Stadium High School

Infobox School
name = Stadium High School

---

streetaddress = 111 N. E. St.
city = Tacoma
state = Washington
county = Pierce
zipcode = 98403
country = USA
district = Tacoma Public Schools
principal = Jonathan Kellet
ceeb = 481395
schooltype = Public
grades = 9-12
campus type = Closed
mascot = Tiger
nickname = -
school_colors = Navy Blue, Gold
yearbook = Tahoma
newspaper = Stadium World
status = open
homepage = [http://www.tacoma.k12.wa.us/schools/hs/stadium/index.htm Website]

Stadium High School is a 100-year-old high school in Tacoma, Washington and a historic landmark. It is part of Tacoma Public Schools, or Tacoma School District No. 10 and is located in the Stadium District, near downtown Tacoma.

History

The main building was constructed by architects Hewitt and Hewittcn|date=August 2008 for the Northern Pacific Railroad Company and the Tacoma Land Company at what was then known as Blackwell Point. Construction started in 1891. The building, intended to resemble a French chateau, was originally intended to be a luxury hotel, but construction was brought to a halt when the Panic of 1893 wrought financial disaster, and the unfinished building became a storage facility. On October 11, 1898 is was gutted by fire. But it was repaired and renovated into a school.Plaque outside the school, May 22, 1992. Consulted 16 August 2008.]

The Tacoma School District purchased the gutted building February 19, 1904 with the intent of turning it into a high school. The building opened for this purpose September 10, 1906 as Tacoma High School. Seven years later, the name was changed to reference the adjacent stadium bowl. Later additions included a circular lunchroom, an underground swimming pool, a science and industrial arts complex, a gymansium, and a multi-story parking lot structure with tennis courts on the roof.

The stadium dates from 1910 and is in a location once known as Old Woman's Gulch. It was originally much grander than it is today, with a seating capacity of 32,000. Among those who spoke there were Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Warren G. Harding, William Jennings Bryan, and Billy Sunday.Plaque outside the stadium, May 28, 1993. Consulted 16 August 2008.]

The stadium was originally built in 1909–1910 by using steam shovels and sluicing to move more than convert|180000|cuyd|m3 down the edges of the gulch to create a flat playing field of convert|2.5|acre|ha. Wooden molds were built to cast concrete for 31 rows of stadium seating surrounding the playfield.

The original structure exceeded what the soils could support. A restoration project in the 1970s had to sacrifice roughly half of the seating capacity because of instability; in 1981 a burst storm drain washed away the scoreboard and the bayward end zone of the football field. This was followed by a further restoration allowing the stadium to reopen in 1985.

The school was the filming location for many of the scenes of the 1999 movie "10 Things I Hate about You"; Heath Ledger's character Patrick Verona's serenade takes place in the stadium.

The original building was under repair through the end of the 2006 school year. Students were temporarily relocated to the old site of Mount Tahoma High School in the south end, just over 7 miles away. The 100 year celebration of Stadium High School was held in September 2006. [http://www.celebratestadium.com]

Stadium sports

With the football program coming into their second year under the new coaching staff led by Jess Nelson, except to see a completely different team on the field. They should be competitors in every game on their schedule. Other notable sports at the school are the girls bowling team, girls fastpitch, girls swimming, girls water polo, girls soccer, and boys baseball who have all finished in the top 10 in state.

Girls fastpitch

The Lady Tigers came up short of a state title for the 2nd year in a row. Relying on the arm of Jordyn Kurtz, they clawed their way to a respectable 5th place appearance. With Jordyn returning as a senior the Tigers should be a favorite to win the Narrows league.

Boys baseball

Under the coaching of Chuck Peterson the Stadium High Baseball team in 2007 posted a record of 18-7 and finished 3rd in league. Behind the pitching of seniors Cody Goodfellow and Cubby Bryant the Tigers upset #3 ranked Woodinville 19-12 and missing out on playing in Safeco Field, in Seattle by losing to #1 ranked Tahoma 3-2. Chuck Peterson took over after Shaun McDouggal and shined. He earned Coach of the Year for the area and coined the term "family" for the team. This season the Tigers return upwards to 10 seniors and look poised for a return to state

Daffodil Festival

Every year, Stadium participates in the Pierce County Daffodil Festival. A competition is held in house to select the Stadium Princess, who goes on to compete against other regional schools, for the Daffodil Festival Queen title. The Queen title is considered the highest honor of the regional festival. The Stadium band accompanies the float of Stadium's princesses every year in the parade, held annually in April.

In the years of 2006 and 2007, no one in Tacoma submitted a float, a requirement for participation in the festival. The festival board waived the requirement, but in 2008 warned that if no group within Tacoma School District boundaries presented a float, Tacoma and its students, including the Royal Court program, would be barred from participation in the 2009 parade. In response, the Stadium High School Ecology Club decided to build a float, ensuring Stadium and other area schools inclusion in the Daffodil Festival for 2009. [cite web
last = Santos
title = Students keep city of Tacoma in the festival
publisher = The Tacoma News Tribune
date = April 6, 2008
url = http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/327902.html
accessdate = 2008-04-09 ]

Past stadium Daffodil Festival Queens

*Margaret Strachan, 1956
*Gretchen Brockhoff, 1958
*Cheryl Lamka, 1968

Guinness world record for the largest recorded school reunion

On Sept. 16, 2006, Stadium High School alumni set a Guinness World Record for the largest recorded school reunion. The Stadium event drew 778 more people than the school in Guben, Germany, that set the record in 2002 with 2,521 reuniongoers.

The Celebrate Stadium group got confirmation of its "world record" feat in August 2007, though as the 2008 Guinness World Records was already well on its way to publication, it was not entered into this edition.

Notable alumni

*Bill Baarsma, '60, Tacoma mayor"Some famous and notable graduates," "The News Tribune" (Tacoma, WA), September 9, 2006.]
*Bruce Bennett (b. Herman Brix) '24, Olympic shot-put medalist and Hollywood actor
*Rosemarie Bowe, actress
*Cathryn Damon, '51, stage/TV/film actress
*R. N. DeArmond, author, American historian
*Jeff Durgan, professional soccer player (retired)
*Edward LaChapelle, avalanche researcher
*Michael Manuel,actor
*Vicci Martinez, acoustic-rock singer/songwriter
*Marjie Millar (b. Marjie Miller), '49, TV and movie actress
*Eric T. Olson, '69, vice admiral and deputy commander of U.S. Special Operations
*Janis Paige (b. Donna Mae Jaden), '40, film and theater actress
*Wilmott Proviso Ragsdale, '29, "Wall Street Journal" reporter and "Time" foreign correspondent
*Dixy Lee Ray, '33, chair of federal Atomic Energy Commission, governor of Washington
*Irv Robbins, '35?, co-founder of Baskin-Robbins [cite web|url=http://www.thenewstribune.com/261/story/354060.html|title=Ice cream pioneer Irvine Robbins got start in Tacoma|first=C.R.|last=Roberts|date=2008-05-07|accessdate=2008-05-12|work=The News Tribune]
*Albert Rosellini, '27, attorney, civic leader, governor of Washington
*James Russell, '18, admiral, commander of NATO forces in Europe
*Sugar Ray Seales, '71, 1972 Olympic gold medalist and professional boxer
*Jeff Stock, professional soccer player
*Jack Tanner, '38, attorney, civil rights advocate, federal court judge

Former students

*Dale Chihuly, studio glass artist — attended 1956 and 1957
*David Smith, Landscape Construction Superintendent, Sacramento, Ca. — attended 1981 and 1982

Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps

Stadium High School is host to an NJROTC program. It developes leadership, self-discipline, citizenship, and patriotism within students. The unit at Stadium is known as the Admiral James S. Russell Tiger Cadet unit. The Senior Naval Science Instructor is Commander Alan Mandigo, USN(ret).

"'2008-2009 Command Staff
SNSI: CDR A. Mandigo
NSI: CWO3 M. Kindred
Battalion Commander: c/CDR Kevin Carroll
Executive Officer: c/LCDR Chris Hooten-Smith
Unit Master Chief: c/MCPO Rusty Jacobson
Unit Training Officer: c/LT Joe Myers"'

Unit Sitehttp://www.stadiumnjrotc.weebly.com

Notes

References

* [http://www.daffodilfestival.net/Royalty-Info/queens_page.htm/ Daffodil Festival Queens]

External links

* [http://www.tacoma.k12.wa.us/schools/hs/pages/stadium.aspx Stadium High School] , official site
* [http://www.klippert.com/Stadium/History.html History of Stadium]
* [http://www.celebratestadium.com/ 100th Year Celebration]