Warren Central High School (Indiana)

Warren Central High School, also known as Warren, WC, or WCHS, is a public high school located in Warren Township on the far east side of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the only high school in Warren Township with an enrollment of 3,736 students as of the 2016-2017 school year. Warren Central is known as "The Pride of the Eastside". Its school colors are Black and Vegas Gold and the nickname is the Warriors. The school fight song is Rah, rah for Warren. The original Warren Central opened on January 12th, 1925 at the corner of 10th Street & Post Road on the far east side of Indianapolis. It was a consolidation of the Cumberland and Shadeland schools which both had high schools that were too small for the growing township population. Warren Central was built to house grades 7 to 12 and to give the students a city quality education in a farm community. By the late 1950s, the population of Warren Township had once again outgrown its high school and, on September 6, 1960, a new Warren Central opened at its present location off of 9500 East 16th Street. The new school only houses grades 9-12. Grades 7-8 removed and put in with academy. In 1976, the Walker Career Center opened on the property of the high school giving students not going on to college an opportunity to train for a career.

Athletics

The school is best known for athletic success, competing as a member of the nationally recognized Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference. Warren Central has a total of 25 State Championship titles since winning its first title in 1980. State championships include Boys Cross Country (2), Track (9), Golf (1), Gymnastics (2), Softball (1), Wrestling (2), and Football (8).^[1]

Warren Central has enjoyed great success in football. The Warriors first began playing in 1937 and are eight time State Champions (1984 Class 4A), 1985, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009 Class 5A), 2013 (Class 6A). The football team won the inaugural 5A State Title in 1985 after winning the 4A Title in the previous season. Future NFL quarterback and #1 overall pick in the NFL Draft, Jeff George, was the starting quarterback for those teams (1984, 1985). Record setting running back Darren Evans was signed by the Indianapolis Colts after the lockout ended in 2011. They won their eighth state title in 2013, in the inaugural 6A State Title, beating Carmel 7-6.

Warren Central was ranked the third-best athletic program in the US and first among public schools by Sports Illustrated in 2007.^[2]

Speech team

In the 2005-2006 speech season, the Warren Central Speech Team won the Indiana High School Forensic Association AAA State Championship as well as the Grand Champion title for the first time since 1967. In the 2006-2007 season, Warren continued to improve at state level with a better performance overall placing second overall and second in AAA division. In the 2007-2008 speech season, Warren Central won back the title of IHSFA Grand Champions with their third state title in team history. And in the 2008-2009 speech season, Warren Central won the AAA State Championship, and earned second place overall.

Winter Guard

The Warren Central Winter Guard competes in Scholastic World Class in the Indiana Circuit (Indiana High School Color Guard Association, IHSCGA), TriState Circuit, as well as the international circuit (Winter Guard International, WGI). They have one state title in A Class (2002), four state titles in Open Class (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007), and were the Open Class silver medalist at WGI World Championships in 2007. Warren Central now competes in World Class. They won fourth place in 2012 with their performance, "The Elephant in the Room", and seventh place in 2013 with their performance "Standing on the Shoulders of Giants" at WGI World Championships. Warren Central has two other winter guards that compete in the Indiana Circuit in the Cadet and A Classes.

Notable alumni

• Jamie Asher - Former NFL tight end for the Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles^[3]
• Shakir Bell - Current CFL running back for the Edmonton Eskimos^[4]
• Justin Beriault - Former NFL safety for the Dallas Cowboys^[5]
• Darren Evans - Former NFL running back for the Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans^[6]
• Jeff George - Former NFL quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts (1990–1993), Atlanta Falcons (1994–1996), Oakland Raiders (1997–1998), Minnesota Vikings (1999), Washington Redskins (2000–2001), Seattle Seahawks (2002) and Chicago Bears (2004)^[7]
• Greg Graham - Former NBA shooting guard for the Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Nets, Seattle SuperSonics and Cleveland Cavaliers. Graham also played for the Continental Basketball League and the Swedish Basketball League^[8]
• Jewel Hampton - Current CFL running back for the Montreal Alouettes. Former NFL running back for the San Francisco 49ers^[9]
• Aubrey Herring - Track and field athlete, Indiana State
• Robert M. Jacobson - Current medical director of the Population Health Science Program of the Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery. Former chair of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine at the Mayo Clinic
• Candyce McGrone, USA Track & Field athlete who holds personal records of 11.00 second for the 100-meter dash and 22.08 seconds for the 200-meter dash^[10]
• Ryan Murphy - Film and television screenwriter, director and producer; creator of the TV series Glee, American Horror Story and Nip/Tuck^[11]
• Jane Pauley - Television journalist and host. Best known for her time as co-host of the Today show and Dateline NBC^[12]
• Adrien Robinson - Former NFL tight end for the New York Jets and the New York Giants^[13]
• Justin Smith - Former NFL linebacker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, St. Louis Rams, Arizona Cardinals and Carolina Panthers^[14]
• Jason Whitlock - Sportswriter and personality for Fox Sports 1

See also

• List of high schools in Indiana
• Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference
• Indianapolis, Indiana

References

External links

• Official Website