South Eugene High School

South Eugene High School
Address
400 East 19th Ave. Eugene , (Lane County) , Oregon 97401 United States
Coordinates	44°02′20″N123°05′13″W / 44.0388°N 123.087°W / 44.0388; -123.087
Information
Type	Public
School district	Eugene School District
Principal	Carey Killen [1] [2]
Teaching staff	66.76 (FTE) [3]
Grades	9-12
Number of students	1,484 (2023–2024) [3]
Student to teacher ratio	22.23 [3]
Color(s)	Purple and white    [1]
Athletics conference	OSAA Southwest Conference 6A-6 [1]
Mascot	The Axe [4]
Rival	Sheldon High School
Newspaper	The Axe
Website	www.sehs.4j.lane.edu

South Eugene High School is a public high school located in Eugene, Oregon, United States.

History

The school was founded as Eugene High School around 1900, and was located at Willamette Street and West 11th Avenue in a brick building that later served as Eugene's city hall. The Eugene school district in 1915 built a new high school on a one-block site on West 17th Avenue between Lincoln and Charnelton Streets. ^[5]

By 1943, the Eugene School District had outgrown the cramped old high school, and voters approved a bond measure to build a new facility. World War II and other factors delayed construction for a decade, but the current building at 400 E. 19th Avenue was completed and occupied in September 1953. The old high school then served as Woodrow Wilson Junior High School until 1967 (the previous Wilson building was converted to Lincoln Elementary School in 1953).

In the fall of 1957, Eugene High was renamed South Eugene High School, when North Eugene High School opened in the River Road area north of the city. ^[6]

In April 2018, after more than 90 years as the Axemen, the name of the school mascot was officially changed to The Axe. ^[7]

Academics

In 1983, South Eugene High School was honored in the Blue Ribbon Schools Program, the highest honor a school can receive in the United States. ^[8]

In 2008, 89% of the school's seniors received a high school diploma. Of 410 students, 363 graduated, 40 dropped out, and seven were still in high school the following year. ^{[9] [10]}

The school has regularly received a silver ranking in U.S. News & World Report 's "America's Best High Schools" survey. ^{[11] [12] [13] [14]}

In 2010, a student at the school was honored as a Presidential Scholar, one of three from Oregon. ^[15] A student at the school won the Intel Science Talent Search in 2009 after another South Eugene student placed third in 2007; other students have been named finalists or semifinalists in recent years. ^{[16] [17]}

South Eugene High School hosts a branch of the Eugene International High School, which offers International Baccalaureate courses as well as the International Baccalaureate Diploma. The main campus of South Eugene High School offers numerous Advanced Placement courses as well as honors courses.

South Eugene High School offers 14 Advanced Placement (AP) classes and opportunities for college credit through Lane Community College and the University of Oregon. ^[18]

Activities

The school has many athletic teams (men's and women's ultimate frisbee, volleyball, football, lacrosse, cheerleading, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's basketball, wrestling, men's and women's golf, men's and women's tennis, men’s and women’s swimming, softball, baseball, cross country and track and field) and other student activities, such as band, choir, theater, orchestra and visual arts, as well as various student clubs. ^[19]

South Eugene High School also offers a wide variety of clubs and programs. These include Speech and Debate, Alpine and Nordic Ski teams, National Honor Society, Rowing Club, Red Cross Club, Rotary Interact, Black Student Union, Feminist Union, Figure of Speech, Jewish Student Union, Habitat for Humanity, Key Club, Latino Student Union, Model United Nations, Wring Club, Mock Trial, Gender & Sexuality Alliance, South Eugene Robotics Team (FIRST Robotics Competition Team 2521), and the Yiddish Club. ^[20]

State championships

• Boys soccer: 1998, 2002 ^[21]
• Girls basketball: 1987, 1999 ^[22]
• Baseball: 1961, 1962 ^[23]
• Boys track and field: 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983 ^[24]
• Girls track and field: 1975, 2019 ^[25]
• Gender diverse ultimate frisbee: 2024, ^[26] 2023, 2022

Bomb Threats of 2023

On May 3 of 2023, the first of a series of bomb threats were made against the school. This happened again on May 10, May 16, and May 24. Following an investigation that involved both the Eugene PD and the FBI, it was determined that two students had been paying someone to call in the threats. ^[27] No further information has been released and no threats have since been made.

Notable alumni

• Sam Adams (Class of 1982 ^[28] ), former mayor of Portland, Oregon
• Cecil Andrus (Class of 1948), Governor of Idaho (1971–1977, 1987–1995) and U.S. Secretary of the Interior (1977–1981)
• Garner Ted Armstrong (Class of 1947), televangelist for the Worldwide Church of God
• Phil Barnhart (Class of 1964 ^[29] ), Oregon state representative ^[30]
• John Beckett (Class of 1912), member of the College Football Hall of Fame
• Bryce Boettcher (Class of 2021), college football linebacker and professional baseball outfielder ^[31]
• Tracy Bonham (Class of 1984), musician
• Richard Brautigan (Class of 1953), counterculture author and poet
• Chris Carter (Class of 1991), record producer
• E. Max Frye (Class of 1973), screenwriter and director
• Neil Goldschmidt (Class of 1958), mayor of Portland (1973–1979), Governor of Oregon (1987–1991), and United States Secretary of Transportation (1979–1981)
• Tim Hardin (Class of 1960), anti-war folk singer ^[32]
• Rick Hawn (Class of 1994), mixed martial arts fighter ^[33]
• The Hunches (Class of 1999), rock band
• Jonh Ingham (Class of 1968 ^[34] ), pop music journalist
• Nate Jaqua (Class of 2000), MLS soccer player ^[35]
• Gerald R. Johnson (Class of 1938), United States Army Air Forces pilot and the fourth ranking USAAF flying ace in the Pacific during World War II
• Ben Kaplan (Class of 1995), author
• Mat Kearney (Class of 1997), singer and songwriter ^[36]
• John Kitzhaber (Class of 1965), Governor of Oregon (1995–2003, 2011–2015)
• Mike Lafferty (Class of 1966), World Cup alpine ski racer, 1972 Olympian
• Dustin Lanker (Class of 1993), keyboardist for the Cherry Poppin' Daddies and the Mad Caddies
• Boseko Lokombo, professional football player
• Bill McChesney (Class of 1977), 1980 Olympian in track and field
• Miguel McKelvey (Class of 1992), co-founder of WeWork ^[37]
• Jason Moss (Class of 1986), guitarist for the Cherry Poppin' Daddies ^[38]
• Charlotte Plummer Owen, bandleader and clarinetist ^[39]
• Abraham Palmer, (Class of 1988), behavior geneticist
• Julie Payne (Class of 1964), actress
• Edwin J. Peterson (Class of 1947), Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice ^[40]
• Paul Pierson (Class of 1977), political scientist, author
• Rock n Roll Soldiers (Class of 2001), rock band
• Brian Rowe (Class of 2006), MLS goalkeeper ^[41]
• Heidi Schellman (Class of 1975), physicist, head of Department of Physics at Oregon State University
• Dan Siegel (Class of 1972), pianist, composer and record producer
• Paul Simon(Class of 1945 ^{[ citation needed ]}), United States senator ^[42]
• Holly Goldberg Sloan (Class of 1976), film director, screenwriter, novelist
• Blake Stepp (Class of 2000), professional basketball player
• Corin Tucker (Class of 1990), lead singer of Sleater-Kinney
• Theresa Wayman (Class of 1998), Calvin Klein model, movie actress, keyboardist and singer for Warpaint
• Abraham Wickelgren (Class of 1987), law and economics professor, University of Texas at Austin
• Michelle Zauner (Class of 2007), musician and author

References

1. OSAA.org :: Schools
2. "Oregon School Directory 2008-09" (PDF). Oregon Department of Education. p. 139. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 26, 2011. Retrieved May 28, 2009.
3. "South Eugene High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved December 10, 2024.
4. Roemeling, Alisha (February 13, 2018). "In a fell swoop, the 'Axemen' of South Eugene High School become the 'Axe'". The Register-Guard . Retrieved March 31, 2018.
5. "1955 History of Eugene & University High Schools" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2011.
6. "History – South Eugene High School".
7. "South Eugene "Axemen" Changing to "Axe"".
8. Archived: Blue Ribbon Schools Program, Schools Recognized 1982-1983 Through 1999-2002 (PDF)
9. "State releases high school graduation rates". The Oregonian . June 30, 2009. Retrieved July 1, 2009.
10. "Oregon dropout rates for 2008". The Oregonian . June 30, 2009. Retrieved July 1, 2009.
11. "Best High Schools". U.S. News & World Report . December 9, 2009. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
12. Williams, Anne (January 30, 2008). "Small schools, big result". The Register-Guard . Retrieved January 25, 2012.
13. Graves, Bill (January 15, 2010). "Nine Oregon high schools ranked among best in nation". The Oregonian . Retrieved January 16, 2010.
14. Williams, Anne (June 23, 2010). "Tardy South Eugene [temporarily] absent from 'best schools' list". The Register-Guard . Retrieved January 25, 2012.
15. Hammond, Betsy (May 3, 2010). "Presidential scholars: Oregon scores three". The Oregonian . Retrieved May 3, 2010.
16. Brugger, Joe (March 10, 2009). "Eugene high school student wins $100,000, a laptop and a bright future". The Oregonian . Retrieved January 26, 2012.
17. Owen, Wendy (January 11, 2012). "Three Beaverton area students are among the Intel Science Talent Search semifinalists". The Oregonian . Retrieved January 26, 2012.
18. "Navigating South: Opportunities at Our School". South Eugene High School. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
19. "South Eugene High School »". Archived from the original on September 22, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
20. "Clubs 2018-2019 - South Eugene High School". sehs.4j.lane.edu. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
21. "OSAA Boys Soccer Championships" (PDF). Oregon School Activities Association .
22. "OSAA Girls Basketball Championships" (PDF). Oregon School Activities Association .
23. "OSAA Baseball Championships" (PDF). Oregon School Activities Association .
24. "OSAA Boys Track & Field Championships" (PDF). Oregon School Activities Association .
25. "OSAA Boys Track & Field Championships" (PDF). Oregon School Activities Association .
26. Kahle, Ariana Golemis, Quinn (June 13, 2024). "High School National Invite 2024: Tournament Recap (Girls Division)". Ultiworld. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
27. "Police: 2 students paid person to make 4 bomb threats at Eugene, OR high school". Archived from the original on May 31, 2023. Retrieved December 23, 2024.
28. "Sam Adams Wants Another Chance". October 2, 2019.
29. "Oregon Secretary of State".
30. May 2006 Oregon Voters' Pamphlet
31. Crepea, James (September 3, 2023). "2-sport athlete Bryce Boettcher becomes first walk-on to start for Oregon football since 2017". OregonLive.com. Retrieved October 12, 2024.
32. Tim Hardin Archived May 9, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
33. "Rick Hawn MMA Bio" . Retrieved March 24, 2018.
34. "Old Friends - Class of 1968 - South Eugene High School - $3 Lifetime subscription".
35. former player for Seattle Sounders FC: Roster: Player Bio
36. Lamberson, Carolyn (October 27, 2005). "Hometown boy takes an unlikely path to Nashville". Eugene Register-Guard . Retrieved August 24, 2012.
37. "Following a Passion – Eugene Weekly" . Retrieved July 9, 2019.
38. 'Band on the Run'. The Register-Guard . February 19, 1996.
39. The Grove Dictionary of American Music. OUP USA. January 2013. ISBN   978-0-19-531428-1.
40. "Edwin J. Peterson (1930–)".
41. "Brian Rowe".
42. Lininger, Tom (December 18, 2003). "The Sound of Silence". Eugene Weekly . Retrieved March 14, 2010.

External links

• 1955 History of Eugene and University High Schools