Lake Stevens High School

Infobox School
name = Lake Stevens High School
established =
type = Public
principal = Ken Collins
enrollment =
free_label = Colors
Mascot
free_text = Purple and Gold
Viking
location =
information = [phone]
website = http://viking.lkstevens.wednet.edu/

Lake Stevens High School is a high school located in Lake Stevens, in the Lake Stevens School District, of Washington state, in the United States. LSHS currently educates grades 10-12.

Academics

LSHS offers a variety of Advanced Placement, University of Washington extension and Honors classes. AP Calculus, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Statistics, AP European History, AP United States History, AP English, UW English, UW Literature and UW Foreign Language are just a few of the options. Several teachers have worked hard to ensure that aspiring students at LSHS are able to challenge themselves, and LSHS students have been successful in many areas. In the past, LSHS students have been WA State Scholars, AP Scholars, and National Merit Scholars, and LSHS alumni have attended some of the best universities in the country.

History

LSHS first opened in the early 1900s where North Lake Middle School is currently located. Since LSHS has moved to its current location on 113th avenue, and the currently school was most recently remodeled in the 1990s.

'Pink Palace'

From 1936 to 1979, Lake Steven's high school was located on the grounds that North Lake Middle School now occupies. Painted with a surplus of pink paint left over from WWII efforts, the school was eventually nicknamed the Pink Palace. After the 1978-1979 school year, the building was demolished, and students began at the current LSHS location in the fall of 1979. In July 2007 a raging inferno tore through the upper portion of the 100 building. No one was injured (school was out for the summer), but some damage was incurred by the school.

General Information

Year Book

The annual year book is called the Rune, honoring the Scandinavian heritage of LSHS's Viking Mascot. First published as the 'Rune' in 1933, the 75th volume will commemorate the 2007-2008 school year. Every year the Rune comes up with themes to try and capture the spirit of the school year as well as show different sides of high school life. Past themes include; "What Lies Beneath" and "Stripped Bare."

Alma Mater

Now we gather to pay homage to the school - we love so well. To our high school, dear Lake Stevens, let our devotion tell. Lift the Chorus, speed it onward, let our voices ring. Hail to thee, our Alma Mater, we thy praises sing. Spread before us dear Lake Stevens, glistening in the sun, held against the heart of nature, till earth and sky are one. Lift the Chorus, speed it onward, let our voices ring. Hail to thee, our Alma Mater, we thy praise sing.

Newspaper

Supporting the theme of Scandinavian heritage, the LSHS student newspaper is named "The Valhalla". It is a student-run, student-produced publication. LSHS began publishing a student newspaper in 1925. For the 2007-08 school year, The Valhalla will have its fourth faculty adviser in five years.

The Valhalla became a fully digital operation in 2005. It is produced using Adobe InDesign and printed at a local print shop. "The Valhalla" is best known for its "Top Ten" list, which offers a humorous look at events or items on the minds of students. In the past, the paper was typically heavy on sports and A&E. Some complained that the paper contained little actual news. This used to be, in part, because of prior review from the administration, which in term restricted "controversial" stories from being published. After a conflict in the 2006-2007 school year, the Valhalla was finally released from prior review and thus was able to print more controversial stories, although still maintaining a careful policy for fear of falling back into the prior review system.

Following the lead of most top student and professional non-daily publications, The Valhalla transformed from a traditional newspaper format to a news magazine in 2005. In the 2007-2008 school year, the Valhalla adopted somewhat of a hybrid layout, mixing elements of both newspapers and news magazines. The Valhalla, in the same year, also adopted a new view of its journalistic style, providing more relevant and hard-hitting stories that would make the paper relevant even in a school that got its news from the daily VTV broadcast.

In less than a full school year, with the help and dedication of Valhalla staff members, the paper has turned from an embarrassment to a formidable periodical.

Bands

Lake Stevens High School has three bands which all play at both the fall and spring concerts and at a large amount of festivals and ensembles. These bands are the jazz band, which meets before school most mornings, the wind ensemble, and the concert band. All the bands are directed by Mr. Neil Proff. Mr. Proff also directs the Woodinville Jazz Ensemble at [http://www.woodinvilleband.org/Jazz.htm] .

Drumline

The LSHS drumline is made of a mixture of percussionists from both the Wind ensemble and the Concert band.

Rules & Regulations

The LSSD #4(Lake Stevens School District) has policies that upset students. Many parents/guardians/faculty do not support the school district for upholding these policies.

Rules such as:Communications Devices on district grounds are forbidden (Due to repeated confiscation and theft).No Laptops/Walkmans/MP3 Players are permitted. Use of district internet and phones are under extreme and mostly unnecessary types of censorship and filtering. Filtering such sites as Wikipedia, Google, CNN, NWCN (North West Cable News), Seattle Times, etc...

Riot Scare

In 2003 an unknown amount of students passed out a series of notes that detailed a riot was going to take place. The event was called out at the end of the day by the Principle at North Lake Middle School. The principal quoted, "It has come to my attention that notes of rebellion have been posted and that we will take police action. This is a federal offense and the police will be contacted if this should ensue". It should be noted that this incident primarily involved the students at North Lake Middle School, not the High School.

Censorship

The LSSD (Lake Stevens School District #4) is also known for its severe censorship on the internet. Various amounts of software will block a suspected website within 5 minutes. Wealthy students will often "contact" a knowledgeable student and have them create a proxy server. This is done so the said individual can access otherwise blocked services, such as the popular MySpace service.This also has the error of restricting access to legitimate websites such as Wikipedia, Yahoo!, MSN and other sites.

ports, Athletics and Clubs

LSHS is a member of the 4A WESCO North division of Washington State.

Wrestling

The varsity Wrestling team has complied an impressive list of accomplishments during its history. Most notably, in recent years, the team has won six state titles: 1990, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2007,and 2008. Also under infamous coach Brent Barnes, the team has not lost a WESCO league match in 18 years, last losing to Lynnwood High School during the 1993 season. Originally, this feat was nicknamed the "Decade of Dominance", but has since surpassed ten years of unbeaten league matches. In the 2007-2008 season, the streak ended with a loss to Snohomish High School by a margin of 18-31. However, the team went on to win the state championship that same year.

Girl's Basketball

Girl's basketball has showed impressive skill in the last 4 years, culminating in 2008 with exceptional progress in the 2008 state tournament. Five key starting players, all seniors, were Mary Ochiltree, Leah Tate, Karri Gallagher, Alona Personius, and Brittany Tri. The media had taken to referring to them as the "Fab Five" due to their heightened performances while playing together.

Football

The Lake Stevens High School football team has won numerous league titles with Ken Collins, a former player in the NFL, as the head football coach. Most recently, the team made it to the state playoffs in the 2006 season, the first time since 2002. Perhaps its most accomplished season was 1994, when the team lost the state championship Kingbowl game 7 - 6 to O'Dea High School on a last second missed field goal attempt.

Boys' Soccer

The boys soccer team has been nationally ranked by the Adidas National Soccer Association of America. In the 2006 season, their peak ranking was #9 in the national poll and #2 in their region.

Cross Country

LSHS Cross Country saw enormous success with runners Joey Bywater and Kyle "Vinny" Van Santen. They have since graduated, however the team is still doing very well.

Notable alumni

*Chris Pratt - Television actor
*Marv Harshman - Member of National Basketball Hall of Fame
*Stephen Thompson - Played on Super Bowl III New York Jets, currently a pastor in Marysville, WA.

External links

* [http://viking.lkstevens.wednet.edu/ Lake Stevens High School Website]
* [http://www.heraldnet.com/preps HeraldNet Prep Sports]
* [http://www.lkstevens.wednet.edu/ Lake Stevens School District #4]