Grosse Pointe North High School
Encyclopedia
Grosse Pointe North High School, commonly called North, is a public high school
in Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan
, a suburb of Detroit
. The school opened in 1968 after Grosse Pointe High School was split into two schools, and Grosse Pointe North took the northern side of Grosse Pointe's students and Northeastern Harper Woods' students. It is a member of the Grosse Pointe Public School System
. The principal is Tim Bearden, while the assistant principals are Tom Beach, Kate Murray, and Ben Bandfield. As of 2011, roughly 1400 students were enrolled at GPNHS. This school is ranked #899 on Newsweek
's 2008 list of the Best High Schools in America. It has also received a rating of "A" on the Michigan Report Card.
, basketball
, crew
, cross country
, football
, golf
, ice hockey
, lacrosse
, sailing
, soccer, swimming & diving
, tennis
, track & field, and wrestling
. Girls sports include: basketball
, cheerleading
, crew
, cross country
, dance team, field hockey
, golf
, gymnastics
, ice hockey
, lacrosse
, sailing
, soccer, softball
, swimming & diving, tennis
, track & field, and volleyball
. Grosse Pointe North has won numerous state championship titles: Baseball (1980, 2006), Girls' Basketball (2008), Boys' Cross Country (1973, 1975, 1976, 1982), Boys' Hockey (2001, 2002), and Girls' Swimming & Diving (1999).
Some of the most recent outstanding teams that the school has had include:
The 2005 boy's varsity
basketball team recorded a school record in wins and made it to the state semifinals, becoming the most successful boy's basketball team in Grosse Pointe history. The team was led by Michael Bramos
, who went on to play for Miami University
and now currently plays for the Spanish ACB League club Gran Canaria.
In 1999 the girl's lacrosse team also won the state championship.
The 2006 Boys' Varsity Baseball team was ranked first in the state and broke the school record in wins, finishing the season with a record of 38-1. It also became the first state championship baseball team of Grosse Pointe North in 26 years. The team went on to receive national recognition by earning a top 10 national ranking. Also, the EA Sports All-American team recognized coach Frank Sumbera as national coach of the year and pitcher Michael Kaiser as 2nd team All-American.
In 2008, under the team motto, "WE READY", the girl's varsity basketball team went on to the Class A state championship
game against East Lansing
, winning 58-46. It was the school's first girl's basketball state title.
The boys cross country team has been to Michigan State finals more than any other Grosse Pointe North team.
Since 1995, Grosse Pointe North's football team has only lost to Grosse Pointe South four times, once in 2001, 2002, 2010, and 2011.
, are credited as being the first high school group to build its own radio telescope from scratch in the United States.
The Quiz Bowl team won the Class A Michigan High School State Championship in 2010 and participates in many NAQT tournaments. The team has attended the NAQT National High School Championship tournament (HSNCT) many times in recent years, more notably for their 16th place win in 2006 and 11th in 2008. Notable players from recent years include Jamie Ding (4th place NAQT HSNCT 2009 All-Star), and Stephen Morrison (9th place NAQT HSNCT 2011 All-Star).
The school also is renown for their two bands and their orchestra. They have four instrumental extracurricular clubs: Pep Band, Pit Orchestra, Jazz Band, and Chamber Orchestra.
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
in Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan
Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan
Grosse Pointe Woods is a suburban city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan, comprising a large portion of the Grosse Pointe communities. The population was 16,135 at the 2010 census...
, a suburb of Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
. The school opened in 1968 after Grosse Pointe High School was split into two schools, and Grosse Pointe North took the northern side of Grosse Pointe's students and Northeastern Harper Woods' students. It is a member of the Grosse Pointe Public School System
Grosse Pointe Public School System
Grosse Pointe Public School System is a school district headquartered in Grosse Pointe, Michigan.-High schools:* Grosse Pointe North High School * Grosse Pointe South High School -Middle schools:...
. The principal is Tim Bearden, while the assistant principals are Tom Beach, Kate Murray, and Ben Bandfield. As of 2011, roughly 1400 students were enrolled at GPNHS. This school is ranked #899 on Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
's 2008 list of the Best High Schools in America. It has also received a rating of "A" on the Michigan Report Card.
Athletics
Boys sports include: baseballBaseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, crew
Crew
A crew is a body or a class of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard...
, cross country
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
, 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...
, golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
, lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
, sailing
Sailing
Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the boat relative to its surrounding medium and...
, soccer, swimming & diving
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, track & field, and wrestling
Wrestling
Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
. Girls sports include: basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, cheerleading
Cheerleading
Cheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...
, crew
Crew
A crew is a body or a class of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard...
, cross country
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
, dance team, field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
, golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, gymnastics
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...
, ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
, lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
, sailing
Sailing
Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the boat relative to its surrounding medium and...
, soccer, softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
, swimming & diving, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, track & field, and volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
. Grosse Pointe North has won numerous state championship titles: Baseball (1980, 2006), Girls' Basketball (2008), Boys' Cross Country (1973, 1975, 1976, 1982), Boys' Hockey (2001, 2002), and Girls' Swimming & Diving (1999).
Some of the most recent outstanding teams that the school has had include:
The 2005 boy's varsity
Varsity team
In the United States and Canada, varsity sports teams are the principal athletic teams representing a college, university, high school or other secondary school. Such teams compete against the principal athletic teams at other colleges/universities, or in the case of secondary schools, against...
basketball team recorded a school record in wins and made it to the state semifinals, becoming the most successful boy's basketball team in Grosse Pointe history. The team was led by Michael Bramos
Michael Bramos
Michail Antonios Bramos, commonly known as Michael Bramos is a Greek American professional basketball player. He is a 1.98 m tall shooting guard-small forward with a 2.13m wingspan.-College career:...
, who went on to play for Miami University
Miami University
Miami University is a coeducational public research university located in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and the second oldest university in Ohio, founded four years after Ohio University. In its 2012 edition, U.S...
and now currently plays for the Spanish ACB League club Gran Canaria.
In 1999 the girl's lacrosse team also won the state championship.
The 2006 Boys' Varsity Baseball team was ranked first in the state and broke the school record in wins, finishing the season with a record of 38-1. It also became the first state championship baseball team of Grosse Pointe North in 26 years. The team went on to receive national recognition by earning a top 10 national ranking. Also, the EA Sports All-American team recognized coach Frank Sumbera as national coach of the year and pitcher Michael Kaiser as 2nd team All-American.
In 2008, under the team motto, "WE READY", the girl's varsity basketball team went on to the Class A state championship
State Championship
New Zealand has had a domestic first-class cricket championship since the 1906–07 season. It is currently known as the Plunket Shield, reintroducing the name used in the early stages for the 2009–10 season.-Plunket Shield:...
game against East Lansing
East Lansing High School
East Lansing High School is a public high school in the city of East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It is managed by the East Lansing Public Schools district....
, winning 58-46. It was the school's first girl's basketball state title.
The boys cross country team has been to Michigan State finals more than any other Grosse Pointe North team.
Since 1995, Grosse Pointe North's football team has only lost to Grosse Pointe South four times, once in 2001, 2002, 2010, and 2011.
Extracurricular Clubs
Grosse Pointe North's Radio Astronomy Team, the 'RATz', under Ardis HerroldArdis Herrold
Ardis Herrold is an astronomy and earth sciences educator at Grosse Pointe North High School. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Science in geology. She went on to earn her master's degree in general science from Eastern Michigan University...
, are credited as being the first high school group to build its own radio telescope from scratch in the United States.
The Quiz Bowl team won the Class A Michigan High School State Championship in 2010 and participates in many NAQT tournaments. The team has attended the NAQT National High School Championship tournament (HSNCT) many times in recent years, more notably for their 16th place win in 2006 and 11th in 2008. Notable players from recent years include Jamie Ding (4th place NAQT HSNCT 2009 All-Star), and Stephen Morrison (9th place NAQT HSNCT 2011 All-Star).
The school also is renown for their two bands and their orchestra. They have four instrumental extracurricular clubs: Pep Band, Pit Orchestra, Jazz Band, and Chamber Orchestra.
Notable alumni
- David LegwandDavid LegwandDavid Legwand is an American professional ice hockey player currently playing for the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League . He attended Grosse Pointe North High School....
, Professional NHLNational Hockey LeagueThe National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
Player for the Nashville PredatorsNashville PredatorsThe Nashville Predators are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League... - Carly PiperCarly PiperCarly Piper is an American swimmer and Olympic gold medalist. As part of the American team, she held the world record in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay .-Personal:...
, OlympicOlympic GamesThe Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
Swimmer and Gold medalist in Athens, 20042004 Summer OlympicsThe 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team... - Gregg AlexanderGregg AlexanderGregg Alexander is an American singer/songwriter and producer, best known as the frontman of the New Radicals, who scored the international hit "You Get What You Give" in late 1998. Earlier in life he recorded two solo albums, Michigan Rain and Intoxifornication...
, Frontman of the rock band New RadicalsNew RadicalsNew Radicals were an American pop rock band active in the late 1990s, centered on frontman Gregg Alexander, who wrote and produced all of their songs and was the sole constant member... - Meg WhiteMeg WhiteMegan Martha "Meg" White is an American drummer best known for her work in the Detroit rock duo The White Stripes.-Early life:...
, drummer for garage rockGarage rockGarage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...
band The White StripesThe White StripesThe White Stripes was an American rock band, formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The group consisted of the songwriter Jack White and drummer Meg White . Jack and Meg White were previously married to each other, but are now divorced... - Andy MieleAndy MieleAndy Miele is an American professional ice hockey player with the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League, an affiliate of the Phoenix Coyotes of the National Hockey League...
, Hobey Baker AwardHobey Baker AwardThe Hobey Baker Award is an annual award given to the top National Collegiate Athletic Association men's ice hockey player.It is named for hockey player and World War I veteran Hobey Baker, who played collegiately at Princeton University and learned the game at St...
winner (2011), Professional NHLNational Hockey LeagueThe National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
Player for the Phoenix CoyotesPhoenix CoyotesThe Phoenix Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in Glendale, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They play their home games at Jobing.com Arena....