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Western School Corporation

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Western School Corporation is a public school district which serves Russiaville, Alto, New London, West Middleton, and southwestern Kokomo in Howard County, Indiana. The school buildings themselves straddle two Howard County townships, Harrison and Monroe. The district itself spans three Howard County Townships: Harrison, Honey Creek and Monroe.

The school came to national attention in the mid-1980s due to its expulsion of hemophiliac Ryan White for being HIV-positive. 117 parents (from a school of 360 total students) and 50 teachers signed a petition encouraging school leaders to ban White from school. Western's biggest rival is Northwestern School Corporation.

Administration

  • Randy McCracken, Superintendent

Building directory

  • Western Administration Building
  • Western Primary School (K-2)
  • Western Intermediate School (3-5)
  • Western Middle School (6-8)
  • Western High School(9-12)

Western High School

Western High School was Founded in 1949. in 2008-2009 its enrollment was 813.

Its colors are black, red, and white, and its mascot is the panther.

Victories

  • ISSMA State Champions:Class C-1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1990, 1991, 1996, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015; Class B-1988
  • ISSMA State Runners-up:Class C-2007, 2013
  • Bands of America Grand National Champions, Class A: 1984(5th overall), 1985(10th overall), 1988(12th overall), 1990(14th overall), 2012(31st overall)
  • IHSAA State Championships: 3- Girls' Golf Team (2002), Baseball Class 3A (2012), Girl's Basketball 3A (2014)
  • IHSAA State Runners-up: 4 [2-Girls' Softball (1993, 1994); 2- Girls' Golf Team (2002, 2004)]
  • The High School competes in the Mid-Indiana Conference (MIC) for athletics.
  • Robotics Team: Panthertech [1] (292)- Newton Award Winner 1 (2003)

Notable alumni

  • Mike Fulk - former NFL football player with the San Francisco 49ers.
  • Annette Griessman - children's author.
  • Prateek Mithal - Bollywood film director.
  • Ezra Hendrickson - former MLS and international soccer player.
  • Ty Calloway - Former Baseball coach and health teacher.
  • Ryan White - hemophiliac. Prohibited from attending school after being diagnosed with AIDS in December 1984. (A direct violation of the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution and the 1973 Rehabilitation Act.) School board officials insisted that Ryan receive instruction through distance education via a phone line, which closely mirrored the Plessy v. Ferguson decision legalizing separate but equal doctrine, which allowed for Jim Crow laws against African Americans for many decades in the south and midwest of the United States of America. The Plessy ruling had been largely over turned by the Brown v. Board of Education ruling in the 1960s. Howard County area schools desegregated shortly after the ruling. The 1975 amendment to the Rehabilitation Act allowed for an administrative process to resolve such disputes before they could move forward to federal court. Despite pressure from a citizens group calling themselves Concerned Citizens of Western School, a third party arbitrator ruled that Ryan posed no threat and should be admitted to school. The Howard County public health department verified that Ryan was fit to return to school and provided a health certificate. The Western School Corporation complied with the ruling only to have Concerned Citizens file their own injunction prohibiting Ryan from attending school. Concerned Citizens lost their case and a cash bond. In the final report of the President's Commission on AIDS, the commission recommended strengthening federal laws to protect individuals living with HIV/AIDS. Furthermore, the commission recommended comprehensive AIDS education programs to be put in place in public schools receiving federal funds and specified that these programs should be put in place before a school is forced to deal with a student with HIV/AIDS. Ryan White testified at the commission in Washington with Jill Stewart, a student council leader at Ryan's new school in Hamilton County Indiana. White and his family moved to Hamilton County after continued harassment and intimidation in Howard County.

References

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