W. B. Ray High School

Infobox Secondary school
name = William Benton Ray High School
established = 1950
principal = Dick Peltz
type = Public, Secondary
grades = 9–12
city = Corpus Christi
state = Texas
country = USA
enrollment = 1987
mascot = Fighting Texan {"Tex" and "Mary-Lou"}
colors = Scarlet and Silver
newspaper = El Tejano
website = http://ccan.corpuschristiisd.org/ray/index.cfm

W. B. Ray High School is a secondary school centrally located in Corpus Christi, Texas and is part of the Corpus Christi Independent School District. The school is named in honor of the school board president, William Benton Ray. W. B. Ray High School opened in 1950.

Demographics

In 2005, W. B. Ray had a student body of approximately 2400 students with an ethnic distribution of 70% Hispanic, 27% White, 1% Black and 1% other ethnicities including Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Asians. The district area includes a variety of socio-economic strata, ranging from affluent to below the US poverty level.

As of 2008, W. B. Ray turned in a student body just under 2000, which dropped them in classification from 5A to 4A.

Profile

The school principal is Richard 'Dick' Peltz, who replaced Steven Gonzales at the beginning of the 2007-2008 school year.

The school's motto is "The Difference Shows". The mascot "Tex" was recently given a girlfriend: "Mary-Lou."

Athletics

The school was at one time in its early history competitive at the state levels even winning the 1959 Football State Championship under the coaching of Bill Stages. The Texans have been standouts in the recent past in the sports of basketball and baseball. Led by high school hoopster Taurean Mitchell the Texans would eventually achieve high status in the state. In 2003 they made it to the state finals, ultimately losing to DeSoto. After graduation, Mitchell accepted an athletic scholarship to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and in 2007 helped lead the Islanders to a Southland Conference Championship and a trip to the NCAA Div. I Tournament; the first in school history.

Before the Mitchell led Texans emerged on the state scene, the Texan hoopsters made national news in 1987-1988 when then Head Coach Johnny Martinez and assistant Mark Rundle led Ray to a sweet sixteen finish at the 5A Regional Semi-Finals. The team was featured on Good Morning America after freshman Marc Maxwell hit a desperation three pointer from 75 feet out to tie arch-rival King HS in a wild-card playoff to select the district's last playoff spot. See that shot at http://sportsbythenumbers.com

chool uniform

The school has a dress code that is similar to a school uniform; tops must be red, gray, and white, and bottoms must be solid white, tan khaki, or blue denim. Assistant Principals and armed police officers guard the main hallways in search of dress code offenders. In 2000, there was a push in the administration (led by Dr. Scott at the time) to ban flip-flops, but student and parent outcry and lack of support from teachers led to this being dropped. [http://ccan.corpuschristiisd.org/ray/bp.cfm?p=dresscode]

Notable alumni

* Farrah Fawcett, actress [" [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SAEC&p_theme=saec&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=11345107826288E0&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Wine Matters; Brewery exec turned to wine] ." "San Antonio Express-News". August 2, 2006.]

Contact information

: W. B. Ray High School: 1002 Texan Trail: Corpus Christi, TX 78411

References

* [http://www.kristv.com/Global/story.asp?s=4140304 Student stabbing]
* [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_theme=cccb&p_topdoc=1&p_docnum=1&p_sort=YMD_date:D&p_product=CCCB&p_text_direct-0=document_id=(%20116DEF11444959E0%20) Local Hoopster makes Good]

External links

* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ray1987/ W.B. Ray Class of 1987 reunion site]
* [http://ccan.corpuschristiisd.org/ray/index.cfm W.B. Ray High School website]
* [http://wbray1964.com/ W.B. Ray Class of 1964 alumni website]
* [http://www.reunionannouncements.com/7814/W-B-Ray-High-School/1967.php W.B. Ray class of 1967 reunion website]
* [http://www.wbray1980.com/ W.B. Ray Class of 1980 alumni website]
* [http://raytexanpercussion.googlepages.com/ W.B. Ray Percussion website]