Omaha Central High School

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for schools of the same name.


Omaha High School
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location: Omaha, Nebraska
Built/Founded: 1900
Architect: Latenser,John,Sr.
Architectural style(s): Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals, Other
Governing body: Omaha Public Schools
Added to NRHP: October 11, 1979
NRHP Reference#: 79003684

[1]

Omaha Central High School, originally known as Omaha High School, was founded in 1859.

The current building, located in North Omaha, Nebraska, was designed by John Latenser, Sr. and built between 1900 and 1912. It is believed to be the oldest active high school building in the city.[2]

With an enrollment of around 2,500 students, today Central High School is a four-year high school with a traditional college preparatory curriculum, an honors and advanced placement program, and a diverse student body which includes international students from all over the world. Co-curricular activities such as athletics, clubs, honor societies, student government, drama, art, musical groups, speech, and debate are offered.[3]

Contents

[edit] History

Central High School was Omaha's first all-grades public school opened in 1859 by the superintendent of education, Howard Kennedy. It took twelve years for the school district to actually construct a high school. In 1869 the Nebraska Legislature donated the old capitol building at 21st and Capitol to be used as a high school, but the building itself was never used. It was declared unsafe and torn down in 1870 and a new high school was built starting the fall of 1870 and completed in 1871. It is a common misunderstanding that the Central building that exist now was the old state capitol building, but it is not and is not even the original building built on the site in 1870.

The original Central High building was constructed of red brick and faced east. It consisted of a main structure with north and south wings and a one-hundred-fifty foot spire that dominated the downtown horizon. This school building had 4 stories and a basement with 15 school rooms and 4 recitation rooms. At this time Central High was known as Omaha High School. All important visitors were given a tour of the school. President William Howard Taft visited the school in 1911 and climbed the tower for a better view of the city. From Central's vantage point on the hill it was at the center of the growing city's activity. On July 4, 1876 electrical engineers wired the school's tower to give Omaha its first demonstration of electric lights. Before the citizenry of Omaha had air conditioning the local residents would sleep on the Central lawn for relief from the heat on hot, muggy summer nights.

By 1897 overcrowding and poor ventilation became serious problems for the school and the board of education approved the construction of a new, larger building. The cornerstone for today's present building was laid on November 16, 1900. The east side of the school was built first and from 1900 to 1912 the school was constructed one side at a time around the original red-brick tower building. The tower building was demolished and removed before the 4th side (north) was constructed. Kate McHugh was the principal at the time and insisted on the removal of the old building's heating and ventilation plant to create and open air courtyard at the center of the structure. Classrooms from the old building were used during construction of the new building. The doorways used as department offices today on the interior walls of each floor of the new school provided access to classrooms in the old building. The total cost of the new school in the early 1900's was $750,000.

Since 1920, Centrals grounds have also undergone extensive change. Omaha motorists complained about the steep incline of Dodge Street so city officials initiated plans to lower the grade of the busy street from 12% to 7%. This work closed Dodge street for a year and left Central on a sheer cliff with a 20 foot drop. New terraces and flights of stairs provided the campus with its present look.

In 1925 the school board approved the addition of a gym and auditorium wing to the north side of the building. Before that addition, the basketball teams played their games in a gym on the fourth floor where the cafeteria was once located. Thespians performed on stage in a tiny, tiny auditorium that has since been transformed into rooms 145 and 245.

The school was unchanged until 1977 when a full-sized gym was added northeast of the main building. In 1981-82 Central underwent an extensive renovation of the entire building while school was in session. The open courtyard was enclosed during this renovation. During the renovation helicopters were used to lower supports in place for the translucent dome that covers the courtyard. This area is now a school hub were students eat lunch and gather before school with friends.

Many traditions have been established at Central over time, so be sure to check them out below. Central holds the rare honor of being the first high school established in Omaha. It has graduated thousands of students over the years and many generations of some families have walked the halls of Central.

Central High Traditions

National Honor Society (Beta Chapter)-This organization is now a key ingredient for honoring high school students throughout the United States and owes its beginning to Central High principal, J. G. Masters. Masters carried his idea for an organization to honor graduating seniors for outstanding scholastic records to a national convention for school administrators where it was enthusiastically accepted. He wasn't able to attend the next year's convention though and Central had to settle, in 1921, for the second chapter of the the organization its principal was responsible for creating. The National Honor Society has flourished at Central every year since that date.

Register-Quill and Scroll, an international society for student journalists, in 1986 officially declared the Register, Central's student newspaper, the oldest continuously published newspaper west of the Mississippi. And the Register's longevity might be even more noteworthy. The Quill and Scroll director admitted that the society, which has member schools in all fifty states, had never received a claim from a school newspaper with a longer continuous publication string that the Register's. The first issue of the paper is dated December 2, 1886. That first issue, though mainly a literary publication with writing more flowery than modern standards permit, provided a solid base on which over a century of Registers could build.

Military-Central's Reserve Officers' Training Corps was established in 1892-93 as a battalion of four companies commanded by a Fort Crook officer. ROTC soon became the most popular activity at Omaha High School. Every male student was required to become an active member, and the annual Military Ball was the social event of the year.

Road Show-In 1915 the school's athletic department was facing a serious financial shortage. The principal, Clayton Reed, suggested that some sort of entertainment program be organized to raise money. The resulting show, an eight act vaudeville-type presentation, cleared over $200 and was declared a resounding success. In fact, so successful was that first Road Show it hasn't missed a beat from 1915 to the present, annually showcasing the varied talents of Central students. And for some of those students, including Lindsay Bloom, Peter Buffett, Lars Erickson, Rick Kuethe, Joanne Schmidman, Inga Swenson, Carol Rogers, to name just a few, the ability to act, sing, dance, and play has propelled them to a professional career. And for Henry Fonda and Dorothy Maguire, it has brought international stardom.

Advanced Placement-Central, in 1956, was among the first schools in the nation to develop a program that would allow high school seniors the opportunity to earn college credit. Math teacher Virginia Lee Pratt and English teacher W. Edward Clark won John Hay Whitney scholarships for study at Yale to prepare for incorporating the program into Central's curriculum. Both were instrumental in the years that followed in developing material for the school's AP program. Over the years, Central teachers have served as readers for the essay portion of the national Advanced Placement exam keeping them on the cutting edge of the program. Since 1956 hundreds of Central graduates have been able to enter college well ahead of their classmates thanks to the credits earned in the Advanced Placement program.

Student Council-This organization has enjoyed a long, successful life at Central. It was started in 1914 at Central. It was created, according to its original guidelines for the purpose of "supplying a means of interchanging ideas between the Principal and faculty on one hand, student body on the other".

English Stylebook-In 1921 Sara Vore Taylor, the Central English department chair at the time, copyrighted her Style Book for Theme Writing and Revision. Her creation provided practice sheets for common grammar problems and established the form for theme writing that has helped generations of Central students develop their composition skills. Centralites still revise their themes using the stylebook symbols, and graduates living throughout the United States often request copies of the "old stylebook" hoping to further the composition skills of their own children and grandchildren.

Clubs-Clubs have long provided an outlet for student diversity and enthusiasm. One club out of the school's past, the Titans, even had as its members red-haired girls only. It has always seemed that where there is a student interest at Central High School, a club usually sprouts to satisfy that interest.

Outdoorsmen Club, for example, enjoyed much popularity during the 60's and 70's. Members went on campouts and promoted an interest in conservation. They even attracted a little too much attention on one occasion when they practiced rapelling off the side of the building.

Greenwich Village promoted the exploration of art mediums and vocations. These energetic members in the 60's even cleaned out a portion of a long-closed corridor between the physics and art rooms to serve as a gallery.

And, as might be expected, many clubs at Central have a long distinguished past. The Chess Club, for example, was first organized in 1938 to encourage students learning to play chess or wishing to improve their game. They were known in those days as The Central Pawnpushers.

The foreign language clubs can boast of the longest history, Spanish Club started in 1922, and French Club followed the year after. But by that time German Club had been around for nearly two decades, having formed in 1904.

Junior Classical League, also known as Latin Club, wins the longevity prize though. If fact, it holds the distinction of being the first Latin Club in the United States. It was organized in 1903 under the direction of teachers Miss Ellen Rooney and Miss Susan Paxson. All of these language clubs are still very active today


There are two Nobel Prize winners among Central's alumni.[4]

In 1986, Quill and Scroll named the Central High Register the oldest continually published high school newspaper west of the Mississippi River.[5]

Central has long been a source of contention over youth-led media. Starting in 1923, the school had a radio station for five years. First, KFCZ operated during the 1923–1924 school year. In 1925 the call letters changed to KOCH, and the Central High School Radio Club presented shows throughout the school day and special events on the weekends. The station was ordered discontinued by the Federal Communications Commission in 1928, as they devalued the purpose of school-affiliated radio stations and rescinded their licenses across the United States.[6]

The staff of Central's student newspaper, the Omaha Central High School Register, was awarded the Student Press Review's Edmund J. Sullivan Award in 2002 after they wrote a series of articles exposing several controversial topics throughout the school.[7] After administration threatened the paper with closure, the students won reprieve through the support of professional journalists across the country.[8]

In November 2008, protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church from Topeka, Kansas, came to protest in front of Central. These protesters were met by hundreds of students, both from Central and North High. Many items were thrown at the protesters, including bottles and tree limbs. Police showed up and used mace on the counter-protesters. Dodge Street was closed for almost an hour. After a short period outside of Central, the WBC protesters were escorted out of the area.

[edit] Academics

Central High offers honors courses, along with the following Advanced Placement courses:

AP Studio Art Drawing
AP Studio Art 2D
AP Computer Science AB
AP English Language and Composition
AP English Literature and Composition
AP Statistics
AP Calculus AB
AP Calculus BC
AP Music Theory
AP Biology
AP Chemistry
AP Physics B
AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism

AP Physics C: Mechanics
AP Human Geography
AP Macroeconomics
AP Microeconomics
AP World History
AP United States Government and Politics
AP Comparative Government and Politics
AP United States History
AP Psychology
AP French Language
AP German Language
AP Spanish Language
AP Spanish Literature

Central follows a traditional schedule, with 9-10 periods a day. The school day runs from 7:41 a.m. to 2:50 p.m. Some students take "0" hour, but it is only available for marketing, weight lifting, and aerobics. Periods 5,6, and 7 are lunch hours. After 1st hour, there is homeroom, which is about 6 minutes long for announcements and Pledge of Allegiance. Passing periods are 5 minutes long, with the warning bell ringing at 4 minutes. Classes are 42 minutes long, with the exception of "0", which is 41 minutes long. The following is the current bell schedule:

zero hour: 7:00-7:41
1st hour: 7:46-8:28
Homeroom: 8:28-8:34
2nd hour: 8:39-9:21
3rd hour: 9:26-10:08
4th hour: 10:13-10:55
5th hour: 11:00-11:42 1st Lunch
6th hour: 11:47-12:29 2nd Lunch
7th hour: 12:34-1:16 3rd Lunch
8th hour: 1:21-2:03
9th hour: 2:08-2:50

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] Former principals

The list of principals of Omaha High School/Central dates from 1870 to present.[9]

  • John Kellom, 1870–1875
  • W. H. Merritt, 1875–1877
  • C. H. Crawford, 1877–1881
  • Charles Hine, 1881–1882
  • Homer Lewis, 1882–1896
  • Irwen Leviston, 1896–1899
  • A. H. Waterhouse, 1899–1908
  • E. U. Graff, 1908–1911
  • Kate McHugh, 1911–1914
  • Clayton Reed, 1914–1915
  • Joseph G. Masters, 1915–1939
  • Fred Hill, 1939–1944
  • J. Arthur Nelson, 1944–1968
  • Gaylord “Doc” Moller, 1968–1995
  • Gary L. Thompson, 1995–2002
  • Jerry F. Bexten, 2002–2006
  • Gregory Emmel, 2006-

[edit] Athletics

Central has 3 main rivals, Omaha North High School, Creighton Prep, and in basketball, Bellevue West High School.

In 2008, Sports Illustrated ranked Omaha Central as the top athletic program in the state and the 10th best athletic program in the nation.[citation needed] This was awarded in large part due to having won state championships in football, basketball, track, and sending 5 wrestlers to state.

The boys' basketball team won three straight State Championships (2006, 2007, 2008). On November 16, 2007, Omaha Central won the state football championship by defeating the Millard North High School Mustangs 26-21. It was the school's first football title since 1984. By winning the football title in 2008, the school has completed the "Central Slam" by simultaneously holding titles in track, football, and basketball. No other team in Nebraska Class A athletics has ever held titles in these three sports at the same time before.[citation needed] On March 9, 2008, the school won their third straight boys basketball championship to keep the "Central Slam" alive. They defeated the Bellevue East High School Chieftains 59-58.

In March 2008, the Kansas Jayhawks basketball team practiced in Central's gym for the NCAA Tournament.

[edit] Newspaper

The high school's newspaper The Register has won 11 NSPA/JEA Best-of-Shows. The paper won the Pacemaker National Award. The journalism program has won seven straight State Titles.

The staff and the paper was rebuked by the administration after running a controversial story in 2001. The story reported on a football player continuing to play, despite 2 assault charges. The charges, as stated in the school's handbook, should have led to a dismissal from the team. After running the story, the paper was threatened with being shut down.

The school advisor received support from media outlets on the local and national level. This support stopped the paper from being stopped.[10] The principal instituted a curfew for the newspaper staff, known to stay late and work on the paper, and called the group "a cult".[citation needed]

[edit] JROTC

The Military Science program at Omaha Central High School predates the JROTC program. It began in the 1892-1893 school year. It became the most popular activity at the school. At one point, all male students were required to participate.[11]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2007-01-23. http://www.nr.nps.gov/. 
  2. ^ Gerber, Kristine; Jeffrey S. Spencer (2003). Building for the Ages: Landmarks in Omaha.. Landmarks, Inc.. pp. 84–85. ISBN 0-9745410-1-X. 
  3. ^ (2005) Central High Newsletter. Central High School. Retrieved 2007-05-17.
  4. ^ (nd) Central High School Baseball. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
  5. ^ History
  6. ^ Frost, S., Frost, E. (1977) Education's Own Stations: The History of Broadcast Licenses Issued to Educational Institutions. National Advisory Council on Radio in Education Committee on Research. pp299-300.
  7. ^ (2003) Edmund J. Sullivan Award to two newspaper staffs Student Press Review. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
  8. ^ Wynn, C. (2002) Threat of censorship has chilling effect: High school journalists try to continue work after clash with administration. The Quill. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
  9. ^ (2006) Annual Report. Central High School Foundation. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
  10. ^ [1]
  11. ^ History of Central High, Central High Traditions, Military

[edit] External links

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