Woodford County High School (Kentucky)

Woodford County High School (WCHS)
Address
180 Frankfort Street Versailles, KY, 40383 United States
Information
Type	Public
Established	1964
School district	Woodford County Schools
Principal	Head: Mr. Rob Akers; Associate: Mr. Bob Gibson, Mrs. Jennifer Forgy, Mr. Dan Cassity (Freshman Principal)
Staff	~60
Faculty	~35
Grades	9-12
Number of students	~1200
Campus type	Suburban
Athletics	Football (boys), Basketball, Soccer, Baseball (boys), Softball (girls), Swimming, Volleyball (girls), Wrestling, Cross-country, Track and Field, Diving, Tennis
Athletics conference	KHSAA
Nickname	Yellowjackets
Information	Phone: +1 (859) 873-5434
Fight Song	On, on, WCHS
Pep-Rally Cheer	W C H S
Website	http://wchs.woodfordschools.org

Woodford County High School is a public high school located in Versailles, Kentucky. It serves grades 9-12 and since the 1970s has been the only public high school in Woodford County.

History

At one time, there were three (3) high schools in Woodford County: Midway High School, Versailles High School and Simmons High School. Simmons was an all black school and in the 1950s Simmons closed. Simmons High School students attended either Midway High School or Versailles High School. Midway High School was closed in the early 1960s.

The old Midway High School building became Midway Elementary, then was closed, remodeled and converted into historic building apartments. The old Versailles High School building became Woodford County Junior High (later renamed WC Middle School) when the current Woodford County High School building was constructed in 1964. Since that time, WCHS has been the only high school serving Woodford County.

Notable alumni

Notable alumni include US Rep. Ben Chandler, former Arizona Cardinal Mike Gentry, country music singer John Conlee, former Broadway dancer/performer Joni Schenck and her sister, current NYCMH Rockette Broadway dancer/performer Megan Schenck, former America's Junior Miss Taylor Phillips, and Rascal Flatts band member Travis Toy. Former graduate Sam Rechter was recently named, by TIME Magazine, the most interesting man in the world.

Mission statement

The Woodford County High School community will create and nurture a positive and safe learning environment of mutual respect, open communication, and high standards where all participants will exhibit the ability to be life-long learners equipped to successfully challenge the future.

Athletics

WCHS athletic teams include Volleyball, Cheerleading, Wrestling, Cross country, Track and Field, Football, Boys Basketball, Girls Basketball Baseball, Softball, Boys Soccer, Girls Soccer, Swimming, Diving, Tennis, and Golf.

Woodford County High School Athletics program has over 40 years of competitive history at the district, regional and state level, with several teams competing at the state championship level. WCHS has afforded many student athletes the opportunity to earn athletic scholarships to compete and study at the college level. Some student athletes have gone on to finish their high school and college careers, only to come back to coach. Most notable of this group would include: Joe Carr, Joe Carr Jr, Bob Gibson, Susan Sullins, and Andrea "Bug" Brown. Several coaches, athletic directors, and administrators have gone on to be recognized at the state level for their leadership and contributions to student athletes at WCHS and amongst coaches/administrators throughout the state. Most notable of this group would include: Coach Gene Kirk, Coach Don Lane, Coach Bill Hill, Mr. Ken Tippett, and Coach Joe Carr.

The wrestling team currently headed by co- head coaches Joe Carr Sr. and Jr. have won 13 state championships, celebrating more than any other KHSAA

school as well as holding the record for most individual state champions with 56 . The wrestling teams championships span from 1972, to the

most recent one in 2006 where the Matjackets boasted an outstanding number of 5 individual state champions in Coty Lewis, Harrison Courtney,

Will Starks, Richard Starks and Kyle Goodrich . Notable wrestlers in WCHS history include a pair of four time State Champions Joe Carr and

Harrison Courtney, and three-timers Richard Starks, Ian Horn, and Jeff Fitch.

In 2006, the boys cross country team celebrated the title of KHSAA Runner Up. The 2006 team's varsity runners included Chris Rice, Cullen Kuntz, David Grieshaber, Andrew Baker, Jacob Kuntz, Chad Scott, and Noah Vasilakes.

The Girls Soccer team participated in the state championship in 2007, defeated by Sacred Heart Academy 2-0; and in the 2008 State Final Four,losing to Highlands 1-0. The most notable WCHS Soccer Player, Andrea "Bug" Brown went on to play at the college level and return back to coach after her college career.

Both the Boys and Girls Basketball have a long competitive history. In the early 1970s, the Boys Basketball Program was led by Coach Don Lane. Later, after Coach Lane went on to coach at the college level, and Coach Kirk became head coach. Years later, Coach Bill Hill became the head Girls Coach. The coaches led WCHS to sweet 16 births in the mid 1980s to 1990s. After Coaches Kirk and Hill retired, they were succeeded by Coach Bill Bland & Bob Gibson as the boys tean coaches, and Coach Jay Lucas as the girls team coach, all who had served under Coaches Kirk & Hill as assistants. The Boys Basketball team, led by Coach Gene Kirk, made a 1986 Sweet 16 State Basketball Tournament birth appearance after winning the 11th Region Boys Basketball Tournament for the first time in school history. The Girls Basketball team, led by Coach Bill Hill, made a 1995 birth appearance after winning the 11th Region Girls Basketball Tournament for the first time in school history. Both Boys and Girls Basketball Programs have produced several student athletes who have gone on to earn scholarships and/or participate at the collegiate level. Over the years, both programs have produced several players who have gone on to participate in coaching basketball programs, including Coach Bill Bland (Woodford County Boys), Coach Bob Gibson (Woodford County), Coach Brad Carter (LCA) and Coach Susan Sullins (Woodford County).

The 1985 Girls Golf Team had many years as regional champions and celebrated the title of KHSAA 1985 State Girls Golf Team Runner Up. The 1985 Girls Golf Team included 3/4 players in the top 25, and opportunities for 3 players to receive Division I Golf Scholarships. This 1985 Girls Golf Team included: Laura Pulliam (1), Patty Scott (2), Micki Hill (3), and Shea Fontana (4) and was led by Coach Gene Kirk. The Boys Golf Team has included several players who have gone on to compete at the state level. Most notable of the Boys Golf Team would be Jeff Moffett (1986), who became a PGA Professional.

The WCHS Swim Team has celebrated several competitive seasons over the past 40 years. Amongst the most notable student athlete swimmers at WCHS are: Dana Wilds (University of Tennessee) and Kristina Kirk (Union College).

Academics

WCHS was ranked 1137th on Newsweek's list of the 1,300 top schools in the nation, with only 11 other Kentucky schools making the list. WCHS slipped from 1095th place in 2006. In 2005, WCHS met all NCLB goals. Scoring overall in the 45th percentile in math, and 40th in reading. They also met most of the Kentucky Department of Education goals scoring a 79.6 Overall, the highest being Practical Living/Vocational Studies (90.1607) and the lowest being Writing (66.8237).

WCHS has produced many academic all americans, several national merit scholars, and provided opportunities for many students to go on to earn college academic scholarships. WCHS has also produced many students who have been successful in the vocational arts, going on to successfully work in business and in several different vocations/industries. Woodford County had one of the state's few co-op vocational programs as well as a health careers program to prepare students for jobs in a variety of fields.

Media Program

In the 1970s, Dave Noble began the WCHS Media program. The class was first named Telecommunications and taught students broadcasting skills. The program continues to operate after 40 years, and is still taught by Mr. Noble. Currently, the media classes broadcast the Live Afternoon Announcements, Channel 4, the video yearbook and a variety of other media.

Clubs/Organizations

Some of the WCHS clubs

• ASA
• Band
• Book
• Choir
• Creative Writing
• ECHO
• EZLN
• FARC
• FBLA
• FCA
• FCCLA
• FEA
• FFA
• Film
• HOSA
• Jewish club
• Key Club
• Latin Kings
• Media
• NHS/Beta
• Pep Club
• Philosophy Club
• SAC
• SHII
• SADD
• SEEK
• Spanish
• Spanish Honors Club
• Student Council
• Theatre
• TSA
• YMCA Club
• YAC Club
• Young Democrats
• Young Black Panthers
• Young Republicans

Band

WCHS Band at a competition in Morehead, October 2007.

The Woodford County High School Marching Band has a long history with many traditions, including the performance of the "school fight song." In the 1970, 80s, and 90s, the band was led by Mr. Nat Carter. The band's flag corps was led by Ms. Faye Crews. The band eventually began competitive marching (2005). During this time, the marching band attended two competitions, one in exhibition and the other scoring 73.9. The band had a sudden director change as ex-director Rex Peyton was hired by West Jessamine High School just weeks before band camp. Mr. Matthew J. Skaggs was hired as WCHS band director and managed lead the marching Yellow Jackets to attend two competitions: one in exhibition and one at the 2006 Beechwood Festival of Bands (Fort Mitchell) Score: 55.90, earning second place in the AAAA class.

Since the competition era has begun, the marching Yellow Jackets have provided audiences with several great themes, costumes, and shows.

The 2007 program was space themed. It included selections such as the Apollo 13 theme, excerpts from Jupiter by Gustav Holst, the theme from E.T., and Gemini. The band debuted their new uniforms and a partially redesigned show in the Lincoln Days Invitational Marching Band Competition, in LaRue County, Kentucky, where they scored a 65.29.

The 2008 program was "Earth: Construction in Four Movements", was written by Key Poulan. This program featured songs entitled: "Air, Fire, Water and Land." The band competed for the first time in the largest in-state class (Division 5A KMEA) as well as the midstates band conference where they are classified in the smaller 4A division.

The 2009 program theme was "Off the Beaten Path", which as the name suggests took a slight departure from the previous, more traditional shows. With several new additions, including a new color guard instructor, Woodford County landed a spot in the KMEA semi-finals; a first for the school.

WCHS Cheer

The WCHS cheer has been a long tradition at Woodford County High School pep rallies. Each class has their own part. A staff member stands at Mid-court and points to the different class sections.

• Seniors shout "W"
• Juniors shout "C"
• Sophomores shout "H"
• Freshmen shout "S"

It's repeated 5 times.

External links

• Woodford County High School Homepage
• Woodford County High School Athletics Site
• CATS Testing Scores
• Newsweeks Top 1300 Public High Schools
• UK's Fight Song (Same as WCHS')

Notes

Percentages are NOT based on percentage of questions answered correctly; it is based on the percentage of students scoring a proficient or better.