BOULDER HIGH SCHOOL

Contents

History

Architecture

Academics

Athletics

Stadium

Extracurricular Activities

Performing arts

Student Worker

Model United Nations

Events and Controversies

Safety Scares

Conference on World Affairs

Flood danger

References

History

'Boulder High School' was founded in 1875 as part of the University of Colorado (as a preparatory school for the university), making it the first high school in Colorado - hence the slogan, "Still the First." The school is located in downtown Boulder along the Boulder Creek and near Boulder's famous Pearl Street Mall. The school property adjoins the University of Colorado.

Architecture

Boulder High School's current building was constructed in 1933 under the Works Project Administration.^[1] The facade is classic art deco. The school's art deco auditorium has also been preserved. The school is built with "Colorado Red" flagstone and limestone, the same materials from which the University of Colorado is built.
Later additions at use the same materials but many do not match the original art-deco design.

Academics

Boulder High School has a strong academic reputation with one of the most extensive Advanced Placement programs in the state, offering almost 30 AP level courses as of the 2006-2007 school year.^[2] Because of its proximity to the University of Colorado, students can take courses which are not normally available at the high school level. Boulder High's Academic Decathlon team has won state and represented Colorado at the national competition for the past six years, and finished 2nd at the National Science Bowl in 2002. The school has an extensive foreign language program that includes instruction in Japanese, Latin, French, Russian, German, and Spanish. The Japan Bowl team, organized by Japanese instructor Michael Kleinkopf, won regional competitions in 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2006 and placed 5th at the national competition in 2001.^[3]
In Newsweek's 2006 list of the best high schools in the US, Boulder High ranked 3rd in Colorado and 177th in the US. While Boulder High School is a "neighborhood" public high school where students of all walks of life and educational ability mix freely, the Newsweek list includes some of the best controlled-enrollment charter and magnet schools in the country, where students must prove their performance before being admitted.

Athletics

Most student athletes participate in the 5A athletic classification, which consists of the schools with the highest enrollments in the state of Colorado. The sports program has produced many athletes who have continued in NCAA athletic programs and as professionals, including golfer Hale Irwin and Miami Dolphins defensive back Dick Anderson.
Boulder High School is a member of the 5-A Centennial League of the Colorado High School Activities Association and participates in the following sports:

★ Baseball

★ Basketball

★ Cheerleading

★ Color guard

★ Winter Guard

★ Cross Country

★ Dance

★ Football

★ Lacrosse

★ Golf (Men's and Women's)

★ Soccer

★
★ In 2006, Boulder High alumnus and Williams College soccer player Patrick Huffer was named the National Soccer Coaches Association of America / Adidas Men's Scholar Athlete of the Year for Senior Colleges and 1st Team

★ Softball

★ Swimming (Men's and Women's)

★ Tennis (Men's and Women's)

★ Track and Field

★ Volleyball

★ Wrestling
All-American.^[4]
Boulder's local arch rival is crosstown Fairview High School.

Stadium

Boulder High football, soccer, and lacrosse teams compete at Christian Recht Field, which is accessed from the school across a bridge spanning Boulder Creek. Christian Recht Field received a multi-million-dollar upgrade in 2003 when state-of-the-art artificial turf was installed to save water in the drought-prone area and to reduce injuries caused by frozen turf in winter.
Fairview High School shares the use of Christian Recht Field for varsity-level events. When Boulder High School and Fairview High School play each other in their yearly games, fans of each school use separate stands alternating the home and visitor stands each year.

Extracurricular Activities

Performing arts

Boulder High students participate extensively in the performing arts. The ''Boulder Jazz'' jazz band, run by Tom "Doc" Horst, frequently places well in regional jazz festivals. The Wind Ensemble is also an exceptional group and is currently assisted by guest directors from the University of Northern Colorado.
The theatre department at Boulder High was established in 1937 and was one of the original members (Troupe #60) of the International Thespian Society. Boulder High's Theatre Guild currently has over 120 members and inducts upwards of 30 thespians into the Society each year. The department hosts an array of unique productions, including ''Urinetown'', ''The Breakfast Club'', and ''Our Town.'' In October 2006, students performed ''Where I'm From'', a student-written show examining contemporary issues as diverse as global warming, politics, heightened airport security, racial differences, text messaging, divorce, and MySpace. The winter show was a stage adaptation of the Woody Allen movie ''Bullets Over Broadway''. This was followed by the school's spring musical ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' which featured the double casting of the two main roles. The role of Judas, oringally a male part, was cast as a female role in the school's production. Ideas for next year's shows include ''Little Shop of Horrors'', ''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying ''and ''Into the Woods''.

Student Worker

In 1999 Boulder High students founded ''Student Worker,'' a student-run activist group. Several of the group's efforts have received national attention, including a January 2005 ''sleep-in'' protesting the war in Iraq^[5] and a May 2001 ''kiss-in'' in support of alternative sexuality.^[6] In May 2005 Student Worker along with Peace Jam erected 1,650 American flags in memory of soldiers killed in Iraq.^[7]

Model United Nations

At the beginning of the 2005-2006 school year, the Boulder High School Model United Nations club was created. In Model United Nations (Model UN or MUN), students take on the roles of diplomats from various countries around the globe to discuss, debate, and come up with solutions to many issues in the world today. Students research and prepare elaborate presentations to give at Model UN conferences around the state and nation in front of delegations representing many top high schools in and out of state. Now coming to a close on its second year, Boulder MUN has proven itself as one of the elite teams in Colorado and abroad. Having attended many in-state conferences as well as two national conferences, participants in MUN have once again risen above and shown that Boulder High School is one of the best schools in the nation. Some important milestones that they have achieved are winning the highest percentage of delegation awards ever at its last conference in Colorado Springs with 50% of delegations getting 1st-3rd place, winning high percentages at both national conferences, and BHS MUN will be hosting its first ever conference next December. Like BHS athletics, BHS Model UN are informally rivals with Regis Jesuit High School in Denver.

Events and Controversies

Safety Scares

On May 10th, 2007 a cafeteria worker claimed to see two masked men enter the school before class hours wearing camouflage and ski masks. The school was subsequently locked down by police and classes for that day were canceled as the school was searched. After several searches by police (including SWAT teams and bomb-sniffing dogs) nothing suspicious was found.^[8]
Rumors that a song performed at a school talent show would include Presidential death threats also stirred recent national controversy^[9], although these rumors proved to be false.
Currently, all doors leading into the school are constantly locked aside from the front doors, which are under constant watch by school security.

Conference on World Affairs

The Conference on World Affairs, a premiere conference on international and domestic affairs, hosted by the University of Colorado, adjacent to the high school, rents the use of the Boulder High auditorium for several panels. Due to the respectable history of the conference, some Boulder High instructors required their students to attend several of these panels including a panel titled "STDs: Sex, Teens and Drugs" held on April 10, 2007.
During this panel, guest speaker Joel Becker allegedly encouraged students (some in attendance were as young as 14) to have sex and use illegal drugs. "I am going to encourage you to have sex and encourage you to use drugs appropriately," said Becker, an associate clinical professor of psychology at the University of California at Los Angeles. In particular Becker informed the students where to easily find marijuana and appeared to make fun of using a condom. Becker went on to encourage students to experiment with both hetero and homosexual sex and encouraged students to masturbate. O'Reilly claims that Becker encouraged students to experiment with homosexual activities even if they are not necessarily homosexual, and he also encouraged students to use drugs such as ecstasy. Boulder High students Mansur Gidfar and Jesse Lange appeared on the O'Reilly show to discuss the event with O'Reilly himself.
On May 8, 2007 Boulder Valley School District board members were confronted by Boulder High sophomore Daphne White and her mother, Priscilla White, with a complaint about the event, the board agreed to review what occurred.
After the subsequent review and listening to the entire 90 minute tape of the panel, on May 22, 2007 BVSD Superintendent George F Garcia and the school board found that the comments in question were taken out of context and the overall panel appropriate for high school age students. It has been alleged that groupthink played a part in this finding. However, the school board also recognized that certain comments were unnecessarily crude and recommended that in the future, because the conference is neither sponsored nor the content controlled by the school, Conference on World Affairs events should be optional for Boulder High students. ^[10]
The event sparked attention among media outlets after being broadcast on T.V. channels such as Fox News and The O'Reilly Factor.

Flood danger

Boulder High school is located in the middle of the Boulder Creek flood zone. The school's adjacent soccer fields were housing less than 30 years ago, the houses were removed due to the high flash-flood danger along the creek. The City of Boulder, CO continues removing buildings in the path of the most dangerous portions of the creek, replacing them with parks and fields. The "100 year flood" last took place in Boulder in 1894 destroyed all buildings in the area.

References

1. http://www.boulderhistorymuseum.org/history.timeline.html
2. http://cfmx.dailycamera.com/news/schools/schoolchoice/results.cfm?id=46
3. http://www.cjlea.org/newsletter/0105/mayo01.htm
4. http://www.williams.edu/athletics/news.php?id=10153
5. http://www.laweekly.com/index.php?option=com_lawcontent&task=view&id=1033&Itemid=122
6. http://www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/Alerts/States/Colorado/kiss2.html
7. http://www.rmpjc.org/2005/BoulderHighFlagMemorial/
8. http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Colorado-high-school-locked-down/2007/05/11/1178390480648.html
9. http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=247437&page=1
10. http://www.bvsd.org/C2/DistNews/Documents/Superintendent%20Report%20Regarding%20CWA%20at%20Boulder%20High.pdf