Lake Stevens High School

Lake Stevens High School is a high school located in Lake Stevens, in the Lake Stevens School District, of Washington state, in the United States. LSHS currently educates grades 10–12.

Academics

LSHS offers a variety of Advanced Placement, University of Washington extension, and Honors classes. AP Calculus, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Statistics, AP European History, AP United States History, AP English, AP Art History, AP Psychology, UW English, UW Literature and UW Foreign Language compose the current list of options. Several teachers have worked hard to ensure that aspiring students at LSHS are able to challenge themselves, and LSHS students have been successful in many areas. In the past, LSHS students have been WA State Scholars, AP Scholars, and National Merit Scholars, and LSHS alumni have attended some of the best universities in the country.

In the 2011-2012 school year, Lake Stevens High School added AP Government and Politics.

History

LSHS first opened in the early 20th century where North Lake Middle School is currently located. LSHS has since moved to its current location on 113th avenue, and the current school was remodeled in the 1990s and again in the summer of 2007. In the summer of 2010, the football stadium was torn down and remodeled to fit more people.

'Pink Palace'

From 1936 to 1979, Lake Stevens High School was located on the grounds that is now where North Lake Middle School currently occupies. Painted with a surplus of pink paint left over from WWII efforts, the school was eventually nicknamed the Pink Palace. After the 1978-1979 school year, the building was demolished, and students began at the current LSHS location in the fall of 1979. In July of 2007, a raging inferno tore through the upper portion of the 100 building. No one was injured (school was out for the summer), but some damage was incurred by the school.

General information

Year Book

The annual year book is called the Rune, honoring the Scandinavian heritage of LSHS's Viking Mascot. First published as the 'Rune' in 1933, the 75th volume was commemorated in the 2007-2008 school year. Every year the Rune comes up with themes to try and capture the spirit of the school year as well as show different and diverse sides of high school life. Past themes include; "What Lies Beneath" and "Stripped Bare."

Alma Mater

Now we gather to pay homage to the school - we love so well. To our high school, dear Lake Stevens, let our devotion tell. Lift the Chorus, speed it onward, let our voices ring. Hail to thee, our Alma Mater, we thy praises sing. Spread before us dear Lake Stevens, glistening in the sun, held against the heart of nature, till earth and sky are one. Lift the Chorus, speed it onward, let our voices ring. Hail to thee, our Alma Mater, we thy praises sing.

Newspaper

Supporting the theme of Scandinavian heritage, the LSHS student newspaper is named, The Valhalla. It is a student-run, student-produced publication. LSHS began publishing a student newspaper in 1925.

The Valhalla became a fully digital operation in 2005. It is produced using Adobe InDesign and printed at a local print shop. The Valhalla is best known for its "Top Ten" list, which offers a humorous look at events or items on the minds of students. In the past, the paper was typically heavy on sports and A&E. After a conflict in the 2006-2007 school year, the Valhalla was finally released from prior review and thus was able to print more controversial stories, although still maintaining a careful policy for fear of falling back into the prior review system.

Following the lead of most top student and professional non-daily publications, The Valhalla transformed from a traditional newspaper format to a news magazine in 2005. In the 2007-2008 school year, the Valhalla adopted somewhat of a hybrid layout, mixing elements of both newspapers and news magazines. The Valhalla, in the same year, also adopted a new view of its journalistic style, providing more relevant and hard-hitting stories that would make the paper relevant even in a school that got its news from the daily VTV broadcast.

Bands

Lake Stevens High School has three bands which all play at both the fall and spring concerts and at a large amount of festivals and ensembles. These bands are the jazz band, which meets before school most mornings, the wind ensemble, and the concert band. All the bands are directed by Mr. Neil Proff. Mr. Proff also directs the Woodinville Jazz Ensemble at .

Drumline

The LSHS drumline is made of a mixture of percussionists from both the Wind ensemble and the Concert band.

Sports, Athletics and Clubs

LSHS is a member of the 4A WESCO North division of Washington State.

Wrestling

The varsity Wrestling team has won eight state titles: 1990, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2011. Under coach Brent Barnes, the team went 18 years without losing a WESCO league match, last losing to Lynnwood High School during the 1993 season. In the 2007-2008 season, the streak ended with a loss to Snohomish High School by a margin of 18-31. However, the team went on to win the state championship that same year. MTV featured the Lake Stevens High School wrestling team in an episode of True Life in 2012, the episode entitled, "On The Mat".

Girls' Basketball

Girl's basketball has showed impressive skill in the last 4 years, culminating in 2008 with exceptional progress in the 2008 state tournament. Five key starting players, all seniors, were Mary Ochiltree, Leah Tate, Karri Gallagher, Alona Personius, and Brittany Tri. The media had taken to referring to them as the "Fab Five" due to their heightened performances while playing together.

Football

The Lake Stevens High School football team has won numerous league titles with Ken Collins, a former player in the NFL (New England Patriots), as the head football coach. Perhaps its most accomplished season was 1994, when the team lost the state championship Kingdome game 7 - 6 to O'Dea High School on a missed last second Ryan Oase field goal attempt. The Vikings also made the State Championship game in 1985 losing to Shelton High School 21-12. The Viking team struck gold in 2011 as they were undefeated in Wesco League. They continued their winning streak into the playoffs defeating three other teams, two of which were ranked higher in the 4A Division. The Vikings ended their season with a 12-1 record, with their only loss coming from Skyview High School in the state semi-finals at the Tacoma Dome. In 2016, Senior Quarterback Jacob Eason, considered by many scouts to be the top pro-style quarterback in the Class of 2016, committed to the University of Georgia, a top Division-I NCAAF School led by first-year head coach Kirby Smart.

Boys' Soccer

The boys soccer team has been nationally ranked by the Adidas National Soccer Association of America. In the 2006 season, their peak ranking was #9 in the national poll and #2 in their region, they finished fourth in state that year. In 2010, the boys soccer team completed its most successful season to date, winning Wesco North and All Wesco district titles and eventually making it into the state finals. In the same year, the boys soccer team was also ranked #21 out of 50 on ESPN's FAB 50, which ranks the top 50 teams in the nation.

Cross Country

LSHS Cross Country saw enormous success with runners Joey Bywater and Kyle "Vinny" Van Santen. They have since graduated, however the team is still doing very well.

Horticulture

Lake Stevens High School Horticulture and Future Farmers of America (FFA) is one of the longest running classes and clubs taught at Lake Stevens High School. Horticulture is currently run by Tamara Bochan. The horticulture class and FFA club every spring run a Spring Plant Sale.

Performing Arts

Theatre

Lake Stevens High School offers an Introduction to Theatre and an Advanced Theatre course. LSHS also has an award-winning and esteemed Drama Club, which puts on a Fall play and a Spring musical every year. Some past productions include: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Grease, Chicago, James and the Giant Peach, Alice in Wonderland, The Mikado, Peter Pan, and Disney's Tarzan: The Musical. Theatre and Drama Club is currently taught and directed by Mindy Marks as of the 2014-2015 school year. The Drama Club also gets support from a parent Booster Club, which hosts a silent auction every year to raise money for the productions.

Choir

Lake Stevens High School offers Concert Choir, Jazz Choir, and Treble Choir. Choir is directed by Ms. Heidi Forslund at both LSHS and Cavelero Mid High School. The LSHS Choir's have won many awards from different festivals over the years, including Music in the Parks, and MPMEA.

Notable alumni

• Mitch Canham - Former Oregon State catcher and current minor league baseball player for the Oakland Athletics.^[1]
• Marv Harshman - Member of the National Basketball Hall of Fame^[2]
• Branden Kelliher - 2014 MLB Draft pick (eighth round, Oakland Athletics)^[3]
• Cory Kennedy (skateboarder) - Pro-skateboarder^[4]
• Chris Pratt - Television and Film actor. Television shows such as Everwood, The O.C., and Parks and Recreation. Films such as The Lego Movie and Guardians of the Galaxy (film).^[5]
• Stephen Thompson - Played on Super Bowl III (New York Jets), currently a pastor in Marysville, Washington.^[6]
• Ryan Verdugo - Major League Baseball pitcher (Kansas City Royals, Boston Red Sox)^[7]

References

External links

• Lake Stevens High School Website
• HeraldNet Prep Sports
• Lake Stevens School District #4

Coordinates: 48°01′21″N 122°04′49″W / 48.02250°N 122.08028°W / 48.02250; -122.08028