Mentor High School

Mentor High School

The Mentor Cardinal
Address
6477 Center Street
Mentor, Ohio
Mentor, Ohio, (Lake County), 44060
United States
Coordinates 41°41′40″N 81°20′14″W / 41.69444°N 81.33722°WCoordinates: 41°41′40″N 81°20′14″W / 41.69444°N 81.33722°W
Information
Type Public, Coeducational high school
Established 1923
Status Open
School district Mentor Exempted Village School District
Superintendent Matthew Miller[1]
Principal William Wade[1]
Faculty 175 certified staff members
Grades 9-12
Enrollment 2,800
Color(s) Scarlet and Gray[1]          
Fight song Across the Field
Athletics Boys Baseball
Boys Basketball
Girls Basketball
Bowling
Cheerleading
Boys Cross Country
Girls Cross Country
Girls Fastpitch
Football
Boys Golf
Girls Golf
Gymnastics
Ice hockey
Boys Lacrosse
Girls Lacrosse
Boys Soccer
Girls Soccer
Swimming/Diving Team
Boys Tennis
Girls Tennis
Boys Track & Field
Girls Track & Field
Volleyball
Wrestling
Athletics conference Northeast Ohio Conference[2]
Mascot The Fighting Cardinal
Nickname The Mentor Cards
Team name The Fighting Cardinals[1]
Accreditation North Central Association of Colleges and Schools[3]
Athletic Director Jeffrey Cassella[1]
Website www.mentorhigh.com

Mentor High School is a public high school located in Mentor, Ohio. It is the only high school in the Mentor Exempted Village School District (informally, "Mentor Schools"). In the 2008–2009 school year, it shifted from a three-year school (grades 10–12) to a four-year high school (grades 9–12), serving 3,200 students. It is the eighth largest high school by enrollment in the State of Ohio.[4] Mentor High School educates students from Mentor, Mentor-on-the-Lake, and parts of Kirtland Hills and Concord Township in Lake County, Ohio. Mentor High is made up of mainly students from the three Mentor middle schools; Memorial, Shore, and Ridge.

Music

Band

There are four concert band at the high school. Freshman Band, Grey Band, Scarlet Band, and Wind Ensemble, at increasing levels of skill. All four bands compete in the OMEA contest.

Orchestra

Mentor has two orchestras in its program including Concert Orchestra with only stringed instruments and Symphony Orchestra with the highest level string, brass, woodwind, and purcussion students.

Choir

There are four curricular, concert choirs that perform at concerts throughout the year, festivals and at OMEA adjudicated events. There is an auditioned Vocal Chamber Ensemble and an auditioned show choir as well. Choristers have the opportunity to perform at an annual Cabaret show and in the OMEA Solo & Ensemble Adjudicated event.

Extracurricular activities

Science Olympiad

In 2007, the Science Olympiad team saw one of its greatest successes in over a decade, finishing second in the state competition, overtaking Solon High School, a local rival, to get a bid to the national competition at Wichita State University. They finished fifth in the nation. In 2009, the Science Olympiad team went to nationals again, defeating Solon, and went to Augusta, Georgia and finished with 7th place in the nation with Centerville, the other team that went from Ohio, finishing 1st.

Fighting Cardinal Marching Band

The Mentor High School Fighting Cardinal Marching Band, commonly called the FCMB, is a strong music program with a history of excellence. The band plays at all home and away football games as well as competing at several competitions. The FCMB received its first "Superior Rating", the highest rating possible for competitions at state contest, in 2004 under the direction of Mr. Shawn Vondran and Mr. Byron Hunsicker. During the 2012-2013 school year, the band earned another Superior rating at state contest. They also performed live for Fox 8 News and performed for a rally when President Obama came to Mentor High School to campaign for the 2012 Presidential Elections. In the fall of 2013, the band once again competed at State Contest. The band qualified for States yet again in the fall of 2014, where they received their third Superior rating with their show entitled "The Divine Comedy." This performance was the highest the band has every scored. Notable directors include: Gayle Stalheim, Timothy Yowell, Bryron Hunsicker, Beth Karchefsky, Shawn Vondran, and Steve Poremba

Athletics

Mentor High is a Division I school in the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA). Formerly of the Lake Erie League, Mentor now competes in the Northeast Ohio Conference (NOC).[2] The Cardinals have won several state championship titles sponsored by the OHSAA.[5]

Mentor (25-5) defeated Toledo Rogers (21-8), 76-67, to win the boys basketball Division I state championship in front of 9,566 in Value City Arena on the campus of Ohio State University located in Columbus, OH. In the semi-final game, Mentor defeated previously undefeated Columbus Northland (29-1), 80-69. Jeff Foreman was named OHSSA Division 1 State Championship Most Outstanding Player. Jeff Foreman, Conner Krizancic and Caleb Potter were selected to the State All-Tournament Team.

Coach Lee Tressel led the Mentor Cardinals football team to 34 consecutive victories in the 1950s.[6]

Other activities

Student suicides

Four students committed suicide in an approximately four-year period ending in 2008, allegedly as a result of harassment or bullying from fellow students. This prompted at least two of the families to file lawsuits against the school.[7] The 2014 documentary Mentor depicts this.[8]

Adult Classes

President Barack Obama signs a memorial wall designed by former art student Anthony Gajary at Mentor High after a campaign event, 2012

Notable alumni

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 OHSAA. "Ohio High School Athletic Association member directory". Retrieved 2010-04-02.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "N.O.C. Welcomes New Member the Mentor Cardinals!". NortheastOhioConference.org. Northeast Ohio Conference. July 6, 2011. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
  3. ↑ NCA-CASI. "NCA-Council on Accreditation and School Improvement". Retrieved 2010-04-02.
  4. ↑ Ohio Department of Education. "ODE Data & Statistics". Retrieved 2007-07-10.
  5. ↑ OHSAA. "Ohio High School Athletic Association Web site". Retrieved 2006-12-31.
  6. ↑ "Coach Tressel Family Tree".
  7. ↑ Barr, Meghan (October 8, 2010). "1 Ohio school, 4 bullied teens dead at own hand". Mentor, Ohio: AP via NBC News. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Mentor (2014) - IMDb." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Jan. 2015. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3350244/>.

External links