Ketchikan High School
Encyclopedia
Ketchikan High School, often referred to as Kayhi, is the principal high school for the Southeast Alaska community of Ketchikan
and the Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District
.
classes. It has an automotive program, a welding class, a large maritime program and offers AP opportunities in English, science, mathematics, and history.
and Thunder Mountain High School
. Ketchikan's mascot is the King Salmon or the Kings, in reference to a king salmon
and in connection to the Schoenbar Middle School
mascot, the Knights. Kayhi girls' teams are known as the Lady Kings. The mascot is portrayed as a jumping salmon wearing a crown.
Kayhi is known for its focus on wrestling
in autumn, basketball in the winter, and baseball in the spring. Swimming is also important, however, as is soccer, which has gained a great amount of visibility in the community.
Other activities include:
. There have also been other ideas such as a "dance off" where students, and teachers performed dances for the student body, juggling
exhibitions, "most outrageous dress" competitions and a contest to see who could fold a paper airplane and fly it the farthest. And, like many high schools, a "Pep Assembly" is normally held in order to raise school spirit in preparation for an upcoming sporting event, such as the Clark Cochrane Christmas Classic, which is a basketball tournament held every year at Kayhi in honor of Clark Cochrane. The tournament brings in students and basketball teams from around the U.S., Canada
, and even Australia
.
The school's woodworking department made an appearance in the "Alaska Special 2
" episode of MythBusters
, where Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman used the shop as the build site for their pykrete
boat.
Other requirements:
Ketchikan, Alaska
Ketchikan is a city in Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska, United States, the southeasternmost sizable city in that state. With an estimated population of 7,368 in 2010 within the city limits, it is the fifth most populous city in the state....
and the Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District
Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District
The Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District provides k-12 public education to the children of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough and Ketchikan, Alaska...
.
Academics
Kayhi offers a variety of vocational and Advanced PlacementAdvanced Placement Program
The Advanced Placement program is a curriculum in the United States and Canada sponsored by the College Board which offers standardized courses to high school students that are generally recognized to be equivalent to undergraduate courses in college...
classes. It has an automotive program, a welding class, a large maritime program and offers AP opportunities in English, science, mathematics, and history.
Student government
Kayhi has a Student Body Association, headed by a President who works alongside a Vice President, Secretary and Parliamentarian. They meet twice a month and discuss current events at the school and plan for future activities such as dances, sport tournaments, and the annual talent show. The other committees involved are the recycling committee, which works to decrease the amount of paper thrown away, the dance committee, which helps decorate for dances, and others such as student life, which aims to welcome new students to Kayhi.Fundraisers
Kayhi often does fundraisers, whether it be to fund a formal dance like Homecoming, Winter Ball, or Senior Prom, or to help support a school activity like basketball, volleyball, Academic Decathlon, etc. Raffle tickets are a big seller. Prizes for the raffle include anything from a truck full of firewood to vacation tickets. The annual event called "Woodhogs" is when a group of seniors are gathered to chop firewood as a raffle prize. Seniors will go out of their way to ask for donations that can be used for prizes. The school's annual Senior Carnival is a popular attraction and fundraising opportunity for the students to take part in. Seniors run specialty booths like bingo, a bungee run, a game room and a cake walk as well as booths like the a chicken toss, face painting, darting balloons, golf, football, and roulette.Extracurriculars
Ketchikan High School's primary sports rivals are Juneau-Douglas High SchoolJuneau-Douglas High School
Juneau-Douglas High School is one of two high schools in Juneau, Alaska. It is the primary high school for the Juneau School District. The other high school, Thunder Mountain High School, is smaller, and most of its students are from the Mendenhall Valley...
and Thunder Mountain High School
Thunder Mountain High School
Thunder Mountain High School is one of three public high schools in Juneau, Alaska. It was opened for the 2008–2009 school year. In its first year in operation it served grades 9–11; the Juneau School District wanted seniors to finish at their existing high schools...
. Ketchikan's mascot is the King Salmon or the Kings, in reference to a king salmon
Chinook salmon
The Chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, is the largest species in the pacific salmon family. Other commonly used names for the species include King salmon, Quinnat salmon, Spring salmon and Tyee salmon...
and in connection to the Schoenbar Middle School
Schoenbar Middle School
Schoenbar Middle School is the primary public middle school for the Southeast Alaskan community of Ketchikan and the Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District. The school includes 7th and 8th graders, and in 2009 its enrollment was listed as 295 students...
mascot, the Knights. Kayhi girls' teams are known as the Lady Kings. The mascot is portrayed as a jumping salmon wearing a crown.
Kayhi is known for its focus on 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...
in autumn, basketball in the winter, and baseball in the spring. Swimming is also important, however, as is soccer, which has gained a great amount of visibility in the community.
Other activities include:
- CheerleadingCheerleadingCheerleading 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
- Academic Decathlon
- Drama, Debate, and Forensics
- VolleyballVolleyballVolleyball 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...
- SoftballSoftballSoftball 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...
- Track and FieldTrack and fieldTrack 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...
- FootballAmerican footballAmerican 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...
- WrestlingWrestlingWrestling 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...
- Dance Team
- Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, and Jazz Band
Student life
Kayhi has roughly 500 students, many of whom know one another at least by appearance, if not by name, given the small size of the school. There is a low student-teacher ratio and many teachers enthusiastically organize events to boost student morale. Every Friday (or at the end of a school week) there is a "Friday Special" which entertains students during lunch time. Music is played during the beginning of lunch, a teacher or student introduces the activities of the day's special, and then there is the actual special activity. Some of the specials are knock offs of game shows such as Fear FactorFear Factor
Fear Factor is an American stunt/dare reality game show. The original Dutch version was called Now or Neverland. When Endemol USA and NBC adapted it to the American market in 2001, they changed the name to Fear Factor. The show pits contestants against each other in a variety of stunts for a...
. There have also been other ideas such as a "dance off" where students, and teachers performed dances for the student body, juggling
Juggling
Juggling is a skill involving moving objects for entertainment or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling, in which the juggler throws objects up to catch and toss up again. This may be one object or many objects, at the same time with one or many hands. Jugglers often refer...
exhibitions, "most outrageous dress" competitions and a contest to see who could fold a paper airplane and fly it the farthest. And, like many high schools, a "Pep Assembly" is normally held in order to raise school spirit in preparation for an upcoming sporting event, such as the Clark Cochrane Christmas Classic, which is a basketball tournament held every year at Kayhi in honor of Clark Cochrane. The tournament brings in students and basketball teams from around the U.S., Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and even Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
The school's woodworking department made an appearance in the "Alaska Special 2
MythBusters (2009 season)
The cast of the television series MythBusters perform experiments to verify or debunk urban legends, old wives' tales, and the like. This is a list of the various myths tested on the show as well as the results of the experiments .-Episode overview:-Need for Speed:-Hollywood Crash Test:Based on...
" episode of MythBusters
MythBusters
MythBusters is a science entertainment TV program created and produced by Beyond Television Productions for the Discovery Channel. The series is screened by numerous international broadcasters, including Discovery Channel Australia, Discovery Channel Latin America, Discovery Channel Canada, Quest...
, where Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman used the shop as the build site for their pykrete
Pykrete
Pykrete is a composite material made of approximately 14 percent sawdust or some other form of wood pulp and 86 percent ice by weight. Its use was proposed during World War II by Geoffrey Pyke to the British Royal Navy as a candidate material for making a huge, unsinkable aircraft carrier...
boat.
Graduation requirements
To graduate from Ketchikan High School, one must acquire the following credits:- 22 credits total (.5=1 semester)
- 4 English
- 3 Mathematics
- 3 Science
- 3 History (American government required senior year)
- 7 Electives (art, photography, foreign languages, etc.)
- .5 Health (usually taken freshmen year)
- .5 Alaska Studies (as of 2006 — usually taken freshmen year)
- .5 Careers (usually taken sophomore year)
- .5 P.E. (usually taken sophomore year)
Other requirements:
- Finish and pass a completed Alaska job application
- Complete 100 hours of community service or a paid job (you cannot work for your family unless discussed with guidance counselor)
- Pass the High School Qualifying Exams (HSGQE)