Central High School (Westerville, Ohio)

Infobox Secondary school
name = Westerville Central High School

motto =
established = 2003
address = 7118 Mount Royal Avenue
city = Westerville
state = OH 43082
country = USA
campus =
type = Public comprehensive secondary
principal = Todd D. Spinner
students =
enrollment = 1,600
grades = 9-12
district = Westerville City Schools
accreditation = North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
mascot = Warhawks
colors = Black and Silver
newspaper = The Wire
yearbook = The Talon
free_label_1 = Stadium
free_1 = Warhawk Field
free_label_2 = Architect
free_2 = Firestone Jaros Mullin, Inc./TMP Architecture
free_label_3 =
free_3 =
website = http://www.wcsoh.org/Central/index.html
footnotes =

Westerville Central High School is a public high school located in Westerville, Ohio northeast of Columbus, Ohio. It is the newest of three high schools in the Westerville City School District, the first classes starting in fall of 2003.

History

The late 1990s brought a surge of population growth to northern Westerville, particularly in Genoa Township. In order to keep up, the district announced that it would build two new elementary schools, as well as a third high school. Westerville was the first Greater Columbus city to have to build a third high school. The district turned to the taxpayers to help foot the bill for the new buildings, with Central costing the district $40 million, but voters turned the district down. Eventually, funds were secured and Central opened its doors in August 2003. Students had the opportunity to select the school mascot and colors. The winning nickname was the Wombats, but the Westerville School Board deemed it unacceptable, and thus selected the second choice, the Warhawks. [ Westerville News and Public Opinion, 4/23/03 "Wombats Won't Work... School Board Goes With Warhawks.] The colors chosen were Black and Silver.

On March 3, 2008, Central made national headlines after playing host to Democratic Party Presidential presumptive nominee Barack Obama. Over 2,500 attended the town hall meeting, with many watching his speech from an overflow room.

The facility

Construction began on Central in 2002. The district hired Firestone Jaros Mullin, Inc./TMP Architecture to complete the project after being declared the best of various proposals. The school includes numerous facilities, including seven athletic fields, a 3,000 seat stadium, a 1,800 seat gymnasium, as well as a state of the art 750 seat auditorium/theatre. The school design called for four distinct academic "houses" for focus on individual subjects. Each academy is dignified by a distinct color; there are red, yellow, blue, and green houses. Central's centerpiece is its common area, traditionally referred to as Central Avenue. It serves as the school's dining area, is the point that connects all vectors of the school, and also is the site for many school functions. It is meant to resemble Westerville's historic business district, Uptown Westerville, with a design that includes storefronts, signs, and lampposts. For its design, the school design earned the designation of "2004 Outstanding Design Award" from American School and University magazine.

Classes begin

Central opened its doors to students in Fall of 2003, with only freshmen and sophomores. The underclassmen had the opportunity to start new tradition and set the tone for years to come. Central added a third class in the 2004-05 school year, and had its first senior class in the 2005-06 school year. The school currently has approximately 1,600 students. In every year since its opening, the School has earned the designation of "Excellent" by the Ohio Department of Education on its annual report card, the highest possible distinction.

In spring of 2007, principal Todd Meyer announced that he would be leaving his position at Central to become the principal at Olentangy Orange High School, a new high school in the Olentangy Local School District set to open in 2008. Todd Spinner was chosen to be the new principal after an extensive search. Spinner previously was the assistant principal at Delaware Hayes High School.

Athletics

In athletics, students had the opportunity to play varsity schedules in their freshman and sophomore years in the initial two years of the school. Most teams struggled, but the school rallied around the Girls Soccer team, coached by Erik Ekis, winner of the 1997 National High School Coach of the Year award. Ekis led his team of 11 freshmen and 3 sophomores to a 15-3-1 record and an appearance in the OHSAA Division II State Semifinals. This was the beginning of a very successful run in girls soccer at Central, where the girls won the Ohio Capital Conference Cardinal Division and appeared in the Central District Championship in 2005. Seven members of the 2003 squad received scholarships to play soccer at the collegiate level. Central's 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 Girls Relay team also had success at the state level in their inaugural season, with the 4 x 400 team placing third in the state finals and the 4 x 100 team of Jeanetta Francy, Julia Francy, Raisa Garvin, and Vanessa Hardin winning the school's first state title.

The school has crosstown rivalries with Westerville North and Westerville South. The three schools will find themselves in the same division in the Ohio Capital Conference starting in 2008. The Warhawks are also rivals with the Big Walnut Eagles in football, with the two teams competing in the "Battle of the Birds" for the "WarEagle Trophy." Students on both sides feel that the rivalry was forced upon them, and Big Walnut considers Olentangy High School to be its primary rival.

The Boys Bowling team finished second at the state tournament in the 2005-06 season

In February 2007, Kicker Ben Buchanan became the first verbal commit of the 2008 Ohio State Buckeyes' football recruiting class, and was selected in September to play in the 2008 U.S. Army All-American Bowl. In addition, he was selected in December 2007 as a first-team USA Today All-USA Team Member.

At the 2007 OHSAA Swimming State Championships, Austin Staab defended his state titles in the 100 Free and 100 Fly, tying the national record in the 100 Fly with a 47.10, matching the time of Nate Dusing of Covington, Kentucky in 1997. For his efforts, Staab was named the "Swimming World Magazine" High School National Swimmer of the Year.

OHSAA Regional Championships

2003 - Girls Soccer

OHSAA Central District Championships

2003 - Girls Soccer
2007 - Boys Soccer

Ohio Capital Conference Championships

2005 - Boys Soccer
2005 - Girls Soccer
2006 - Girls Swimming and Diving
2006 - Football
2007 - Softball
2008 - Boys Basketball

OHSAA Individual State Champions

"All except those noted are Division I State Champions"

2004 - Jeanetta Francy, Julia Francy, Raisa Garvin, and Vanessa Hardin (Track and Field - 4X100)^
2005 - Bryan Blake (Golf)
2006 - Austin Staab (Swimming - 100 Free)
2006 - Austin Staab (Swimming - 100 Fly)
2006 - Brendan Barlow (Wrestling - 285 Wt. Class)
2007 - Austin Staab (Swimming - 100 Free)
2007 - Austin Staab (Swimming - 100 Fly)^^
2007 - Stuart Smith (Track - 100M Dash)
2007 - Stuart Smith (Track - 200M Dash)

^ Division III
^^ National Record

References

External links

* [http://www.westerville.k12.oh.us/ Westerville Central High School]