Marquette Senior High School (Marquette, Michigan)

Marquette Senior High School
Address
1203 West Fair Avenue Marquette, Michigan, 49855 United States
Coordinates	46°33′22″N 87°24′50″W / 46.556°N 87.414°W / 46.556; -87.414Coordinates: 46°33′22″N 87°24′50″W / 46.556°N 87.414°W / 46.556; -87.414
Information
Opened	1965
School district	Marquette Area Public Schools
Superintendent	William Saunders[1]
Principal	Bob Anthony[2]
Assistant principals	Jon Young Chris Messano[2]
Color(s)	Red and White
Nickname	Redmen/Redettes[3]
Website	School website

Marquette Senior High School (MSHS) is a public high school located in Marquette, Michigan. The high school serves grades 9-12, with a student enrollment around 1000 - approximately 51% male to 49% female. High-school age resident athletes from the U.S. Olympic Education Center at Northern Michigan University attend classes at MSHS. The present high school is located on the site of the former Munising Wood Products factory at the corner of Fair Avenue and Lincoln Avenue. It was also known as the Piqua Location. The school has 59 members on its teaching staff, with a teacher to student ratio of 1:22, and 52 support staff, for a total of 111 total staff.

History

Marquette's first high school was constructed in 1859 on property given to the city by Morgan Hewitt. Located on the corner of Pine and Ridge Streets, the community initially opposed the project because it was "on the edge of the wilderness." Nevertheless, the red brick building with separate entrances for boys and girls was used until 1875, when it was torn down and replaced with a larger brownstone building in 1878.

After fire claimed the brownstone in February 1900, the Howard High School (named after John M. Longyear's son) was constructed in 1902 along with an elementary school and a manual training building. However, the school had been built to accommodate 200 students, but reached an enrollment of nearly 400 by 1915, so the community began a search for a new site.

Harriet K. Adams, widow of pioneer Sidney Adams, donated land on the corner of Front and Hewitt streets for a new high school, and gave $2,500 for gymnasium equipment, but World War I postponed those plans until 1923.

In 1925, voters approved a bond issue of $475,000 to build the new high school on the 8 lots on Front Street between Ohio Street and Hewitt Avenue (as well as expand the Fisher School). Louis Kaufman donated $26,000 to the school board to replace the funds it had spent on land acquisition, so that more money could be spent on construction. In appreciation, the board voted unanimously to name the school after Kaufman's mother, Juliet Graveraet; they later named the auditorium after Kaufman himself.

Graveraet High School was replaced in 1965 by the present structure at Fair and Lincoln avenues.

Athletics

The Marquette Senior High School's athletic program is known as the Redmen and Redettes. Their logo is a Block M with MARQUETTE printed in the center. Their colors are red and white. The ice hockey team won the 1988, 1995, 2004 and 2008 (tied) MHSAA state championships.^[4] The girl's downhill ski team took the state titles in 1999-2004, 2008, and 2009.^[5] The boys downhill ski team were the state champs in 1997, 2000-2003, 2006, 2009, and 2013-2015.^[6] The Girls Swimming and Diving team have been the UP champions 21 times (1980, 1981, 1989-1993, 1995-1997, 2002-2012).^[7]

Music

Over the years, MSHS has been a participant in State Organizations of Band, Orchestra, and Choir. Music students participate in MYAF (Michigan Youth Arts Festival).

Student organizations

The following organizations are available to students at Marquette:^[8]

Notable alumni

• Chris Thorpe (1988): Olympic silver medalist in luge doubles, Nagano, Japan, 1998.^[11]
• Vernon Forrest (1991): 1992 United States Olympic Boxing Team.
• Shani Davis (2000): Two time Olympic gold medalist in speed skating (2006,2010).^[12]

References

• Longtine and Chappell (1999). Then and Now: Fascinating Vignettes of Marquette's Progress to the Present. North Shore Publications. 

External links

• Marquette Senior High School
• Marquette Area Public Schools