Van High School (Texas)

Van High School
Address
985 N Maple St.
Van, Texas 75790-0697
United States
Information
School type Public High School
School district Van Independent School District
Principal Jeff Hutchins
Grades 9-12
Enrollment 752[1] (2016)
Color(s)           Red & White
Athletics conference UIL Class AAAA
Mascot Vandals
Newspaper The Vandal Voice
Yearbook Vandalite
Website Van High School

Van High School is a public high school located in Van, Texas (USA). It is part of the Van Independent School District located in east central Van Zandt County and classified as a 4A school by the UIL. With just over 750 students, it is the largest high school in Van Zandt County. In 2015, the school was rated "Met Standard" by the Texas Education Agency.[2]

History

The discovery of the Van Oil Field in 1929 brought about many changes within the community, including an influx of school-aged children that required the transition from a five-room rural school to a large, ultra-modern school campus. While other Texas schools were forced to make budget cuts because of the depression and later World War II , oil revenues enabled the Van schools, led by Superintendent J.E.Rhodes and Principal C. C. Moore, to expand rapidly. The 1929-1930 school year had begun with 90 students, but the start of 1930-1931 brought 611 students. The school was to be built on Main Street on the eastern part of Van. In the summer of 1930 a gymnasium was built and was originally used as a temporary high school. After the approval of a bond by local voters, construction began on new Van schools in spring 1931. By the start of the 1931-1932 school year, a brick elementary school and a brick high school were ready for use. The temporary high school was converted back to a gymnasium after the completion of the permanent high school. The Pure Oil Company allowed the school to tap into its water lines free of charge, allowed the school to heat its buildings with gas from the gasoline plant, and also donated $12,500 to the school district to help with expansion costs. A teachers’ home was constructed in 1930 and was meant to entice the best available teachers to work within the district. The teacher's home later became the Van ISD Administration building. An athletic park was completed in spring 1933 with the construction of the first Van Memorial Stadium and a Baseball field with lights. A physical education-vocational building was designed in 1936 and erected in 1937. A second major building program that continued even during World War II was completed in 1947. An Auditorium was constructed by German prisoners of war that is still used by the district today, but was heavily damaged during the May 15, 2015 tornado.

In the late 1970's due to the growth of the school district Van built a new high school just north of the city. The new school would include a new Baseball facility, new football practice fields, a new gymnasium, and a vocational shop. Expansions would come again in the late 90's and mid 2000's as Van's enrollment doubled in 20 years. In 2009, the district completed an athletic complex that included new tennis courts, a new softball complex, and a rebuilt Van Memorial Stadium, which features synthetic play turf, a video scoreboard, an Olympic quality track and field set-up, and seating for nearly 7,000 spectators.

Academics

Van High is known for a strong academic department. The fine arts program is one of the best in East Texas and have won state in a One Act Play - [3]

State Titles

In the 2015 UIL Academic State meet, of which Van High School competes in annually, the Social Studies team placed second for team. Also, the Computer Science team placed fourth for team.

Theater

Van's theater department has appeared at the State UIL Theater Competition 12 times since 2002. Van has won the 3A UIL One-Act Play State Championship four times: In 2002 for "Godspell", 2005 for "The Caucasian Chalk Circle", 2007 for "Man of La Mancha", and 2011 for "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Van has also placed second in state twice: in 2008 for "The Elephant Man", and 2014 for "And People All Around." They have placed third in state 5 times: in 2004 for "Assassins", 2009 for "The Devils", 2010 for "The Caucasian Chalk Circle", 2013 for " Mrs. Packard", and in 2015 for "Don Quixote."

Speech and Debate

The Van Forensics program competes locally as well as statewide and nationally. The program has had top-ten finishers at the NDCA National Tournament, The Tournament of Champions, The TFA State Tournament, and UIL State Tournament as well as having students win TFA State, UIL State, and The NCFL Grand National Tournament. Two students qualified for Nationals in Original Oratory and two qualified for Nationals in Congressional Debate.[4][5] [6]


Athletics

The Van Vandals compete in these sports - [7] Cross Country, Volleyball, Football, Basketball, Powerlifting, Golf, Tennis, Track, Softball & Baseball

State Champions

State Finalists

Rivals

Grand Saline High School-The Vandals and the Indians have the 3rd longest series playing Football against each other, however the series was suspended after the 2011 game after 85 straight games due to a desire by both schools to play schools of similar size. The two schools still compete in all other sports, specifically Baseball and Softball.

Canton High School-The Vandals and the Eagles are separated by only 15 miles of highway and the rivalry is fierce in all sports.

Lindale High School-Van and Lindale play each other in every sport and also have an academic rivalry going back nearly 30 years.

Brownsboro High School-The Vandals and Bears have an intense rivalry that focuses mainly around Football.


Notable Alumni

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, May 03, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.