Holt High School (Michigan)

Holt High School
Address
5885 W. Holt Road Holt , Michigan 48842 USA
Coordinates	42°38′17″N 84°34′33″W
Information
School type	public high school
School district	Holt-Dimondale Public Schools
Principal	Brian Templin
Faculty	86
Grades	10 – 12
Number of students	1335
• Grade 10	495
• Grade 11	438
• Grade 12	402
Student to teacher ratio	19:1
Campus size	40 acres (16 ha)
Color(s)	Brown
Mascot	Ram
Team name	Rams
Newspaper	Ramparts
Yearbook	Rampages
Website	http://www.holthighschool.net/

Holt High School is a public high school serving grades 10 – 12 in Holt, Michigan, United States. It is one of two high schools in the Holt-Dimondale Public Schools district.

Campus

A modern two story building on a 40-acre (160,000 m²) campus houses grades 10 through 12, with Brian Templin serving as the school's principal. The 9th Grade is housed in a separate 9th Grade Campus. The high school includes 11 Computer Labs, an Internet/research center, computers with Internet access in each classroom, building wide broadcasting capabilities, a Performing Arts complex with an 850-seat theater and comprehensive on-grounds athletic facilities. Outside the school there is a large Football Stadium and Baseball field that are used often in sporting events throughout the year. The building is the largest one in the Holt School District, however, the administration of the District reside across the street in a separated "Ninth Grade Campus."

An image showing the front of the building, taken in the spring of 2008 for the Yearbook.

The building is very expansive, consisting of two floors and a basement. The building is renowned for its cleanliness and elegance, which are due to the fact that it was only recently constructed in 2003. The School Cafeteria is located in the middle of the building, juxtaposed to the Auditorium, and two lunch periods are held each day of the school year on which there is lunch. A Lunch takes place after a student's second hour class, while B Lunch does not occur until after third hour.

The Cafeteria of Holt High School is located in the direct middle of the establishment.

The library in the school is named after a former student, "John C. Chi", who died shortly after graduation, but was noted for both academic and athletic achievements. The library is equipped with thousands of books and a fleet of computers available in conjunction with those of the Computer Labs. The Library plays host to Parent-Teacher Conferences every Trimester.

The library of Holt High School.

The Computer Labs in Holt High School were disliked by most of the School's population for their outdated software and operating systems, as well as their technical fallibility and constant crashing. Late in the 2008-2009 school year, they were upgraded to new computers, although there are not any pictures available to show them.

One of the School's computer labs before the upgrading took place.

Adjacent to the Cafeteria is a "School Store", operated by students enrolled in certain Business courses. It sells snacks as well as clothing pertaining to school spirit.

Holt's School Store is located in the cafeteria.

History and Culture

Holt High School was originally located in the former "Junior High", which now contains grades 7 through 8. After the new building was completed, Holt High School was moved to its current location, which enjoys modern luxuries unheard of at the previous location. More space is available, and technology is more widely found. It was during the 2004-2005 school year that these changes took place. The move was controversial in some circles as it drastically increased the District's debt, but because the economy was still mostly going well at the time, such concerns were widely ignored. This has resulted in new problems after the 2010-2011 school year, as the District will probably face a Budget Shortfall.

Compared to many other nearby High Schools, such as those in the neighboring Lansing Community, Holt High School has a far higher standard of safety and education than most Public Schools in Central Michigan, resulting in many "School of Choice" students migrating to the District. Many Parents and Students began to complain about the perpetually crowded situation, but in light of recent economic woes the situation has mostly self-alleviated itself, although this could change in the future.

The Building is widely known in many areas of Michigan for its "Lore", the result of a School-Sponsored "History Detectives" Club led by School Lunch Lady Auora Ansett, with the assistance of an assortment of History Teachers. The Club was dedicated to discovering more about the local Holt community, and mostly concerned about rediscovering many of the local legends surrounding the building(s). Holt High School is located in what was formerly a vast countryside, and thus there are many antiquities littered around the area, many of which have been put on display by the club, one example being a large bowl from the 1900 Presidential Election encouraging citizens to "Vote For Toast", satirizing what the Artist perceived, which was that the Election was really nothing more than a shameless popularity contest that deserved no respect. The Bowl, among other items, is no on display Mr. Kutney's room, and received coverage from local News organizations during the time of its discovery. As of 2009, the Club has been disbanded due to a lack of interest among the student body.

One controversial event at the school occurred during the 2007 Student Council Election, when local Jr. High student Chris Hefty managed to infest the entire District with posters encouraging people to "Vote for Toast", satirizing the Student Council Elections instead of the Presidential Elections. Because many students basically boycotted the Election, school officials considered disposing of the Bowl because of all the problems it helped create in the community. Despite this, both the Bowl and the practice of writing "Toast" as a write-in candidate during School Elections continues.

During the construction of the current High School, a construction worker is said to have died while working on the Auditorium, and many students involved in Theater still claim that they have seen, felt, or heard a Ghost of some sort in the area. However, there are no sources able to verify this, and the story has now entered the cultural lexicon of the district as a Halloween event, in which the Auditorium is transformed into an annual Musical about the apparently fictional events most every October. As of 2008, this practice has been discontinued.

Curriculum

The school offers a variety of courses, including AP and honors level classes in several subject areas:

• Business
• English
• Family and Consumer Sciences
• Math
• Physical Education
• Science
• Social Science
• Special Education
• World Languages

The student-teacher ratio is 19:1, average for the state.

The school also offers innovative programs:

• Community-based experiences
• Geo/CAD (Geometry and Computer Aided Drawing)
• Integrated English and American History blocks
• School-To-Work Mentorships and Internships
• Senior Individualized Investigations and Exhibition

Extracurricular activities

Clubs and organizations

• Academic
  • Debate
  • DECA
  • Forensics
  • Quiz Bowl
  • Science Olympiad
• Cultural
  • French club
  • German club
  • International club
  • Spanish club
• Fine Arts
  • Choir
  • Jazz Band
  • Marching Band
  • Symphonic Band
  • Theater
• Service
  • "H-Town",
    • The Looning Looners

student-managed school store

• • Key club
  • NHS
  • Peer Assisted Listeners (PALs)
  • Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD)
  • Teens Against Tobacco Use (TATU)
• Other
  • Anime club
  • Car club
  • Chess club
  • Gay-Straight Alliance
  • Quidditch Club(This Club, added during the Fall 2009 school year, is considered a Club by the Administration, though some say it should be a Sport.)

Sports

The school fields 22 varsity athletic teams and competes in interscholastic sports in the Capital Area Activities Conference:

• Fall sports
  • Boys cross-country
  • Girls cross-country
  • Equestrian
  • Football
  • Girls golf
  • Boys soccer
  • Girls swimming
  • Boys tennis
  • Cheerleading
  • Girls volleyball
• Winter sports
  • Boys basketball
  • Bowling
  • Cheerleading
  • Dance
  • Gymnastics
  • Hockey
  • Boys swimming
  • Wrestling
  • Girls basketball
• Spring sports
  • Baseball
  • Boys golf
  • Boys lacrosse
  • Girls lacrosse
  • Girls soccer
  • Softball
  • Girls tennis
  • Track and field

2008 Div.1 Wrestling State Champions 29-0
2008 Boys Varsity Soccer District Champions 23-2 Div.1

Performance

In 2008, students' ACT scores exceeded the state averages. In 2007, the school's scores on the Michigan Merit Examination (MME) and Michigan Educational Assessment Program High School Test (MEAP HST) tests exceeded the state averages in all test areas.

Holt High School students won the Michigan Poetry Out Loud competition in 2006 and 2007.

Notable Alumni

• Chris Hefty, who helped spread his reinstatement of the "Vote for Toast" Campaign around the District to the point where it was being debated during School Board Meetings.

• The founder of the School's Quidditch Club which is experiencing a burst of popularity.

References

• • WikiHolt(http://wikiholt.wetpaint.com)
  • The Shadowlands Michigan Haunted Places Page(http://theshadowlands.net/places/michigan.htm)

External links

• Holt High School website
• greatschools.net
• localschooldirectory
• School district website