Huron High School (Ann Arbor, Michigan)

Ann Arbor Huron High School
Location
Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
Coordinates	42°16′55″N 83°42′29″W
Information
Type	Public high school
Established	August, 1969
Locale	Ann Arbor Public Schools
Principal	Dr. Arthur Williams
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	2174 (05-06)
Campus	urban, 230 acres (0.9308 km2)
Color(s)	Forest Green and Old Gold
Mascot	River Rats
Rival	Pioneer High School
Website	http://www.a2huron.org

Huron High School

Huron High School (HHS) is a public school in Ann Arbor, in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located at 2727 Fuller Road in eastern Ann Arbor near the banks of the Huron River, it serves grades 9 through 12. Huron is one of the three main public high schools in Ann Arbor (along with Pioneer High School and Skyline High School). The school was named as one of America's Best High Schools by Newsweek in 2012, and was awarded Best Overall Academic Performance in Michigan by BusinessWeek in 2009 and 2010.

The school is shaped like an "H" with two convex wings adjoined by a two floor archway that has become a distinguishing feature of the building. Huron is a Division I member of the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) for athletic competition. The school offers 17 different sports comprising 32 varsity level teams, several of them frequently crowned state champions.

History

Huron opened in the fall of 1969. The student body at the city's only public high school, Ann Arbor High, had recently outgrown its quarters on the city's west side. The school board constructed a second high school, eventually renaming the first "Pioneer High School". In 1968, before Huron's building was completed, Eastside students who were to be designated to the new school shared the Pioneer building in a split schedule, with Pioneer students attending classes in the morning and Huron students in the afternoon. Reaction against Pioneer's "factory-like" building was a large factor in Huron's organic curvilinear form.^{[citation needed]} Huron was also known for its arch, under which cars could drive. In the summer of 2005, the school board decided to close the arch to auto traffic due to safety.

The two schools possessed distinct cultures and a rivalry soon sprang up. "River Rats", originally an epithet hurled at students of the new school by Pioneer students, quickly became a prideful name among Huron students.^{[citation needed]} When offered a ballot for school mascot with two choices ("Huron Hawks" and "Huron Hammerheads", both names provided by the school board), Huron students conducted a write-in campaign for the "Huron River Rats" which, after twice receiving a majority vote, was finally approved by the board.^{[citation needed]}

Overcrowding became an issue again. Portables were used to house classes outside of the main building. In 2008 Skyline High School was opened and slowly branched off the existing two, starting with only a freshman class.

The movie Jumper was filmed on location at Huron High School and neighboring Gallup Park in February 2007. One hundred students were chosen from Huron to be extras for the movie. The screenplay of Jumper was written by Huron High School graduate David S. Goyer and was released in February 2008 to mixed reviews.

Facilities

Riverbank Stadium houses a rubber track (resurfaced in 2006) as well as an AstroTurf field (completed in 2004) with lines for a variety of sports. Other outdoor facilities include two softball diamonds, a baseball diamond, two full size grass fields, and an additional astroturf field completed in 2008. Indoor facilities include the "Dome Gym", a secondary gym, a weight room for training which is housed in the former natatorium, and the "Ratatorium" Pool (completed in 1997).^{[citation needed]}

Curriculum

Huron offers an extensive array of classes of all levels and disciplines. To graduate from Huron, one must earn a total of at least 22 credits and take courses in Arts (1 year), English (4 years), Health & Wellness (1 semester), Mathematics (4 years), Physical Education (1 year), Science (3 years), and Social Studies (3 years). In their junior year, students also have to sit for the Michigan Merit Exam (MME) and the ACT, both of which are required to graduate from Ann Arbor Public Schools.

Courses taught at the AP (Advanced Placement) level are as follows:

• AP English Literature
• AP English Language
• AP Calculus AB/BC
• AP Statistics
• AP Biology
• AP Chemistry
• AP Physics C: Mechanics
• AP U.S. Government & Politics
• AP U.S. History
• AP European History
• AP Microeconomics
• AP Macroeconomics
• AP French Language
• AP German Language
• AP Latin Literature
• AP Spanish Language

Huron also began offering Mandarin Chinese in addition to the more traditional foreign languages such as French, German, Latin, and Spanish.

Student life

Athletics

Huron High School is a member of the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA). Huron joined the Southeastern Conference "SEC" in the 2007-2008 school year.

The Huron athletic program offers the following sports:

• Boys: baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, hockey, lacrosse, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track and field, water polo, and wrestling
• Girls: basketball, cross country, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, synchronized swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball, water polo, and cheerleading
• Coed: equestrian, crew, bowling, athletic training, and figure skating

The school claims state championships in:

• Field hockey (1988, 2002, 2010, 2011)
• Cross-country (1970, 1971, 1972, 1973)
• Coed Figure Skating (2003, 2005)
• Women's Tennis (2006)
• Women's Track (1995, 2006)
• Women's Soccer (2008)
• Mens Hockey (1973, 2002, 2003, 2007)
• Men's Tennis (1978, 1980, 2008, 2011, 2012)
• Men's Swimming & Diving (1970, 1973, 1988, 2008)
• Men's Water Polo (1989, 2008)
• Men's Underwater Yam-Harvesting (2012,2013)
• Men's Space-Yam Harvesting (2007-2010)

Fine arts

The music program at Huron is considered one of the best in the country, and has been honored by the Grammy Foundation as both a “Gold” (Top 7 - once) and “Signature” (Top 50 – 4 times) School.

The Huron Players is Huron High Schools official theatre group. They produce four shows every year: three full-length plays and "Finale", an assortment of student-directed one-act plays. In addition to acting, all of the behind the scenes departments, or "crews", are student-lead. Some of the crews include Set Construction, Costumes, Makeup, Props, Lighting, Sound, Publicity, and House Management, as well as the positions of Stage Manager and Assistant Stage Manager. Student participation in acting and on the "crews" earn points which can earn them a varsity letter in theater.^{[citation needed]}

Wit by Margaret Edson- Spring 2004. Earned first place at the Michigan Interscholastic Forensic Association annual competition. Also performed at the Michigan Youth Arts Festival at Western Michigan University in May 2004.

Student Council

Student Council is the student government body at Huron High School. Its foremost purpose is to serve the student body at Huron, which it does by maintaining constant contact and dialogue with the Huron administrators and PTSO, many of the student organizations at Huron and the students themselves. In addition to this, Student Council also engages in many activities to benefit the school and city community. These include blood banks, a can drive, and a Teacher Appreciation Breakfast. Student Council is also responsible for the creation and distribution of the student directory.

Publications

• The Enthymion: the school yearbook
• The Emery: the official school newspaper. Beginning in 2009 The Emery began expanding online as well as maintaining its regular paper publication.
• The Symposium: the underground newspaper, traditionally printed by a group of seniors.
• Full Circle: the school's award-winning annually-published literary magazine. The publication contains student-submitted poetry, prose, and artwork.

Notable alumni

• Thomas Knoll (1977): co-creator of Adobe Photoshop
• Lloyd Dangle (1979); visual artist and cartoonist
• John Knoll (1980): co-creator of Adobe Photoshop, visual effects guru
• Jay Nordlinger (1982): editor at the National Review
• David S. Goyer (1984): screenwriter, director and producer
• John Pollack (1984): author, Presidential speech writer
• Zeke Jones (1985): silver medalist in wrestling at the 1992 Summer Olympics
• James "Lights Out" Toney (1986): professional boxer
• Javier Grillo-Marxuach (1987): screenwriter, producer (notably of the television show Lost)
• Ryan Drummond (1990): actor, singer
• Annette Salmeen (1992): gold medalist in swimming at the 1996 Summer Olympics
• Jill Carroll (1995): journalist; 2006 kidnapping victim in Iraq
• Cherry Chevapravatdumrong (1995): author, executive story editor and co-producer of Family Guy.
• Andy Wood (1995): stand up comedian, co-founder of the Bridgetown Comedy Festival in Portland, OR.
• Andy Hilbert (1999): NHL Left Wing New York Islanders
• Peter Cameron (2001): attorney, businessman, Internet mogul
• Elizabeth Armstrong (2001): member of the United States women's national water polo team
• Devin Thomas (attended in 2003, did not graduate): collegiate football player at Michigan State University, drafted in Round 2 of the 2008 NFL Draft.
• Kevin Shattenkirk (2007): professional hockey player in the NHL
• Evan Bates (2007): Ice dancer who represented the United States at the 2010 Winter Olympics.
• Alex Shibutani (2009): ice dancer, 2010 U.S. Junior national champion
• Maia Shibutani (2012): ice dancer, 2010 U.S. Junior national champion

External links

• Official Huron Players website
• Official Huron website
• The Emery website
• River Rat Hall of Fame
• Michigan Interscholastic Swimming and Diving Coaches Association