Rootstown High School is a public 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....

 in Rootstown, Ohio, USA. It is the only high school in the Rootstown Local School District

Rootstown Local School District

The Rootstown Local School District is a secondary school district located in Rootstown, Ohio, United States. The district serves approximately 1,300 students in Rootstown Township in Portage County and has three schools: Rootstown Elementary School serving grades K-5, Rootstown Middle School...

. Their nickname is the Rovers.

Background

The current school building is located on the north end of the Roostown Schools' campus and opened in 1966. It is named in honor of Ward W. Davis and serves around 450 students in grades 9-12. Rootstown High School offers a variety of academic and vocation programs to its students. Many of the vocational programs are available through the school's association with the Maplewood Joint Vocational School in Ravenna. Adjacent to the high school are several athletic fields, including: Rover Stadium (which opened in 1961 and includes a running track), a baseball field, and a softball field. The gymnasium at Rootstown High School is locally known as the "Rover Dome" and has been host to several local, conference, and state tournament basketball games and wrestling meets throughout the years.

Athletics

Rootstown High School athletic teams are known as the Rovers and the school colors are blue and white. All Rover athletic teams play their matches at Rootstown High School with a few exceptions: the bowling teams play their home matches at Twin Star Lanes while the golf team plays their home matches at the Kent State University

Kent State University

Kent State University is a public research university located in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university has eight campuses around the northeast Ohio region with the main campus in Kent being the largest...

 Golf Course, both along SR 59 in Franklin Township, just east of Kent

Kent, Ohio

Kent is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the largest city in Portage County. It is located along the Cuyahoga River in Northeastern Ohio on the western edge of the county. The population was 27,906 at the 2000 United States Census and 28,904 in the 2010 Census...

. Additionally, the cross country teams have their home meets at Towner's Woods, also in Franklin Township

Franklin Township, Portage County, Ohio

Franklin Township is a civil township located in Portage County, Ohio, United States. It is located along the Cuyahoga River in Northeast Ohio on the western edge of the county. The 2000 census found 5,276 people in the township...

. Rootstown is a member of the Portage Trail Conference

Portage Trail Conference

The Portage Trail Conference or PTC is an association of sixteen public high schools and their associated middle/junior high schools located in the United States within the northeastern Ohio counties of Portage, Summit, and Stark...

 County Division, which it has been a member of since 2005. Prior to 2005, Rootstown was a member of the Portage County League. Rootstown fields the following varsity teams:

• 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...
  
  
• Boys 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...
  
  
• Girls 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...
  
  
• Boys Bowling
  Bowling
  Bowling Bowling Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule...
  
  
• Girls Bowling
  Bowling
  Bowling Bowling Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule...
  
  
• Boys 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...
  
  
• Girls 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....
  
  
• Boys Soccer
• Girls 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...
  
  
• Boys 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...
  
  
• Girls 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...
  
  
• Girls 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...
  
  
• 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...
  
  

Rootstown has had three state track champion individuals: Roger Dietz Sr. won the low and high hurdles in 1957; Ron Nipuelio won the 400-meters in 1990; and Josh Morgan won the 3200-meters in 1996.

Two Rover sports teams have been state semifinalists: the 1981 football team and the 2003 softball team.

Fight Song and Alma Mater

Fight Song:

Here we are from Rootstown High School

The best in all the land

See our colors blue and white

All for which we stand

When the schools all get together

See our colors fly

There's no school that's any better

Than good old Rootstown High

Alma Mater:

Hail, all hail, to Rootstown High School

Hold her banner high

Our hearts beat with proud devotion

Hail to Rootstown High

Bravely flow her colors o'er us

Purest white and blue

Proudly stand her sons and daughters

Loyal, firm, and true

Legend of the Rover

The first interpretation of the word Rover at Rootstown was the dog; a collie or German shepherd. In 1960 a new version of the mascot was adopted: the Rover that is defined as "a pirate, a wanderer, or a roamer" in Webster's Dictionary, The Rovers logo is a ship that is meant to symbolize the Norsemen.

This new version of the nickname came into existence in the early years of RHS sports. The Rovers did not have a facility in which to engage in competitive sporting activities, thus they would "wander and roam" to other schools for sports, pirating victories.

Victory Bell

In the high school lobby, there is a large brass bell mounted on a rolling platform. In the 1950s it was on a steam locomotive on the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad, and it was donated to Portage County and used as a football championship trophy. From 1957 to 1962, Rootstown won the bell for six straight years, and it was permanently awarded to them. The bell still makes appearances at home football games, and is rung after a home victory.

Notable alumni

• Brian McClure
  Brian McClure
  Brian McClure is a former American football quarterback for the Bowling Green Falcons- Playing career :...
  
   (Class of 1982), former collegiate and professional 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...
  
  player