007 campaign with the guy's team finishing higher at state than ever before. Led by senior Jordan Hawley, the Wolves were able to place 8 swims at the state meet. Two unfortunate disqualifications in a second place and winning relay negated a chance to place in the top three overall for the boys team. The DQs were a result of Vadim K. leaving early on both relays, one of which was by .01 of a second. Sophomore Brendan McIntee was named by coach Kris Jones as Plano West Male Swimmer of the Year based on his leadership and performance throughout the season. The award follows up his award from the 2005-2006 academic year of Newcomer of the Year.

In 2007, both the Plano West Boys and Girls Soccer Teams advanced to the State Final. The Plano West Girls defeated previously undefeated Deer Park 3-0 to win its 4th state championship. Sophomore Lauren LaGro was named the Championship Match MVP.^[12] Meanwhile, the Boys team lost to undefeated Flower Mound Marcus in a shootout, 3-2, despite having the lead with less than 2 minutes remaining.^[13]

At the end of the 2007 school year, West was awarded with the Texas Dodge Dealers Lone Star Cup, given to the top sports high school in the state due to how far high schools went or final rank in all district, regional, and state playoff competitions. West tied with Humble Kingwood, but won the tie breaker with 2 overall state championships (Girls Soccer and Team Tennis) to Kingwood's 1 (Boys Swimming).

In 2007, Plano West won the Dallas Morning News SportsDay's All-Sports High School Award as the top athletic program in North Texas.^[14]

The boys baseball team finished #1 in the country after winning the Texas state championship in 2008, ending the season with a 40-2 record.

In June 2011, 223 Plano ISD teachers will be laid off at the end of the school year and another 121 members of the Plano ISD support staff will also be let go with speculation that extracurriculars will be cut back or eliminated all together.^[15]

2003 steroids controversy

In July 2003, Taylor Hooton, a student athlete at Plano West, committed suicide which many believed was connected to depression caused by the use of steroids used for performance enhancement. This incident drew national focus to the issues of high school athletes and steroid use. Chris Wash was featured on the cover of the December 20, 2004, Newsweek magazine wearing a Plano West Senior High School shirt in an article about the use of steroids in high schools. On March 10, 2005, Taylor's father, Don Hooton, testified before a Congressional Subcommittee about the use of steroids in high school. This was a widely covered event as several prominent baseball players including José Canseco and Mark McGwire testified as well.

Music

The Plano West Chamber Orchestra has been named the outstanding string orchestra for the state of Texas by the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) 5 consecutive times. Directed by Mrs. Jo Wallace-Abbie, the orchestra is made up of approximately 40 musicians. TMEA rules prohibit a school from entering the competition the year after it has won, so the title of Texas "Honor Orchestra" was won in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010.^[16] The orchestra has been featured on the Disney Channel series "Totally in Tune" which aired in 2001. In 2005, the orchestra won a Cappie Award for Outstanding Pit Orchestra in a musical, (for the school production of) Les Misérables.

The Plano West Mighty Wolf Band has a marching and concert season and also has a winterguard program. In the 2009–2010 school year, the band had approximately 95 members. The band's 2009 Marching show is "Rising Dragons" by the composer Robert W. Smith. Mr. Smith wrote this specific arrangement for the Plano West Marching Band. 2010-2011's show was based on the movie The Natural. The show for the 2011-2012 school year is called "Global Illuminations".

In 2011, The Plano West Music Program was named 'Gold' GRAMMY® Signature School. Plano West was one of only seven "Gold" level award recipients. The award recognizes top U.S. public high schools making an outstanding commitment to music education. ^[17]

Theatre

The Plano West Theatre Department was previously under the direction of Ms. Carla Ford-Rich, who has been named the Secondary Teacher of the Year by the Texas Educational Theater Association.^[18] Past theatrical productions include Beauty and the Beast, West Side Story, Les Misérables, The Laramie Project, To Kill a Mockingbird, Little Shop of Horrors, Spring Awakening, Into the Woods, and Awesome 80s Prom. In 2009, Plano West advanced to Zone for their performance The Imaginary Ivalid for the UIL One Act Play competition.^[19]

Mr. Grant Goble, the current director who started in the 2010-2011 school year, and has so far directed And Then There Were None, Jekyll & Hyde The Musical, and Electra by Sophocles set in Nazi Germany.

Notable alumni

• David Lofton (Class of 2002) — NFL defensive back with the Miami Dolphins, formerly at Stanford University.^[20]
• Vickiel Vaughn (Class of 2002) — NFL defensive back with the Denver Broncos, formerly at the University of Arkansas.^[21]
• Taylor Hooton - drew national attention due to steroid use and suicide.
• Spencer Wadsworth (Class of 2004) — Soccer player for FC Dallas of Major League Soccer, formerly at Duke University.
• Jordan Pugh (Class of 2006) — NFL defensive back with the Carolina Panthers. Drafted in the 6th round out of Texas A&M University.^[22]
• Jackson Jeffcoat (Class of 2010) — Current defense lineman for the Texas Longhorns. Formerly the number one high school football player in the nation.^[23]
• James Barnett, gay website entrepreneur expelled from Trinity Christian Academy

See also

• Plano East Senior High School
• Plano Senior High School
• Shepton High School
• Jasper High School

References

External links

• Plano West Senior High School Band Website