Hillcrest High School (Tuscaloosa, Alabama)
Encyclopedia
Hillcrest High School is public
high school
near Tuscaloosa
, United States
. The school is located in the unincorporated suburban area south of Tuscaloosa informally known as Taylorville. The school is administered by the Tuscaloosa County School System under the authority of the Alabama State Department of Education. The school currently enrolls around 1200 students in grades 9-12 and has a faculty of 72 teachers.
to the already existing Hillcrest Junior High School in anticipation of growth in the area. The building that housed the school had opened in 1968 as a black elementary school and was later converted to an integrated junior high school.
In 1991, the current campus was opened for grades 9-12 (the former campus added grade 6 from feeder elementary schools to become Hillcrest Middle School). An expansion wing was added in 2002.
. The school's athletic squads are nicknamed the Patriot
s. The school's original nickname was the Red Devils but this nickname was changed after criticism and pressure from local church groups.
17 varsity sports are sponsored: 7 for boys (baseball
, basketball
, football
, golf
, soccer, tennis
and wrestling
), 6 for girls (women's basketball
, golf, women's soccer, softball
, tennis and volleyball
) and 4 coed (cheerleading
, cross country
, track and field
, and swimming
).
In 2007, the baseball team won the 6A state championship. The following year the men's basketball team won the 6A state championship, which was Hillcrest's first 6A basketball championship. The 2010-2011 Varsity Basketball team conquered the state of Alabama again with another 6A state championship. Hillcrest defeated Murphy 48-46 on March 5th, 2011 at the BJCC in Birmingham, Alabama to claim the 6A state title in basketball. This victory was Coach Scott Suttles' 400th career win in coaching 14 seasons as a high school basketball coach.
by Paul Hindemith, Give Us This Day by David Maslanka, and Joseph Schwanter's ...and the mountains rising nowhere. In the summer of 2009, the Hillcrest Wind Ensemble was accepted to perform in the 2009 Midwest Clinic in Chicago, Illinois. The directors of the Hillcrest Wind Ensemble are Andrew Pettus and Nick Smith, who are both very passionate about teaching and music. Hillcrest's phenomenal performance at the Midwest Clinic was a milestone in Alabama's history, making Hillcrest High the third group to attend the Midwest Clinic from the state. In May of 2011, the Hillcrest High School Wind Ensemble will travel to China to perform many concerts, which will give the students an extraordinary opportunity to travel abroad. The current band directors are Mr. Andrew Pettus, graduate of the University of Alabama and the University of Miami, and Mr. Nick Smith, graduate of Auburn University. Mr. Pettus is the head director and conducts the Wind Ensemble. He studied at Miami in the Frost School of Music under Mr. Gary Green, a world-renowned conductor and an excellent mentor. Mr. Smith joined the school in the fall of 2009, and currently directs other fine ensembles at Hillcrest.
Public education
State schools, also known in the United States and Canada as public schools,In much of the Commonwealth, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, the terms 'public education', 'public school' and 'independent school' are used for private schools, that is, schools...
high school
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....
near Tuscaloosa
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Tuscaloosa is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west central Alabama . Located on the Black Warrior River, it is the fifth-largest city in Alabama, with a population of 90,468 in 2010...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The school is located in the unincorporated suburban area south of Tuscaloosa informally known as Taylorville. The school is administered by the Tuscaloosa County School System under the authority of the Alabama State Department of Education. The school currently enrolls around 1200 students in grades 9-12 and has a faculty of 72 teachers.
History
The school was opened in 1981 as a grade 7-12 high school when grade 10-12 students from the south Tuscaloosa County area were transferred from Holt High SchoolHolt High School
Holt High School may refer to:* Holt High School * Holt High School * Wentzville Holt High School...
to the already existing Hillcrest Junior High School in anticipation of growth in the area. The building that housed the school had opened in 1968 as a black elementary school and was later converted to an integrated junior high school.
In 1991, the current campus was opened for grades 9-12 (the former campus added grade 6 from feeder elementary schools to become Hillcrest Middle School). An expansion wing was added in 2002.
Athletics
Hillcrest participates in interscholastic athletics in Class 6A of the Alabama High School Athletic AssociationAlabama High School Athletic Association
The Alabama High School Athletic Association , based in Montgomery, is the agency which oversees interscholastic athletic programs for public schools in Alabama....
. The school's athletic squads are nicknamed the Patriot
Patriot (American Revolution)
Patriots is a name often used to describe the colonists of the British Thirteen United Colonies who rebelled against British control during the American Revolution. It was their leading figures who, in July 1776, declared the United States of America an independent nation...
s. The school's original nickname was the Red Devils but this nickname was changed after criticism and pressure from local church groups.
17 varsity sports are sponsored: 7 for boys (baseball
Baseball
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...
, 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....
, soccer, 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...
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...
), 6 for girls (women's basketball
Women's basketball
Women's basketball is one of the few women's sports that developed in tandem with its men's counterpart. It became popular, spreading from the east coast of the United States to the west coast , in large part via women's colleges...
, golf, women's 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...
, tennis 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...
) and 4 coed (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...
, 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...
, track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
, and swimming
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...
).
In 2007, the baseball team won the 6A state championship. The following year the men's basketball team won the 6A state championship, which was Hillcrest's first 6A basketball championship. The 2010-2011 Varsity Basketball team conquered the state of Alabama again with another 6A state championship. Hillcrest defeated Murphy 48-46 on March 5th, 2011 at the BJCC in Birmingham, Alabama to claim the 6A state title in basketball. This victory was Coach Scott Suttles' 400th career win in coaching 14 seasons as a high school basketball coach.
Fine arts
In the 2008-2009 school year, the Hillcrest High School Wind Ensemble was accepted to the Music For All National Concert Band Festival in April 2009. The wind ensemble traveled to Indianapolis, Indiana and presented a tremendous program with works like: Symphonic Metamorphoses on Themes of WeberSymphonic Metamorphoses on Themes of Weber
The Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber is an orchestral work composed in America by Paul Hindemith in 1943.-History:...
by Paul Hindemith, Give Us This Day by David Maslanka, and Joseph Schwanter's ...and the mountains rising nowhere. In the summer of 2009, the Hillcrest Wind Ensemble was accepted to perform in the 2009 Midwest Clinic in Chicago, Illinois. The directors of the Hillcrest Wind Ensemble are Andrew Pettus and Nick Smith, who are both very passionate about teaching and music. Hillcrest's phenomenal performance at the Midwest Clinic was a milestone in Alabama's history, making Hillcrest High the third group to attend the Midwest Clinic from the state. In May of 2011, the Hillcrest High School Wind Ensemble will travel to China to perform many concerts, which will give the students an extraordinary opportunity to travel abroad. The current band directors are Mr. Andrew Pettus, graduate of the University of Alabama and the University of Miami, and Mr. Nick Smith, graduate of Auburn University. Mr. Pettus is the head director and conducts the Wind Ensemble. He studied at Miami in the Frost School of Music under Mr. Gary Green, a world-renowned conductor and an excellent mentor. Mr. Smith joined the school in the fall of 2009, and currently directs other fine ensembles at Hillcrest.