Hempstead High School (Dubuque, Iowa)

Coordinates: 42°30′07″N 90°44′02″W / 42.502°N 90.734°W / 42.502; -90.734

Hempstead High School
Address
3715 Pennsylvania Avenue Dubuque, Iowa 52002
Information
School type	Public high school
Established	1970
School district	Dubuque Community School District
Oversight	Iowa Department of Education
Principal	Lee Kolker
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	1,824[1]  (2008)
Campus	Suburban
Color(s)	Green & Gold
Mascot	Mustangs
Newspaper	Equestrian
Yearbook	Equine
Athletic conference	Mississippi Valley Conference
Website	www.hempstead.dubuque.k12.ia.us

Stephen Hempstead High School (commonly Hempstead or HHS) is a four-year public high school located in Dubuque, Iowa. It is one of three high schools in the Dubuque Community School District, and enrolls 1,824 students in grades 9-12. Hempstead is named in honor of Stephen P. Hempstead, the second governor of Iowa. The school's mascot is the Mustang, and it competes in class 4A of the Mississippi Valley Conference.

History

After World War II, the population of Dubuque moved further out to the west. The children born during the post-war baby boom also were in their late teens at the time. The community found that Senior High School would no longer be enough to serve the needs of the community.

In 1966, the district began planning for Hempstead. District employees were encouraged to offer their thoughts on the design of the new building. In the spring of 1967, a $6.7 million dollar bond issue was approved to cover the costs of the building. In the fall of 1968, construction began on the new building, with completion scheduled by the fall of 1969. Construction was delayed by labor strikes and bad weather, which resulted in the building not being complete until the spring of 1970. The layout of the building looked like a letter "H" from an overhead view.

MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of Hempstead High School is to educate each student to meet successfully the challenges and opportunities in a changing world.

Because Hempstead was not yet ready, classes for Hempstead students were initially held at Senior High School. In the spring of 1970, students began receiving education at Hempstead for the first time under Principal Dr. Roger Kampschroer. In 1970, there was no graduating class because there was no senior class that first year.

In the 1990s, the windows on the second floor were replaced with windows that could be opened. The locker bay was recently refurbished. In the summer of 2005, construction began to expand the school, as enrollment is expected to increase over the next several years. Over the next several years the school district has formulated plans to completely remodel the school.

Hempstead was affected by the mumps outbreak that struck Iowa in 2006 and ravaged the student body. While school was not shut down and only a small number of students were infected, the long-standing Tri-II Music Festival which Hempstead was hosting that year was downscaled, and several sports matches were canceled.

In 2007 Hempstead lost two students in the span of two weeks. Lauren Schmidt was killed when she was struck while crossing Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the school. A week later Chris Runde died after a car accident the night before the day of homecoming.

Campus

The building is a three-level structure with an open courtyard in the center of the school. The school used to feature a locker bay on the ground floor, but has been recently renovated and it now contains more classrooms to increase the school's learning capabilities; all student lockers were formerly centralized in the locker bay.

Renovations currently under way will relocate lockers to the school hallways. The second level contains classrooms, an indoor pool, gyms, art, music, driver education, and FHACS (Family Health & Consumer Sciences) classrooms. The third level holds the administrative offices, library/media center, math, science, business classrooms, a physical fitness room, cafeteria/commons area, industrial technology, wood working, and automobile shops. The third level also features an auditorium complex.

The school is divided into wings. The "A" wing contains music, speech and driver education classrooms. School offices are in the "B" wing, the eastern edge of the triangle. Most of the general education classrooms are in the "C" wing, the southern side. To the west is the "D" wing, home of industrial education, art, and FHACS. An addition to the southwest corner of the building was added in late 2005 providing new classrooms for several general education subjects. The "E" wing on the north side of the building contains the cafeteria, gym, and pool. The locker bay classrooms added in 2004 and 2005 are part of the "L" wing.

The gym can be divided into three separate areas, with retractable curtains for each section. There is also retractable bleacher seating along the eastern and western walls typically used for assemblies, ballgames and other functions.

Hempstead features a 25-yard indoor swimming pool. Although swimming is no longer part of the wellness education requirement for students occasional classes are held in the pool and it is also used by the swim teams of both Hempstead and Senior High School for both practice and meets. An upgraded scoring and timekeeping system was funded jointly by both schools' booster clubs in 2003. The city recreation department also allows the general public to use the pool when school is not in session.

There is also a large auditorium complex near the eastern end of the school. This complex features movable walls, and can be divided into one or more (up to six) seating areas. However, the design of this auditorium, because of its low slope, lack of a flyspace, and modified theater-in-the-round concept, has proved impractical for many productions. Therefore, musicals are currently performed at the Five Flags Theater, and concerts are held at Eleanor Roosevelt Middle School.

HVAC

The building was originally designed to be fully air conditioned: however, a building-wide air conditioning system was never installed. The administrative offices were air conditioned, but the rest of the building was not.

As part of the renovation process, the school is upgrading the heating and cooling system. The school will use a geothermal system, and wells are being dug near the softball and football fields for this new system.

Students

In the 2007-2008 school year, HHS enrolled 1,824 students. Of those, 1,754 (96.2%) were White, 30 (1.6%) were Black, 21 (1.2%) were Asian, and 3 (.2%) were American Indian. 16 (.9%) students were Hispanic, and may be of any race. Additionally, 943 (51.7%) were male, and 881 (48.3%) were female.^[1]

Academics

Hempstead, being one of the largest schools in the state, is able to offer fourteen advanced placement courses. This has enabled the school to rank highly on the Iowa AP Index published by the Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education, coming in ninth in the state in 2006 (based on the class of 2005).

The school is generally meeting No Child Left Behind proficiency standards, outpacing its goals in both reading and math.

Music

Michael Gilbertson, class of 2006, is an accomplished composer who has written several pieces for orchestra, piano, and ballet. His works have been performed by the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra, the Flint Symphony Orchestra, and the Rockford Symphony Orchestra. He will be the first graduate of Hempstead to study at the Juilliard School of Music.

The Hempstead Mustang Marching Band is directed by Mr. Gregory Dowe. The group of around 115 students competes in 4A competitions in the state of Iowa. They received Best Overall Drumline and Best Drum Major awards at the 2006 Marion Marching Invitational and Best Drumline in 4A at the Little Hawk Invitational in Iowa City in 2007. Devin Burgess is currently the percussion caption head and arranger of the 2008/2007 season and instructed for the 2006 season. The band has received Division I ratings at the State Marching Contest for over ten years.

Extracurricular activities

Student government

Hempstead is noted for its student government program, widely accepted to be one of the most active in the state. The program consists of an eight-member executive council and a 40-member senate, 10 elected from each class. Spring Wind, a week-long festival featuring speakers and activities every March or April, is completely organized by the student government, which is elected in May for the following year.

Theatre

Hempstead had the distinction of being one of the first schools to perform a stage version of High School Musical, which was presented in January 2007.

Before she appeared in TV and movies, Kate Mulgrew appeared in performances in 1970^[2] and 1971^[3] at the school, which included "David and Lisa" and "The Importance of Being Ernest."

Economics

Since the National Council for Economics Education Economics Challenge was inaugurated in 2001, Hempstead has been extremely successful at the national level. The team won first place in 2002, second in 2001 and 2005, and third in 2004. In the seven years of state competition (2001–2007), Hempstead has been first in Iowa every year and often has fielded the second-place team as well. Much of the credit given to Hempstead's nationally recognized economics team goes to economics teacher Dennis C. Schroeder.

Hall of Fame

The Mustang Hall of Fame, started in 2005, recognizes former teachers, staff, students and community volunteers who have contributed to the school's success.^[4]

2005 Inductees
Julie Kaesbauer-Spelhaug
Bill Peck
Leroy Cain
Dan Dunham
Vern VanCleve

2007 Inductees
Norm Anderson
Donna (Metz) Loewen
Donald Moody
Clarence Ruden
Robert Timmerman

2008 Inductees
Herman "Babe" Derouin
Tim Hodge
Tom Rusk

Sports

Hempstead competes in Class 4A, the largest classification in Iowa, and in the Mississippi Valley Conference. The conference consists of schools in Dubuque, Cedar Rapids/Marion, Waterloo/Cedar Falls and Iowa City.

State championships

2010 - Cheerleading
2003 - Volleyball
1992 - Co-ed Golf (Lou Ann McMullen-Matt Lewis)
1984 - Boys Tennis
1984 - Baseball (30-3 record)
1983 - Baseball (25-9 record)
1979 - Football (10-2 record)
1978 - Baseball (29-4 record)
1975 - Volleyball
1974 - Baseball (25-5 record)

Football=

The Mustangs have made the state football playoffs 12 times—1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1995, 2002, 2003, 2008. In addition to the state title in 1979, Hempstead finished as the state runner-up to Mason City (coached by Barry Alvarez) in 1978.

Two players - Tom Rusk and Tom Holt - are members of the IHSAA Football Players Hall of Fame. Rusk was a fullback/linebacker and 1975 graduate. He later played linebacker for the University of Iowa. Holt helped lead the Mustangs to the state title in 1979.

Cheerleading

The Hempstead Cheerleading Squad has competed in the State Cheerleading Championships in 2008, 2009, 2010, competing in the toughest division of 4A. In '08 they finished 11th out of 14. In '09 they finished 4th out of 14. In 2010, they won the State Championship in their division out of 12 other teams from across Iowa. That year, they also placed 6th and 8th out of 33 teams in the Stunt Group Division. In 2010, they had the best jumper in the state, Alyssa Bauer. Hempstead cheerleading made national headlines when they qualified to compete in the National Cheerleading Championships in Orlando, Florida in February 2011, when the DCSD denied them the right to go because they were not a state sanctioned sport and didn't follow paperwork guidelines. Eventually, the were granted permission, and competed at the National event and made it all the way to finals, becoming National Finalists and placing 7th in the nation. Since 2008, Hempstead cheerleaders have been coached by Jenny Kress. In 2009, the district hired an assistant coach, David Eisbach, who is the teams weight training coach.

In 2009, Coach Jenny Kress and the 08-09 Hempstead cheerleaders won the Iowa Cheer Coaches Association Sportsmanship award.

Prior to 2008, other Hempstead cheer coaches have been: Chrissy Data, Angie Fuhrmiester.

Baseball

One of the most successful programs traditionally has been the baseball team. The Mustangs won four state championships (1974, 1978, 1983, 1984) and finished second in 2003. Hempstead has made 12 trips to the state playoffs (1974, 1978, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010).

Basketball

Boys Swimming

The Mustangs have won six individual titles at the state meet. Rob Strauch won the 50-yard freestyle state championship in 1987; Chip Reed won the 100-yard backstroke title in 1988. Donny Warren won the 200 IM title and finished 2nd in the 100 Backstroke Both earning All-American honors in 2009. Ben Loeffelholz won the 50-yard freestyle state championship in 2010 and finished 2nd in the 100 freestyle. In 2011 Ben Loeffelholz won the 50-yard freestyle state championship and the 100-yard freestyle state championship. In addition Ben was also awarded Swimmer of the meet at the Iowa swimming state meet. Ben went on to be named an ALL American in 2011.

Girls Swimming

Brigit Brunsman won the 100-yard breaststroke title in 2001, the first female to win an individual title at the state meet.

Boys Tennis

The Mustangs won the team title in 1984, and were runners-up in 1987. John Ottavi and Tom Ottavi won the state doubles title in 1984. Matt Pigg and Mark Bradley were the state doubles runners-up in 1987, as were Steve Derouin and Mike Smith in 1988.

Boys Track

There have been two individual state champions -- Terry Bensink in the high jump (1993) and Eric Dasso (2002) in the 800 meters.

Girls Track

The Mustangs have won 9 events at the state meet. Kris Roebken won the 100 meters in 1994, and helped Hempstead win the 4x100 and 4x200 relays in 1994 and 1995.

In 2004, the Mustang shuttle hurdle team (Nina Schnee, Nichole Schnee, Cali Lyons, Leah Timmerman) won a state title, and Ashley Simpson won the shot put crown.

Two athletes in the 1980s won the state discus - Sonia Shoelen (1989) and Jennifer Van Etten (1983).

Softball

The Mustangs' Kamber Hyde (1997) and Julie Kaesbauer (1987) were named to the first team overall all-state teams.

Volleyball

Hempstead won the state title in 1975 and 2003, and were state runners-up in 1973, 1976 and 2000. They've made 12 state tournament appearances—2010, 2008, 2007, 2005, 2003, 2001, 2000, 1984, 1980, 1976, 1975, 1973.

In 2003, Emily Luensmann was the Class 4A player of the year, and Julie Kieffer was the Class 4A coach of the year.

Wrestling

Cliff Moore won three individual state titles for the Mustangs, and later wrestled for the University of Iowa. For Hempstead, Moore compiled a 139-2 record, and was undefeated his sophomore, junior and senior seasons; he finished as the state runner-up as a freshman. In college, Moore was the NCAA champion at 141 pounds in 2004, and was a three-time all-American.

The Mustangs have won 8 individual state titles. In addition to the three won by Moore, the other state champions for Hempstead are Tom Rusk (1975), Trent Moore (1996), Ryan Heim (1999, 2000) and Adam Gottschalk (2002). Heim finished his career with the most wins in city history (140), but was passed by Gottschalk (144 career wins) in 2003.

Coaches

--Dick Core led Hempstead to eight state tournaments (1974–1999) and won four championships in baseball. He compiled a 650-344 career record at Hempstead and Dubuque Senior. The school named its baseball field Dick Core Field after he retired. In 2007, Core came out of retirement to coach the East Dubuque baseball team.

--Bob Timmerman compiled a 107-58 record as head varsity football coach, and had a career 157-76-5 record in 26 years as a head football coach (he also coached at Dyersville Beckman).^[5] Timmerman resigned as the varsity coach in 1991 and has coached the freshman team since. He is still active as of 2008, and has been coaching football for 50 years.

--Dan Dunham was the first wrestling coach when the school opened in 1969, and stayed in that post for 30 years. He sent over 100 wrestlers to the state tournament, and was inducted into the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1999. The wrestling room was named the Dunham Wrestling Room in 2002. Dunham, who started his career as the coach at Jesup High School, compiled a 232-196-6 career record.

--LaVerne Kloster was inducted into the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2001. He coached girls cross country, girls track and girls basketball at Moorehead, East Monona, Woodbine, Storm Lake and Hempstead. He is a member of the Iowa Association of Track Coaches Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Iowa Girls Coaches Association Hall of Fame (basketball coaches) in 1991.

Kloster's career basketball record was 532-247 in 33 years, with 12 of those coming at Hempstead. At Woodbine, his basketball teams were champions in 1968, third in 1969, and third in 1974.

His track teams at Woodbine were state indoor champs in 1975 and 1976, and outdoor champions in 1973, 1974 and 1975. He has coached 12 state individual champions, 8 state relay champions plus 5 Drake Relays champions in track. At Woodbine, Kloster coached Debbie Esser, who went on to run track at Iowa State, where she became the first woman in the history of the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, (AIAW), to collect four national titles in the same event (400-meter hurdles).

--Mike Marty guided the Mustangs to five state tournaments in volleyball (including the 1975 state championship), was a three-time Mississippi Valley Conference coach of the year, and finished with a career record of 380-70. He was inducted into the Iowa Girls' Coaches Association in 2006.^[6]

--Norm Anderson has coached boys track for 50 years, and has been the school's head track coach since the school opened in 1969.

Notable alumni/students

• LeRoy Cain, manager of Launch Integration at NASA's Kennedy Space Center
• Tom Churchill, radio & TV meteorologist, inventor of digital weatherman; 1979 graduate
• Kate Mulgrew, actress best known for playing Captain Kathryn Janeway in TV series 'Star Trek: Voyager'; (attended Hempstead in 1970-71^[3])
• Sharon Nichols, archeologist on team that discovered Egyptian tomb in the Valley of the Kings in 2005^[7]
• Eric Powers, drummer for band Great White from 2001 to 2003; 1990 graduate
• Kevin Rhomberg, former Major League Baseball player
• Mark Steines, current host of Entertainment Tonight; 1982 graduate
• Cody Jochum- student 2008-2012

Renovation

In 2004, a renovation program began using proceeds from a one-cent sales tax approved by Dubuque County voters in December 2002. The seven-phase program is projected to eventually cost $30 million, roughly five times the original cost of constructing the school in the 1960s.

2006 marked the beginning of a two-year complete remodeling of the main classroom wing and locker bay. While the renovations are greatly appreciated, some controversy has arisen during the construction. Hundreds of students were forced to move out of their lockers with twenty-four hours notice, only to be allowed back in a week later. Several classes are being held in the auditorium, and the stage has become departmental offices, forcing music and drama programs to perform off-campus. Finally, the renovation is stirring up Hempstead's long-standing insect problem, although new sections of the building are designed to be inhospitable to termites and cockroaches.

See also

• Dubuque Community School District
• Dubuque, Iowa
• List of high schools in Iowa

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Iowa Public School Enrollments 2007-2008". http://www.iowa.gov/educate/index2.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=4665&Itemid=55. Retrieved February 7, 2008. 
2. ^ http://www.totallykate.com/yearbook/yearbo69.html
3. ^ ^{a b} http://www.totallykate.com/yearbook/yearbo71.html
4. ^ http://www.hempstead.dubuque.k12.ia.us/pages/main_subpages/school_links/boosterclub/hall%20of%20fame%20members.htm
5. ^ http://www.iahsaa.org/football/ARCHIVES/FB.5.AT.ACTIVE%20COACHES%20W_L.pdf
6. ^ http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DQ&p_theme=dq&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_text_search-0=mike%20AND%20marty%20AND%20volleyball%20AND%20hempstead&s_dispstring=mike%20marty%20volleyball%20hempstead%20AND%20date(all)&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no
7. ^ http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=83076 Telegraph Herald

External links

• Hempstead High School Website