Shaw High School (Georgia)

William Henry Shaw High School is located in Columbus, Georgia and is one of the newer high schools in the area. It opened in 1978 at its present location in the Northern Columbus area.^[1] Students began attending classes in September of the same year.^[2] Shaw High School is named in honor of former Muscogee County School District Superintendent William Henry Shaw.^[3] The original proposed name of the school was Schomburg North High School. Although Shaw High School is one of the newer high schools in Columbus, GA, it has achieved academic and athletic success in its short history. Academically, Shaw High School was named a "School of Excellence" by the Georgia Department of Education in 1984 and 2005.^[4] In 2005, Shaw High School was also a recipient of the State of Georgia Platinum Award: Greatest Gain in Students Meeting and Exceeding Standards. In 2006, the Georgia DOE named Shaw High School as a "Distinguished School" for academic achievement, one of two Muscogee County School District Schools to achieve this honor.^[5] In 2009, Georgia State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox named Shaw High School as an AP Access and Support School: Schools with 30% of AP Test Takers that are African-American or Hispanic and at least 30% of all AP Exams scoring 3 or higher. Shaw High School was one of only two Muscogee County School District Schools to receive AP Honors in 2009. Athletically, Shaw High School has bolstered five state titles in athletics: Girls' Track in 1977, 1999, and 2000, Football in 2000, and Baseball in 2001.^[6] Shaw High School's Raider Football program was the second Columbus, GA football team to win a state championship, the first football team in Columbus, GA to win it outright, and the first football team in Columbus, GA to do it undefeated (15-0).

Graduation Requirements

Students attending Shaw High School must earn 28 credits for graduation and successfully complete all five (5) areas of the Georgia High School Graduation Test. Foreign Languages are not required for graduation from high school in Georgia. However, the school recommends taking two foreign languages since most colleges and universities will require them for admission. The school also offers Advances Placement and Honors courses that are weighted in the student's gpa calculation. Students are required to take one core course each year in English, Math, Science and Social Studies.

Location

The school is located in the Northern Columbus, GA area. It is accessible from JR Allen Parkway and is located just off of Schomburg Road. The school is also located in front of Kinnett Stadium.

Activities

Students can spend their time out of class in the following extracurricular activities.

Athletics

Shaw High School is currently rated AAA by student population. The athletic teams are known as the Raiders.

• Boys'/Girls' Cross Country: 2008 Ranked 1st in the Region and 10th in the State (Boys)
• Boys'/Girls' Track: 1997, 1999-2000 State Champions (Girls)
• Boys'/Girls' Basketball: 2007, 2008 State Sweet Sixteen (Boys); 2006 Quarterfinals/State Elite 8 (Boys)
• Boys'/Girls' Tennis
• Boys'/Girls' Golf
• Boys'/Girls' Soccer
• Baseball: 2001 AAAA State Champions; 2002 2-AAAA Region Champs and AAAA State Runner-Ups
• Football: 2000 AAAA State Champions; 2002, 2005 Semi-finalist; 2000 - 2003 2-AAAA Region Champs, 1999, 2005 2-AAA Region Champs
• Swim Team
• Softball
• Cheerleading
• Wrestling
• Volleyball: 2008 Elite Eight; 2006 Best Record and Best Finish

Clubs/Organizations

Art Club; BETA Club; Booster Clubs; Chattahoochee Valley Foreign Language Society; Chess Club; DECA; FBLA; FCA; FCCLA; French Club; French Honor Society; Green Club; JROTC; Leadership Council; Model United Nations; Mu Alpha Theta; National Honor Society; National Spanish Honor Society; National Technical Honor Society; Quill & Scroll Society; RADD; Raider Reader Book Club; Science Club; Show Choir; Skills USA VICA; Spanish Club; Teen Advisors; Thespian Society; Tri-M Music Honor Society; Young Historians.

History

Notable alumni

• Edwin Jackson ('01), professional baseball player for the St. Louis Cardinals
• Steven Register ('01), professional baseball player affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays
• Troy Bergeron ('02), American football player for the Dallas Cowboys
• Chasity Hardman ('03), the second African-American Miss Georgia ('08) and 1st Runner-Up at Miss America 2009
• Philip Wheeler ('03), American football player for the Indianapolis Colts

Timeline

• Established in 1978; students begin classes in September.
• Named in honor of Muscogee County School District Superintendent William Henry Shaw. The original proposed name was Schomburg North High School.
• Gordon Stallings is named first Principal.
• Legendary Coach Bubba Ball is named Shaw's first Athletic Director and will hold that post until his retirement in 1987.
• The "Shaw Plan," developed by Stallings, is implemented to include team teaching and the advisory system.
• The first class graduates in June 1979.
• The first Homecoming is in October 1979. Billie Jean Hughes is named Shaw's Homecoming Queen for the first celebration.
• Shaw High School is named a Georgia School of Excellence in 1984.
• The Class of 1988 is the last Shaw class to graduate at the Three Arts Theatre.
• The Class of 1989 graduates at Kinnett Stadium. Classes will graduate there until the Class of 1996 graduates at the Columbus Civic Center. There is one exception—the Class of 1992 graduates in the Shaw gymnasium, due to inclement weather. All the Kinnett graduations are morning graduations.
• Eddie Obleton is named Shaw's second Principal. He returns in 1994 to the school where he began his teaching career in 1978.
• In February 1998, Shaw becomes MCSD's first Channel One School.
• In October 1998, WSHS: The Raider Report, a live television broadcast, composed of student volunteers begins. It will be broadcast more than 1,000 programs, concluding its run in April 2004, and the closing statement of each broadcast will become Shaw's mantra..."It's Great to be a Shaw Raider!"
• Jim Arnold, an Assistant Principal at Shaw since 1997, is named Shaw's third Principal in 2001 when Obleton moves to the position of Director of Secondary Education for MCSD.
• Shaw High School celebrates its 25th Homecoming with the Dedication of "The History Corner" celebrating the school's history and the life of William Henry Shaw in October 2003.
• Shaw High School is renovated in the summer of 2004.
• Peggy White, Chairperson of Shaw's Special Education Department and the Senior Class Sponsor, is named the school's first National Board Certified Teacher in November 2004.
• Debbie Ball is inducted into the Chattahoochee Sports Hall of Fame, January 2005.
• The Global Media Resources Academy, Shaw's Magnet Program, is established in 2003. It assumes the broadcast responsibilities in 2005, producing Raider News Network (RNN) as a daily morning program.
• The Silver Star, Shaw's newspaper, and The Sharaide, our yearbook, win awards at the Georgia Scholastic Press Association Awards banquet at the University of Georgia, to include first place awards for The Silver Star in Community Service and Photographic Essay.
• Coach Charles Flowers, one of only six coaches in Georgia high schools to win two state titles in a single school year and Shaw's Athletic Director, is named Muscogee County School District's first district level Athletic Director. He assumes the new position in January 2006.
• Debbie Ball is named Athletic Director at Shaw High School, the first woman to be so named in the Muscogee County School District.
• Shaw High School's first robotics team competes in the International Competition in March 2006.
• With the retirement of Mike Stephens, Chair of the Shaw English Department in May 2006, three charter members of the faculty remain at Shaw: Debbie Ball, Coach Edgar Johnson, and Clyde Small.
• Ricky Stone, Shaw Class of 1988 and Principal of Jordan High School, is the first Shaw alumna to be named a Department Chairperson. He was a mathematics teacher at Shaw, became head of the Mathematics Department, and then went on to become a principal.
• Stephanie Fuerte, Shaw Class of 1985, is the second Shaw alumna to be named a Department Chairperson. She succeeds Mike Stephens as Chair of the English Department.
• Nine former Shaw students are members of the faculty for the 2006—2007 school year: Pamela Graybill Anders, Lisa Davis Cypert, Coach Craig Fitts, Brantley Boyd Ford, Coach Jamie Fox, Stephanie James Fuerte, Lindsey Griffin Woods, Angelina Jacobson, and Coach Jonathan Rivers.

References

1. ^ "Shaw High School History". Sonya Boyd. http://shaw.mcsdga.net/history_of_shaw_high_school.htm. Retrieved 2010-06-25. 
2. ^ "Shaw High School History". Sonya Boyd. http://shaw.mcsdga.net/history_of_shaw_high_school.htm. Retrieved 2010-06-25. 
3. ^ "Shaw High School History". Sonya Boyd. http://shaw.mcsdga.net/history_of_shaw_high_school.htm. Retrieved 2010-06-25. 
4. ^ "Shaw High School History". Sonya Boyd. http://shaw.mcsdga.net/history_of_shaw_high_school.htm. Retrieved 2010-06-25. 
5. ^ "Shaw High School History". Sonya Boyd. http://shaw.mcsdga.net/history_of_shaw_high_school.htm. Retrieved 2010-06-25. 
6. ^ "Shaw High School History". Sonya Boyd. http://shaw.mcsdga.net/history_of_shaw_high_school.htm. Retrieved 2010-06-25. 

External links

• Shaw High School Website
• Muscogee County School District: Shaw High School
• Shaw High School Alumni Network