General William J. Palmer High School
Encyclopedia
This article is on the high school located in Colorado Springs. For the high school located in Monument, Colorado
, please see Lewis-Palmer High School
.
General William J. Palmer High School is a secondary school
located in downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado
. The school has a student population of approximately 2,000 students, and attracts enrollment from all over the city. The flagship
high school of School District 11
, Palmer has the oldest International Baccalaureate (IB) program in the area, founded in 1991.
under Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1940. Originally named Colorado Springs High School, Palmer High School was re-named in 1959 after the city's founder, General William Jackson Palmer
. At that date, the city had expanded enough to warrant the building of a second high school, Roy J. Wasson High School
.
The school traces its history back to the 1870s and still uses a "C" for varsity letters, which through 1986 was referred to as the Broken Circle Tribe. In 1894, the successful football
team earned the nickname "holy terrors," and so the school adopted the nickname "Terrors." In 1923, the football team won the national championship, the same year that Fred Fink wrote the beloved "Terror Fight Song." Prior to 1945, the school's mascot was a pit bull
.
In 1945, a Native American
student, Don Willis, designed Eaglebeak, a caricature
of a fictitious Indian chieftain and the teams became the Terrors. In 1985 a local political hopeful criticized the mascot as racist, making Palmer one of the very first cases of controversy over a Native American mascot in the United States
. Despite the fact that the politician, having lost the election, later publicly apologized to the student body and retracted the charge of racism, the damage was done and Eaglebeak was not to return. In the following years, Palmer experimented with a variety of mascots, to include a two-month flirtation with the Tasmanian devil
from Warner Brothers, which nearly led to a lawsuit.
In the early 1990s the high school chose an eagle as its mascot, naming it "Eaglebeak", but without the historical background of the original.
Terror TV is a student television program, about ten minutes long, featuring current students and teachers in skits, interviews, Palmer events and coverage.
Palmer's mock trial program won the Colorado state competition in 2009, and won the Southern Colorado Regional Competition in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. The team has been in the state championship final round three out of the last four years. Palmer will be sending two mock trial teams to state competition in March 2011. Link Text
The Alumni Association established the CSHS/Palmer High School Hall of Fame in 1985 with the inauguration of 14 inductees. Since that time, an average of three alumni have been inducted annually during Homecoming weekend to honor graduates who have gone on to attain prominence in variety of endeavors and have made outstanding contributions to society.
Monument, Colorado
Monument is a growing town situated on the Rampart Range in El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Monument is bordered by Pike National Forest on the west, Colorado Springs and the United States Air Force Academy to the south, foothills and rock outcroppings to the north and rolling plains to...
, please see Lewis-Palmer High School
Lewis-Palmer High School
Lewis-Palmer High School is a high school in Monument, Colorado. It is one of only two high schools in Lewis-Palmer School District 38, the other being Palmer Ridge High School....
.
General William J. Palmer High School is a secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
located in downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
. The school has a student population of approximately 2,000 students, and attracts enrollment from all over the city. The flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
high school of School District 11
Colorado Springs School District 11
The Colorado Springs School District 11 is the central school district of Colorado Springs, Colorado.- History :The first school in Colorado Springs was organized by Mary Mellen "Queen" Palmer, wife of city founder William Jackson Palmer, in late 1871. Classes were first held in a home on the...
, Palmer has the oldest International Baccalaureate (IB) program in the area, founded in 1991.
History
Palmer High School is located at 301 North Nevada Avenue in Colorado Springs. The present building was built by the Works Progress AdministrationWorks Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
under Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1940. Originally named Colorado Springs High School, Palmer High School was re-named in 1959 after the city's founder, General William Jackson Palmer
William Jackson Palmer
William Jackson Palmer was an American civil engineer, soldier, industrialist, and philanthropist.-Overview:...
. At that date, the city had expanded enough to warrant the building of a second high school, Roy J. Wasson High School
Roy J. Wasson High School
Roy J. Wasson High School is the second-oldest high school in District 11 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.The Wasson High School campus includes Garry Berry Stadium, the primary high school sports venue for District 11....
.
The school traces its history back to the 1870s and still uses a "C" for varsity letters, which through 1986 was referred to as the Broken Circle Tribe. In 1894, the successful football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
team earned the nickname "holy terrors," and so the school adopted the nickname "Terrors." In 1923, the football team won the national championship, the same year that Fred Fink wrote the beloved "Terror Fight Song." Prior to 1945, the school's mascot was a pit bull
American Pit Bull Terrier
The American Pit Bull Terrier is a medium-sized, solidly built, short haired dog whose early ancestors came from England and Ireland...
.
In 1945, a Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
student, Don Willis, designed Eaglebeak, a caricature
Caricature
A caricature is a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others.Caricatures can be...
of a fictitious Indian chieftain and the teams became the Terrors. In 1985 a local political hopeful criticized the mascot as racist, making Palmer one of the very first cases of controversy over a Native American mascot in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Despite the fact that the politician, having lost the election, later publicly apologized to the student body and retracted the charge of racism, the damage was done and Eaglebeak was not to return. In the following years, Palmer experimented with a variety of mascots, to include a two-month flirtation with the Tasmanian devil
Tasmanian Devil (Looney Tunes)
The Tasmanian Devil, often referred to as Taz, is an animated cartoon character featured in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes series of cartoons. The character appeared in only five shorts before Warner Bros...
from Warner Brothers, which nearly led to a lawsuit.
In the early 1990s the high school chose an eagle as its mascot, naming it "Eaglebeak", but without the historical background of the original.
School activities and programs
The Lever is Palmer's student run newspaper. It is run by students with a teacher serving as an advisor. The newspaper is published nearly every school month, and is free to all students and staff members. Recently, the newspaper digitized its previous issues, and can now be accessed online.Terror TV is a student television program, about ten minutes long, featuring current students and teachers in skits, interviews, Palmer events and coverage.
Palmer's mock trial program won the Colorado state competition in 2009, and won the Southern Colorado Regional Competition in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. The team has been in the state championship final round three out of the last four years. Palmer will be sending two mock trial teams to state competition in March 2011. Link Text
Feeder patterns
Middle schools that feed into Palmer include- Horace Mann Middle School
- North Middle School
CSHS-Palmer Alumni Association
The CSHS-Palmer Alumni Association, Inc., founded in 1984, has a very active membership in excess of 1000 members. The association sponsors activities both at the school and in the community. Activities at the school included Homecoming, the Senior Brunch, the Night School dinner, the bell tower and clock maintenance program, school Beautification Day in the spring, the "Link Crew" program (where upperclassmen mentor incoming freshmen), and the "I Love to Read" program for elementary students. Several scholarship funds are supported as well, including the Ron Tuttle Memorial scholarship and the Bob Isaac Memorial scholarship.The Alumni Association established the CSHS/Palmer High School Hall of Fame in 1985 with the inauguration of 14 inductees. Since that time, an average of three alumni have been inducted annually during Homecoming weekend to honor graduates who have gone on to attain prominence in variety of endeavors and have made outstanding contributions to society.
Notable alumni
Notable alumni of Palmer High School include:- Robert M. IsaacRobert M. IsaacRobert Michael "Bob" Isaac was the Republican Mayor of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Elected in April 1979, he was the first popularly elected mayor in the history of Colorado Springs, serving five four-year terms through 1997...
(1945, as Colorado Springs High School), mayor of Colorado Springs - Cassandra PetersonCassandra PetersonCassandra Peterson is an American actress best known for her on-screen horror hostess character Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. She gained fame on Los Angeles television station KHJ wearing a black, gothic, cleavage-enhancing gown as host of Movie Macabre, a weekly horror movie presentation...
(1969), who played Elvira, Mistress of the Dark - Reginald McKnightReginald McKnight-Life:McKnight was born 26 February 1956 in Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany to an Air Force family; therefore, he moved around a lot in childhood, although he calls Colorado home...
(1974) novelist, short story writer, Hamilton Holmes Professor of English at the University of GeorgiaUniversity of GeorgiaThe University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States... - Robert L. Gordon IIIRobert L. Gordon IIIRobert "Rob" L. Gordon III is currently the , effective July 19, 2010, assigned to the Office of the Secretary of Defense.Gordon is responsible for defense-wide policy, advocacy, and oversight of worldwide community support to service members, families, and retirees, to include the Department of...
(1975, Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Military Community and Family Policy) - Chris FowlerChris FowlerChris Fowler is a sports broadcaster for ESPN known best for his work on College GameDay for college football. Since 1989, Fowler has been the primary studio host for college football. Until 2006, he was also the lead studio host for men's college basketball on ESPN...
(1980), host of ESPNESPNEntertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
College Gameday - Lance ArmstrongLance ArmstrongLance Edward Armstrong is an American former professional road racing cyclist who won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times, after having survived testicular cancer. He is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research and support...
(graduated elsewhere), seven-time consecutive Tour de FranceTour de FranceThe Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
winner, founder of the philanthropic Lance Armstrong FoundationLance Armstrong FoundationThe Lance Armstrong Foundation is a United States 501 nonprofit organization that provides support for people affected by cancer, founded in 1997 by cancer survivor and champion cyclist Lance Armstrong. The LAF states that its mission is 'to inspire and empower' cancer sufferers and their families... - Bryce CaseYTCrackerBryce Case, Jr. , otherwise known as YTCracker , is a former cracker most known for defacing the webpages of several federal and municipal government websites in the United States, as well as several in private industry at the age of 17...
(2000), rapperRappingRapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
, former hackerHacker (computer security)In computer security and everyday language, a hacker is someone who breaks into computers and computer networks. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, including profit, protest, or because of the challenge...
, and internet entrepreneur
External links and references
- official Palmer High School website
- history
- CSHS/Palmer Alumni Association
- Student's art battle winds up unifying, Mark Arnest, The Gazette (May 20, 2005)
- Class dismissed: Planned Parenthood ejected from District 11 schools, deYoanna, Michael, The Independent (February 24, 2005)