Eagle River High School
| Eagle River High School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
 | |
8701 Yosemite Dr., Eagle River, AK 99577 | |
| Information | |
| Type | Public School |
| Motto | excellence, community, respect |
| Established | 2005 |
| Principal | Natalie Burnett |
| Faculty | approximately 80 |
| Student Grades | Over 850 9-12 |
| Colors Mascot | Blue and Silver Wolf |
| Newspaper Website | The Tracker *[www.asdk12.org/renewal/HS/eagleriver.esp] |
| Building Size Phone Number | 18,200 sq. ft. (907) 742 - 2700 |
Eagle River High School (ERHS) is a public high school in Eagle River in the U.S. state of Alaska. Opened in 2005, it is attended by approximately 840 students living in Eagle River and on Fort Richardson. The current principal is Natalie Burnett.
General information
Eagle River High is part of the Anchorage School District. In order to determine the school's colors and mascot, the school board let the students choose. High schoolers and middle schoolers who would be attending the school when it opened voted, with the results dictating the mascot as the Eagle River High School Wolves in navy blue and silver. It's mission statement was created in the year 2006, a simple three-word statement of "Excellence, Community, Respect."
History
Eagle River High School- history in the making. The schools groundbreaking ceremony was held in July 31, 2003. From there on steady progress had been made and the project ended up being finished in August 2005, after 2 years of hard work. An important purpose of this school was to relieve the overfilled schools around the Anchorage School District. This school is strategically placed to take advantage of the fabulous views of the community of Eagle River and the mountainsides. ERHS was designed to begin with a total of 800 students, and the school is built for further growth, the gym, library and the cafeteria are designed to hold 1,600 students. With the three school values: Excellence, Respect and Community, the staff and students set their goals high. From the opening day, Eagle River High School has become part of the community.
Campus/Building
Eagle River High School is located on a 50-acre site on the south side of Eagle River off of Yosemite Drive. Over 70 workers and contractors from USKH Inc. and Davis Construction and Engineers began assembly of the 182,000 sq/ft building on July 31, 2003 with the ground breaking ceremony. Construction of the building took about 2 years, ending in August, on time and budget, with the ribbon cutting ceremony on August 17th, 2005. With 46 instruction rooms, and 38-foot ceilings in the commons area, the school more than satisfies the public that voted on its construction in 2001. The school currently enrolls approximately 840 students but it was built with room to grow as its gym and cafeteria are made to hold 1,600 students. The floor plan has the same basic design as the 1,600-student Dimond High School but is about half the size, using one wing of classrooms instead of two. This design allowed construction workers to improve off the original design and plan ahead so as to minimize any future problems that might be encountered with the overall construction of the building.
The cost of the building was $54 million dollars, with 60% of that being paid for by the state of Alaska through the school debt reimbursement program. School bonds also paid for the high school. The school services students from the Eagle River area as well as Fort Richardson, and the Chugiak area. Most of the schools population came from Chugiak and Bartlett, which was highly advantageous, helping relieve both schools overcrowding problem.
Faculty
Eagle River High School’s faculty does an exceptionally good job of molding young minds into determined young adults. Their welcoming manners allow students to be able to speak their own minds. The students are extremely lucky to have such a great faculty, with many varied skills to rely on when it comes to their education. The future of the students is dependent on these staff members’ knowledge.
Not only do we have excellent and award winning teachers of academics, but we also have great custodians and duties. The key to a great school is a clean school. The staff greatly encourages students to go by the school’s motto: community, excellence, and respect.
The staff is aware how important it is to relate to the students, especially during their high school years. They care for the students with their utmost attention and are given great respect by the student, other staff members, and the community.
Academics
Eagle River High School (ERHS) offers a number of different classes. These vary from advanced placement to special needs courses. Some of the advanced placement classes that we offer include Calculus, Biology, Literature, Language, and U.S. Government. Our first school year, 2005-2006, our students excelled in all sections of the SBA and HSGQE, placing around 10% higher than the district in reading, writing and math (See page 6 of http://www.asdk12.org/depts/assess_eval/POP/0506/schools/EagleRiverHigh.pdf).
Students also have the opportunity to attend the King Career Center- that offers a wide spectrum of courses ranging from culinary arts, tourism or welding. The King Career Center is an off-campus opportunity for students to learn about a specific interest in the working field that one may have. If a student chooses to take a class at the King Career Center it counts as three elective credits each semester.
In order for students to graduate there are certain requirements each student must meet, they must have twenty-two and a half credits. Each student needs four credits of English and Social Studies, two and half credits of math, three credits of science, a one and a half -credits of gym and seven and a half credits of electives. Along with the gym requirements students have to complete one semester of lifetime personal fitness or have the option to test out of it.
In April 2007, Eagle River High School won the state Science Decathalon championships
Athletics
Eagle River is part of Region IV, which competes with all of the other Anchorage-area schools. All primary Alaska School Activities Association-sanctioned sports are offered.
Football
During the first year (2005-2006), Varsity football was not yet offered with Junior Varsity football being the only option. The teams were made up of players who attended Bartlett High School and Chugiak High School in previous years. The JV team did surprisingly well for their first year playing together. They had a 4-4 season and went down to Soldotna to play their first Varsity opponent. The C team also played amazingly well together, although they only won one game (against North Pole High School). They too went down to Soldotna, and played at the JV level.
The second year was a working progress, which the team went 0-8 but they all pushed each other to become better throughout the season. The team only had six seniors.
Hockey
First year of Eagle River hockey there was only a varsity team because of lack of players, there were 13 players and two goalies: a sophomore and a junior. They made up for this lack of players with a "can do attitude" and managed to come out with one victory against the Homer Mariners. Captain of year one team, went to go play Junior B’s in Texas and Canada. Year two was 200% more successful winning two games against Homer Mariners 5-1 and Soldotna Stars 3-2. Going into the second year of this tradition they also had a JV team that won their first game against the Palmer Moose 4-3. Over all in the year endings the school managed to keep their title in state for the second year in a row.
Softball
During the first season of softball, 2005-2006 ASAA, the girl’s softball team won the state competition. The first season was very important, especially playing against a rival high school, Chugiak, the game against them was detrimental for the Wolves to win. "For us, it was a do-or-die game," said Eagle River head coach Doug Callison. "We knew a victory meant we had a chance to secure the top region spot." (http://alaskastar.com/stories/052506/spo_20060525056.shtml). In the state tournament Eagle River girls knew they had a place in the competition after the Chugiak team lost against Juneau-Douglas High School. 12-0 and North Pole team 4-3. (http://alaskastar.com/stories/060806/spo_20060608037.shtml) When eagle river was playing in states against Juneau the final game, the team made an incredible come back after being down 2-0 in the third and won the game!
Girls Soccer
During the first year of Eagle River High School; girls’ soccer only had C and JV teams because only a small number of girls tried out and only a couple seniors, so there was no hope of a Varsity squad being formed.
At the end of the first season, the girls JV team ended with an 8-4 record. Their first win was against Service with a score of 1-0.
When the head coach was asked about how she thought the season went she said, “ It was a success and I am very proud of both girls teams.”
The head coach had to step down due to an injury and is now one of the assistant coaches.
Boys Soccer
The boys had Varsity and JV teams. The Varsity was made up of mainly freshmen. They had four seniors, two juniors, four sophomores and eight freshmen. The JV team was made up of almost completely freshman, but it had a few sophomores and one junior.
The only game the Varsity team won was the 1-0 win against Bartlett High School. The JV team only tied one game against East High School and lost the rest of their games. In the 2007 season, Coaches Dearborn and Thompson had the luxury of cutting people, and only four members of the Varsity squad are freshmen.
Basketball
The Eagle River High basketball program is new to the conference. Eagle River participates in the class 4A sports venue which is the highest in the state. Every state has a ranking of schools by size ranging from 1A to 8A the biggest schools in Alaska are ranked class 4A. Eagle River basketball is in the Cook Inlet conference which consist of 7 other teams. The basketball program has only participated in two varsity seasons. The boys varsity basketball team is currently coached by Mark Ericson. Mark Ericson says that, “the program will have to start from scratch building tradition and loyalty”. In 2006 the boys basketball team held a preseason ranking of 13 in the state of Alaska for 4A boys basketball. The basketball team continues to attempt to build a tradition. In their first year of competition the Wolves finished the conference in sixth but was eliminated by Dimond High School in the first round of regional play. The wolves have yet to advance to the Alaska State tournament but has only participated in two varsity seasons. *Alaska Star
Bowling
The boys and girls bowling team at ERHS claimed they did pretty well this year. They have gotten off to a good start, having the boys team finishing 5th and the girls team finishing 6th, out of eight teams. They practice at the local Eagle River Bowl. On Thursday they have meets at the other bowling alleys against different high schools in the Anchorage area. The other teams are the South Wolverines, Bartlett Bears, West Eagles, East Thunderbirds, Service Cougars, Dimond Lynx, and the Chugiak Mustangs.
Riflery
Tennis
Like other ERHS sports, tennis' first season had a blank slate: a record of 0-14, and last place in the Region IV tournament. But coach Matt Crockett didn't give up on the team; he knew it was new, and over time it would rise up in the ranks. Second year for the tennis season was slightly better, with a record of 1-13 (winning a match against East High School with the individual match records being 8-4), but, according to the coach, the players improved dramatically since the first year. He, along with his tennis team, has optimistic plans involving multiple wins for the 2007 season.
Cross Country Running
The cross-country running season begins July 31st with intensive training before any races begin. Because the school is new, no cross-country trails exist that would surround the school. Lucky for the runners, many other places provide a great place to run; a track circles the gravel field where trees have grown in. The runners themselves have also made some of their own trails: the red and blue trail that leads to and from the river was created so it winds through the woods as well as having some short sections that come up along the side of the highway, a trail that goes straight up the side of the mountain that is just across the highway provides well for strength training, not to mention the view when you get to the top, as well as a small system of trails that are used to run intervals. Races take place in a variety of places including Skyview High School in Soldotna. Service, Bartlett, Chugiak, South, and East High school are all in the Anchorage area. Moon Park, Kincaid Park, Russian Jack Park, Palmer, Hilltop, and Kodiak are also race locations. The races range in distance from 3km to 6km with big variations in the geography of the courses with some being mostly flat like at East High School (a course close to Anchorage Pacific University), to harder courses like the very hilly Skyview course. The normal race season runs until September 23rd but the state championship goes until September 30th. Eagle River had a small group of runners that made it to the state level
Cross Country Skiing
The Cross-Country skiing season starts on October 30th. This sport has by far the longest training period out of all the sports seeing as the first ski race isn’t until December 2nd . Up until the first race, the team remains very active; running every practice, outside jogs, long runs, strength building, and indoor workouts used to build up endurance and muscle. When the snow falls is when skiing can finally happen. The school has no ski trails of its own therefore; there is normally routine transportation by bus to the near Chugiak High School to practice on the Beach Lake trail system. Practice normally starts by taking a few laps around the stadium, followed by the different teams (A, B, C, and so on) splitting up, going out, and skiing the trails according to the plan of each groups coach. The team also meets up at the end of practice before they load the bus, and then departs back to Eagle River High School. The races themselves vary in style and length: from 2km relays, to 5km strength races, to 10km high endurance races. The races also differ between classical skiing, skate skiing, and freestyle skiing. They also take place in many different locations including Kincaid Park, Chugiak and Barlett High Schools, as well as other locations. The normal season runs until February 17th and the state championships run from the 22nd of February to the 24th of February. Like running, skiing also had a small group of the elite, to make it to the state level.
Track and Field
Cheerleading
The competition cheerleading squad has won three first place trophies, one state championship, one regional win and a Pac-West win. The team plans to keep bringing home trophies for years to come.
Wrestling
In the season of 2006-2007 Eagle River High School won the very first conference win against Bartlett. Are next win came to us beating West High School.
Girls' Flag Football
The first year varsity flag football team only beat South High School. They all did a great job for their first year.
Volleyball
For the first two years Bobbi Mason, Coach Diana, Coach Amy, Coach Emily and Coach Lutes have coached volleyball. Five out six of these coaches have played volleyball at a University. In the last couple of years the Eagle River High School Volley ball team has only lost five of their seniors. The volleyball team starts at the end of July ending around the middle of November. Bobbie Mason coaches the Varsity team, and Diana coaches the JV team, and the C team in coached by Amy, and Emily.
Gymnastics
The gymnastics team for Eagle River High School has remained small for both years the school has been operational. Consisting of only about 5 members, the gymnastics team lacks in size but still attends all the meets and competitions. Practices are held in the cafeteria of the school as well as having some combined practice with Chugiak High School in their gym.
Clubs
ERHS contain over 39 clubs, which students are required to attend between second and third period, every other wednesday.
| Club List | |
|---|---|
| “Bowl” –ing for beans | American Sign Lang. |
| Science Fiction | Spanish |
| Chess | Basketball |
| Science Olympiad | Honor Society |
| Technology and Aviation | FCCLA (Family Career and Community Leaders of America) |
| GSA (Gay, Straight, Alliance) | Battle of the books |
| Model United Nations | Debate |
| Recycling/ Environment | Alpha Omega |
| Marine Science | Hackey Sac |
| Card Games | Knitting |
| Fiddle | Dance |
| Model United Nations | Ice Breakers |
| Riflery | Drama, Debate, and Forensics |
| CRC | Sudoku |
| Key Club | Study Hall |
| PEP | Outdoor |
| PLATO | Study hall |
| Board Games | SPED Study Hall |
| Ski/ Snowboarding | Close-up |
DDF Stands for Drama, Debate, and Forenisics. Purpose is to retune the art of logic and public speaking,and to provide the opportunity of practice and dramatic works.
Activities
Eagle River High School has several different ways of getting kids excited about their education. One way is through spirit weeks. Periodically throughout the year, Student Government plans weeks with each day having a different theme. For example, the entire week before homecoming was a spirit week. Some of the days were "Down on the Farm," where staff and students wore farmers clothing, and then there were those very spirited students that came in cow costumes. Another day they planned was "Class Color Day," where freshman wear their color, red, sophomores wear green, juniors wear silver, seniors wear blue, and faculty wears black.
Then there is W.A.C.K.O., which stands for Wild And Crazy Kid Olympics. One day, each year, they have an assembly where students and faculty compete in 10 crazy events against their student body classes to see who will be named W.A.C.K.O. champions. These events include Egg Toss, Pie Eating Competition, Super Relay, Graveyard, Tug-O-War, Dodge Ball, Balloon Relay, Sailor Says, Dance Off, and the Sponge Relay. There’s also a coin drive the week before W.A.C.K.O., and the proceeds are donated to charity.
Another event that is big at Eagle River High School is prom. This is a formal dance for only juniors and seniors to attend, unless you are invited by an upperclassman. The Junior class puts on prom every year. They pay for it and they organize it, they also pick the theme for prom. Planning starts at the beginning of the year, and the function is usually around spring time.