Central Valley High School (Washington)

Central Valley High School, or CV, is a high school located in Spokane Valley, Washington. Central Valley is one of the three high schools in Central Valley School District #356.

History

Central Valley High School opened in January 1927, and was popular because it offered free transportation to and from the school. It grew fast with the support of the surrounding community, and hosted its first track meet the following spring. Over the next years, the school had gained a gymnasium, art rooms, a furnace, and a library. The school experienced several remodelings over the years. In 2002, the school was rebuilt after passing a bond issue, including a larger gymnasium for 2,200 seats, a state-of-the-art performing arts center, an advanced technological media center, a new commons area, and an overall expansion of the school.

Location and structure

The school is located at 821 S. Sullivan Rd. in Spokane Valley, WA. The building is built in a rectangular design (ostensibly for fire safety reasons), with equal length hallways on both sides of the central commons, and two smaller hallways in the back of the school for the technology and music wings. The track and football field are located north of the building, and the gyms are on the northeastern side of the school. A wide campus with two soccer fields and two baseball fields are located east and behind the school, and three parking lots and one soccer field are located west and in front of the building.

Clubs and Activities

Central Valley has numerous extracurricular activities and club available to the student body.

Debate

Central Valley's debate team is directed under Brad Thew. The team regularly attends regional tournaments.

Music

Band

Central Valley's band program comprises three in class bands: Symphonic Winds, Concert Winds, and the premier Wind Ensemble. Concert Winds and Wind Ensemble are audition-only groups, and Wind Ensemble is only open to students grades 10-12. CV also boasts 2 jazz bands, I and II, a marching band/colorguard, and basketball "pep band". The marching band is one of the most visible student groups on campus, and practices, much like other fall school-sponsored sports, from August to late October. Most recently, they won the first place in the NWAPA marching circuit with a score of a 93.9 for their show "Machine."^[1] The bands are directed by Eric Parker, a CVHS graduate (class of 1996) who received his B.A. in Arts from Eastern Washington University in 2002. Parker received his Masters in Conducting from Sam Houston State University in 2010. He assumed full responsibilities as director of bands in 2006. Since, he was selected by School Band and Orchestra Magazine as one of the "50 Teachers Who Make a Difference" for Washington state.^[2]

Choir

The Central Valley choir program, under director Mike Elliott, consists of an A Cappella Choir, a Symphonic Choir, and a jazz choir known as Rhythm N'Blues. These groups regularly compete in choir competitions in the Pacific Northwest region.

Orchestra

In addition to the band program, the school has two orchestras: the concert orchestra, available to all strings students, and the chamber orchestra, which is composed of 16 auditioned members. The Central Valley Chamber Orchestra has experienced some success, taking 2nd place at the EWMEA Solo and Ensemble festival in the Large Group Strings division in the 2008/2009 season. Each year it performs at several free venues, and in 2009 made a small tour of the Spokane area. The concert orchestra has performed with the Spokane Symphony, and has annual performances in the Central Valley Performing Arts Center.

Athletics

Football

In the 1997-1998 season the CV Bears became state champions after beating South Kitsap in the Tacoma Dome on 12/6/1997 under the direction of their long time coach Rick Giampietri.^[3] They made the playoffs in the 1982-1983, 1983-1984, 1995-1996, 2008-2009, and the 2011-2012 seasons but they fell short of the state title in each occasion.^[4]

Women's Basketball

The CV Women's Basketball team has won three state titles. Their first came in the 1992-1993 season when the beat Snohomish on 3/13/93 by a score of 44-35. They then went to the playoffs eight years in a row from the 1996-1997 season through the 2003-2004 season, winning two more state championships in the 2000-2001 season and 2001-2002 season by beating Redmond 71-48 on 3/10/2001 and Prairie 61-43 on 3/9/2002. They have made eight other playoff appearances.^[5]

Men's Basketball

The CV Men's Basketball team has been to the playoffs 24 times in their history, winning their only state title in the 1967-1968 season by beating Lincoln 62-48 on 3/23/1968.^[6]

Women's Soccer

The CV Women's Soccer team has been to the playoffs nine times winning two state championships in the 2013-2014 season and the 2014-2015 season beating Issaquah 3-2 on 11/23/2013 and beating Jackson 5-2 in the 2014-2015 season.^[7]

Wrestling

The CV Wrestling team has been to the playoffs 16 times winning their only state title in the 1997-1998 season.^[8]

Cross country

The CV Cross Country team has experienced success in recent years. In 2006, the Bears placed at state for the first time in over 40 years, and earned a ranking as 24th in the nation on Harrier's Super 25.^[9] In 2011, the Bears brought a team to state again, including several young runners who returned in 2012 to help the Bears earn their first ever Cross Country State Championship, in the Washington State 4A division.

Tennis

Central Valley has a boys' and girls' tennis program under the direction of coaches Brian Kreider and Stan Chalich.

Other sports

Central Valley also competes in other GSL league sports: boys' and girls' basketball, football, boys' and girls' golf, gymnastics, boys' and girls' soccer, boys' and girls' track & field, volleyball, wrestling, cheerleading, slow- and fast-pitch softball, and baseball. Austin Rehkow, senior High School football kicker during the school year 2012-2013 is expected to sign a multi-year contract with the NFL after his October 18, 2012 successful 67 yard field goal as reported by Roy Olivarez http://glensphotovideo.com/.

Fight Song

Fight,fight,fight for CVHS, Win our Victory!,

For we will win the fight for our blue and white,

Best in the West so we'll all do our best,

So on,on,on,on fight till the end,

With honor and glory we shall win (Go Bears!),

So fight,fight,fight for CVHS and Vic-tor-y GO BEARS!,

References

Coordinates: 47°38′58″N 117°11′37″W / 47.64944°N 117.19361°W / 47.64944; -117.19361