Pearland High School

Infobox Secondary school
name = Pearland High School
established = 1937
type = Public high school
principal = Michele Staley
grades = 9–12
address = 3775 South Main
city = Pearland
state = Texas
country = United States
campus = Suburban
yearbook = "The Gusher"
enrollment = 3,600
colors = Maroon, White, and Black
mascot = Oiler
website = [http://www.pearlandisd.org/phs]

Pearland High School (PHS) is a public high school located in Pearland, Texas, United States, south of Houston.

Pearland High School is one of two high schools in Pearland Independent School District, and serves parts of Pearland and most of the city of Brookside Village.

Background and history

Pearland High School opened its doors in 1937. This eliminated the inconvenience for students of having to attend school in Webster. The first graduating class walked across the stage in 1938.

The original Pearland School, opened in 1937, had a staff of about 25 people and served 100 students on Grand Boulevard (now Pearland College Center). In 1953, the campus moved to Galveston Avenue (later Pearland Junior High West), and the Grand Boulevard school became Pearland Elementary (later Harris Elementary). In 1991, PHS moved again, this time to its current location on Main Street. The Galveston Avenue property is now the Education Support Center (administration), Pearland Jr. High West, and Sablatura Middle School.

Pearland High School's mascot is the Oiler Rig or 'Oiler'. In contrast to the local legend, the mascot was not inspired by the Houston Oilers professional football team (the school was established 25 years before the team), instead it is a tribute to an important sector of the local and regional economy. Several local businesses in Pearland are related to the oil industry, including a helicopter service that ferries people to nearby off-shore oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico.

Pearland High School achieved prominence for its academics and size in the 1990s. By the mid-90s, it was classified as a 5-A school with well over 4000 students.

Academic organizations

Many activities and clubs exist at Pearland High School, including clubs for foreign languages, student council, the National Honor Society, science clubs, theater clubs (Thespians and Front Row, the main drama club), technological clubs, Academic Decathlon, and the Pride of Pearland Band.

Math Club

Pearland High School has a Math Club which competes in UIL (University Interscholastic League) and TMSCA (Texas Math and Science Coaches Association) Number Sense, Calculator, General Math, Science, and Computer Science events.

Academic Decathlon

Pearland's Academic Decathlon team won their first ever state academic decathlon title in 2008 after winning three straight regionals in a row. At the regionals competition, they became the first team in the history of Texas Academic Decathlon to break 50,000 points at the regionals level.

Fine Arts

The Pearland High School Theatre Club, known as Front Row, is responsible for productions that include a Fall Show, Fall and Spring SDOAs (Student Directed One Acts), and a Musical that now draws a total attendance of approximately 4,000 people each yearFact|date=July 2007. Past musicals have included "The Music Man", "Fiddler on the Roof", "Guys and Dolls"," A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum", and "Annie Get Your Gun". In the 2007 UIL competition, the production of "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" advanced all the way to the State level, and placed 1st Runner-up at State, a first for the school and the department.

The Pearland Marching Band, which was given the name "Pride of Pearland" in 1972, performs at all Pearland High School varsity football games and has received multiple awards in various competitions. The band competes in the Texas State Marching competition and has historically been a top contender. Most notably, it placed 3rd in 1992-1993 and 5th in 1994-1995 under the direction of Jack Fariss (retired). In the 2004-2005 school year, the band placed 4th at Area F Competition, Grand Champion at the SHSU marching competition and 23rd at State. In the 2005-2006 school year, they placed 2nd at the Alief Marching festival, and placed 4th at SHSU Marching Competition and received its 41st consecutive division 1 rating at the UIL marching competition under the direction of Doug Grice. Mr. Doug Grice has steped down as Head Band Director of Pearland High School after 19 years . The new Director of the "Pride of Pearland" Band is Jimmy Nowell with assistants Tom Bell and Garrett Sanborne.

Other clubs

The Pearland Multi-Cultural Club is Pearland's first club that accommodates to the diversity of Pearland High School. The Multi-Cultural Club has completed tasks such as taking on the assignment of producing an "anti-hate" poster.

Pearland Army Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps is a program within Pearland High School. The Pearland Army JROTC program is a military oriented program and its purpose is "To Motivate Young People To Be Better Citizens". The course offers many opportunities for high school students.

In January 2000, PHS also saw the first airing of "Oilervision", a weekly student news program that was a part of the Broadcast Journalism course. The show was student-produced, with teacher Michelle Leggett overseeing production. Initially, the technology was very rudimentary with limited equipment. Notable guests in the first semester including Wyclef Jean, Smash Mouth, and Vertical Horizon. The tone of the early shows was very sketch-oriented, with little or no "hard" news. The sketches were written by Craig Hlavaty, Chad Wixon, Brett Parrish, Jeremy Stewart and Dave Derr. School news was covered in an extremely off-beat manner, with lots of dark-comedy and satire. The show still airs, and the program is overseen by Trent Henley.

In the Spring of 2007, Pearland also made historyWho|date=July 2007 by having it's members of Interact obtain the highest district positions as Interact District Officers of district 5890. Pearland obtained 2 out of 3 positions, by Andrew Nguyen and Marci Abary as District Governor and District Reporter.

Pearland High School clubs: Advanced Robotics and Technology (A.R.T. Club), Art Club, Business Professionals of America (BPA), DECA, Environmental Club, Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), FCCLA, Finance Program, French Club, Front Row, Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA),Latin Club, Math Club, National Honor Society, Science Honor Society, Spanish Club, Spanish Honor Society, Student Council, Future Problem Solvers(FPS), and VICA.

The BPA club recently sent a group of students to state coming back with 8 national qualifiers.

Athletics

Pearland High School offers the following sports: baseball, basketball, bowling, cross country, football, golf, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, and volleyball. The school board is also considering the addition of a wrestling team.

Pearland High School has seen one of the best turnarounds in Texas football history. From 1990 to 1997, Pearland High School had 2-68 record in varsity football. In 1996, Tony Heath took over as Head Coach and started the turnaround. Now the Oilers are considered a Texas 5A football power house. The Oilers went 13-1 in 2001, losing in the State Semi Final Game to San Antonio Taft High School. The 2001 game was played when there were only five playoff rounds. Since 2003, there are now six rounds in Texas High School Football. The Oilers finished their 2006 season in the State Semi Final Game when they were defeated by the Austin Westlake Chapparals. Coach Heath is the winningest coach in PHS history.

PHS's varsity boys' basketball team has advanced to the playoffs after a magnificent 2006-2007 season. The team's head coach is Steve Buckelew. Buckelew has been head coach since 1995.

Athletic Successes

Coach Tony Heath recived his 100th career win against the Pasadena Eagles.Fact|date=October 2008

PHS Varsity Football

*2001 Class 5A State Semi Finalist
*2002 District Chasmpions 24-5A
*2003 District Champions 24-5A
*2004 District Champions 24-5A
*2005 District Champions 24-5A
*2006 Class 5A State Semi Finalist
*2007 District Champions 24-5A

PHS Basketball Boys

*1997 Class 5A Playoffs
*1998 Class 5A State Semi Finalist
*1999 Class 5A Region III Quarter Finalist
*2000 Class 5A Playoffs
*2007 Class 5A Playoffs

PHS Basketball Girls

*1984 Class 5A Playoffs
*1986 Class 5A Playoffs
*1990 Class 5A Playoffs
*1991 Class 5A Region III Finalist
*1993 Class 5A Playoffs
*2001 Class 5A Region III Quarter Finalist

PHS Baseball

*1980 Class 4A State Champions
*1981 Class 5A State Runner Up
*1998 Class 5A Playoffs
*2000 Class 5A Region III Semi Finalist
*2002 Class 5A Region III Quarter Finalist
*2003 Class 5A Playoffs
*2004 Class 5A Playoffs
*2007 Class 5A Playoffs

PHS Softball

*1995 Class 5A Playoffs
*1996 Class 5A State Champions
*1997 Class 5A Playoffs
*1998 Class 5A Playoffs
*1999 Class 5A Bi-District Champions
*2000 Class 5A Bi-District Champions
*2002 Class 5A Bi-District Champions
*2003 Class 5A Playoffs
*2004 Class 5A Playoffs
*2005 Class 5A Playoffs
*2006 Class 5A Playoffs
*2007 Class 5A Playoffs

tandardized dress

Pearland High School has a dress code that requires students to wear solid-colored golf shirts and khaki, black, or navy trousers. Students are required to wear identification cards. [http://www.pearlandisd.org/pisd/support_doc/DressCode07-08.doc]

Notable alumni

* Travis Hill, Cleveland Browns and Carolina Panthers, linebacker.Cite web|url=http://www.nfl.com/players/travishill/profile?id=HIL615486|title=Travis Hill stats|accessyear=2007|accessmonthday=September 11|publisher=nfl.com|year=2007|author=nfl.com|language=English]
* Anthony Dickerson, Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills, linebacker.Cite web|url=http://www.nfl.com/players/anthonydickerson/profile?id=DIC221488|title=Anthony Dickerson stats|accessyear=2007|accessmonthday=September 11|publisher=nfl.com|year=2007|author=nfl.com|language=English]
* Ricky Churchman, San Francisco 49ers, safety and punt return specialist.Cite web|url=http://www.nfl.com/players/rickychurchman/profile?id=CHU332232|title=Ricky Churchman|accessyear=2007|accessmonthday=September 11|publisher=nfl.com|year=2007|author=nfl.com|language=English]

References

External links

* [http://www.pearlandisd.org/phs/default.htm Official Pearland School site]
* [http://www.pearlandinfo.com/pearlandschools.aspx Pearland Schools Scores and Information]
* [http://www.pearlandband.org Pearland High School Band Boosters]
* [http://www.pearlandoilers.com Pearland High School Football Team]
* [http://www.phsffa.com FFA]