Thomas Sprigg Wootton High School

Thomas Sprigg Wootton High School
Motto	Patriot Pride
Established	1970
Type	Public Secondary
Gender	Co-Educational
Principal	Dr. Michael J. Doran
Asst. Principal	Ms. Dyan Gomez, Dr. Ira Thomas, Mr. Jeffrey Brown, Ms. Renee Negin
Students	2414 (2009–2010) 9th Grade: 571 10th Grade: 590 11th Grade: 605 12th Grade: 648
Grades	9–12
Location	2100 Wootton Parkway, Rockville, Maryland, USA
District	Montgomery County Public Schools
Campus	Suburban
Colors	Red, White and Blue
Mascot	Patriot
Newspaper	Common Sense
Website	Home Page

Thomas Sprigg Wootton High School or Wootton High School (WHS) is a high school in Rockville, Maryland. Its namesake is Thomas Sprigg Wootton, a former member of the Maryland Constitutional Convention and the founder of Montgomery County. The school was founded in 1970 and is part of the Montgomery County Public Schools system. The majority of the students come from Robert Frost Middle School or Cabin John Middle School. The principal since July 2003 has been Dr. Michael Doran. The Wootton class of 2009 was the largest class ever to graduate the school, with 664 students.

Academics

In 2005, Wootton was named the 17th best high school in the United States by Newsweek. The only school from Montgomery County to beat it was Richard Montgomery High School, which placed 11th. However, the rankings have come into question because of the controversial method used to evaluate schools. "Public schools are ranked according to a ratio devised by Jay Mathews: the number of Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate tests taken by all students at a school in 2004 divided by the number of graduating seniors." This method completely disregards the scores on the test, i.e., the school ranked number one could have the lowest scores on tests in the country as long as that school takes the most tests. In addition to the usual selection of Advanced Placement and Honors-level classes and the unique College Institute program, which allows senior students to take classes through Montgomery College, Wootton also offers two signature programs: the Humanities and Arts Program, and the STARS Program.

Humanities and Arts Program

In the Humanities and Arts Program, students typically have an affinity for at least some of the following: Social Studies, English, Foreign Language, and Fine Arts. Humanities students are enrolled in separate classes in the subjects of English and Social Studies for their freshman, sophomore and junior years. These classes count for the same credits and cover the same materials as their regular counterparts, but allow for more creativity and intellectual discussion in the classroom.

In order to complete the program, students must complete five more credits than what is normally required to graduate. In addition, students must have an "Off-campus Experience". This requirement can be fulfilled by studying abroad, attending a pre-college program on a college campus, or interning in a humanities or arts subject. It encourages Humanities students to step outside their comfort zone and learn outside the classroom. Finally, students must complete a "Senior Independent Project" (SIP), which is the focus of the Humanities Program for a student's junior and senior years. The project may be in the form of an extended essay or creative project. The extended essay involves writing an argumentative research paper of 18–20 pages, while the creative project involves completing a relevant project and writing a shorter argumentative or expository essay of 8–10 pages. The SIP was introduced to the program a year after the Humanities Program was formed in 2001, and it has been a defining part of the senior-year experience. Humanities students have traditionally been closely involved in Wootton's musical and theatrical productions.

STARS Program

STARS is short for the Science Technology and Research Scholars Program at Wootton. Students in STARS are passionate about science and technology, and wish to pursue careers in these fields. Students can choose to focus on one of the following during their high school years: Global Science, Computer Technology, Engineering, Mathematics or Molecular Biology. They take challenging courses in their area of interest and participate in various extracurricular activities related to their subject. With the change of leadership in the STARS program in 2008, several major changes were made in the program's requirements.

Extracurricular activities

Clubs

• In 2007, Wootton students Timothy Hwang and Minsoo Han founded a student-led, non-profit service organization Operation Fly, Inc., helping the homeless in urban areas such as Washington DC, Chicago and New York City.
• The Wootton High School Cancer Awareness Club raises awareness of the deadly disease in the school's community. They were recently invited to WHIT Washington FM 99.5 to talk about their club with show host Julian.
• The Wootton TV / Film Club submitted a film to the Montgomery County Schools Media Festival held on April 28, 2006 at the AFI Silver Theater in Silver Spring, Maryland. The film, titled "The S.G.A.", was directed by Eric Fleischman, a member of the TV / Film Club of 2006, and starred English teacher Mr. Lightsey and Wootton Principal Dr. Doran. The film won second place in the live action video category. Blake High School claimed first place in that category.
• The Foundation Chicos Por Atyra raised over $600 for impoverished children in Paraguay.
• In Spring 2007, a team (Steven Zhang and Christine Sun) from Wootton's Research, Design, and Experimentation Club won 1st place at the Montgomery Science Fair, exploring the validity of hormesis.
• In February 2005 and February 2006, the Wootton Science Bowl team won the Maryland/Delaware Regional Science Bowl.
• In March 2005, the Wootton Programming Team got 3rd place out of the 32 schools competing in the University of Maryland Computer Science Competition. In October 2005, the programming team earned 2nd place at the Hood College Competition. In March 2006, the team placed 5th at the University of Maryland Computer Science Competition, winning $400.
• At the 2005 National Science Bowl, the Wootton Science Bowl team earned 5th place out of 63 schools nationwide, all of which had won their respective regional event.
• In February 2006, a team of eight Wootton students placed 4th in the B division of the Harvard-MIT Math Tournament.
• In March 2006, the Wootton Model United Nations Club attended the Johns Hopkins Model United Nations Conference in Baltimore, Maryland. The club members acted as delegates representing Ukraine and Iceland on various UN Committees. In 2008, the club once again attended the conference, representing Japan and Moldova.
• In April 2007, Wootton won 1st place for the second-year-team at the University of Maryland's 23nd Annual Chemathon. Twenty-four high schools from Maryland, Virginia, and DC participated. It was the third consecutive year that Wootton had placed 1st in the Level II division. The first-year-team placed 8th in this event.
• The Wootton High School Debate Team placed 3rd in the 2007–2008 regional tournament.
• Wootton's Equestrian Club was ranked second in Maryland as of November 1, 2008.
• Wootton's Equestrian Club ranked first in varsity and second in JV in Maryland as of the 2010-2011 competing year.
• In 2009, Wootton's Drumline placed 2nd in a county drumline competition.
• In 2011, Wootton's Drumline placed 1st in a county drumline competition.
• Wootton`s annual "Puttin' on the Hitz" (POTH) show is also a way for dance groups and class planning groups to be involved in the school
• In 2009, Wootton became the first Maryland school to have a Team Handball Club.

Athletics

• The Wootton ice hockey team in 2009 became the first Maryland public school to win back-to-back state championships (2008, 2009).
• The Wootton Girls Cross Country team star Jessie Rubin went on to win the county, regional and states races in 2010 and got a scholarship to Duke.

Performing arts

Wootton's theater department was once described by Principal Michael Doran as "the closest thing to Broadway for miles around." Leads in the 2003 production of "Les Misérables" went on to attend music or theater programs at the Cincinnati Conservatory, Tisch @ NYU, the Penn State School of Music, Interlochen Arts Academy, and Musical Theatre at Emerson College among others. Other shows recently performed include "Seussical," "Flowers for Algernon," "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," "On the Town," and both the male and female versions of "The Odd Couple." In recent years, Wootton has staged "Revenge of the Space Pandas," "Children of Eden," "Sweeney Todd," "Honk!," "Macbeth Did It," "My Favorite Year", "Horror High", "Grease", "Beauty and the Beast", "You Can't Take It With You", "Aida","Bye, Bye Birdie", "Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge", and "Once Upon A Mattress.". Wootton's December 2005 production of Jason Robert Brown's "Songs for a New World" was selected to be the full-length featured show at the Maryland State High School Theaterfest on February 11, 2005. In fall 2008, the musical "Grease" (revised student version) was a huge hit, selling out every show. In 2010 to celebrate Wootton's 40th Anniversary a musical review called "A Decade of Hits" which featured popular songs from Musicals Wootton had done in the past 10 years was performed. Medleys in the review came from but are not limited to "Sweeney Todd", "Les Miserables", "Seussical", "My Favorite Year", "Joseph and the Amazing Technocolor Dreamcoat", and "Beauty and the Beast" The 2009 Spring musical was "Beauty and the Beast". In the spring of 2007 Matt Culbertson and Eli Mangold received Wootton's first Cappie Award for Sound Production for Children of Eden. In spring 2008 the musical "My Favorite Year" brought home the cappie for Comic Actress in a Musical (Katina Kempel, Alice). The 2009 spring musical Beauty and The Beast brought home 3 Cappies Awards for Featured Actor in a Musical (Mattia D'Affuso, Lumiere), Lead Actress in a Musical (Jessica Futran, Belle), and Best Song (Be Our Guest).

In addition to the annual play and musical productions, the year 2009 included an extra performing arts event. Under the direction of senior Salah Czapary, Wootton students put together a production of a stage adaptation of the Academy Award Winning short film, West Bank Story co-written by Ari Sandel and Kim Ray with music by Yuval Ron.

Notable Recent Events

President George W. Bush speaks at Wootton.

In 2001 the band Of A Revolution (O.A.R.), which includes four alumni, performed at the James A. Coles Field (the Wootton football field and track) before they reached the Billboard charts.

In November 2001, President George W. Bush visited Wootton HS and signed the congressional bill officially recognizing "Veterans Awareness Week" which takes place the week before Veteran's Day.

In early 2005, the Wootton cheerleading squad was caught in a scandal when pictures of cheerleaders in uniform in provocative poses made their way to pornographic sites. The story made the national media, including The Washington Post.

The Graduation ceremony for the class of 2005 featured a speech from former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. For the graduation of the class of 2006, former Congresswoman Connie Morella was the speaker.

In April 2008, the bands Gym Class Heroes and Pat McGee Band performed in a "Rock the Vote" concert. The concert's goal was to generate political activism throughout the school.

On August 25, 2008, former English teacher Theresa Duarte was arrested and charged with two counts of distribution of a controlled dangerous substance and two counts of contributing to conditions of a child. Duarte told detectives that she kept cocaine in the bathroom at her home and gave two Wootton High School students cocaine while still employed by Montgomery County Public Schools. She had resigned for personal reasons prior to her arrest.

On October 17, 2008, Wootton quarterback, Mike Mooney set a state record for most passing yards in a game. After a miserable first quarter, Mooney total 451 yards by completing twenty-six of his forty-three passes. The game, which was against Blair High School resulted in a win for the Patriots in what would be one of the most prolific seasons in almost two-decades. The Patriots made it to the playoffs for the first time in seventeen years, finishing with a 7-3 record.

On November 14, 2008, CNN's chief national correspondent, John King, spoke to students and teachers during all three lunch periods. His son and daughter currently attend Wootton. His son plays for Wootton's varsity football team.

On June 1, 2011, Marc Roberge, the lead singer of the band O.A.R. (Of a Revolution) spoke at Wootton's graduation for the class of 2011.

Notable alumni and students

• Ilya Pozin, founder and president of Ciplex, and columnist for Inc. Magazine
• Richard On, Benj Gershman, Marc Roberge and Chris Culos, four of the members of the American rock group Of A Revolution (O.A.R.)
• Bryan "Flounder" Schlossberg, Celebrity DJ and personality on Elliot in the Morning (DC101/WRXL) & Flounders Mash Ups (DC101)
• Richard Scanlan (1977), Tony-nominated lyricist of the Broadway Musical "Thoroughly Modern Millie".
• Zac Cohen, competitor on the reality game show Fear Factor and first place winner.
• Eric San (1992), Scratch DJ Kid Koala
• Actor Thomas Jane of "The Punisher. HBO Series Hung"
• Steve Coll (1976), two-time Pulitzer Prize winning reporter and former managing editor of The Washington Post.
• Phil Galfond, professional poker player who won the 2008 World Series of Poker $5000 Pot-Limit Hold'em with Rebuy's event and is one of the greatest high stakes cash game players today
• David M. Thomas (1976), current director of Joint Operations (N3JOD)
• Chris Lu, executive director of the Obama-Biden Transition Project and White House Cabinet Secretary
• Andrew J. Richards, Executive Assistant to Edward McGinnis, Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Nuclear Energy Policy & Cooperation. Vocal supporter of the U.S. manned space program.

Notes

1. ^ http://www.chem.umd.edu/chemathon/teams06.html
2. ^ Science Bowl#Results of the national competition
3. ^ http://www.cs.umd.edu/Outreach/hsContest05/scores.html
4. ^ http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7723397/site/newsweek/
5. ^ Best High Schools in America
6. ^ http://db.etree.org/shninfo_detail.php?shnid=10449
7. ^ http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/10/images/20011030-7.html
8. ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1945-2005Jan11.html
9. ^ http://gazette.net/stories/121405/gaitnew191618_31909.shtml
10. ^ http://www.bosskillers.com/cgi-bin/bbguild/index.cgi?&action=guildpage&sid=YUhGhdhKk8&guildid=1339
11. ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/26/AR2008082603099.html
12. ^ http://www.gazette.net/stories/08272008/potonew93756_32479.shtml
13. ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/16/AR2008101604405.html

External links

• Wootton High School website
• Wootton Statistics from MCPS
• Aerial photo as of 4/7/2002 from USGS The National Map
• Stars Program Page
• Humanities & Arts Program Page