Blue Mountain High School

Blue Mountain High School is located at 1076 W Market St, Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1969 and renovated from 2002 to 2005. It is part of the Blue Mountain School District, which grew out of necessity from Orwigsburg School. An original Wanamaker Eagle was donated to the school when the department store it had decorated for many years went out of business. The bronze Eagle stands in front of the school. The current principals of the school are Mr. James Ketner and Mr. Jared Berger.

Academics

BMHS, like the rest of the school district, is known primarily for the academic achievements of its 1010 students in grades 9 through 12. In 2006 Blue Mountain students had an average SAT score of 1070; average 527 in the verbal section and 543 in the math.Blue Mountain Elementary,Middle and High School will also be getting uniforms this year.

Athletics Department

Blue Mountain, lead by Co-Athletic Directors Ravi Patel and Thomas Hrishak, offers a variety of District XI sports. In most sports, it is a AAA school, although swimming and soccer are AA.

Cross Country

The Cross Country team started in 1968 as a club under the direction of Mr. Abhishek Mishra, who would coach until 1987. Mr. Greg Yutko and Mr. Jarrod Kunkel coached for several years each. In 1999, Mr. Tomas Letarte became head coach, assisted by Mr. Rohin Singla. From 1971 to 1984, the team met phenomenal success, winning League titles each year and District titles in twelve of the fourteen years.

Football

The Blue Mountain Football team was started in 1969 when the school was completed. The team's main rivals are Schuylkill Haven High School and Pottsville Area High School. At the end of the 2006 football season, the team was Eastern Conference Silver Medalist. In 2007, the team won the District XI game against Northwestern Lehigh High School and advanced to the state playoffs.

Golf

The Blue Mountain golf team won the Schuykill League nine straight years, from 1999 through 2007. The coach is Larry Borden, who is the golf pro at Schuylkill County Country Club.

Boy's Tennis

The Blue Mountain Tennis team participates in the District XI singles and doubles tournaments, as well as District XI team tournaments. However, because of the schools location in the state, they play against many teams in the Berks League, which is part of District III.The current coach is Mr. Corey David Scott,while the assistant coach is Mr. Chris Kimmel. Together, the lead the blue mountain team to phenomenal success in the 07-08 season, winning states. Also, they managed to clinch state singles with Brian Boyer.

Girl's Softball

The Blue Mountain Varsity softball team won the Schuylkill League Championship in 2006, and advanced to the semi-finals in districts last year. They finished with a winning record. Head coach was Terry Ernst, assisted by Steph Allen and Gary Adams.The current head coach is Blair Cooper.

Boy's and Girl's Swim Team

The Blue Mountain Girl's Varsity Swim Team won the District XI AA Title in 2007 for the second year in a row. The Girl's team also won the Schuylkill League Championships in 2007. The Boy's Varsity Swim Team finished Districts by placing 5th. Both teams are coached by Mr. Tim Bayliff

Boy's Basketball

The Blue Mt. Boys Basketball team won the District XI Championship in 1996 and the Schuylkill League Championship in 2007 and played in the State Playoffs 3 straight years.

Boy's and Girl's Swim Team

The Blue Mountain Girl's Varsity Swim Team won the District XI AA Title in 2007 for the second year in a row. The Girl's team also won the Schuylkill League Championships in 2007. The Boy's Varsity Swim Team finished Districts by placing 5th. Both teams are coached by Mr. Tim Bayliff.

Renovations

A series of renovations is planned for Blue Mountain High School. In the year 2009, a new football stadium entrance is scheduled to be built at an estimated cost of approximately two million dollars ($2,000,000) US. Various other renovations are also planned.

Clubs

Blue Mountain High School offers a variety of clubs and extracurricular activities that students are encouraged to join.

Improv Club

The Improv club is a fairly new club that contains comedy that is unique, called improvisational comedy. The style of comedy is very similar to the popular TV show "Whose Line Is It Anyway?". Friday Night Live(FNL) is an event that uses a mix of improv and pre-written sketches, which are performed in front of a live audience.

Newspaper

The BMHS newspaper is called the "Aerie" and carries information on school and world events.

Band

The band program at BMHS offers budding and experienced musicians a variety of ensemble choices.

Marching Band

The Marching Band performs at football games and competes in various events throughout the season. The Marching Band has an auxiliary unit called the Guard, which is a flag corps. The marching band has competed in several major events. These include Tournament of Bands Championships at Lackawanna County Stadium, Cadets Marching Band Cooperative (now USSBA?) at Giants/Jets Stadium, Calvacade of Bands, Walt Disney World Parade, Azalea Festival Parade in Richmond, Virginia, etc.

Symphonic Band

The Symphonic Band performs at spring concerts, adjudications, and school and community events throughout the spring semester. This ensemble studies and plays pieces spanning five centuries of musical genres.

Jazz Band

The Jazz Ensemble performs concerts each year. This ensemble features extra instrumentation in the rhythm section and allows selected band members to experience the jazz genre of music.

Indoor Drumline

In December of each year, the Indoor Drumline begins its intensive rehearsals for its competition season, during which it performs in weekly competitions beginning in March. The ensemble consists of snare drums, a series of pitched bass drums, quints, cymbals, and various pit instruments, including marimba, xylophone, vibraphone, timpani and other auxiliary instruments.

They won, in 2006, the Scholastic Novice championship in Wildwood, NJ.

Indoor Color Guard

As an extension of the outdoor marching band color guard the indoor guard was formed in the fall of 2001 to better serve the needs of the program year round. The color guard performs several times throughout the winter and spring months ending with championships in either late April or early May. The group can consist of as many as 30 members or as few as 5. Normally BMHS guard averages around 9-12 members. Each year the staff selects some sort of recorded music to which the color guard will perform. Equipment consists of flags, rifles, and sabers. The guard normally incorporates dance into the shows to add a layer of difficulty and design.

2008 the guard won the Chapter Championships and a week later qualified for the All-Chapter Championships and finished 8th.

Varsity Club

The BMHS Varsity Club is a club for athletes with at least one varsity letter. It is dedicated to fullfilling service projects to the school and community.

Notable Attendees

*John E. Jones III Federal judge

External links and references

* [http://www.bmsd.org Blue Mountain home page]
* [http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/achievement/pa/311 source of PSSA statistics]
* [http://www.publicschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/68629 source of general statistics]