Blue Valley High School

Infobox school | name = Blue Valley High School


motto= The Blue Valley High School Community is committed to excellence, responsibility, and educational growth while building on our tradition of community.
established=1978
type=High School
address= 6001 W. 159th St.
location = Stilwell, Kansas, 66085
enrollment = 2,147
free_label = Mascot
free_text = Tiger
information = 913-239-4800
Fax= 913-681-4254
principal = Scott Bacon
website = http://www.bv229.k12.k.us/BVHS/

Blue Valley High School is a high school currently operating in the Blue Valley Unified School District of Stilwell, Kansas, USA. The principal is Scott Bacon, the associate principal is Bob Whitehead and the assistant principals are Melissa Hansen and Brett Potts. [ [http://www.bv229.k12.ks.us/BVHS/administration/index.htm BVHS Administration ] ]

History

In 1968, Stilwell High School and Stanley High School combined to form Blue Valley High School. The original school was on Metcalf and 151st St. The school adopted a tiger as the mascot because the principal was from the University of Missouri. In the late 1970s, Blue Valley moved to its current location. The former building was turned into the district office which controls the Blue Valley School District, Blue Valley North High School, Blue Valley Northwest High School and Blue Valley West High School and every middle and elementary school in the district. Each year there is an addition to the building when the senior class leaves a gift to the building, such as a large neon sign in the main gym (donated by the class of 2002). In 1999, a new hallway was added to the building known as the senior hallway.

Academics

Blue Valley High School has received several awards for academics. The school had some of the highest SAT scores in the state for three years in a row. It has also met the Standard of Excellence for reading, writing, science and math.

Athletics

Blue Valley is well known for athletics and participates in 6A-5A Kansas Athletics and in the Eastern Kansas League (EKL). Blue Valley's main rivals are St. Thomas Aquinas and Blue Valley West. The Tiger baseball team won the 6A state championship in 2008, defeating the Goddard Lions in a 4-0 shutout victory. Derek Hackney, aka HackAttack, led the team as a sophomore lead-off hitter. The Blue Valley Tigers' football team has won 5A state championships in 1991, 1998, 2003 and most recently 2006. The football team is coached by Steve Rampy, head coach; Rick McNerlin, defensive coordinator; and former BVHS student Eric Driskell, line coach. Steve Rampy once coached the boys Golf team, which has won several EKL championships as well as the 2005 5A State Championship.

Other athletic teams include:

*Men's Baseball
*Men's & Women's Golf
*Men's & Women's Soccer
*Women's Softball
*Men's & Women's Swimming and Diving
*Men's & Women's Tennis
*Men's & Women's Track and Field
*Women's Volleyball
*Men's Wrestling
*Men's & Women's Cross Country

Extracurricular activities

Blue Valley is known for a myriad of school clubs, from the Environmental Club to the Programming Club to the Hip-Hop Club. Many clubs are required to have teacher sponsors in order to meet. Some school classes are considered extracurricular, such as Debate or Drill team.

Once a year, around March, the American Cancer Society hosts a Relay For Life event in which approximately 30% of students participate. The event has grown in popularity, with more students participating each year.

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes has a branch that meets at the school.

Also, a new club has been added at BVHS in 2008. It is the Drug and Alcohol Prevention Task Force. The co-presidents are Corey Chesley and Ben Wilmes.

Band

The school has one of the top marching bands in the state of Kansas. The Stridin' Tigers have won several competitions for their shows including Blue Shades(2003), Circuitry(2004), Metamorphosis(2005), Blue(2006)and We Came To Play (2007). The band is currently under the direction of Avian Bear with assistant director Mark Nichols. Prairie Star Middle band director Paul Aubrey, Blue Valley Middle band director Ben Strain and former band parent Al Hapke also assist the band. The band has traveled around the country and performed at the 1996 and 2000 Orange Bowls and the 2004 Fiesta Bowl.In April 2007 the band went to Orlando, Florida and placed as band grand champion, edging out perennial powerhouse Westlake High School (from Texas). In addition to this trip, the band went to St. Louis for a Bands of America Super Regional Championship. The band performs at half-time of every Tigers home game and plays in the stands during the game. The band also performs at Pep rallies, varsity basketball games, and other school functions.

In May 2006 at the Worlds of Fun contest, the Blue Valley Concert band led by Ben Strain received straight "1" ratings for the first time in the school's history.

The 2006 show, "Blue," won 1st place in Class 5A at the Blue Springs Marching Invitational. The show also received fourth place at the Blue Valley Northwest Marching Festival and a Division 2 rating at the Bands of America Super Regional in St. Louis.

Blue Valley also had several members qualify for the NEKMEA District and KMEA State Honor Band.

Debate and forensics

Blue Valley High School is well known throughout the state for being a dominant Debate and Forensics squad.

Recent titles include:
*2000-6A 2speaker Debate
*2001-6A 4speaker Debate
*2002-5A 4speaker Debate
*2003-5A 4speaker Debate
*2004-5A Forensics
*2005-5A Forensics
*2005-5A 2 and 4speaker Debate
*2006-6A 4 speaker Debate
*2006-6A Forensics
*2007-6A 4speaker Debate

Building

The building is in the shape of a rectangle, with few outcurves. On the east side are the academic halls. There are five halls:

*200 Hall - Generally referred to as the Freshman hall, it is the longest hall. The lockers are all for freshmen, and it has mostly math and science classes.
*300 Hall - Generally referred to as the Language hall, it contains lockers for freshmen and sophomores. Contains mostly foreign language classes and a computer lab.
*400 Hall - Generally referred to as the American hall, it contains lockers for sophomores and juniors. Contains social study classes and Communication Arts (English).
*500 Hall - Generally referred to as the Senior hall, it contains lockers just for seniors. The seniors are allowed to choose their own lockers. The hallway was added in 1999 and has a large glass roof. The hall contains mostly higher level classes for upperclassmen, and some health classes.
*600 Hall - The only hallway that is not parallel to the other halls. The 600 hall connects the other 4 hallways. The only lockers are in a small organized cluster for juniors (between the 300 and 400 hall). This hall contains history and science classes.

On the west side of the building is the athletic department. All athletic areas are connected by a hallway with numerous wall murals on it. In it there are 6 athletic areas:
*Main gym - Gym where home basketball games are played; pep rallies also take place here.
*Auxiliary gym - Smaller gym.
*Wrestling gym - Small gym where wrestlers compete.
*Pool - Indoor pool where swimming competitions take place. It has two diving boards and bleachers for spectators.
*Locker rooms - Home to athletic coaches' offices, P.E. lockers and showers.

In the northwest part of the building is the arts department.
*Instrumental Music Room - Home to the Blue Valley "Stridin' Tigers" (band) as well as the Blue Valley High School Orchestra. This room is used for band and orchestra practice.
*Vocal Music Room - Contains large wall mural of a tiger and is home to the Blue Valley choir.
*Performing Arts Center - This large theatre is home to plays, musicals, and concerts.
*Black Box Theatre - This small theatre is the home to smaller productions of the drama department.

On the east side of the building there are outdoor mobiles. These are used as additional classrooms separate from the main building.

*Other - The building has three separate stories; the lower level is the basement and weight room, the second is the main floor, and the third is a small, restricted-access floor containing a security vault and a catwalk over the Performing Arts Center for maintenance of the lighting system.

Multimedia

The school's newspaper is called the "Tiger Print", the school's yearbook is "Reflections", and the closed circuit television program is called "Tiger TV". It also maintains cable channel 75 to display announcements throughout the school.

Tiger TV's many features have won national Student Broadcast Network awards, including first place in 2001 and 2006 for the "Hallpass" segment (in the human interest story category) and a 2005 title for short movie award. Tiger TV is put together by Broadcast II students taught by former Emmy Award winning KSHB-TV anchor/reporter Denny Brand.

Pictures, photographs, and poems are submitted every year and put together as the "Headrush" magazine. The "Headrush" crew also produces "Headrush Junior" for middle school level students at BVMS and PSMS.

Future

Blue Valley is slated to undergo part two of its renovation by 2008 (part one being reconfiguration and turfing of athletic fields), receiving 8 new classrooms and an athletic department expansion, including a new above-ground weight room. Because this renovation is a year away, Blue Valley has installed two new mobiles for the 2007-08 school year. The office and serving area of the cafeteria will be reconfigured.

Notable graduates

*Dirk Katstra (Class of 1986) - Former McDonald's All-American basketball player at the University of Virginia. Currently the Executive Director of the Virginia Athletics Foundation.
*Tara Nott (Class of 1990) - Won a gold medal in Olympic Weightlifting during the 2000 Olympics.
*Brian Schottenheimer (Class of 1992)- Current Offensive Coordinator for the New York Jets.
*Justin Swift (Class of 1994) - Former star Tight End at Kansas State University and Former NFL player with the Detroit Lions, San Francisco 49ers, and Denver Broncos.
*Sam Scott (Class of 1996) - Named to 1999 College World Series All-Tournament Team.
*Joseph Potts (Class of 1998) - Coach in the Kansas City Royals organization.
*Hayley Podschun (Class of 2004) - Role in the Broadway show and movie "Hairspray".
*Alexandra Matteo (Class of 2007) - Finalist for the role of Wendla in "Spring Awakening" on Broadway.

Feeder schools

*Middle Schools
**Blue Valley Middle School
**Prairie Star Middle School
*Elementary Schools
**Blue River Elementary School
**Stanley Elementary School
**Prairie Star Elementary School
**Sunset Ridge Elementary School
**Stilwell Elementary School

External links

* [http://www.bv229.k12.ks.us/BVHS/ Official School Website]
* [http://www.bluevalleyk12.org/ District Website]
* [http://www.bvband.org/ Band Website]
* [http://maps.google.com/?ll=38.838354,-94.656079&spn=0.004914,0.009656&t=k&om=0/ Satellite Image of the school]

References