- Olathe Northwest High School
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Olathe Northwest High School 
Location 21300 College Blvd.
Olathe, KS, Johnson County, United StatesInformation School type Public high school Established 2003 School district Unified School District No. 233 Principal Dr. Gwen Poss Grades 9–12 Enrollment 1,800 Campus Suburban Color(s) Blue, Black, and White Mascot Ravens Rival Olathe North High School Newspaper The Raven's Beak Information 913–780–7150 Website School Website Olathe Northwest High School is a fully accredited public high school located in Olathe, Kansas, serving students in grades 9-12. The school is one of four high schools in the Olathe School District. The school colors are blue, black, and white, and the school mascot is the Raven. The average annual enrollment is approximately 1,800 students.[citation needed]
Olathe Northwest was established in 2003 to help educate the rapidly increasing population of Olathe, KS. Olathe Northwest is a member of the Kansas State High School Activities Association and offers a variety of sports programs. Athletic teams compete in the 6A division and are known as the "Ravens". Extracurricular activities are also offered in the form of performing arts, school publications, and clubs.
Contents
History
Academics
Olathe Northwest achieved the 2005–06 "Standard of Excellence."[citation needed]
Classroom technology
When the school first opened, students were issued an Palm M515 model Personal digital assistant. After three years of use, those palms were deemed obsolete, and the district upgraded the school to the X. The palms have many uses in school activities. For instance, the English department uses them mainly for reading books, taking notes, and typing essays. In 2006, Olathe Northwest became completely wireless by allowing students to access the internet using Wi-Fi on Palm T|X. It allows students to research and much more from their Palms. The school also uses ceiling mounted projectors and Smart boards for classroom presentations.[1]
E-Communication and entertainment production
Students in the E-Communication program have opportunities to advance their interests in web design and development, graphic arts, video production, game design and animation, and many other opportunities. The school is equipped with a television studio, numerous video editing suites, and several computer lab classrooms for the graphic arts and web design students.In E-Communication allows students to experience each different strand, then pick a strand to focus on. E-Communication engages students and helps to give them a foundation in their chosen strand.E-Communication even offers students a chance to enter in a multimedia called Emagine created and run by the E-Communication program[citation needed]
Aerospace and engineering
Students in the Aerospace and Engineering program (A/E) are immersed in nearly every major engineering discipline through a wide array of coursework ranging from materials and processing chemistry course and CAD courses during their sophomore year, additional CAD coursework along with a paired physics and mathematics/project course, during their senior year students are guided to choose an Internship with a local business, a senior project, join the Battlebots project team, or join the FIRST robotics team.[2]
Extracurricular activities
Olathe Northwest students showing their spirit
The Ravens compete in the Sunflower League and are classified as a 6A school, the largest classification in Kansas according to the Kansas State High School Activities Association. A few graduates have gone on to participate in Division I, Division II, and Division III athletics.
Athletics
Football
The current head coach of the Olathe Northwest varsity football squad is Todd Dain. In 2004, the first year of varsity play, the team went 2–7, achieving their first ever win against Shawnee Mission Northwest.[citation needed] In the next year of varsity play they improved to 4–5, just barely missing out on the playoffs.[citation needed] The 2006 squad finished a disappointing 3–7, but made the playoffs which was a first in school history.[citation needed]
Baseball
The current baseball head coach at Olathe Northwest is Rick Setter. In 2007, the ONW Baseball team became Co-Sunflower League Champions for the first time in school history. The team finished with a record of 12–8. he squad has reached the Regional Championship game twice in 2004 and 2005, falling one game short of the state tournament. In the 2003–04 season, the first year the school opened, the Ravens entered into regional play as the bottom seed and drew Mill Valley High School, the #1 team in 5A. Led by pitcher JP Verhulst and the hitting of Nate Tenbrink and Brandon McMullen, the Ravens knocked off Mill Valley in one of the biggest upsets in Kansas high school baseball history.[3]
Nate Tenbrink, a third baseman, became the first Division I athlete in school history, when he signed to play baseball at Kansas State University.[4] Tenbrink was drafted as the 222nd overall pick in the 7th round of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft by the Seattle Mariners.[5]
Softball
In 2009 the Lady Ravens girls softball team ended with a perfect season of 25-0. The team then continued on to win the 2009 Kansas State High School Championship title against Washburn Rural High School. The team is currently coached by Varsity Coach Mark Mahoney, who was named 2009 Coach of the Year by the All-Sunflower League, and Assistant Varsity Coach Krista Dueringer.[citation needed] In May of 2011, entering the postseason as the number 6 seed in 6A, the ravens captured their second title beating washburn rural 9-1
Volleyball
In 2010 the girls Varsity team went a perfect 11 – 0 in the Sunflower League and claimed its first league championship in the schools’ history. Olathe Northwest is currently ranked second place in the 6A division in the state of Kansas.[citation needed]
Non-athletic programs
ONW publications
The student-run publications department at Olathe Northwest have received numerous accolades over the years, despite going through a handful of advisors in the first five years of the school. The Raven's Beak is the monthly school newspaper published by a student-run staff. Evermore is the school yearbook, run by a large staff that distributes the book during the summer. Undefined was also a literary magazine published until 2007 when the class was terminated due to low enrollment. Journalism 1, and photojournalism classes are also offered.[citation needed]
When the school opened in 2003, Chad Rummel was the first advisor of the publications department, starting the student run newspaper, The Raven's Beak and Evermore the student-produced yearbook. Liz Meitl took over for Rummel shortly after the school's opening, and she helped guide The Raven's Beak to a 4th place finish at the 2004 JEA/NSPA Fall National High School Journalism Convention in Atlanta.[citation needed]
In 2006, Paul Restivo took over the reins from Meitl, and helped take the department to the next level. Under his guidance, the department racked up awards at the regional, state, and national level. In 2007, the department was awarded the "First Amendment Press Freedom Award" in Denver by the Journalism Education Association. Also in 2007, under Restivo and editor Jesi Egan, The Raven's Beak was nominated for the prestigious NSPA "Pacemaker" award, known as the nation's top prize in scholastic journalism, and was the first high-school newspaper in the Olathe School District to earn this honor. Evermore was also awarded a "Best in Show" at the 2007 JEA/NSPA Fall National High School Journalism Convention in Philadelphia. In September 2008, it was announced that The Raven's Beak was nominated for a Pacemaker for a second straight year by the NSPA. On November 15 at the NSPA Conference in St. Louis, Missouri, The Raven's Beak won the Pacemaker, the first Olathe school to take home the honor. Restivo was the honored advisor, along with editors Zack Fisch and Dylan Walker. Blake Revelle, who attended the Olathe School District as a student, became the Publications advisor in 2008–09, taking over for Restivo.[citation needed]
ONW NOW
ONW NOW is the weekly 10-minute news broadcast produced by Olathe Northwest students as part of the e-Communication program. The program is aired to the school on Friday mornings during a special designated time in which the entire student body watches. The show consists of five minutes of daily announcements along with news packages about school and community related events, and five minutes of a sports news show, titled GameDay: Northwest.[citation needed]
The broadcast is advised by teacher Doug Kapeller, and in 2008, ONW NOW produced their first live show on April 4, after previously using a "live to tape" format.[citation needed]
Notable alumni
- Nate Tenbrink, minor league baseball player for the Seattle Mariners
See also
- Olathe Unified School District
- Other Olathe High Schools:
References
- ^ Olathe Northwest High School Students who began using the Palms would see increase in knowledge of portable technology.
- ^ ONWHS Aerospace / Engineering
- ^ "High School Showcase" (English). http://www.allstarvideosports.com/2008Baseball/. Retrieved 2009–04–21.
- ^ "Nate Tenbrink Biography" (English). http://www.kstatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=3231&SPID=222&DB_OEM_ID=400&ATCLID=228477&Q_SEASON=2006. Retrieved 2009-04-21.[dead link]
- ^ "Kansas State's Nate Tenbrink Drafted in 7th Round of MLB Draft" (English). http://www.yourstreet.com/3476859/kansas-state-s-nate-tenbrink-drafted-in-7th-round-of-mlb-draft. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
External links
- Official sites
Categories:- High schools in Kansas
- Olathe, Kansas
- Schools in Johnson County, Kansas
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