Heritage High School (Saginaw, Michigan)

Heritage High School
Address
3465 N. Center Road Saginaw Township, Michigan, Saginaw County 48603 United States
Coordinates	43°27′22″N 84°00′57″W / 43.4561°N 84.0159°W / 43.4561; -84.0159Coordinates: 43°27′22″N 84°00′57″W / 43.4561°N 84.0159°W / 43.4561; -84.0159
Information
School type	Public, High school
Established	1988
Status	Open
School district	Saginaw Township Community Schools
Superintendent	Douglas Trombley
CEEB code	233286
NCES School ID	263045006701[1]
Principal	Michael Newman
Athletic Director	Pete Ryan
Teaching staff	76.29 (2012-13)[1]
Grades	9 to 12
Gender	Co-ed
Number of students	1,565 (2012-13)[1]
Student to teacher ratio	20.51 (2012-13)[1]
Language	English
Color(s)	Navy Blue      Kelly Green
Athletics conference	Saginaw Valley League
Mascot	Hawks
Accreditation	North Central Association
USNWR ranking	Unranked[2]
Average ACT scores	26[3]
Class/Div	Class A/Division 1
Website	Heritage High School Website

Heritage High School is the primary high school in the Saginaw Township Community Schools district. Heritage is located on North Center Road in Saginaw Charter Township, Michigan and is recognized as an International Baccalaureate World School.

History

Heritage was the product of a merger between Douglas MacArthur High School (which now houses White Pine Middle School) and Dwight D. Eisenhower High School (which now houses Heritage) in 1988, after Eisenhower High School was severely damaged in a 1987 arson. Selecting one color from each of its parent schools, Heritage's official colors are Navy Blue and Kelly Green. Its nickname is "Hawks."

Academics

Heritage offers numerous Advanced Placement courses, and beginning with the 2006-2007 school year the school has participated in the International Baccalaureate program.

Heritage also has an Academic Quiz Bowl team where students compete in local tournaments and then advance onto state tournaments. The Quiz bowl team of 2006-2007 was undefeated in the local Kiwanis tournament and also advanced to the Michigan State Quiz Bowl tournament.

Besides the Quiz Bowl team, Heritage also participates in the local Science Olympiad.

Demographics

Heritage High Schoo's demographic profile from the 2012-13 school year:^[1]

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Athletics

Heritage's football team competes in the Saginaw Valley League, going 9-0 in regular season play in 2006-2007. Heritage plays its home games at Larsen Field named in honor of former principal Allan Larsen.

The school's athletic teams include football, marching band/winterguard and percussion, cross-country, soccer, golf, basketball, pompon, swimming, tennis, cheerleading, hockey, skiing, wrestling, bowling, volleyball, baseball, softball, tennis, and track. A lacrosse club was instituted in the spring of 2008.

The varsity wrestling team "three-peated" for District champions in the 2008, 2009,and 2010 seasons.^[4][5] They also went undefeated in the Saginaw Valley League in the 2010-2011 season.^[6]

The men's varsity cross country team "Five-peated" as Saginaw Valley League and Saginaw County Champions. They were Regional champions through the 2007-2009 seasons, losing to grand Blanc in 2010 and taking back the title in 2011. The team placed 7th at the state meet in Division 1 competition in 2007, was the state runner up in 2008, placed 6th in 2009, placed 8th in 2010, and placed 8th in 2011.

The Hawks have won state championships in men's track, women's soccer, women's basketball, and pom pon. In 2002-03, Heritage was honored as an "Exemplary Athletic Program" by the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators' Association.

The boys ice hockey team has reached the state semi finals in 2004 and 2009^[7][8]

The boys soccer team reached the State Class A Finals in 1991, playing to a 2 - 1 overtime loss to Class A Livonia Stevenson.^[9]

The men's swim team of 1988-1989 was the first team to have a perfect season. The "Aqua-Hawks" won their first, and only, Saginaw Valley League Championship in 2002.

Heritage High School Championships

Pompon

• Class A Highkick Champions - 2013
• Class A State Champions - 2014, 2005, 2003, 2002, 1997, 1989

Traditions

Homecoming

Heritage homecoming is a huge event for Saginaw Township. It begins at school with a spirit week to get every one excited for the Homecoming Football game. Then there is a parade down Shattuck Road.

Class competition

Class competition is probably the most important tradition to Heritage students. Each year, the Senior Class Council selects a mascot (typically a character from a cartoon or children's literature) for the incoming freshman class. Class mascots include:

• Class of 1988 - Gumby's Group
• Class of 1989 - Pee Wee's Pals
• Class of 1990 - Popeye's People
• Class of 1991 - Fred Flintstone's Friends
• Class of 1992 - ALF's Aliens The first class to win the class trip as Juniors and Seniors.
• Class of 1993 - Batman's Buddies
• Class Of 1994 - Bart's Brats
• Class of 1995 - Cookie Monster's Clan. The second 2-year winner of the class trip awarded to the class competition winner.
• Class of 1996 - Gonzo's Gang, with teal as the class color.
• Class of 1997 - Barney's Bunch (Originally the class mascot was intended to be Barney from Barney & Friends but due to the non-specific nature of the mascot being assigned as "Barney" (as defined by the Senior class of '94) the class of '97 'modified' their Barney mascot to Mr. Rubble from The Flintstones. The change was a topic of heated debate between the classes at the time).
• Class of 1998 - Waldo's Wonders. Class color was gray.
• Class of 1999 - Power Rangers (Specific 'Ranger' used varied, though usually it was either the original pink pterodactyl ranger, Red Tyrannosaurus ranger or some non-canonical zeo-like version (as seen printed on the HHS 10-year anniversary shirt) usually modified to be purple matching the class's designated class color).
• Class of 2000 - Big Bird's Babies
• Class of 2001 - Kermit's Kids
• Class of 2002 - Rainbow Brite's Brigade
• Class of 2003 - Sebastian's Shrimps (The 3rd class to win back to back class competitions)
• Class of 2004 - Tigger's Tikes
• Class of 2005 - Hulk's Heroes
• Class of 2006 - Skeeter's Squeakers
• Class of 2007 - Clifford's Club - The fourth class to win 2 class competitions, Class Color: Red
• Class of 2008 - Sylvester's SuperSquad, Class Color: Black
• Class of 2009 - Oompa-Loompa Troop, Class Color: Orange
• Class of 2010 - Franklin's Fanatics, Class Color: Green
• Class of 2011 - Beaker's Brainy Bunch, Class Color: Pink
• Class of 2012 - Thomas' Terrific Team, Class color: Sky Blue
• Class of 2013 - Dino's Dawgs, Class color: Purple
• Class of 2014 - Mr Potato Heads' Tater Tot Troop, Class color: Brown
• Class of 2015 - Pumbaa's Prancing Pals, Class color: Maroon
• Class of 2016 - Marlin's Mob, Class color: Orange
• Class of 2017 - Mike's Mighty Munchkins, Class color: Lime Green
• Class of 2018 - Genie's Wishful Wanderers, Class color: Blue
• Class of 2019 - Pikachu's Peeps, Class Color: Yellow
• Class of 2020 - Mushu, Class Color: Red

Under the banner of their class mascot, the freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors engage in a year-long competition for points. Points can be won through participation in special school-spirit days, winning the monthly bulletin-board contest, and competing head-to-head during events such as the annual Spring Fever day.

The class which has accrued the most points at the end of the year is rewarded with a day-long trip to a class picnic.

Theatre

Each year, the Heritage Players put on a "straight show" in the autumn and a musical in the spring. Examples include:

• A Christmas Carol (2001)
• Big (musical) (2002)
• Heaven Can Wait (2002)
• Guys and Dolls (musical) (2003)
• The Tempest (2003),
• Fiddler on the Roof (musical) (2004)
• Cinderella (musical) (2004)
• Get Smart (2005)
• M*A*S*H (2005)
• Footloose (musical) (2006)
• Much Ado About Nothing (2006)
• Les Misérables (musical) (2007)
• It’s a Wonderful Life (2007)
• Aida (musical) (2008)
• It Was a Dark and Stormy Night (2008)
• The Sound of Music (2009)
• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2009)
• Bye Bye Birdie (2010)
• Annie (2010)
• Alice in Wonderland (2011)
• Back to the 80's (2011)
• Pride and Prejudice (2012)
• Into the Woods (2012)
• Night at the Wax Museum (2013)

In 2014, the Theater Director changed to Lori Duncan. There is now a middle school musical combined with the high school in the fall, with rehearsals at White Pine Middle school.

Other entertainment

Heritage students also produce four other annual shows: Mock Rock, the Culture Show, Mr Heritage, and the talent show. There is also Spring Fever day in the spring.

Mock Rock usually consists of about half a dozen acts, each of which parodies songs, television shows, or other aspects of popular culture. At the end of the event, the audience votes for the winning act by acclamation.

Mock Rock Winners:

• 2011 Glee parody group, Glum. People's choice and third-place winners were Boys Against the World.
• 2012 Bruno Mars Medley titled "Bruno Scars".
• 2014 Pitch Perfect themed skit, titled "Pitch Imperfect". People's choice winners were a group of senior boys called the "Couch Potatoes" (being that their mascot was Mr. Potato Head)
• 2015 The Other Direction Rendition of several different boy band songs. The Other Direction also won the People's Choice award.

The Culture Show comprises mostly musical acts selected and produced by the Heritage Multicultural Club. After the acts have concluded, the audience is invited to the Student Center to engage in a buffet of exotic foods.The first annual culture show took place in 1999.

Mr Heritage is HHS's male beauty pageant. Participants engage in a wide variety of activities, including a talent portion, dancing, and an interview. They are systematically eliminated by a group of staff judges until a winner is crowned "Mr Heritage" for that year.

The talent show is generally a more serious event than the other annual shows, offering an opportunity for Heritage's student body to showcase its abilities to the community.

Spring Fever is essentially a field day where the classes compete in activities and challenges against the other classes.

Notable alumni

• Stuart Schweigert, National Football League: Detroit Lions, Oakland Raiders
• Andrew Crechiolo, American Olympic Decathlete (2000 Summer Olympics)
• Christin Trogan, Film and television producer. Notable: Funny or Die, National Football League broadcasting^[16]
• Don Barris, Audience warm-up comedian (Jimmy Kimmel Live!)
• Mickey Singh, Singer
• Chris Baldwin, gained fame as a University of Michigan student for televised "Surrender Cobra" pose after the 2015 Michigan State vs Michigan football game^[17]

References

1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Search for Public Schools - School Detail for Heritage High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved March 23, 2015. 
2. ↑ "Heritage High School in Saginaw, MI - Best High Schools - US News". usnews.com. 
3. ↑ "Heritage High School". K-12 School Rankings and Reviews at Niche.com. February 25, 2015. 
4. ↑ "2009 Team Wrestling Regionals". mhsaa.com. Retrieved March 27, 2015. 
5. ↑ "2010 Team Districts". mhsaa.com. Retrieved March 27, 2015. 
6. ↑ "Heritage wrestling claims first Saginaw Valley League title in program history". mlive.com. Retrieved March 27, 2015. 
7. ↑ "2004 MHSAA Ice Hockey Division 2 Semifinal Compuware Arena, Plymouth March 11, 2004". mhsaa.com. Retrieved March 27, 2015. 
8. ↑ "2009 MHSAA Ice Hockey Division 2 Semifinal Compuware Sports Arena, Plymouth March 12". mhsaa.com. Retrieved March 27, 2015. 
9. 1 2 "Boys Soccer Yearly Champions". mhsaa.com. Retrieved March 27, 2015. 
10. ↑ "Heritage HS". MHSAA. 
11. ↑ "Boys Cross Country Yearly Champions". mhsaa.com. Retrieved March 27, 2015. 
12. ↑ "Boys Bowling Team Champions". mhsaa.com. Retrieved March 27, 2015. 
13. ↑ "Boys Track and Field Team Champions". mhsaa.com. Retrieved March 27, 2015. 
14. ↑ "Girls Basketball Yearly Champions". mhsaa.com. Retrieved March 27, 2015. 
15. ↑ "Girls Soccer Yearly Champions". mhsaa.com. Retrieved March 27, 2015. 
16. ↑ "Christin Trogan - Producer - Filmography (IMDb)". Internet Movie Database. 
17. ↑ "Michigan, MSU fans show their agony, ecstasy to nation". mlive. 

External links

• Heritage High School
• Heritage High School Alumni Michigan Class Reunion
• Saginaw Township Community Schools