James S. Rickards High School

Infobox Secondary school
name = James S. Rickards High School

motto = "New heights and rising!"
established = 1960
type = Public coeducational secondary
grades = 9–12
principal = Dr. Michelle Gayle
city = Tallahassee
state = Florida
country = USA
enrollment = 1118
mascot = Raiders
colors = Blue and gold
website = [http://www.rickards.leon.k12.fl.us/ http://www.rickards.leon.k12.fl.us/]

James S. Rickards High School is a public high school in Tallahassee, Florida. For the 2004-2005 school year, the Florida Department of Education gave the school a C rating after its students scored poorly on standardized tests in reading and math. However, it was ranked 70th in Newsweek's list of 1,000 top high schools in 2008, due to the high number of AP and IB exams taken by its students. Currently, 1,118 pupils are enrolled, and the school has completed construction of a new office wing.

Rickards has hosted an International Baccalaureate program since 1994, creating a culturally diverse mix of students and a varied ethnic focus. The school has many programs that demonstrate cultural diversity and equality, one of which focuses on traditional dance and clothes.

The school's mascot, originally the Rickards Redskins, was changed to the Rickards Raiders in 2000 because of controversy over the term "redskin" and its racial connotations. The school colors are blue and gold.

Rickards is notable for its award-winning Mu Alpha Theta and National Junior Classical League teams, as well as its marching band, which is heavily influenced by Florida A&M University's Marching "100" under the direction of Mr. Quincy Griffin.

Mission statement

The mission of James S. Rickards High School is to produce graduates with skills and competencies to succeed on local, state, national, and international levels and who are responsible, self-supporting, and productive members of our society.

Administration

Principal: Michelle Gayle

Assistant Principal: Ricky Ardley

Assistant Principal: Patrick Wright

Assistant Principal: Vivian Cooley

I.B. Coordinator: Sue Newman

Dean of Students: Ken Fearson

Band

James S. Rickards High currently has an above average marching band, known for their unique high-stepping style, or "90 degree marching". It currently has over 100 members including auxiliary. Under the direction of Mr. Quincy Griffin, former member of The Marching "100", the band has reached new heights. The band's selection of music varies from popular tunes on the radio, to classic marching band tunes like "Flight Of The Bumblebee" (in 50 Beats per Minute), and stand tunes like "A Tribute To Bob Marley" and "Backstabbers". The Tuba section "Oh So Juicy" is an FBA All-District band section. This band has been featured in "The Recount", an HBO movie appearing in March of 2008. In addition, they performed at a battle of the bands in Miami in 2007 and received thirteen trophies, and three plaques. They won all first place awards in the AA division. Due to those awards, they performed during Pre-game at the Orange Bowl. The James S. Rickards Symphonic Band has also earned a Superior rating at district level FBA evaluation.

They have been invited to perform in Washington, D.C. for the National Independence Day Parade.

Athletics

*Boys' Sports
**Basketball
**Baseball
**Cross Country
**Football-Varsity and Junior Varsity
**Golf
**Soccer
**Swimming and Diving
**Track and Field
**Tennis
**Weightlifting
**Wrestling
*Girls' Sports
**Basketball
**Cheerleading
**Cross Country
**Dance Team
**Flag Football
**Golf
**Soccer-Varsity and Junior Varsity
**Softball
**Swimming and Diving
**Tennis
**Track and Field
**Volleyball
**Weightlifting

Achievements in Mathematics

The James S. Rickards Math Team is consistently ranked among the top five high schools in the nation in Mu Alpha Theta. The members of the Rickards Math Team have also participated in other national mathematics competitions such as the American Mathematics Competition (AMC - State and Regional Champions 2003-2007, 2nd Place Nationwide 2007), the American Invitational Mathematics Examination, the United States of America Mathematical Olympiad, the Princeton University Math Competition, the Harvard-MIT Math Tournament, and the American Regions Math League. Two distinguished members of Rickards' Math Team have served as the captains of the state math teams that competed at ARML, HMMT, and PUMaC. The Rickards Math Team has also had a history of producing multiple USAMO qualifiers and attendees to the prestigious Mathematical Olympiad Summer Program.

Other Clubs

Rickards has a multitude of clubs and after school activities, though the Math club is the largest.Some other clubs include:
*National Junior Classical League
*Brain Bowl
*Junior Engineering Technical Society
*Chess Club
*National Honor Society
*Key Club
*Student Government Association
*Future Business Leaders of America
*Model United Nations
*Florida's Future Educators of America
*Spanish Club
*Spanish National Honor Society
*French Club
*Gospel Choir
*ROTC
*20^th Century: before and after school programs
*Black History Brain Bowl
*Reading Raiders Book Club
*Extraordinary Sisters with a Purpose
*Art Club

Notable Alumni

*Rapper & Singer T-Pain
*Physical Therapist Kahari T. Wood, MSPT, CSP
*International Boxing Association Heavyweight Champion Travis Walker
*Professional Football Player Corey Fuller
*Professional Football Player Kolby Smith (running back) - Kansas City Chiefs
*Professional Football Player William Gay (cornerback) - Pittsburgh Steelers
*Rapper, activist, and author stic.man of Dead Prez
*Rapper Hell Rell

External links

* [http://www.rickards.leon.k12.fl.us/ James Rickards High School website]
* [http://rickardsreunion.ning.com James Rickards Alumni Website]
* [http://www.rickards.leon.k12.fl.us/2006SACSreport.pdf Rickards High School Self-Evaluation and Statistics (SACS Report)]
* [http://www.rickards.leon.k12.fl.us/mat/index1.html Rickards High School Mu Alpha Theta]
* [http://www.rickards.leon.k12.fl.us/nhs/index.htm Rickards High School National Honor Society]
* [http://www.flsam.tk Florida Student Association of Mathematics]
* [http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Resources/AoPS_R_A_CultureofExpectation.php Mr. Hill's Article on Rickards "creation of a culture of expectation in mathematics" endorsed by Richard Rusczyk and Mathew Crawford]
* [http://tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071113/NEWS01/711130319/1010 Article of Rickards students planning for college]