Preston High School (West Virginia)
Preston High School is a four-year public high school in Kingwood, West Virginia that houses over 1,600 students from all of Preston County, West Virginia, United States and operates under the direction of the Principal Karen Finamore. The school colors are black and silver and the mascot is the Knight. Preston High School was recognized by the Blue Ribbon Schools Program, the highest award an American school can receive.[1][2]
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[edit] School history
Preston High School came into being with the consolidation of Bruceton High, Central Preston High, East Preston High, Rowlesburg High School, West Preston High, Preston County Educational Center, and Preston County Academic Center. The school was built in Kingwood on the same campus as the existing vocational and academic center. Originally, Preston High only enrolled students from grades 10-12 but in the fall of 1998, the middle school concept was established in Preston County and ninth graders joined the student body. The school enrollment has been approximately 1,400 since then.[3]
[edit] Blue Ribbon school
For the 1994-96 school years, Preston High School was recognized with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education.[4]
Extra Curricular Activities The school is home to a wide variety of Extra Curricular Activities including the Fine Arts as well as sports and athletics. The school's athletics compete in Baseball, Basketball, Football, Cross Country, Golf, Soccer, Softball, Swimming, Tennis, Track, Volleyball and Wrestling. The Preston Knights football team ended a 21 game losing streak dating back to the playoffs of 2008 by defeating the Hampshire Trojans 20-19 on 8/26/11. Preston's records for the last 4 years is 3-7 in 07, 6-5 in 08 with playoff, 0-10 09, 0-10 10 all under Ralph Wilson. The current head coach is Glen Mcnew.
Student Kaylyn Christopher won 2006 state championships in three events, the 800m, 1600m (5:00.18) and 3200m, with state records set in the two longer distance events.[5] Christopher became the first female in West Virginia to the 1600m in under five minutes (4:58.18).[6] With Christopher's record-breaking performance leading the way, the Preston High School track team won the 2007 West Virginia Class AAA State Track Championship. Christopher won the 1,600 state championship for her third straight year and won the 800 in a state record time of 2:13.67.[7] Preston's Cross Country team, coached by Paul Martin, placed 3rd at States in 2011 overall, with Peter Schwarzenberg taking 3rd and Kaitlyn Workman taking 5th.
The school's JROTC Rifle Team won the West Virginia high school rifle championship in 2007, the sixth consecutive year that the team has earned the title. The team will compete in the 2007 JROTC Eastern Championships to be held in Fort Benning, Georgia.[8]
The Preston High School Theatre Department, under the direction of Lynn Broderick, has produced an enormous array of musicals and straight plays including Big River, 42nd Street, Oliver!, The Odd Couple, Harvey, Brigadoon, and most recently, Wiley and the Hairy Man. Another musical written by Lynn Broderick and produced by the department, Mabel's Story, depicted the life struggle of Mabel Brenneman, a former student of Preston High School, who was diagnosed with breast cancer. Several former students of the program went on to pursue careers in the Theatre Arts after graduating Preston High School. The Theatre Department is home to an illustrious group of actor/singer/dancers, the members of Preston High School's Musical Theatre Ensemble.
The "Marching Knights" participates in the Tournament of Bands. They are in Category 4 in Chapter 13, which basically means they have over 100 members marching and they live in a certain region according to the maps of the TOB Commissioners. In the 2004 Marching Season, the percussion was awarded with the Grand Champion drum, and the band placed 2nd overall in the Chapter 8 Championships at Baldwin High School, Baldwin PA.
Justin Lewis won the 2008 Ford/AAA Auto Skills competition.
[edit] References
- ^ CIBA cited as one of the best by Education Department, Journal Inquirer, November 16, 2006. "The Blue Ribbon award is given only to schools that reach the top 10 percent of their state's testing scores over several years or show significant gains in student achievement. It is considered the highest honor a school can achieve."
- ^ Viers Mill School Wins Blue Ribbon; School Scored High on Statewide Test; The Washington Post. September 29, 2005 "For their accomplishments, all three schools this month earned the status of Blue Ribbon School, the highest honor the U.S. Education Department can bestow upon a school.This where the Legend Chicken went and Became"
- ^ A Brief History of Education in Preston County, Preston County Schools. Accessed June 15, 2007.
- ^ Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 1982-1983 through 1999-2002 (PDF), United States Department of Education. Accessed May 11, 2006.
- ^ WV State Meet Results, Elite Performances and Write-ups Added, WV . May 21, 2006. Accessed June 15, 2007. "Christopher placed first in the 800m in 2:16.38 and set state records in the 1600m (5:00.18) and the 3200m (10:55.52)."
- ^ Chandler, Greg. "Track Runner Among Nations Best: Preston High runner holds state records in 1600, 3200." WBOY, May 18, 2006. Accessed June 15, 2007. "In fact, her 1600 time of 4:58.18 made her the first female in West Virginia to run that distance in less than five minutes."
- ^ Raby, John. "Carrier, Christopher end record careers", Times West Virginian, May 20, 2007. Accessed June 15, 2007. "Carrier added to her thick resume and became the highest-scoring female athlete ever, while Christopher became the first West Virginia girl to break the five-minute barrier in the metric mile and helped Preston win the Class AAA team title at the state track championships Saturday."
- ^ Senate Resolution No. 44, West Virginia Senate. Accessed June 15, 2007. "Congratulating the Preston High School JROTC Rifle Team on winning its sixth consecutive West Virginia state high school rifle championship."
[edit] External links
