Shasta High School

Shasta High School is an American public high school located in Redding, California. With an enrollment of over 1600 students, it is the largest high school in Shasta County, California. Its mascot is the wolf.

Administration

• Milan Woollard - principal – since 2000 - previously VP at Enterprise (cross-town)
• Heath Bunton - Assistant Principal
• Leopoldo Perez - Assistant Principal – since 2009 (previously a chemistry teacher at Shasta High School)

History

In 1889, Shasta County High School opened as a public school to serve the town of Redding, California. The inaugural class had only 70 students, 3 teachers, and a very small amount of graduates. After a countywide election in 1915, changes to the school were made with the creation of the Shasta Union High School District, one of these changes being that, because the country was in the midst of World War I, every male student was required to be enrolled in the Cadet Company. Shasta's Football team played its first game in 1922, beginning a legacy of football games that would provide a way for Shasta students to rally together in school spirit in support of the team but also a way for the community to do the same.

Academics

Shasta High School offers a variety of advanced courses, such as College Prep, Honors, Advanced Placement, MCM (Medical Careers Magnet), and ROP (career training). SHS also offers foreign languages: French, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese and American Sign Language.

Music

Shasta High School is also known for its music department. Its bands, orchestra and choir perform several concerts each year in the Redding area and also travel. Since the 1960s they have collaborated on two major events each year; a madrigal dinner and a musical. The musical for 2012 was "Guys and Dolls."

There are five different choirs in the music program. Madrigals are at the highest branch of hierarchy in the choir. Next comes A Cappella, which is the biggest choral group at Shasta. The rest of the music program is split into girls and boys: Troubadors, Choraliers, and Nightingales. Every three years the choir travels to various countries in Europe, singing in cathedrals along the way. The Madrigal singers are featured at the Madrigal dinner and are hired to sing at various functions around town throughout the year.

There are five performing instrumental music groups: Concert Band, Symphonic Band, Strings, Orchestra, and The Shasta Jazz Ambassadors. The combined concert and symphonic bands perform at each year's graduation ceremony, at home varsity football games, the annual rodeo parade, and the Redding Lighted Christmas Parade. Mr. Lou Polcari (bands and orchestra) and Mr. Gavin Spencer (choir) have been the directors of the music program since the early 2000s.

Ken Putnam, the long-time previous choir director, took the A Cappella choir to Ireland in 1988.

Sports and activities

Shasta High School has a variety of sports teams, including basketball, football, baseball, swimming, skiing/snowboarding, track/cross-country, cheerleading, golf, tennis, and wrestling. It also participates in the National Science Bowl and was involved in the local TV game show Academic Challenge until its cancellation in 2005. There are also a variety of student clubs which meet at lunch and after school such as student government and model united nations. Shasta's Interact Club and Students are joining together to create a fundraiser for the Genocide situations in Darfur.

River Bowl

Shasta High School’s main rival is Enterprise High School (Redding, California). The Rivalry of Enterprise High and Shasta High started back in the 1950s, when both schools would steal the other's "prized" possession. For Shasta High School it was the Shasta High Bell. Another side story is that Shasta's bell was stolen one fateful night, hidden for almost a decade, and then found after a drug raid in nearby Palo Cedro. The annual football game between the two rivals would later be called the Riverbowl. The tradition began in 1993, with Enterprise dominating the first 11 years. In 2004, Shasta won the Riverbowl and again in 2005 and 2007, but lost in 2008. Enterprise won again in 2009. The 2010 Riverbowl was won by Shasta with a score of 53-20. That year’s Varsity kicker was Ellie Oliver, possibly the only girl football player in the north state at that time. Shasta also won the River Bowl in 2011, in overtime with a score of 48-42.

Clubs

Shasta High School also offers a distinguished variety of clubs for students. Here is a bulleted list of all the current clubs at Shasta:

• French Club
• Christian Club
• Science Bowl
• Trimathalon
• Philosophy Club
• Interact Club
• Key Club
• Mad Mudders
• Journalism Club
• Drama Club
• Harry Potter Club
• Cribbage Club

Famous Alumni

Canadian Football League standout quarterback Ricky Ray. He has since led the Edmonton Eskimos to two Grey Cup championships, winning Grey Cup MVP honors each time.

Kathleen Kennedy produced movies such as Jurassic Park and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

Greg Gibson, who later went on to wrestle at the University of Oregon where he became an All-American and NCAA place winner. After graduating, Gibson participated in the 1984 Summer Olympics where he placed second, earning the silver medal.^[1]

References

External links

• School website
• Shasta High School Band