Americas High School

Americas High School
Location
12101 Pellicano El Paso, Texas, United States
Information
Type	Public High School
Established	1996
School district	Socorro Independent School District
Principal	Borrego
Faculty	175.5[1]
Grades	9th - 12th
Enrollment	2,830[1]
Campus	Urban
Color(s)	Red, Blue, Gold
Mascot	Travis the Trail Blazer
TEA Rating	Academically Acceptable[1]
Website	http://www.sisd.net/site/default.aspx?domainid=912

Americas High School is a high school in El Paso, Texas, United States.

History

Americas High School first opened its doors in September 1996. Being a new school it enrolled seventh, eighth and ninth graders. That first generation of ninth graders became the first generation to graduate in May 2000. Beginning in the fall of 2013, Americas will be the first law magnet high school in West Texas, following the intrepid success of the school's Mock Trial team.^[2]

Faculty

Students

Americas High School is mostly composed of Hispanic students, with mixed Caucasians and African Americans.

Campus

The Americas High School campus is on a 35-acre site and includes 132 classrooms, a library, computer lab, cafeteria, snack bars, theater, athletic fields, and two gymnasiums.^[3]

The school's main building is arranged in an "L" shape consisting of 3 main hallway pods and 2 smaller hallways at either end. Each of the three main pods have two floors with classrooms on either end of a diamond shaped hallway. The second floor of each pod opens in the center to reveal the first floor. Additional classrooms have been added to the main building by filling in the space in the center on the first floor of each pod.

Like the other high schools in the Socorro Independent School District, there is not a stadium located on campus. Track/swim meets and football/soccer games are played at the SISD Student Activities Complex. A grass field is located on campus for freshmen football games and as a parade field for the NJROTC. A second grass field is used primarily for the placekickers. A concrete band practice field is in the middle of the "L". This field is also used as a marching pad for the NJROTC.

Extracurricular activities

Americas High School has a variety of extracurricular activities.

Clubs

-Choir

-Marching Band

-Mock Trial

-Student Council

-Academic Decathlon

-Speech and Debate

-National Honor Society

-BPA

-Philosophy

Mock Trial

The Americas High School Mock Trial team competes annually at the El Paso County Courthouse in a simulation of a trial for civil and criminal cases in alternating years. The team consists of three attorneys that deliver opening and closing argument, direct, and cross examination, and six witnesses (three per side) that help to tell the story of any given case. Coaches - Teresa Candelaria (2004–present) Robert Almonte II (2008–2012) Jaime Esparza (2004–present) Aaron Setliff (2004–2007) Kyle Meyers (2012–present)

The team won the regional championship in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 with undefeated records each year and a combined record of 30-0 against El Paso teams. Additionally, the team from 2009 finished State Runner-Up in Dallas, Texas after losing to Skyline Academy by one point on three different ballots in the championship round. The 2010 team finished 12th in Texas. In 2011 the Americas Mock Trial Team became the first ever El Paso Mock Trial team to capture the state title, in addition to becoming the first Americas team (in any capacity) to win a state championship.

The 2011 State Champion team went on to the National High School Mock Trial competition in Phoenix, AZ in May 2011 and defeated the state champions from Nebraska, Louisiana and South Carolina and lost a split decision to Indiana, who went on to win the National Title. In all, the team from Americas finished 5th place at the competition, performing better than any team from Texas had done on the National level since 1999.

The 2011 team finished with a record of 14-2, losing one round to St. Thomas Episcopal before defeating them in the state semifinals and losing one round to Adams High of Indiana, who went on to become the national champs. The team that was together for two years leading up to the 5th place finish had a combined record of 22-4, and for the three members that were on the team for a full four years (Texas Quezada, Zach Fields and Edwin Felix), they finished with a total record of 35-8 in high school.

Student Council

The Americas High School Student Council is among the best in El Paso. Ever since they joined The Texas Association of Student Councils (TASC), they have made sweepstakes and received a Top 10 project award for three years running, the only High School in Texas to do so. The Americas High School student council has been the most recognized student council in the City of El Paso and in the Socorro Independent School District as well.

NJROTC

-Armed Drill Team Participates in precision marching competitions carrying a rifle. Although the majority of the members have been historically male, the first female member took command of the team in 2002. Since then the team has had at least one other female commander and several other female competitors.

-Unarmed Drill Team Participates in an unarmed variant of the precision marching competitions done by the armed drill team. This team historically consists of female members until the first male member took command in 2004.

-Academic Team The academic team competes in drill meets by completing a multiple choice style exam consisting of questions based on naval science.

-Rifle Team The rifle team competes by shooting targets in various positions with an air powered pellet gun.

-Sword Team The sword team is a non-competitive team that is employed to honor VIP's both inside and outside of school related events. The team traditionally consists of eight primary members. Two squads are formed consisting of four members each arranged in order of heights, shortest in the front and tallest in the back. The commander assumes a position within the two squads. For events where the team must escort a female, the eight primary members are male cadets and two female cadets are attached to the team as assistants.

The team starts each event by marching in and then turning in so that the two squads face each other. The commander gives the command to arch swords, and the team executes by pointing the swords up in the air at a 45 degree angle. After a VIP passes by a member of the team, their sword is slowly lowered and then replaced on the cadet's shoulder. For female escorted events, the primary members will trade out their swords for roses after all the VIP's have passed through the arches. This switch is completed by the two assisting members. The female to be escorted is presented with a rose by the first member and is passed on to the next cadet who presents the female with his rose. The ceremony concludes after all the roses have been given out.

-Color Guard The Color Guard team is both competitive and ceremonial. The team competes with a minimum of four members, but with as many as six in some instances. Two of the members hold rifles instead of flags and stand at either end of the squad. During a home football game in 2004, four members from the sword team were attached to the color guard to uncase the colors before a performance. There has traditionally been four separate color guard teams that take turns performing at home football, basketball, volleyball, and softball games.

-Admin The cadets assigned to handle the administrative functions of the battalion are said to work in the Admin section. The cadets in this section are responsible for keeping cadet records and publishing awards and promotions.

-Supply This section is responsible for issuing uniform items to incoming cadets and replacing unserviceable items from veteran cadets.

-Staff The battalion staff functions similar to a board of directors in a corporation. The commanders from each element as well as all the department heads convene once a week with the BCO, BXO, and CMC.

-Chief's Mess The Chief's Mess was established at Americas High School by retired Navy CPO Ramos, who was the NSI at the time. The organization brought together all of the cadets that had attained the cadet rank of c/CPO, c/SCPO, or c/MCPO.

-A/B Company "Alpha" and "Bravo" Companies are the two main bodies of the battalion and consists of cadets that are not members of the drill teams. Company A consists of cadets that attend their Naval Science class on odd days and Company B consists of cadets that attend their Naval Science class on even days. Each company is broken into three platoons. The six platoons compete annually for the "Bravo Zulu" award that is given during the AMI.

-C Company "Charlie" Company consists of only members from any one of the drill teams.

Fine arts

-Guitar Club

-Band: The Americas High School Blazer Marching Band is a consecutive participant in the Bands of America competitions and a state band. They have received consecutive 1st division ratings on the UIL competitions and SISD Marching Festivals.

-Flags: Americas is proud to sponsor the AHS Fortissimo group, this Winter Guard group have won many regional competitions as well as national competitions. Fortissimo received second place in the 2007 WGI World Competition.

-Choir

-Dance

-Orchestra: The Americas High School orchestra includes violins, violas, basses, and cellos. The orchestra has won many competitions in district, UIL, and out of state competitions.

-Theater

Athletics

The Americas High School athletics program includes baseball, boys basketball, cheerleading, cross country, football, girls basketball, girls soccer, golf, softball, swimming, tennis, track, volleyball and wrestling.

2013 marks the first year that Americas has ever produced a State Qualifier in UIL Swimming & Diving. Class of 2013 graduate Elva Navarro has broken records left and right, and finished her high school career with a 53.63 in the 100 yard free, and a 57.68 in the 100 backstroke.

Americas High School has built a very strong wrestling program, winning 7 district championships. From 2000-2010 Americas has had 13 All State wrestlers and one State Champion. Kevin Jury won the state title at 125 lbs in 2006 and was voted Most Outstanding Wrestler at the state tournament.

References

External links

• Americas High School

v t e UIL District 1-5A High Schools EPISD Schools Coronado Franklin SISD Schools Americas El Dorado Montwood Socorro YISD Schools Bel Air Eastwood J. M. Hanks