WACHUSETT REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

'Wachusett Regional High School' (abbv. 'WRHS') is located in Holden, Massachusetts and services the Wachusett Regional School District founded in 1955. The WRSD comprises Holden, Paxton, Princeton, Rutland, and Sterling. William Beando was appointed principal as of July 1, 2007, succeeding the one year interim service of long time principal Hal Lane, who had retired in 1993. The assistant principals are Catherine Astrella, John Creamer, Allison Connors, Roberta Lojko, and James Pedone.

Contents

Construction project

Academics

School activities

Extracurricular activities

Massachusetts Club

Sports

Science seminar and science fair

Theater Arts

Notable Alumni

External links

Construction project

Currently, WRHS is involved in a three phase renovation plan. Though originally projected to reach completion by August 2006, the current estimation is November 2007. Phase I included a new music and arts section located where the old student parking lot used to be located. Phase II included a new field house, physical education facility, and a new cafeteria. Phase III will rebuild many classrooms, as well as a renovated auditorium. Upon completion, the school will be much larger and more ready for the upcoming surge in school population, due to increases in town population. Although the classrooms are completed, the athletic fields are still not completed. For the past 3 years students have had to compete and practice at local elementary and middle schools, such as Davis Hill, Mountview, Thomas Prince or Krashes Fields.

Academics

The school offers a wide range of courses in many subjects, chiefly of four difficulty levels. The AF level, Academic Foundations, is the basic class level. The Honors level is above AF. Below the AF level is the AE level (Academic Enrichment) for students who need a little extra help with their studies. The fourth main class level is AP, or Advanced Placement, a College Board program by which college credit can be awarded for excellent performance on year-end standardized exams. There are also "0" level courses, which are usually mandatory or non-academic, such as gym, and several special education courses.

School activities

WRHS has a fairly large music department. For the past seven years, WRHS has received recognition from the Grammy Foundation for being one of the top 100 music schools in the United States. In the spring of 2005, WRHS performed admirably at an international music competition in Toronto, Ontario. At the Festival of Music, Wachusett received first place in the Jazz Band competition, receiving recognition for having several excellent musicians, soloists, and sections. Jazz Choir and Orchestra also took first place in their respective categories. Singers and Chamber Choir took first place in the Mixed Men's and Women's Choir section. String Orchestra received a first place award as well. Wind Ensemble received second place overall. In April 2007, the Honors Music Program performed in Florida and visited Disney World, performing on various stages within the park and in Downtown Disney.

Extracurricular activities

Massachusetts Club

Formed during the 2005-2006 school year, the Massachusetts Club takes group trips to historic places throughout the state, usually on weekends. Trips taken include a day spent in Rockport, several visits to Boston, and a trip to Salem.

Sports

Under the school colors of green and white, Wachusett fields many perennially competitive sports teams. These include lacrosse, football, basketball, baseball, soccer, ice hockey, track, cross country, volleyball, gymnastics, field hockey, and swimming. The girls cross-country team has won 13 consecutive league championships, and a number of consecutive district championships. Both girls and boys track teams are consistently among state's best. Wachusett's soccer teams have also won several championships. In 2004, the Boys Basketball team won the District Championship, supported by the enormous "Badlands" student rooting section. The school's football team went undefeated in the 2003 season and has won back-to-back Super Bowl Titles. In 2007, the girls gymnastics team was crowned Mid-Wach league champions following an undefeated season, and went on to place 6th overall in the state.

Science seminar and science fair

Every year, Wachusett conducts a school science fair. Winners of the school competition advance to the Regional Fair. In order to help students through the process and to stimulate their interest in science, Wachusett holds Science Seminar every Tuesday night. Interested students take an entrance examination, and, if admitted, attend seminar meetings. For the first hour of these meetings, a scientist from the community speaks to seminar members about his/her work. The second hour sees students meeting with their science project advisor for help and guidance in the process. At the end of the year, the group held a poll to find out what the most popular element is. Sodium was easily the group's favorite for obvious reasons.

Theater Arts

In 2007, Wachusett's theatre group performed for 1100 people at the Back Bay Events Center for the MHSDG One-Act Festival State Finals and won awards in acting and technical design with "For Whom The Southern Belle Tolls," a play by Christopher Durang.

Notable Alumni

★ Jay Cutler, professional bodybuilder and current Mr. Olympia titlist

★ Brooke "Brookers" Brodack, believed to be the first performer discovered on YouTube and offered a contract by mainstream media

External links

★ Wachusett Regional High School website

★ WRHS Alumni website

★ Wachusett Regional School District website