Richmond High School (Richmond, Indiana)

Richmond High School
Location
Richmond, IN., USA
Coordinates	39°49′19″N 84°54′06″W / 39.82194°N 84.90167°W / 39.82194; -84.90167Coordinates: 39°49′19″N 84°54′06″W / 39.82194°N 84.90167°W / 39.82194; -84.90167
Information
Type	Public
Principal	Barbara Bergdoll
Grades	9-12
Number of students	1,662
School Color(s)	Red and White
Mascot	Red Devils
Newspaper	The Register
Website	www.rcs.k12.in.us/schools/richmond-high-school

Richmond High School is a public high school in Richmond, Indiana, located at 380 Hub Etchison Parkway. It is the home of the Richmond Red Devils, who are members of the North Central Conference of the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA). The current enrollment of the school is around 1,700. Prior to 1939, the school was known as Morton High School in honor of Indiana's Civil War Governor, Oliver P. Morton.

Facilities

Postcard image of the former Morton High School building designed by William B. Ittner

Completed in 1939, the Colonial revival-style school consisted of an academic building called Morton Hall, a gymnasium called Civic Hall which is now the Civic Hall Performing Arts Center, an auditorium which seats 924 and McGuire Hall which houses the Richmond Art Museum, believed to be the only public art museum connected with a public high school. An icon of the museum collection is a very large self portrait of the American impressionist William Merritt Chase painted for the museum in 1915-16. After outgrowing the Civic Hall gymnasium, the Tiernan Center was built as the home to boys and girls basketball, volleyball, and wrestling. It is the fifth largest high school gym in the United States, with a seating capacity of 8,100 persons.

The Richmond High School Alumni Association is one of the oldest public high school alumni associations in the United States and boasts a significant scholarship endowment known as the Richmond College Incentive Plan.

Music Department

The Music Department at Richmond High School is a multi-million dollar facility that is named Civic Hall. It contains an orchestra, band, and choir room, but also contains a stageroom that is used for the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, various performances, speeches, and for school assemblies.

Orchestra

The orchestra department at Richmond High was the first high school orchestra in the nation, established in the year 1899 by Will Earhart. A plaque commemorating this achievement is located in McGuire Hall. The orchestra program is currently under the direction of Keith Ziolkowski.

Band

Wind Ensemble and Concert Band

The band, during the school year, is divided into two parts: a Wind Ensemble and a Concert Band. The band is large enough to divide the better players into a separate group so that they may perform at a higher level. Richmond’s wind ensemble is a high-level instrumental performing group. The band has performed at ISSMA during the years 2002-2007. They perform at a group one level, the highest out of four. The concert band, a lower division of Richmond's Band, performs at a level three.

Marching Band

The Marching band at RHS has competed at the Indiana State Fair Band Day since 1959 with the exception of 1984 and 1997. Some accomplishments include 1st place in the state competition in 1973 and 1988 and 2nd place in the state competition in 1965, 1986, 2003, 2006, and 2011. Recent shows include “Miss Saigon,” “Circ du Soleil,” music from “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Music from Disney’s “Reflections,” and in 2006 “One Track Mind.” The 2006 show received third place and two captions: General Effect caption and the overall Percussion caption. The marching Red Devils also won a third place in 2007 with "Chaos and Order" music from Conan the Barbarian. In 2008, Richmond Red Devils won 2nd place with "There Can Be Only One". And in 2009, 5th place was awarded with their show "The Phoenix". 2009 was the 50th year that Richmond High School's Red Devil marching band has competed at the Indiana State Fair.

Choir

The RHS choir program has been very successful, with the top group (Chamber Choir) competing at the Indiana Concert Choir State Finals and placing in the top-16 every year since 1997. In 2006, the group received their highest ever ranking of sixth place. In 2007, Chamber Choir placed 10th at the State Finals.

School Song and Alma Mater

School Song

(Set to the tune of Illinois Loyalty)

We're loyal to you, Richmond High. We're red and we're white, Richmond High. We'll back you to stand, 'gainst the best in the land, for we know you have sand, Richmond High. Rah, Rah.

So pass 'round that ball, Richmond High. We're backing you all, Richmond High. Our team is our fame protector, on team, for we expect a victory from you, Richmond High.

Alma Mater

Dear Richmond High, stately thy grace, all hail. Tribute we bring to thee as we sing, all hail. Mem'ries float by as through the halls we trail. Cherished with pride, oh school of our life, all hail. Cherished with pride, O school of our life, all hail.

Key Administrative Staff

• Principal: Rae Ferriell-Woolpy
• Assistant Principal and Dir. of Career Education: Rusty Hensley
• Assistant Principal: Joe Spicer
• Assistant Principal: Rachel Etherington
• Dean of Students: Joe Luce
• Athletic Director: Chad Bolser
• Assistant Athletic Directors: Jeremy Hill and Cindy McKibbin

Notable alumni

• Baby Huey (singer), popular music artist
• Timmy Brown, former NFL running back and actor
• John Wilbur Chapman, Evangelist
• Al Cobine, jazz musician^[1]
• Vice Admiral Terry Cross, Vice Commandant, United States Coast Guard
• George Duning, Oscar-nominated composer^[2]
• Weeb Ewbank, coach of the 1958 and 1959 NFL champion Baltimore Colts and the Super Bowl III champion New York Jets^[3]
• Jack Everly, pops conductor, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
• Vagas Ferguson, football player
• Paul Flatley, former NFL Rookie-of-the-Year (Minnesota Vikings)
• Norman Foster actor, director^[4]
• Harry "Singin' Sam" Frankel, radio star, minstrel^[5]
• Richard T. Ginman, Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy
• Mary Haas, linguist
• Jeff Hamilton, jazz drummer^[6]
• Micajah C. Henley, roller skate maker
• Charles A. Hufnagel, M.D. artificial heart valve inventor^[7]
• Dominic James, basketball player at Marquette University, 2006 Big East Rookie of the Year
• C. Francis Jenkins, television pioneer
• Harold Jones, jazz drummer^[8]
• Jim Jones, founder-leader of Peoples Temple
• Melvyn "Deacon" Jones, blues organist
• Harry Keenan actor^[9]
• Esther Kellner, author^[10]
• Samuel Kem, retired Major General of the US ARMY, served in Vietnam
• Johnny Logan, professional basketball player
• Joe Longstreth, harpist, actor^[11]
• Lamar Lundy, football player, one of the L.A. Rams Fearsome Foursome
• Kenneth MacDonald, actor^[12]
• Daniel G. Reid, industrialist/philanthropist
• Wendell Stanley, Nobel Prize winner^[13]
• Bo Van Pelt, professional golfer
• Burton J. Westcott, automobile manufacturer
• Gaar Williams, cartoonist
• Wilbur Wright, aviation pioneer^[14]
• Chad Austin, basketball player at Purdue University, First Team All Big Ten in 1997 and 1998
• Woody Austin, Indiana Mr. Basketball, basketball player at Purdue University, First Team All Big Ten in 1992

References

1. ^ Really Good Music: Al Cobine, http://www.reallygoodmusic.com/rgm.jsp?page=composers2&compid=123140, URL accessed September 9, 2006.
2. ^ Space Age Pop Music: George Duning, http://www.spaceagepop.com/duning.htm, URL accessed September 9, 2006.
3. ^ Weeb Ewbank, http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=65, URL accessed May 30, 2006.
4. ^ FindAGrave: Norman Foster, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=11777752&pt=%3Cb%3ENorman%3C/b%3E%20Foster, URL accessed September 9, 2006.
5. ^ FindAGrave: Harry Frankel, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10193921, URL accessed September 9, 2006.
6. ^ Jazz at Newport 2006, http://www.jazzatnewport.org/home.cfm?dir_cat=47265, URL accessed September 9, 2006.
7. ^ Mendel Medal recipient: Charles A. Hufnagel, http://astro4.ast.vill.edu/mendel/hufnagel.htm, URL accessed September 9, 2006.
8. ^ Harold Jones' web site, http://www.haroldjonesbigband.com/, URL accessed May 30, 2006.
9. ^ Harry Keenan, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0444645/, URL accessed September 9, 2006.
10. ^ Esther A. Kellner (1908-1998), http://www.mrlinfo.org/history/biography/kellner.htm, URL accessed May 29, 2006.
11. ^ Naples Illustrated, Past Lives, http://www.naplesillustrated.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=display_article&whicharticle=112, URL accessed September 9, 2006.
12. ^ Kenneth MacDonald, http://www.surfnetinc.com/chuck/villan27.htm, URL accessed September 9, 2006.
13. ^ Wendell M. Stanley, http://nobelprize.org/chemistry/laureates/1946/stanley-bio.html, URL accessed May 30, 2006.
14. ^ The Wright Brother, http://www.time.com/time/time100/scientist/profile/wright.html, URL accessed May 30, 2006

External links

• NCC Official Website
• http://statefairbandday.com/The_Bands/richmond.htm
• http://www.rcs.k12.in.us/rhs/default.asp