Westlake High School (Austin, Texas)

Westlake High School is a school in Austin, Texas in the Eanes Independent School District. In 2008, it was ranked 52nd on "Newsweek" Magazine's Top 1000 Schools list. [ [http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7723397/site/newsweek/ America's Top Public High Schools | Newsweek Best High Schools | Newsweek.com ] ]

Though located outside the limits of the surrounding cities by a matter of yards, Westlake High School is the lone high school in the Eanes Independent School District and serves West Lake Hills, Rollingwood, parts of West Austin, and parts of unincorporated West Travis County. The school was opened in 1969.

Statistics

Westlake has successfully prepared students for excellence in their respective fields of choice. Under the College Board Advanced Placement (AP) annual ranking, Westlake consistently ranks in the top 50. In 2005, 82% of Westlake students taking AP tests scored a 3 or higher [http://www.whschaps.com/followup.htm] . Of the 2005 senior class, 84% of students went on to attend a four year university, and another 10% attended a 2-year community, or junior, college/technical school.

Its music and theater programs have won All-State honors repeatedly.Fact|date=February 2007 According to the school's website, the "bands, orchestra, and chorale consistently receive the highest ratings each year and have the largest number of students in the region selected for all-district honors." [http://www.whschaps.com/recog.htm]

The band program performed at the American Bandmasters' Association in 2006 and also organized the annual Westlake Marching Festival in 1977, at which high school bands from all over Central Texas participate.Fact|date=February 2007 The Westlake band traveled to the United Kingdom in June 2000, performed at the prestigious Midwest Band and Orchestra clinic in December 2002, and marched in the January 2003 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California. In 2005 the band travelled to New York City to perform in the world-famous Carnegie Hall. In 2007 the band travelled to Duncanville, Texas where they competed in the Duncanville Marching Invitational competition winning 1st place in their category. The Band most recently visited Pflugerville, Texas and participated in the University Interscholastic League receiving a 1st Division in Performance and Sightreading. [http://www.westlakeband.com]

Rigor, Relevance, Relationships

"Rigor, Relevance, Relationships" is Westlake's new motto brought about by principal Linda Rawlings and based on the Model Schools Initiative.

Westlake's academic programs include an extensive list of AP courses, as well as courses such as Graphic Design, national award-winning Journalism, Robotics, Technical Theater, Choir, Band, Jazz Band, Orchestra, Computer Science, Spanish, Latin, French, German, ASL, and Chinese.

Along with these courses, Westlake also offers many extracurricular activities. Some of these specific programs include, The Hyline Dance Team, Cheerleading, Band, Athletics, Chess Club, UIL Academic Competitions, Future Entrepreneurs of America, CLA, Mu Alpha Theta, National Honor Society, CUTE (Cleaning Up The Environment), Cultures of the World Club, Chinese Cultural Club, PASF Spanish Club, Eco-Action Club, AV Club, and the Gay-Straight Alliance.

chool newspaper

The Westlake "Featherduster" is an award winning student newspaper of Westlake High School. The "Featherduster" was founded in 1969. The Westlake Featherduster and the journalism program at Westlake High School are widely acknowledged as leaders in scholastic journalism. Many former students of the program have continued into careers in professional journalism, including Andrew Loehman (photography) [http://www.loehman.com] , Corrie MacLaggan (print journalism) [http://www.statesman.com] , and Kevin Dunn (radio) [http://www.am1300thezone.com/pages/kevindunn.html] .

Athletic program

Westlake's football team has experienced much success. When Ron Schroeder took over in the mid 1980s, the team emerged as a perennial power in Texas high school football. The team made the UIL 4A State Title Game in 1990, and after moving to Class 5A, made the State Title Game in that class in 1994, 1996, 2000, 2001, and 2006. Westlake won the 1996 5A Division II State Championship against Abilene Cooper by a score of 55-15 in Texas Stadium in Dallas, TX. That 16-0 season was Westlake's only undefeated season. The team was led by future Purdue standout and eventual Pro Bowl selection Drew Brees at quarterback. It's interesting to note that during his junior year, Brees was backed by a powerhouse of senior talent, his self-admitted best team during his years at Westlake. Drew enjoyed the services of all-time leading rusher Ryan Nunez at tailback. Both were protected by the stalwart line including current NFLer Seth McKinney, Andy "the ODB" Miri, and Kansas State Coach to the stars the "Lumpshaker". Despite "big" hearts of these mostly undersized misfits, Drew went down in the third round of the playoffs, all due to the sloppy line play. Such a shame, as Drew's defense was devastating, led by Christian Bedortha at inside linebacker (144 tackles, led district, huge neckroll), Phillip "Bringin" Wood at the nose, and Will "the Thrill" Steakley at outside linebacker. The team also enjoyed "goat calls" by QB Drew Brees, and "heavy metal quotesof the day" by senior jerk Chris Perkins. The current head coach is Derek Long, a former defensive coordinator under Ron Schroeder. The 2006 team advanced to state finals. The Westlake Football team plays at Westlake Chaparral Stadium at Ebbie Neptune Field. The school also has a wrestling team, which was helped founded by WWE superstars, Paul London and Chad Gevaldo.fact|date=August 2007 Gevaldo also hold the record time of a pinfall at the school in 7.4 seconds.

The boys' baseball team won the state championship in 1980. Future major leaguers Calvin Schiraldi and Kelly Gruber were on the team.

tadium

Westlake Chaparral Stadium at Ebbie Neptune Field is a high school football stadium located in Austin, Texas that serves as the home field of the Westlake Chaparrals Football Team. The Stadium opened in 2002 with a 21-10 victory over the Westwood Warriors and has been one of the toughest places for opposing teams to play nationwide.fact|date=August 2007 Since its opening, only three visiting teams have managed to walk off the field with a victory, two of which were in the 2007 season. Recently a Jumbo-tron has been added to the stadium. The Chaparrals have lost two regular season home games at New Westlake Chaparral Stadium (Austin and Bowie in 2007). Through the 2007 Season, The Chaps are 28-3 at New Chaparral Stadium. Since the start of the 1990 season, Westlake has an 85-5-1 record when playing at Home (Old and New Chaparral Stadium).fact|date=August 2007

Chaparral Stadium also serves as the home of the Westlake Women's and Men's Soccer Teams and annually hosts the Westlake Marching Band Festival. Track and Field also takes place inside the stadium. The stadium's artificial turf, embedded football lines, and the painted end zones render the field not very suitable for soccer, yet it also boasts a nice home field advantage for the soccer teams. Only the home section stands are used for soccer games and the jumbotron is not used.

Ebbie Neptune was a football coach at Westlake for many years, head football coach from 1982 to 1986, and athletic director from 1982 to 2003. (Dallas Morning News, December 22, 2006)

Theatre department

Westlake also hosts an award-winning theatre department, headed by Michael Harlan. A typical season for the department consists of either one or two fall plays, a UIL One-Act show in the spring, and three Student-Directed plays at the end of each year. All fall and UIL shows are directed by Michael Harlan, and are Student-Directed when noted otherwise.

Past Shows

2004-2005
Becoming Memories
Look Homeward, Angel
Alice in Wonderland (dir. Kathleen Fletcher)
The Glass Menagerie (dir. Gary Jaffe)
Brighton Beach Memoirs (dir. Holly Bissett)

2005-2006
The French Have a Word For It
Peter Pan
Black Snow
The Crucifer of Blood (dir. James Eagan)
Little Women (dir. Erin Echols)
Proof (dir. Aviva Pinchas)

2006-2007
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
The Enchanted
Wild Honey
Mr. Marmalade (dir. Jeremy Vandermause)
Fat Pig (dir. Amanda Wheatley)
Dracula (dir. Anna Niess)

2007-2008
The Skin of Our Teeth
You Can't Take It with You
Epic Proportions (dir. Matt Bell)
Suddenly Last Summer (dir. Jackson Wimberly)
Barefoot in the Park (dir. Colin Scully)

Orchestra

The Westlake High School Orchestra has consistently achieved highly under the direction of James C. Edwards. The orchestra program currently has three full orchestras competing in UIL each year, and all three consistently return top scores. The Symphony Orchestra was recently runner-up to Plano East Senior High in Breckenridge, Colorado for the Breckenridge Blast Music Festival, with the Symphony scoring 94, 95, and 94 out of 100. As a result of the Symphony's superb performance in UIL contest in the 2008 year, the Westlake High School Symphony Orchestra will be a featured performer at the Midwest Clinic in December of 2008, hosted in Chicago.

Band

The Chaparral Band has won the Texas State Honor Band three times in its 30-year history. The Honors Band has consistently earned University Interscholastic League Sweepstakes trophies for superior performances in Marching, Concert, and Sight reading competitions and has performed at the prestigious Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, Illinois. It marched in the Rose Parade in January, 2003. It performed in Carnegie Hall in March, 2005 and at the 2006 American Bandmasters Association Convention in Richardson, Texas.

The Westlake Marching Festival has become recognized as one of the major marching competitions held in the state with awards presented for excellence in Musicianship and Program Performance along with trophies for Best Color Guard and Drum Line Performances. The band has traveled throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan and China to perform at various clinics and festivals and has received numerous awards. The band currently numbers 200+ members strong.

Notable Alumni

Westlake High alumni include:
*Angela Bettis, Actress
*Kelly Gruber, 1980, MLB Third Baseman
*Calvin Schiraldi, 1980, MLB Pitcher
*Trey Phillips, 1994, ATP Top 50 Doubles
*Chris Mihm, 1997, NBA Center
*Seth McKinney, 1997, NFL Center
*Drew Brees, 1997, NFL Quarterback
*Alex Dunlap, 1998, Musician, Alpha Rev fact|date=August 2007
*Paul London, 1998, Professional Wrestler
*Kevin Dunn, 1999, MTV: Real World: New York castmember, CSTV anchor
*Huston Street, 2001, MLB Pitcher
*Brad Buckman, 2002, NBDL Power Forward

References