Lincoln High School (Tallahassee, Florida)

Infobox Secondary school
name = Lincoln High School
established = 1975
type = Public secondary
city = Tallahassee
state = Florida
country = USA
principal = Martha Bunch
students = ~1900
grades = 9–12
mascot = Trojans
website = http://www.lincoln.leon.k12.fl.us

Lincoln High School is a nationally ranked public high school in Tallahassee, Florida that offers an accelerated Advanced Placement program.

History

Lincoln High School was opened in 1876 during Reconstruction as the all-black school in Leon County and served grades 1 through 12 . This school was closed in 1970 when Leon County Schools were integrated. The new Lincoln High School opened in 1975-76 and serves grades 9 through 12. On May 14, 1992, "Old Lincoln" was officially recognized as a Historic Preservation site by the Florida Heritage Foundation and the Historic Tallahassee Preservation Board. This act memorialized Lincoln High School’s legacy and secured its place in history forever.

Doug Frick was the first principal at the new Lincoln High School. Mr. Frick had heart trouble, which caused him to give up his post in 1989. He was replaced in the summer of 1989 by William Montford, who had been the principal at Godby High School. Montford served at Lincoln's principal until his election as the Leon County School Superintendent in the fall of 1996. Martha Bunch, an assistant principal under Montford since 1989, assumed the position of principal.

Colors and mascot

Prior to the opening of Lincoln in September 1975, the entering students participated in the selection of green, gold, black and white as school colors, signifying youth, vigor, merit, honor and wisdom. The mascot selected was the Trojan which signifies personal strength, loyalty, courage, and leadership.

Towards the end of the summer of 2007, a new 6-foot statue was erected and stands proudly in front of the main office. In May 2008, this statue was vandalized and a month later in June, Michael Turner, 19, was arrested, suspect to the vandalism.

Alma mater

With our colors waving high,
We keep that faithful pride.
And forever we'll stand by
Our days at Lincoln High.
Our school so bright in the sun-light sky
Stands proudly in our eyes.
The friendliness that we all share
Lives on at Lincoln High.
Our school spirit fills our hearts
Forever true and bold.
And our fondest days will always be
With the mighty Green and Gold."

Athletics

Lincoln's football team won the 1999 6A and 2001 4A State Championships. Lincoln annually sees players sign scholarships to Division 1 schools. Recently, Ashton Henderson, Kevin Carter, Fred Rouse, Pat Watkins, Karlin Brown and Gavin Dickey have signed DI-A (FBS) scholarships.

Zach Piller, Boo Williams, PJ Alexander, Omari Hand, Antonio Cromartie, Kevin Carter, Craphonso Thorpe and Pat Watkins represent the Trojans in the NFL.

The boy's soccer team won the 1996 Class 6A State Championship under the leadership of head coach Santiago Molina. They also were the 2005 State runner-ups to Auburndale High School.

The men's baseball team is always rich in talent. In the past 6 years Lincoln has had 5 players drafted out of high school, and 7 combined.

The boy's lacrosse team became the first team from Tallahassee, Florida to defeat the Maclay Marauraders who had for a long time dominated Tallahassee lacrosse. Kyle Blyth, Ben Cohen, Andrew Grossman, Matt Buckhalter, and David Hubert were the vital members of that 2007 team.

Academic extracurriculars

Lincoln has won several Big Bend Brain Bowl championships in the past three decades. Their last championship in the "Tallahassee Democrat" sponsored tournament came in 2007 with team members securing a $2500 top prize with an undefeated run highlighted by victories over perennial powerhouses Rickards High School and Leon High School in the finals

In 2006-2007 the Lincoln Gold team was the powerhouse team in the area, taking home 1st place honors at the University of Florida Fall Tournament and the Rickards High School fall tournament with 2nd place wins at the Chiles High School tournament and the Florida State University tournament. On Monday March 12th, the team secured their biggest victory all season: another 1st place win at the Tallahassee Democrat Bowl. They were the only team to remain undefeated throughout the competition with their final victory over rival Leon High School.

Lincoln's Mu Alpha Theta club is another stalwart in both regional, state and national competitions. Top sweepstakes finishes include a 2nd place to annual powerhouse Stoneman Douglas High School at the State Convention and a 3rd place at Nationals in 2003, once again being edged out by Stoneman Douglas as well as Vestavia Hills High School in Alabama. [http://www.geocities.com/danielfred1235/state03.html] In 2004, Lincoln again placed second and third at the State and National Conventions, respectively, with the margin between first and second places at the State Convention being the smallest in history. [http://www.debreczeni.com/mao/musnews.htm] That year, the Precalculus team, consisting of James Doker, Andrew Ellinor, William Reynolds, and Nick Zhang, became the first from Tallahassee to win a State title in any division. Lincoln High School also had an amateur documentary made about the 2004 competition season. The 2006 Calculus Team, consisting of Andrew Ellinor, Roshan Goli, Pratik Shah, and Sachin Murthy, was the first team from Lincoln to ever win a National title in their division.

The Lincoln High School Marching Trojans placed 9th at the State Marching Band competition in 2005, and 6th in 2006 under Director Alex Kaminsky. Under new director, Ryan Kelly, the marching band placed 7th at State in 2007. In recent years, the Lincoln band has consistently earned the Florida Bandmasters Association's Otto J. Kraushaar Award, which is awarded to band programs in the state of Florida that receive Superior ratings at all marching and concert evaluations throughout the year. The Symphonic Winds (now called the Symphonic Band), Lincoln's top concert band, participated in the 2005 Midwest Clinic in Chicago, Illinois, marking them as one of the best five high school bands from around the world. The Symphonic Winds also appeared at the 2004 CBDNA/NBA Southern Division Conference, the 2002 National Concert Band Festival, the 2001 University of Florida Concert Band Invitational, the 1999 ABA Convention, and the 1997 Southeastern Band Clinic. [http://www.trojanband.net/]

Lincoln's success in the science fair program has been noted throughout the county. Many of its students have recently captured Best in Fair awards at regional competitions and have also obtained high rankings in the state and Intel International Science and Engineering Fair competitions.

Long standing competition success has also been achieved by students participating in History Fair (National History Day [http://www.nationalhistoryday.org] Competition). Students have participated in History Fair since 1987-1988 and has had students advance to the National competition for 17 straight years, earning an assortment of prizes along the way including two Third place finishes.

Lincoln's success in the Mock Trial arena is one of the great successes in other extracurriculars. Rob Thompson, now working in the Florida Supreme Court, has led the team to a number of 1st place finishes in state competition.

Notable alumni

* [http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/ NCDC] Climatologist Jesse Enloe
*Rhodes Scholar Tom McCaleb
*Football player Kevin Carter
*Football player Antonio Cromartie
*Football and Baseball player Gavin Dickey
*TV personality Kyan Douglas
*Football player Omari Hand
*Football player Zach Piller
*Football player Craphonso Thorpe
*Football player Pat Watkins
*Football player Craig Stevens
*Football player Boo Williams

References

Lincoln Student Agenda Book
* [http://www.lincoln.leon.k12.fl.us/ Lincoln High School] Lincoln Band Website
* [http://www.trojanband.net/ Lincoln Band] Lincoln Alumni Website
* [http://lincolnreunion.ning.com/ Lincoln Reunion]