West Bloomfield High School

West Bloomfield High School is a public secondary school in West Bloomfield, Michigan. The school is the only high school in the West Bloomfield School District. The school's population as of the 2007-2008 school year is about 2200 students.

The school has been recognized by Newsweek magazine as being in the top 2.6% of U.S. public high schools. [http://web.westbloomfield.k12.mi.us/wbhs/index.html West Bloomfield High School official web site] , retrieved 2008-05-28] Failed verification|date=May 2008

Athletics

West Bloomfield High School plays in the Oakland Activities Association and in the Michigan High School Athletic Association. Its official team name is the West Bloomfield High School Lakers. The origin of the team nickname is due to the fact the school is surrounded by many lakes. Some girls' sports use Lady Lakers as their team name instead. The school colors are green and white (Though in recent years pink has been added), and its logo features an anchor with "WB" written on it, although various sports teams often use modifications of this logo. The mascot is generally accepted as Lyle the Crocodile. The school is known for their very successful baseball team, ski team, basketball teams and swimming, and track and field. Their football team struggles year after year, but might have something in store for this season.

Instructional Project Design Program

The school is known for its Instructional Project Design course, based on the philosophy that students must be allowed a say in designing tools that they will use. The tools in question are internet forums and services created for a variety of educational and civic clients. The program is run by the University of Michigan's Flint, MI campus.

The program was responsible for the creation of "Warren Easton in Exile," a noted website designed to virtually "rebuild" a high school in New Orleans that was shut down after being damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Former projects also include the Michigan Student Caucus (formerly the Michigan Youth Caucus), a partnership with the Michigan State House Special Commission on Civic Engagement.

The 2006-2007 project for IPD is a project with the Trauma Burn Center at the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor. It focuses on five main areas: Entertainment, School Re-Entry, Communication, Hospital Resource Center and Education/Prevention. There is also plans to integrate the website with the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum. It was headed by WBHS biology teacher, Margaret Hendrickson and University of Michigan-Flint Professor Jeffery Kupperman.

Instrumental Music Department

West Bloomfield High School string orchestra program has 3 orchestras, the concert orchestra (freshman players), the NEW philharmonic orchestra (mid-level players), and the symphony orchestra (advanced players, mostly juniors and seniors). The program has won numerous awards and does annual concerts and trips, as well as a banquet at the end of the year.Fact|date=May 2008

The West Bloomfield High School Marching Band placed 5th at the MCBA state championship in Flight I in 2006, [ [http://www.michcompband.org/Archives/State%20Finals%202006%20Recaps.pdf Contest Summary 10/28/06] , Michigan Competing Band Association, retrieved 2008-05-26] and 3rd in Flight I in 2007. [ [http://www.michcompband.org/Scores/2007%20Finals%20Combined.pdf Contest Summary 11/3/2007] , Michigan Competing Band Association, retrieved 2008-05-26] Also in 2007, the band was a Bands of America Regional Finalist at the BOA Ypsilanti Regional. [ [http://www.musicforall.org/Network/FallResults/2007/regional/miF.pdf 2007 Regional Championship at Ypsilanti, Michigan - Rynearson - 9/29] , Bands Of America, retrieved 2008-05-26] The Marching Band will make its debut at BOA Grand Nationals in 2008. [ [http://www.musicforall.org/programs/gn/08bands.aspx] .] The WBHS Winter Drumline placed 2nd in Scholastic A at the MCGC state championship in 2007 and in 2008, and were the 2008 WGI Scholastic A Troy Regional Champions. [ [http://www.wgi.org/events/static_scores/scores_Troy_Perc_Finals.html WGI Sport of the Arts - Administration System ] ]

Vocal Music Department

West Bloomfield High School's choral department is headed by Sheryl Hauk. There are four levels of choirs. Beginning freshman Chorale is all girls, Conccert Choir 4 is for freshman and sophomore boys and girls, Concert Choir 6 is for upperclassman by audition, and the advanced vocal jazz choir Laker Express comprised of 10 boys and 10 girls with intense auditions. In 2008, Laker Express competed at the Great Lakes Invitational and came in 5th place. It was their first competition. Both Concert Choirs and Chorale went to regional choral festival in 2008 and Concert Choir 4 and Chorale both received 1's. They went to state competition, where Concert Choir 4 received 1's. The choir also looks to improve with Shameek Mohile joining Laker Express. [ [http://www.wbhschoirs.org/index.html West Bloomfield High School Choral Department ] ]

Notable graduates

*Justin Bartha, actorFact|date=May 2008
*Todd Krumm, NFL Safety, Chicago Bears [ [http://www.armchairgm.com/Todd_Krumm Todd Krumm] , ArmchairGM, retrieved 2008-05-26]
*Mike Hartman, NHL Forward, Buffalo SabresFact|date=May 2008
*Melrose Bickerstaff, model and runner up on America's Next Top ModelMorrison, Kara "Model who truly was the girl next door". "The Detroit News", September 14, 2006]
*Jay Byer, Professional tuber(water) and he would like to get an olympic gold medal.
*Brandon T. Jackson, [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1040365/bio imdb biography] ] actor from "Roll Bounce" (2005) and "The Brandon T. Jackson Show" (TV- 2006)
*Siddharth Siva, Database Coordinator, Vattikuti Urology Institute [ [http://www.henryford.com/body.cfm?id=41144 Vattikuti Urology Institute] ]
*Robert Biederman, Graphic Designer, D.C. ComicsFact|date=May 2008
*All three members of rock band The High StrungFact|date=May 2008
*Ryan Barouch, Hip Hop Producer, Fact|date=May 2008
*Kyle Brown, NFL Receiver, Washington Redskins released in 2007, now a free agent. [http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/teams/transactions?team=was&year=2007]
*Joshua Felsenfeld, Current Medical School Student, famous for YouTube video: Idiot Gump Falls on Flowrider [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LVgLCpf6iM]

References

External links

* [http://www.bbawb.org/ West Bloomfield High School Bands] , retrieved 2008-05-26
* [http://www.westbloomfieldorchestra.com/ West Bloomfield High School Orchestra] , retrieved 2008-05-26
* [http://www.wbhschoirs.org/index.html] , retrieved 2008-08-05