Manhattan High School

Manhattan High School
Manhattan High, West Campus
Location
Manhattan, Kansas, Riley County, United States
Information
School type	Public secondary
Established	1882
Principal	Terry McCarty
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	1,715
Color(s)	Blue, White and Red (accent color)
Mascot	Indians
Rival	Junction City High School
Newspaper	The Mentor
Website	Manhattan High

Manhattan High School is a fully-accredited public high school in Manhattan, Kansas, serving students in grades 9-12. It is part of the Unified School District No. 383. For the 2008–2009 school year, Manhattan High had an enrollment of 1,715 students.^[1]

The school is divided into two campuses. The main building is the West Campus, containing grades 10-12, while the East Campus is for ninth graders. The two campuses are approximately one mile apart.

In 2007, the school was awarded a Blue Ribbon Award, ranking it in the top third of all schools nationwide. The school's athletic teams are referred to as the "Indians," and have won more than 30 state championships. Notable alumni of the school include Fred Andrew Seaton, former U.S. Senator and Secretary of the Interior.

History

The first secondary school in Manhattan opened in 1882 at the current site of the Manhattan High School "East Campus."^[2] The East Campus of the school consists of two limestone buildings that are connected by a glass walkway (built in 1978). The first building (on the far right side in the accompanying photo) was opened in 1914 to replace the town's original secondary school. The second building (on the left side of the accompanying photo) was constructed in 1918 as a separate building for middle school students (grades 7 and 8).

Manhattan High, East Campus

The West Campus is a red brick building that was constructed in 1956 to be the new high school. Both of the older buildings (the current East Campus) were then utilized for middle school students. Over the next 40 years, the new high school faced recurring overcrowding issues and was significantly expanded, but the new school simply proved unable to keep up with the town's population growth. After considering and rejecting the idea of building a second high school in Manhattan, in 1996 the town instead built two new middle schools, and moved the ninth grade to the East Campus.

Campus layout

The West Campus is laid out in five parallel hallways, with an open space between each and a central "commons area." Each hallway is lettered from south to north. Classes in the industrial arts are held in a detached building behind the West Campus. A large greenhouse and a new fitness center are also detached from the main building. The West Campus houses two gymnasiums; one is used as a general purpose facility and the other is primarily for basketball and volleyball games.

The East Campus is composed of two three-story limestone buildings, connected with a glass walkway and an annex in the rear (not visible in the above photo), built in 1928. The campus also has a detached gymnasium built behind the main stone buildings.

Academics

The Manhattan school district was awarded a Blue Ribbon in the 2007 Education Quotient Study, ranking it in the top third of schools nationwide.^[3] There are a wide range of learning opportunities offered at MHS, from tutoring for learning-impaired students to dual credit classes at Kansas State University, and a wide range of elective classes. Currently the school offers electives from performing arts to language arts to physical arts.

Manhattan High is also the hub of a state-wide virtual education academy called the iQ Academy Kansas.^[4] The online classes give students the opportunity to study and learn at their own personal pace. 240 students were enrolled in the program as of 2007.^[5]

In the 2008-2009 school year alone there were 5 National Merit Finalists from Manhattan High.

Extracurricular activities

Athletics

Manhattan High has teams competing in baseball, basketball (boys and girls), bowling (boys and girls), cross country (boys and girls), football, gymnastics (girls), golf (boys and girls), soccer (boys and girls), softball, swimming & diving (boys and girls), tennis (boys and girls), track & field (boys and girls), volleyball (girls), and wrestling. The school competes at the 6A level (largest schools) in the Centennial League. Manhattan High has its own football stadium, Bishop Stadium, which seats 4,000 spectators.

Manhattan High's football stadium

Manhattan High's sports teams are called the "Indians." In light of debate over the use of Native American mascots in athletics,^[6] the name has been questioned, but a majority have favored retaining it.

The athletic program has received some national recognition. On June 19, 2007, CNNSI published a list of the top high school athletic programs in each state, and Manhattan High School was declared the top high school athletics program in Kansas for 2007.^[7] Also, Manhattan High's football team was nationally-ranked in the USA Today poll during the 1987 and 1988 seasons.^[8]

Manhattan High School has won the following state championships in athletics during the era of KSHSAA playoffs.^[9]

^ predates KSHSAA playoffs and AP poll

⁺predates KSHSAA playoffs; ranked #1 in final AP poll^[10]

Debate/Forensics

The Manhattan High Debate and Forensics team is ranked among the top schools in the nation by number of degrees by the National Forensics League. Manhattan High has competed at the state in all the NFL events and at the national level in many of the events. It is one of the largest teams by members in the state. The team is coached by Shawn Rafferty.

• The debate team won KSHSAA state championships in 1972, 1973, 1984, 1987, 1988 and 2004 (two-speaker).^[11]
• The forensics team won KSHSAA state championships in 1984 and 2008.^[11]

Journalism

Manhattan High School's newspaper, The Mentor, was founded in 1919, and is one of two weekly, student-produced, high school newspaper in Kansas, the other one being Garden City High School in Garden City. The school's journalism students have won a number of state-wide awards in competitions administered by the Kansas Scholastic Press Association. The Mentor's current advisor is Brendan Praeger.^{[citation needed]}

Music

Manhattan High School's marching band, The "Big Blue" Marching Band performs at every home football game, in parades, and in band festivals. The concert band performs during the spring season. There is also an orchestra, choir, jazz ensemble, symphonic band, and wind ensemble. An ensemble of volunteer players is used as the pit orchestra for the school musical.

Performing arts

Manhattan High has a thriving drama and stagecraft program. A large, four performance musical is put on annually in mid-November, showcasing the talent of MHS Thespians. It is directed by drama teacher Linda Uthoff, choir teacher Chad Pape, and orchestra teacher Steve Easterday. Performances take place in the Rezac Auditorium at the West Campus. The Manhattan High School Performing Arts Department has several opportunities for MHS students. It has an active performance calendar that includes a fall Broadway musical with full pit orchestra, a Winter Gala featuring large performing groups, a winter play, a spring play, student directed one-act plays, Showcase Concerts for show choirs and jazz band, as well as the traditional large-group concerts each quarter. Every other year, MHS Choirs partake in a large music festival at Disney World over spring break. Pops and Sugar and Spice show choir are auditioned ensembles who perform in the community throughout the course of the school year. Each require a combo band, made up of MHS students.

Manhattan High also has a successful Dance Team, with a total membership of about 35 dancers and a Competition team with 16 dancers (this year). The entire Dance Team performs at home football games, basketball games, and a few wrestling events, performing halftime routines as well as sidelines (at football games). The Competition Team, the elite division of Dance Team, holds tryouts every year. Competition then takes several routines to various regional competitions, including pom, hip-hop, jazz, novelty, solos, and duets. The Competition team also performs halftime routines on its own at basketball games. Dance Team also attends Universal Dance Association (UDA) camp over the summer, where they perform various routines. The Dance trophy cabinet is located in the Commons by the vending machines.

Notable alumni

References

External links

• Manhattan High School Alumni Association
• Manhattan High School official homepage
• "Big Blue" Marching Band
• MHS Orchestra
• MHS Choir
• MHS Cross Country
• School Redevelopment Website