Harry S. Truman High School (Levittown)

Harry S Truman High School is a public high school located in Levittown, Pennsylvania. It was named after the US president Harry S Truman. It is the sole high school of Bristol Township School District. It hosts students grades 10-12. The current principal, as of 2006, is Mr. William Haws. Formerly known as Woodrow Wilson High School

Academics

AP Level Courses

Harry S Truman High School has historically offered the following Advanced Placement (AP) level classes: U.S. History, U.S. Government and Politics, Chemistry, Biology, English Literature, and Calculus AB (though BC has been offered to particularly advanced students)

The school has been known to offer AP Physics and AP Psychology, given sufficient student interest, which varies from year to year. As of 2007-2008, AP Psychology has become permanent

Language Instruction

Truman offers four years of instruction in French, Italian, German, and Spanish. It also has an extensive English as a Second Language (ESL) program and habitually hosts international students who are studying abroad in the United States.

Debate & Forensics

Truman has a nationally recognized speech and debate team.Fact|date=February 2008 The program has qualified hundreds of students to National (NFL & NCFL) and state (PHSSL) championships Fact|date=February 2008. Truman students continue to place among the top speakers and debaters at national tournamentsFact|date=February 2008. The program has produced many state & local champions. The team competes in the Valley Forge district of the National Forensic League, the Philadelphia Catholic Forensic League, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Debate League, District 12 of the Pennsylvania High School Speech League, and at numerous national and regional invitationals. Truman's speech & debate team is the reigning champion of the 26 school PCFL for the 2005-2006 school year. The team has accumulated too many individual and team awards to list them all.

The team has been coached Mr. Carl Grecco for 46 years. Policy debate is coached by Mr. Shawn Eliason. Lincoln Douglas debate is coached by Mr. Tom Gushue. The speech events are coached by Ms. Janine Tudico and the assistant speech coach Ms. Kim Duffy. Mr. Grecco is a member of the Pennsylvania debate coach hall-of-fame and has been nominated for the National Hall of Fame by the National Forensic League. Carl Grecco serves as the treasurer of the PCFL and as the president of the SPDL. Shawn Eliason serves as the Debate Chair for the PCFL and as the chairperson of District 12 for PHSSL. Tom Gushue serves as the webmaster of the PCFL.

Drama

The drama program has been led by Lou Volpe for 31 years. Prior to that time it was led by Mr. Carl Grecco. The program is known regionally and nationally. They were honored for their excellence by being chosen to pioneer "Les Misérables" for high school use in 2001. They have received that honor again in 2007 and will perform the pilot of "Rent - School Edition." The first ever High school performance of the Broadway musical "Rent."In the spring of 2006, "Beauty and the Beast" was performed. It received great reviews from nearly everyone. They are set to perform the Disney produced musical "Aida" in the spring of 2007. Past works include: "Epic Proportions", "Godspell", "Jesus Christ Superstar", "Found a Peanut" and "Grease".

They are currently signed to pioneer the High School rendition of the hit Broadway show, Rent

Sports

All Truman teams compete in the suburban one league of Pennsylvania. The Truman Mascot is the Tigers.

Football

Lacrosse

Basketball

Truman High School's basketball program has the second most wins of any high school in Pennsylvania within the past five years that compete in AAAA leagues under current coach Mike Stock. They have won Suburban I championships in 2001, 2004, and 2005. They have also reached the State Playoff Tournament for AAAA schools in 2005 and 2006. Former class president and high school record-setting basketball player Tyrone Lewis graduated from the Truman basketball program. [cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/11/sports/ncaabasketball/11niagara.html|title=Niagara’s Lewis Can Revel in His Success|date=2007-03-11|publisher=The New York Times|accessdate=2008-05-26]

Field Hockey

Truman Field Hockey is coached by Dawn Martesi for the 2007 season. Prior to that it was coached by Mrs. Lobecker. In the 2007 the Tigers achieved their first league win in several years.

Volleyball

Student Life

The Cafeteria

The Truman cafeteria is known for its excellent french fries, which have been banished due to healthy food regulations. It also has a mural of the American flag painted on the ceiling tiles.

Student Traditions

During the 2005-2006 school year there was a student-inspired revival of Spirit Night. The festivities included men's and women's dance routines and a number of relay events. The theme of first post-revival Spirit Night was Wild Wild West.

Re-starting in the 2005-2006 school year, the Tigers have brought back the annual bon-fire the day before home coming.

References

External links

* [http://www.trumantigers.com/ Harry S. Truman High School website]