Wasilla High School

Infobox School
name = Wasilla High School


imagesize =
image caption =
motto = "To Strive, To Seek, To Find and Not To Yield!"
established =
schooltype = Public secondary school
district = Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District
grades = 9–12
principal = Dwight Probasco
address = 701 Bogard Rd.
city = Wasilla
state = Alaska
zipcode = 99654
country = United States
information = [phone]
campus type = Suburban
campus size =
enrollment = 1223 (October 2007)cite web |url=http://www.eed.state.ak.us/DOE_Rolodex/schools/Details.cfm?PK=333 |title=Alaska Public Schools Database - Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District |accessdate= 2008-08-30 |publisher=State of Alaska Department of Education & Early Development |date=2007-10-01]
faculty = 71 (2005)cite web |url=http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?ID=020051000237 |title=Alaska Public Schools Database |accessdate=2008-08-30 |work=National Center for Education Statistics ]
ratio = 18:1 (2005)
mascot = Warrior
mascot

colors = Burgundy and Grey color box|#900020 color box|gray
MOE =
homepage = http://www.whs.matsuk12.us/

Wasilla High School (WHS) is a public secondary school in Wasilla, Alaska, United States, serving students in grades 9–12. This high school became known on a national scale as a result of Governor Sarah Palin's nomination as the Republican vice-presidential nominee in the 2008 United States presidential election.cite news |first=Michael |last=Rovito |title=McCain taps Alaska gov. Palin for VP |url=http://www.havasunews.com/articles/2008/08/29/news/doc48b8b507f321e672461970.txt |work=Today's News Herald|date=2008-08-29 |accessdate=2008-08-30 ]

The school is part of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District, with admission based primarily on the locations of students' homes. Wasilla's head football coach Jim Shetter was chosen to attend the National Football League's Youth Summit in Canton, Ohio. In 2007, Shetter lead the school's football team to their first playoff appearance in five seasons. [cite news |title=Wasilla coach is selected to attend NFL youth summit |url=http://www.adn.com/sports/story/463374.html |work=Anchorage Daily News |date=2008-07-13 |accessdate=2008-08-30 ] In 2004, teacher Anthony R. Jensen became a James Madison fellow for being a distinguished history teacher. [cite web |url=http://www.jamesmadison.com/press/2004.htm |title=James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation Announces 2004 Fellows |accessdate=2008-08-30 |work=James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation |date=2004-05-12 ]

In 2000, Wasilla High School received a $5000 environmental education grant from the Environmental Protection Agency. [cite web |url=http://www.epa.gov/ocepa111/NNEMS/grants/AK02.htm |title=EE Grants Awarded in Alaska |accessdate=2008-08-30 |work=Environmental Protection Agency ] The school worked in partnership with local government agencies and businesses to raise awareness of groundwater issues in the school and the community. Then, they worked on many projects to tell their community to save the environment.

According to Principal Dwight Probasco, Wasilla High School’s curriculum teaches abstinence education, although it is not abstinence-only. The school is prohibited from distributing contraception. [cite news |first=Jessica |last=Van Sack |title=Alaska principal: Bristol Palin’s situation will be a learning opportunity for teens |url=http://news.bostonherald.com/news/2008/view/2008_09_02_Sarah_Palin_principal_story/srvc=home&position=also |work=Boston Herald |date=2008-09-02 |accessdate=2008-09-03 ]

Dropout rate

A Johns Hopkins University study named Wasilla High School as a "dropout factory". Wasilla's dropout rate was 6.5 percent in 2006, a number that was much higher than most of the schools in the Mat-Su district. [cite news |first=Lori |last=Tipton |title=Study gives Wasilla High School failing grade |url=http://www.ktuu.com/global/story.asp?s=7289165 |work=KTUU |date=2007-10-30 |accessdate=2008-08-30 ] The study was conducted by finding the difference between a class with 400 freshman students which ended up with 260 seniors four years later. However, the Johns Hopkins study did not follow specific students. If a student started school at Wasilla High and then graduated from another high school, the study would consider him or her a dropout.cite news |first=John R. |last=Moses |title=WHS not ‘dropout factory’ |url=http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2007/11/05/local_news/doc472d5a3b47644091826538.txt |work=Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman |date=2007-10-03 |accessdate=2008-08-31 ] Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District has an open enrollment policy and it is fairly common for students to transfer from one school to another when their parents found new jobs in other areas. The School Board President Sarah Welton said that the study was flawed and that the false impression made on others in the country would be very unfortunate. Only 58% of incoming freshman graduate as seniors. [http://hosted.ap.org/specials/interactives/wdc/dropout/index.html?SITE=AP Dropout Factories: Take a Closer Look at failing Schools Across the Country] "Associated Press"]

In March 2000, the students of Wasilla High School took a qualifying exam for graduation. The subjects tested were math, writing, and reading. In math, 42 percent of Wasilla's students received a passing score, placing their school in third place in their district. In writing, fifty percent of Wasilla's students received a qualifying score, placing them in fifth place. In reading, seventy-nine percent of Wasilla's students received a passing score, placing their school in fifth place in their district. [cite web |url= http://www.adn.com/adn/exams/mshs.html |title=Mat-Su school results on High School Graduation Qualifying Examinations |accessdate=2008-08-30 |work=Anchorage Daily News ]

Notable people

Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska and Republican vice presidential nominee for the 2008 United States presidential election, attended Wasilla High. [cite web |url=http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=864bb9006da3f010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD |title=National Governors Association: Alaska Governor Sarah Palin |accessdate=2008-08-30 |work=National Governors Association ] On August 29, 2008, the day John McCain announced Palin as his running mate, Wasilla decided to create T-shirts honoring Palin's nomination.cite news |first=Michael |last=Rovito |title=McCain taps Alaska gov. Palin for VP |url=http://www.havasunews.com/articles/2008/08/29/news/doc48b8b507f321e672461970.txt |work=Today's News Herald|date=2008-08-29 |accessdate=2008-08-30 ] Wasilla's principal, Dwight Probasco, declared that the shirts would read "Wasilla High School, home of Sarah Palin and the Warriors." [cite news |first=Michael |last=Rovito |title=Palin surprise pick for McCain’s vice president |url=http://www.douglasdispatch.com/articles/2008/08/30/news/doc48b9778478690719018992.txt |work=The Daily Dispatch |date=2008-08-29 |accessdate=2008-08-31 ] Sarah Palin met her husband, Todd Palin at Wasilla High School. [cite news |first=Tom |last=Kizzia |title='Maverick' McCain pulls off surprise |url=http://www.charlotteobserver.com/104/story/161889.html |work=The Charlotte Observer |date=2008-08-30 |accessdate=2008-08-31 |quote=She (Sarah Palin) eloped in 1988 with her high school sweetheart, Todd Palin. ] The Palins' daughter, Bristol Palin attended Wasilla High for part of her junior year. [cite news |first=Jim |last=Tankersley |title=Surprise pregnancy has Republicans off balance |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-gop-conventionsep02,0,5370986.story |work=Chicago Tribune |date=2008-09-02 |accessdate=2008-09-04 ]

References

External links

* [http://www.whs.matsuk12.us/ Wasilla High School website]