Belleville High School (Belleville, Michigan)

Infobox Secondary school
name = Belleville High School

principal = (Interim) Marvin Shabazz
established = 1869
type = Public Secondary
grades = 9–12
address = 501 West Columbia Ave
city = Belleville
state = Michigan
country = USA
coordinates = coord|42.203295|N|83.493087|W|US_type:landmark|inline=yes
enrollment = 1,875
faculty = 103
campus =
newspaper =
yearbook =
mascot = Tiger
colors = Orange and Black color box|orangecolor box|black
website = [http://students.resa.net/bhs/index.htm Website Link]

Belleville High School is a public high school located in Belleville, Michigan and the only high school in the Van Buren School District.

Notable alumni

*Ian Gold
*Frank Nunley
*Billy Ashley
*Derrick May, Belleville Three siciancite book |last=Unterberger |first=Richie |title=Music USA: The Rough Guide |year=1999 |location=London |publisher=Rough Guides |isbn=185828421X |pages=p. 312]
*Juan Atkins, Belleville Three musician
*Kevin Saunderson, Belleville Three musician
*Kris Jenkins, New York Jets (as of 2008) defensive tacklecite news |author=Pat Yasinskas |title='Big Daddy' Jenkins is head of the line |url=http://www.charlotte.com/panthers/story/367922.html |work=The Charlotte Observer |date=November 18 2007 |accessdate=2008-01-28]
*Cullen Jenkins, Green Bay Packers defensive end

History

In 1869, BHS started as a three story school made of brick and stone. It was made on Third Street in downtown Belleville, where the Oakwood Health Care Center now stands. It housed students from kindergarten through twelfth grade, and there were so few students that often two or three grades were located in the same classroom. Two other small schools located on Rawsonville Road and Quirk Road completed the educational facilities for the entire school district.

In 1903, the school on Third Street was struck by lightening just before graduation. Because the school interior was heavily timbered, the structure burned to the ground. The school was rebuilt on the same location using a similar plan of construction. Local historian and former Belleville High School teacher Park Gregory tells us that the old school was three stories high, with a cupola perched on the roof.

A large school bell swung inside the cupola, and local pranksters were tempted every Halloween night to try to ring it. Mr. Gregory relates that one year, a janitor was paid to stay in the building on Halloween to keep away the daring tricksters. And still the bell rang! Further investigation revealed that someone had tied a rope to the clapper of the bell sometime before Halloween, run the rope down the outside of the building, and simply waited until dark to sound the bell.

In 1926, a new high school was built at the present day site on West Columbia Street. The old school building remained at the Third Street location until well into the 1960's when it was torn down for an A&P grocery store. However, the Belleville High school of today is built around the original 1926 structure, which originally included a third story.

In 1953, a fire destroyed the third floor of Belleville High School. The blaze began in a basement store room and swept to the second and third floors via a nearby ventilating shaft. No one was injured, but the second and third floors were damaged beyond use for the rest of the school year. The third floor has remained closed, class continues today on the first and second stories. [http://students.resa.net/bhs/09About/about.html BHS Points of Pride and History] ]

References

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External links

[http://bellevillehigh.com School website] Belleville High School Marching Tigers-The third largest high school marching band in the state of Michigan with 269 members for the 2007-08 school year.