Westerville Central High School is a public high school located in Westerville, Ohio. northeast of Columbus, Ohio. It is the newest of 3 high schools in the Westerville City Schools district, the first classes starting in fall of 2003. It is located, interestingly enough, north of Westerville North H.S..
| Westerville Central High School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
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Westerville, Ohio | |
| Information | |
| Type | Public |
| School district | Westerville City Schools |
| Principal | Todd R. Meyer |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Number of students | 1,600 |
| Color(s) | Black and Silver |
| Mascot | Warhawk |
| Website | http://www.wcsoh.org/Central/index.html |
History
The late 1990's brought in a surge of population growth in northern Westerville, particularly in Genoa Township. In order to keep up, the district announced that it would build two new elementary schools, as well as a third high school. Westerville was the first Greater Columbus city to have to build a third high school. The district turned to the taxpayers to help foot the bill for the new buildings, Central costing the district $40,000,000, but voters turned the district down. Construction continued on the facility. Mark Raiff, former assistant principal at Westerville South High School, was announced as the school's first principal, and Andy Ey, would be its first athletic director, after previously holding the role at Westerville North High School. Raiff began hiring teaches, and Ey began hiring coaches. Controversy developed, however, as the school's new Head Football Coach, Jeff Jones, and Jeff Vincent, the Head Boys Soccer Coaches, were not given teaching contracts by the district. Both ended up resigning. Soon after, Raiff resigned for personal reasons, and Superintendent George Tombaugh announced that Todd Meyer, previously Director of Secondary Curriculum, would be the principal when the school officially opened. Bob Fresch was named Head Football Coach, after decades of teaching and coaching in the district, and Dave Pence was promoted from Assistant Boys Soccer Coach to Head Coach. Students had the opportunity to select the school mascot and colors. The winning nickname was the Warhawks, and the colors chosen were Black and Silver.
The Facility
Construction began on Central in 2002. The district hired Firestone Jaros Mullin, Inc./TMP Architecture to complete the project after being declared the best of various proposals. The school includes numerous facilities, including seven athletic fields, a 3,000 seat stadium, a 1,800 seat gymnasium, as well as a state of the art 750 seat auditorium/theatre. The school design called for four distinct academic "houses" for focus on individual subjects. Each academy is dignified by a distinct color; there are red, yellow, blue, and green houses. Central's centerpiece is its common area, known simply as Central Avenue. It serves as the school's dining area, is the point that connects all sectors of the school, and also is the site for many school functions. It reminds many of Westerville's historic business district, Uptown Westerville, with a design that resembles storefronts, including signs and lampposts. For its design, the school design earned the designation of "2004 Outstanding Design Award" from American School and University magazine.
| Exterior |
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Classes Begin
Westerville Central opened its doors to students in Fall of 2003, with only freshmen and sophomores. The underclassmen had the opportunity to start new tradition and set the tone for years to come. For the first couple years, however, students struggled to develop an identity, as students knew themselves as either students of Westerville North or Westerville South. Central was known by many as the younger sibling of the other two schools. Central added a third class in the 2004-05 school year, and had its first senior class in the 2005-06 school year. The school currently has approximately 1,600 students.
Music and Theater Department
Westerville Central's music and theater department has been very successful since the school's opening in 2003. The music department is made up of many different instrumental ensambles. The instrumental ensamble are led by Jason Jackson, a former broadway performer for the show Blast!. There are six different instrumental ensambles; Orchestra, Symphonic Band, Concert Band, Marching Band, Jazz Band, and Jazz Ensamble. Their 2006 show was King Kong and featured African percussion instruments in the third number. Next January, the band will be traveling to Orlando, Florida, where they will be marching in the Spetromagic Parade at the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort. Their theatre has been a great success by doing musicals such as Grease, Oklahoma!, and Good News.
Athletics
In athletics, students had the opportunity to play varsity schedules in their freshman and sophomore years. Most teams struggled, but the school rallied around the Girls Soccer team, coached by Erik Ekis, winner of the 1997 National High School Coach of the Year award. Ekis led his team of 11 freshmen and 3 sophomores to a 15-3-1 record and an appearance in the Ohio Division II State Semifinals. This was the beginning of a dynasty in girls soccer at Westerville Central, where the girls won the Ohio Capital Conference Cardinal Division and appeared in the Central District Championship in 2005. Central's 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 Girls Relay team also had success at the state level, with the 4 x 400 team placing third in the state finals and the 4 x 100 team of Jeanetta Francy, Julia Francy, Raisa Garvin, and Vanessa Hardin, winning the school's first state title.
In February 2007, Kicker Ben Buchanan became the first signee of the 2008 Ohio State Buckeyes' football recruiting class.
The school has won Ohio Capital Conference Championships in Boys Soccer (2005), Girls Soccer (2006), Girls Swimming and Diving (2006), and Football (2006). The Boys Bowling team finished second at the state tournament in the 2005-06 season.
At the 2007 Ohio High School Athletic Association Swimming State Championships, Austin Staab, defended his state titles in the 100 Free and 100 Fly, tying the national record in the 100 Fly with a 47.10, matching the time of Nate Dusing of Covington, KY in 1997.
State Champions:
2004 - Jeanetta Francy, Julia Francy, Raisa Garvin, and Vanessa Hardin (Track and Field 4X100) 2006 - Austin Staab (Swimming 100 Free) 2006 - Austin Staab (Swimming 100 Fly) 2007 - Austin Staab (Swimming 100 Free) 2007 - Austin Staab (Swimming 100 Fly)
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Football Helmet
External links
- http://www.westerville.k12.oh.us/ District Website]