Mesquite High School (Gilbert, Arizona)

Mesquite High School

W.I.T.H Pride (informal); Mission, Motivation, Mastery (formal)
Location
500 South McQueen Road
Gilbert, AZ 85233
United States
Information
Type Public High School
Established August 1998
School district Gilbert Unified School District
Grades 9-12
Enrollment 2,004 (October 1, 2012)[1]
Color(s)          Royal Blue and Silver
Mascot Wildcat
Website Mesquite High School

School courtyard

Mesquite High School is a high school within the Gilbert Unified School District.

History

The school opened in August 1998 with only freshmen and sophomore students, while part of the school was not yet completed. The first seniors graduated in May 2001, followed by the first senior class to attend all four years in Mesquite High School in May 2002. Since Mesquite's opening in 1998, the school had maintained 5A or 5A-I classification with student counts well above 2,000 and even over 3,000 at times. However, the opening of Mesquite High School has significantly lowered the school's enrollment. As of 2012, Mesquite and Campo Verde both have about the same student population.[1] Campo Verde and Mesquite High, to this day, have a strong rivalry between the two.

Campus

There are twenty main buildings in the school, with a courtyard between the two major constructions. Unlike some high schools, Mesquite has almost no department hallways, with the exception of music, drama, and physical education. Mostly all classes are in the B, G, and A buildings. The portables located near the staff parking lot once held a variety of classes, but as of the 2012-2013 school year, the only portables in use are for Global Academy, an online school that has taken up residence at Mesquite. The A building holds the administration offices, the library, many of the science classrooms, and a connection between the B and G buildings on the second floor. The auditorium, music, and drama classes are located in the F building, which is adjacent to the D building, home to the school's main cafeteria. There are also food courts in the B and G buildings, although the G food court no longer serves food due to budget cuts. The gym and the physical education classes are located in the C building.

Extracurricular activities

The school's only journalism class publishes a student newspaper, The Shade, nearly every month, while the school's yearbook staff (ROOTS) develops yearbooks for the year's end. There are 50 clubs present in the school, including Academic Decathlon, National Honor Society, Key Club, FBLA, Drama Club, Ecology Club (which handles the school's recycling program, and is supervised by Daryl Dubas), European Club, Up and Coming Voters Club, an FFA chapter, etc. The school offers Gilbert's largest Speech and Debate team, and a Student Council (STUCO), that has been awarded Council of Distinction a number of times by the Arizona Association of Student Councils. The school also has four orchestras, six choirs, and six bands (including marching and jazz bands).

Since the school's opening, Mesquite's varsity football team has been one of Arizona's best in Division I (formerly 5A category). However, the past several years have seen a major decline the program's performance, including failure to make the state playoffs. Mesquite's Coach Baker left during the 2011-12 school year to coach at Gilbert High School.

Bands

Mesquite High School's bands are under the direction of Mr. John Davenport, and formerly Mr. Mitch Freeman, Mr. Ron Andre, and Mr. Chris Reiner. Concert bands, including Symphonic Band, Symphonic Winds, and Wind Ensemble, are year long programs and have four concerts throughout the school year.

November 2014, the marching band was awarded the ABODA Division III State Championship after performing "Every Which Way."

On the morning of October 24, 2007, Assistant Band Director Christopher Rainer was fatally injured in a car accident. On May 11, 2011, a piece commissioned by Richard L. Saucedo was performed to commemorate Rainer at Mesquite High by the Wind Ensemble, a collection of students that were freshmen when this tragedy occurred. A new assistant band director, Sean Dennison, was hired to fill his position.

Logo

In addition to its own school logo, Mesquite frequently uses Kansas State University's Powercat symbol (as seen at right). As part of the licensing agreement between Mesquite and Kansas State, the student council donates $500 to the university every two years.[2]

Notable alumni

References

  1. 1 2 AIA 2012 enrollment figures
  2. ↑ Zeiger, Dan. "University logos a big part of E.V. high school sports." The East Valley Tribune 16 September 2010.
  3. ↑ "Mesquite pitcher, ASU commit Zach Davies goes pro - Varsity Xtra". East Valley Tribune. Retrieved October 27, 2014.

External links

Club pages

Coordinates: 33°20′27″N 111°49′33″W / 33.3407°N 111.8259°W / 33.3407; -111.8259

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