Dearborn High School

Dearborn High School
Motto	Always in the Lead
Established	1893
Type	Secondary
Affiliation	Western Wayne Athletic Conference
Principal	Charles "Chuck" Baughman
Students	1,709
Grades	9-12
Location	19501 Outer Drive, Dearborn, Michigan, USA
District	Dearborn Public Schools
Colors	Orange and Black
Mascot	Pioneer
Yearbook	The Pioneer
Newspaper	The Observer
Website	http://dhs.dearbornschools.org

Dearborn High School is a secondary school, founded in 1893, located on Outer Drive in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. Dearborn High is one of the three high schools of the Dearborn City School District. There are over 1800 students currently attending Dearborn High. The school has made Adequate Yearly Progress and is in compliance with the No Child Left Behind Act.

The sign outside Dearborn High.

Dearborn High's 2005 senior class was recognized for exceeding the state average in standard reading, writing, and math.[1] The school's four-year graduation rate as of 2004 is 90%, while the one-year drop-out rate is 3%.

The original 1893 high school building stood at the northeast corner of Mason street and Garrison avenue. An auditorium and gymnasium unit was added to the east of this structure in 1920. The 1893 building was razed in 1925 and a three-story 20-classroom structure erected in its place. An addition of 10 classrooms was added as a north wing in 1950. Dearborn High School moved to the Outer Drive location in 1956, and the Mason Street building was remodeled as the Ray H. Adams Junior High School, named for the superintendent of schools when the 1925 building was erected. The junior high school closed in 1985 and the building was again remodeled to become part of a modern high-scale office complex.

Sports

Dearborn High School is currently a member of the Western Wayne Athletic Conference. In their history, they have previously been members of The Mega Conference, The Suburban Eight Conference, and The Sauk Trail League. In school history, the Pioneers and Lady Pioneers have won a combined 11 State Championships in 5 different sports with six of them coming in Boys Swimming. The school colors are Orange and Black and the Pioneer mascot is dressed as a 19th century frontiersman, wearing a coonskin hat with a brown leather jacket, pants, and boots with leather fringe. At one point, the mascot carried a 19th century hunting rifle but that was ended by the Administration in the late 1990's. The Pioneers' biggest rivals are the Tractors from Dearborn Fordson High School and the Thunderbirds of Dearborn Edsel Ford High School.

Fall Sports Boys Football 1995 Team Ranked #3 in the State Undefeated and Unscored Upon MHSAA State Record 10 Consecutive Shut-outs Coach - Charles "Chuck" Baughman 2010 Team Undefeated 9-0 season Coach - David Mifsud Girls Swimming Boys Soccer Soony Saad named National High School Player of the Year for 2010 Coed Cross Country Boys Tennis Girls Golf Girls Field Hockey Girls Cheerleading Girls Volleyball

Winter Sports Boys Basketball Class A State Runners up 1947 Girls Basketball Boys Swimming State Class A Champions 1971,72,74,76, State Class B Champions 1986, 87 Boys Wrestling Girls Gymnastics Boys Hockey Girls Cheerleading

Spring Sports Boys Baseball Girls Softball Girls Tennis Class A State Champions 1974 Coed Track and Field Class B Boys State Champions 1928 Girls Soccer Class B State Champions 1989 Boys Golf Class A State Champions 1956 Class A State Champions 1963 Boys Rugby

The Marching band

The Dearborn High School Marching band is one of the most prestigious in the state of Michigan. Consisting of about 110 members annually, they are an average-sized high school band, and can hold their own against the large bands of 200 members or more. They perform at every home game, and send a pep band to playoff games. The band has received the highest ratings at the MSBOA Marching Band festival in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. They are ranked in the highest division as a class AA band. The band often plays at local venues, as well as community events and is available for hire all year round. They have played a variety of half-time shows in the past, including Journey, Styx, The Doors, Santana, Elton John, Michael Jackson, Swing Songs, and West Side Story and have performed in the Michigan Thanksgiving Day Parade in Detroit, and annually in the City of Dearborn's traditional Memorial Day Parade. In 2008 the Band was selected to participate in the National Memorial Day Parade in Washington D.C. In March 2011, the DHS Marching Band marched in Dublin, Ireland in Ireland's National St. Patrick's Day Parade and was honored as the Top Youth Band of the Parade.

The Theatre and Drama Program

The Dearborn High School (DHS) Theatre program is one of the oldest and most highly honored secondary level theatre programs in the state of Michigan, with a tradition of fine theatrical performances dating back to the turn of the 20th century. The oldest continuous theatre program of any kind in the City of Dearborn, DHS is also the home of International Thespian Troupe #586 which was chartered at the school in 1944. The program's most famous alumnus was the actor George Peppard (class of 1946) who co-starred with Audrey Hepburn in the motion picture Breakfast at Tiffany's as well as such films as The Blue Max and The Carpetbaggers, appeared on Broadway in many plays including Barefoot in the Park, and starred in the television series Banacek and The A-team. Other notable graduates of the theatre program include stage and screen actor David Wayne Parker (the film Escanaba in da'Moonlight) and working professional stage actors Thad Avery, Brent Bradley, Laura Downes, Kira Frabutt, Mike Mosallam, Matios Simonian, Jackie Strez, and Greg Phillip Viscomi, who moved from a career on the stage into theatre education, becoming the DHS Theatre program's director in 1994, a position he continues to hold, making him the longest serving theatre director in the school's history. The program has been honored with 10 consecutive nominations (2000 - 2010) to perform at the annual American High School Theatre Festival and at the prestigious International Thespian Festival, numerous State of Michigan Thespian theatre competition medalists and scholarship winners, and countless Dearborn Press and Guide Newspaper Entertainment (PAGE) Awards which honor local theatre. 3 Theatre Program Alumni have been inducted into the City of Dearborn's Theatre Hall of Fame representing DHS; Peppard, Viscomi, and former director and teacher Joan Arrick, current DHS Director of Theatre Emeritus. The program presents an average of three fully staged productions each school year.

Notable alumni

• Bob Goodenow, executive director of the NHLPA
• Nancy Milford, published author and biographer
• George Peppard, actor, star of the film Breakfast at Tiffanys and the TV series The A-Team
• Tom Price, Georgia Congressman
• Russ Reader, professional NFL football player
• Mike Rucinski, professional NHL ice hockey player
• Soony Saad professional MLS soccer player (2010-2011 NCAA soccer freshman of the year)

External links

• Dearborn High School Webpage