Traverse City West Senior High

Traverse City West Senior High
Location
Traverse City, Michigan
Information
School type	Public secondary
School district	Traverse City Area Public Schools
Principal	Joseph Tibaldi
Enrollment	1900  (2008)
Color(s)	Forest Green and Gold
Athletics conference	Big North
Nickname	Titans
Website	http://www.tcaps.net/wsh/

Traverse City West Senior High is a public high school in Traverse City, Michigan, located at 5376 N. Long Lake Road. The principal is Joseph Tibaldi, who has been the principal since the school's opening in 1997. The school was originally built as a solution to the overcrowding at Traverse City Senior High School, which was Michigan's largest high school prior to the split.^{[citation needed]} In 1997, Traverse City Senior High was split by the school district into two distinct high schools. The newly constructed Traverse City West Senior High School was opened, while the original high school facility was renamed as Traverse City Central High School. The name of Traverse City Senior High was discontinued at that time.

Since that time, West Senior High's enrollment has encompassed students living west of Division Street. Traverse City West is one of three public high schools in Traverse City, with nearly 2,000 students each year. It is several times larger than most of the schools in its surrounding area and is the single largest high school outside of the Grand Rapids and Detroit areas in the entire state of Michigan, including the Upper Peninsula. West is located in the Traverse City Area Public Schools school district, which is part of the larger Traverse Bay Area intermediate school district. West offers classes for students in grades 9–12 as of the 2008–2009 school year. Additionally, students are given the option to dual enroll and attend classes at Northwestern Michigan College. In addition to the dual enrollment program, a wide variety of honors and AP classes are offered.

Music and the Arts

Traverse City West has an active music program, with multiple choirs, bands (wind ensemble, symphony band, and concert band), and orchestras. In addition to the larger groups, there are also numerous small ensembles, including two jazz bands, small vocal groups (Choral Aires, Bella Voce and Westmen), and some student-led chamber ensembles. Every three years the Chorale goes on a tour throughout Europe. The first time Euro-Chorale went to Europe they won 3rd place in the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.^{[citation needed]} Two years later Chorale went again and was awarded 2nd place. In 2006, Chorale did not make the festival. They did, however, perform at the Eisteddfod as a general concert outside of the competition. In 2009, The Traverse City West Chorale traveled to Europe again, where they were invited to sing at Mass in Saint Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, and to compete in The Musica Mundi International choral competition located in Budapest, Hungary, where they won 1st place in the "Folk Music" and "Mixed Choir" categories.

The school puts on an annual musical which involves students from all fields. Musicals performed at West include such classics as Patience, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Pirates of Penzance, The Music Man, Ruddigore, Les Misérables, West Side Story, Aida, The Mikado, Me and My Girl, The Secret Garden, and The Phantom of the Opera.

The Theater Arts classes put on several different shows for the public each year; in addition, the Thespian club puts on a performance and competes at drama festivals.

Athletics

Traverse City West's most intense sports rival is with cross-town Traverse City Central High School, while also maintaining a competitive rivalry with Petoskey High School. West competes in baseball, basketball, bowling, cheerleading, cross country, cross-country skiing, figure skating, dance, downhill skiing, equestrian, football, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, Juggling Club, lacrosse, chess, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, rugby, bowling, sailing, track and field, and wrestling. West's boys' soccer has won a state championship, and the girls' alpine skiing team has won 2 state championships (2006, 2007.) West has also produced 3 individual state champions, Mackenzie Bickel (Alpine Skiing, 1998 and 2000), Abbey Rider (Alpine Skiing, 2006) and Tori Lockwood (Alpine Skiing, 2009).^{[citation needed]} They have played powerhouse programs such as Detroit catholic central, Birmingham Brother Rice, Rockford High School, Grandville High School, and Midland Dow High School. Their annual game with rival Traverse City Central High School brings in yearly crowds between 10,000 and 15,000 people.^{[citation needed]} West also competes with their conference opponents Petoskey, Cadillac, Alpena, Traverse City Central High School, and Gaylord High Schools, the six largest high schools in Northern Michigan, as a member of the Big North Conference.

Technology

Traverse City West has an extensive amount of technology-related classes, including:

• Web Publishing
• Visual Basic Programming
• Basic Electricity and Electroics
• Fundamentals of Engineering
• Computer Aided Drafting and Design
• Business

Most of these classes are taught by Mr. Morris and are generally self paced courses involving mostly book exercises. Advanced classes generally encourage student derived exercises and creative learning.

Model UN

Traverse City has one of the most successful Model United Nations teams in the State of Michigan. The team has won best prepared school 6 times in a row at MAMUN (Mid-American model United Nations)the team has won the award 8 times (9 if including the win as TC High School)this is the most wins of any attending school. The team has also won 4 Johnathon Perry awards at said conference, 5 if including TC high. The team attends 3-4 conferences per year including MAMUN, CASC (Canadian American Security Councils) and TC Historical Security councils.