William Mason High School (Mason, Ohio)

William Mason High School
Address
6100 Mason-Montgomery Road Mason, Ohio Mason, Ohio, (Warren County), 45040 United States
Coordinates	39°21′3″N 84°18′26″W / 39.35083°N 84.30722°W / 39.35083; -84.30722Coordinates: 39°21′3″N 84°18′26″W / 39.35083°N 84.30722°W / 39.35083; -84.30722
Information
School type	Public, Coeducational
Opened	First graduating class, 1886 (current building, 2002)
School district	Mason City Schools
Superintendent	Dr.Gail Kist-Kline
CEEB Code	363275
Principal	Mindy McCarty-Stewart
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	3,300 students (2013)
Hours in school day	7
Color(s)	Green and White
Song	The Green and White
Fight song	Stand Up and Cheer Tusk
Athletics conference	Greater Miami Conference
Mascot	Comet
Team name	Mason Comets
Accreditation	North Central Association of Colleges and Schools[1]
Newspaper	The Chronicle
Website	http://www.masoncomets.org

William Mason High School, also known as Mason High School (WMHS or MHS), is a four-year public high school located in the Mason City School District in Mason, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio. Its enrollment makes it the largest high school in Ohio, serving more than 3,300 students in grades 9 through 12 in a 620,000 square-foot, three-story facility on a 73-acre campus.^[2]

History

The school's first graduating class was in 1886, with 7 students at commencement at Mason's Opera House. In the following years, graduating classes consisted of 10, 3 (all girls), 3 (all girls), and, in 1890, 14, according to "Around Mason, Ohio: A Story", 1982, by Rose Marie Springman. At the school's 50th commencement in 1935, the school graduated 27. In 1959, the long-time high school on North East Street became a K-8 school with the building of a new high school on Mason-Montgomery Road (the site of the current Mason Middle School). Indoor athletics continued to be held at the old building until a new gym was added to the high school in 1967.

Academics

As of 2011, MHS offers 186 courses and is nationally recognized for "offering one of the most extensive learning experiences available," according to the district's website. Mason schools are accredited by the North Central Association and are a member of the Greater Miami Conference for athletics. The current facility was built in 2002 and recently added a $30 million addition to its school, which was completed in 2010. The school has well-known art, music, and sports programs. The school also has a student-run bank, Comet Savings & Loan, and a student-run school store, the Comet Zone, both of which are open year-round.

Mason City Schools is consistently rated one of the top school districts in the state, with a perfect rating of 26 out of 26 indicators on the 2011-2012 Ohio Report Card, according to the district's website, MasonOhioSchools.com. The district earned "Excellent with Distinction" from the Ohio Department of Education and had the sixth-highest Performance Index Score in the state. Also in 2011-2012, the high school had 16 National Merit Semifinalists, and six National Merit Scholars.

The school earned national recognition in 2013 when it was named the "Kindest School in America" for its students' documented completion of thousands of acts of kindness as part of the "26 Acts of Kindness" campaign, inspired in the aftermath of the Newtown, Connecticut school shootings.

Technology

Each classroom has a projector, DVD player, VCR, synchronized atomic clocks, a computer for each teacher, a telephone with voicemail for each teacher and cable hookup, as well as multi-media computers (depending on the type of classroom). There are 28 computer labs in the building, and they have between 13 and 25 instructional software ranging from photography, media production, math, accounting, CAD/CAM, biology, etc. supporting hands-on project-based instruction. There are approximately 1,100 computers in the school. The entire building has wireless Internet capability, including a lecture hall and a 1,200-seat auditorium with a theatrical sound system and lighting. During the 2014 school year there was the addition of about 14 Desktop Mac computers for a classroom (integrated media)

Mason City Schools has one of the fastest school networks in Ohio, operating over 1,700 times faster than the standard home Internet connection while supporting over 3,200 classroom computers. There are approximately 3 students per computer in the district. The district also supports individual teacher pages for posting of work assignments and other class information. The building now has wi-fi for mobile devices on a password connection. Mason High School also has over 100 iPads for student use. A new area of the building is the Learning Commons, this is an interactive learning environment that has computer work areas, team building areas, and places for students to study. The building has the most updated security features including a background check system for visitors, over 100 security cameras that both school administrators and local law enforcement can see. Parents have secure web access to student grades, transportation information, lunch account balances, and more.

Extracurricular Activities

More than 85 percent of students at Mason High School are involved in extracurriculars.

Academic Clubs and Teams

Mason High School is home to several academically competitive clubs, including Speech & Debate, Mock Trial, Science Olympiad, MathCounts, and an Academic Quizbowl Team, who was named champion of the Greater Miami Conference for the 2014-2015 school year.

Athletics

As a member of the Ohio High School Athletic Association, the Mason High School Athletic Department sponsors numerous sports. The Comets participate in the Greater Miami Conference. Previously, Mason was a charter member of the Fort Ancient Valley Conference from 1965-66 to 2006-07.^[3] Mason has won the All Sports Trophy for 12 consecutive years — the past seven in the GMC,^[4] and prior to that, five more in the FAVC, where the Comets won a total of 21 All Sports Trophies between 1967–68 and 2006–07, according to GoMasonComets.com, the school's official athletics site.

Athletic facilities include:

• Dwire Field at Atrium Stadium: Seating for 6,800, synthetic turf football field, 8-lane all-weather track, Jumbotron scoreboard, three concession stands, two press boxes. Hosts state playoff football games. Named for Walter Dwire, MHS class of 1936 who was the first inductee into the Mason Athletic Hall of Fame, and was Mason's athletic director when the football program was started and the field built in 1962.
• Mason Arena: Seating for 3,200 (with auxiliary gym that seats 1,000), center-court scoreboard, 4 corner scoreboards. Hosts state playoff games.
• Multipurpose Field (soccer, lacrosse): Seating for 1,240, synthetic turf.
• Natatorium: Seating for 600, 11 lanes, movable floor. Hosts state playoff meets.
• Softball fields: three, including main stadium with permanent seating/brick facade. Hosts state playoff games.
• Baseball field: one with permanent seating/brick facade.
• Tennis: Seating for 100, 16 hard courts.
• Atrium Fitness Center: State-of-the-art training and fitness center.

Other activities include award-winning such as Dance Team, Speech and Debate and the Science Olympiad team. The school has a National Honor Society and a Student Government appointed to make a difference in students' communities, along with other leadership clubs such as Mason African-American Students for Change and H.O.P.E. Club. Most recently, Mason's Science Olympiad placed fourth at the state competition, after nationally ranked schools Solon, Centerville, and Mentor.

The school has a strong media outlet in its monthly campus student newspaper The Chronicle — a completely student-run publication which has won awards from the National Scholastic Press Association and the Columbia Scholastic Press Association — and MBC Newsmakers, a monthly broadcast show presented to the entire campus. Also present in the school are The Masonian yearbook and Writer's Block, the literary magazine.

MHS promotes school spirit at various varsity sporting events with its highly successful "Black Hole" student section, formed in the 2007-2008 school year. The Black Hole has been featured in local newspapers including The Cincinnati Enquirer.

Performing Arts

The school's Drama Club performs one show per semester, culminating in a spring musical each year. Mason High School is a member of the Cappies of Greater Cincinnati, and its winter 2009 play "Noises Off" won the Best Play Cappie. Its outstanding theater facilities include a complete auditorium, scene and costume shop, Green Room and newly constructed black box theater space.

The Instrumental Music Department encompasses six concert bands(concert white, green, silver, winds, symphonic band, and wind symphony), four orchestras, Marching Band, Jazz Band, Pep Band, Chamber Strings, Winter Guard, Winter Percussion, and Music TheoI'mry. The Mason Band Program was awarded the John Philip Sousa Foundation Sudler Flag of Honor on May 24, 2008. In 2011, the William Mason High School Marching Band was the recipient of the John Philip Sousa Foundation Sudler Shield, the highest honor a marching band can receive.^[5] MHS is one of only 15 schools to ever receive both awards.

Marching Band

The award-winning William Mason High School Marching Band is composed of over 300 students, making it the largest student organization on the campus. The Marching Band performs competitively in the style of modern drum corps on the Bands of America and Mid-States Band Association circuits. Its 2007 show, "From Nothing", made it to the semifinal round of the BOA Grand Nationals. The 2008 show, entitled "Meditation", also went to BOA Grand Nationals, and included a bassoon and oboe duet. In 2009, the show "Between Heaven and Earth" placed 20th, and in 2010 the show "Underworld" placed 14th and was .08 points away from making finals at BOA Grand National Championships.

Mason's Marching Band made history by reached Grand National Finals with their 2011 show "A Winter's Solstice" and placed 10th overall out of 92 bands. The Marching Band placed 8th out of the 87 bands that performed in the BOA 2012 Grand National Championships, making finals for a second time with their exotically themed show, "This Land...", scoring 87.65. They placed fourth in the BOA Super Regionals in Atlanta, just .05 points away from third, and won second in their class, AAAA. The Marching Band improved in 2013, placing 6th with a score of 92.90 in BOA Grand Nationals Finals. Their 2013 show was entitled, "'Til Death Do Us Part".

2014 was a year of "firsts" for the Marching Band, with their show entitled "Once Upon a Time". The Marching Band won the BOA Dayton Regional and swept all captions—a first.^[6] They returned to the BOA Atlanta Super Regional where they won 2 captions in preliminary competition and was named Class AAAA Champion for the first time at a Super Regional. In finals competition they placed 2nd to Tarpon Springs (the eventual 2014 BOA Grand National Champion), their highest placement ever in super regional final competition.^[7] They continued with their annual improvement at the BOA Grand Nationals by placing 5th overall out of 94 bands, with a score of 92.05.^[8] In addition, the Marching Band was invited to perform at the 127th Rose Parade in January 2016.^[9]

Concert Bands

The Mason High School Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band played at Carnegie Hall in 2011, also in Chicago in 2012. In March 2014, three Mason bands performed at the Music For All National Concert Band Festival in Indianapolis. The MHS Wind Symphony made its third appearance at the Festival and the MHS Symphonic Band made its first appearance. The Middle School 8th grade Symphonic Winds was one of five middle school bands to perform and the first Ohio middle school ever invited. The MHS Wind Symphony and the Mason Middle School Symphonic winds performed at the BGSU Band Clinic on Jan 23, 2015.

Orchestra

The Symphony and Concert orchestras played at Lincoln Center in 2009, and its symphony and philharmonic orchestras played at Washington, D.C.'s Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian in February 2012. In March 2014, the Symphony Orchestra performed at the National Orchestra Festival in Louisville, Kentucky.

Ohio High School Athletic Association State Championships/Team

Division I

• Boys Soccer, 2013
• Boys Cross Country, 2014,^[10] 2008
• Girls Golf, 2010, 2009, 2008^[11]
• Girls Basketball, 2000^[11]
• Girls Track and Field, 2004^[11]
• Girls Cross Country, 2013, 2012^[11]

State runner-up: Div. I: Girls Basketball, 1999, 1997; Girls Track, 2006; Girls Golf, 2007; Girls Soccer, 2013, 2012; Girls Cross Country 2014, 2010 Div. AA: Baseball, 1987.^[11]

Non-OHSAA State Championships/Team

• Boys Lacrosse, 2004
• Girls Water Polo, 2013

Runner-up: Girls Lacrosse, 2005

Ohio High School Athletic Association State Championships/Individual

Division I

Boys Cross Country

• 2010: Zach Wills
• 2009: Zach Wills
• 2008: Zach Wills

Girls Cross Country

• 2004: Angela Bizzarri
• 2002: Angela Bizzarri

Girls Golf

• 2010: Emily Wright

Girls Gymnastics

• 2015: Crystal Kratzer, Bars

Boys Swimming

• 2006: Spencer Hewes, 100 Breaststroke

Girls Swimming

• 2015: Ashley Volpenhein, 50 Freestyle
• 2015: Ashley Volpenhein, 100 Freestyle
• 2014: Ashley Volpenhein, 50 Freestyle
• 2013: Zoe Thatcher, 500 Freestyle
• 2013: Zoe Thatcher, 200 Freestyle
• 2012: Zoe Thatcher, 500 Freestyle
• 2009: Danielle Jansen, 200 Freestyle

Boys Tennis

• 2012: Luke Tsai/Miguel Cepeda (Doubles)

Boys Track and Field

• 2009: Zach Wills (3200)
• 2008: Zach Wills (3200)

Girls Track and Field

• 2013: Lauren Wood, Olivia Gaus, Erin Brush, Delaney McDowell (4x800)
• 2011: Monica Lake, Bridget McElhenny, Brenna Hallum, Olivia Gaus (4x800)
• 2010: Olivia Bergeson (Pole Vault)
• 2006: Angela Bizzarri, Kelsey Flaherty, Emily Staresinic, Stephanie Staresinic (4x800)
• 2006: Angela Bizzarri (3200)
• 2006: Angela Bizzarri (1600)
• 2005: Angela Bizzarri (3200)
• 2004: LeAuna Sistrunk (100 Dash)
• 2004: LeAuna Sistrunk (300 Hurdles)
• 2003: Angela Bizzarri (3200)
• 2003: LeAuna Sistrunk (100 Dash)

Wrestling

• 2009: Robert Shepherd (135)
• 2008: Josh Kline (285)
• 2005: Zach Marshall (275)

League All Sports Trophy Champion

Greater Miami Conference (GMC)

• 2013-14; 2012–13; 2011–12; 2010–11; 2009–10; 2008–09; 2007–08

Fort Ancient Valley Conference (FAVC)

• 2006-07; 2005–06; 2004–05; 2003–04; 2002–03; 1998–99; 1997–98; 1996–97; 1995–96; 1994–95; 1991–92; 1990–91; 1986–87; 1976–77; 1975–76; 1974–75; 1971–72; 1970–71; 1969–70; 1968–69; 1967–68

Notable alumni and staff

• Dan Patrick (class of 1974), NBC Sports anchor and studio host of Football Night in America since 2008; host of his own nationally syndicated daily radio show The Dan Patrick Show since 2007, which is also simulcast on NBC Sports Network and formerly simulcast on Fox Sports Net and Comcast Sports Net 2010-2012; and Sports Illustrated senior writer. Former ESPN SportsCenter anchor 1989-2006 and former CNN sports anchor 1983-1989.^[12]
• Brant Daugherty (class of 2004), Actor, "Army Wives",^[13] "Pretty Little Liars", "Days of Our Lives". In 2013 he appeared as a star/contestant on one of the highest-rated primetime TV shows, ABC's Dancing with the Stars.^[14]
• Josh Kline (class of 2008), NFL New England Patriots' offensive lineman (2013–present) and member of winning Patriots' team in Super Bowl XLIX.^[15]
• Mike Chipman (class of 1965), founder and former owner of Chipsoft, the developer of TurboTax tax preparation software; and one of the three majority owners of the Arizona Diamondbacks Major League Baseball team.
• Percy Coleman (class of 1894), Major League Baseball pitcher, St. Louis Browns (1897) and Cincinnati Reds (1898).
• Mick Barr (class of 1968), Chairman, National Industrial Transportation League^[16] 2004-2006 while an executive at Procter & Gamble. MHS' first All-American (football, 1967), at the U.S. Naval Academy^[17] he was a starting receiver 1969-1971 and played in three nationally televised Army-Navy games. Graduated as Navy's seventh all-time leading receiver.
• Ed Kelley (class of 1970), holds Mason boys' basketball records including: career points, 1,365; points per game, 26.9 in 1969-70; points in one game, 51 vs. Loveland (20-24 FG, 11-11 FT) in 1969-70. As point guard led Furman University to two Southern Conference tournament titles and two NCAA tournament appearances, including 1973-74 to the "Sweet 16" with a win over the University of South Carolina.
• Mike Biehle (class of 1971), MHS three-sport athlete whose school records in shot put and discus haven't been approached in 40+ years. Played football for Miami University, where he was All Mid-American Conference first-team offensive tackle in 1973 and 1974. Led Miami to MAC titles in 1973 and 1974 with a record of 21-0-1, AP rankings of #10 and #15, and bowl wins over the University of Florida and the University of Georgia in the Capital One Bowl (then the Tangerine Bowl). Was 1975 7th-round NFL Draft pick of the Houston Oilers.
• Michelle Munoz-Trenz (class of 2001), Ohio Div. I Ms. Basketball in 1999-2000 and 2000-2001, MHS all-time leading scorer with 1,840 points, also had 765 rebounds. Played for University of Tennessee and Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt before transferring and playing at Ohio State University.
• Angela Bizzarri (class of 2006), NCAA champion, Big Ten champion, and All-American cross country and track runner at the University of Illinois and 8-time Ohio state champion in cross country and track at Mason High School.
• Zach Wills (class of 2011), five-time Ohio state champion in cross country and track at Mason High School and current runner for the top-ranked Oklahoma State University cross country team.
• Michael Saylor (class of 1972), played college football at University of Memphis and University of Cincinnati and competed in national arm wrestling tournaments, placing second in the nation.
• Alexander Chernyakhovsky (class of 2010), 2009 winner of Young Epidemiology Scholars (YES) Competition
• Brian Wells (class of 1990), college football coach at Thomas More College (assistant) and Ohio Mid-Western College^[18](Head Coach); professional indoor football coach for Cincinnati Swarm (af2), Louisville Fire (af2), Dayton Warbirds^[19](Head Coach) (NIFL), Cincinnati Marshals (NIFL), Miami Valley Silverbacks (Head Coach) (CIFL - 2010 Coach of the Year^[20]), Cincinnati Commandos (CIFL) and Texas Revolution (IFL).

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Notes and references