Green Bay East High School

Green Bay East High School is a public high school in the Green Bay Area Public School District serving the near-east side of Green Bay, Wisconsin and parts of Bellevue and Allouez. Founded in 1856, the school has occupied its current building since 1924.

Green Bay East High School
The facade of Green Bay East High School in December 2019.
Address
1415 East Walnut Street

Green Bay
,
Wisconsin
54301

United States
Coordinates44.50688°N 87.99337°W / 44.50688; -87.99337
Information
School typePublic High School
Established1856 (Sale School built)
1860 (Curriculum implemented)
School districtGreen Bay Area Public School District
PrincipalLori Frerk
Faculty89.19 (FTE)[1]
Grades9 through 12
Enrollment1,262 (2018–19)[1]
Student to teacher ratio14.15[1]
School color(s)    ,     ,     
Fight song"East Fight Song (Win For Old East High)"
Athletics conferenceBay Conference
Fox River Classic Conference (Football only)
NicknameRed Devils
Hilltoppers (before 1924)
RivalGreen Bay West
NewspaperHi-Light
YearbookEchoes (1950s–present)
Websiteeast.gbaps.org

History
The Sale School, which the institution of East would grow from.

The institution that would become East High School began in 1856 with the construction of Green Bay's Sale School (nicknamed "Old Brick") on land donated to the city by fur trader John Jacob Astor. Sale was the first school built by the Green Bay Area Public School District. The school traces its formal beginnings (celebrating a sesquicentennial in 2011) to a Professor Furber, who added Latin and mathematics to the grade school curriculum in 1860.[2] The first class to receive diplomas, consisting of four men and two women, was the class of 1875.[2] The school moved to a new location on South Webster Avenue in 1893 and its students became known as the Hilltoppers. After the move, "Old Brick" continued to be used by the school district for administrative purposes, and was torn down in 1957.[3] While at the Hilltopper building, the school published a literary magazine called Aeroplane beginning in 1910. The publication's commencement edition served as a pseudo-yearbook, and began printing directories of the whole school in its 1917 edition.[4] The publication was renamed East High Aeroplane in 1924 in anticipation of the school's move to its new location.[5]

The school has occupied its current location, at the far east end of Walnut Street, since 1924, changing its mascot to the Red Devil, named for the red clay-based Devil River (now the East River) that borders the school. Built on 23 acres of land purchased from the Hagemeister family,[6] the building was completed in 1924 and graduated its first class of students in 1925.[2] The South Webster building was torn down when Washington Junior High School (now Washington Middle School) was built in 1939. The "Hilltopper" building's legacy, however, lives on through a maintenance garage and exterior wall on City Stadium made from the building's red sandstone.[2]

East High School's current building has been remodeled several times. The first renovation was in 1927, to the auditorium, with further renovations in 1960, 1967, and 1985. A new, larger gym was added in 1995, and a $21 million renovation project focused on science classrooms, the band and chorus rooms, and multimedia labs began in 2001 and ended in June 2003.[2]

Detail of the statues and reliefs adorning the front facade of the school. Due to years of student hijinks, the heads of the statues are reinforced by metal rods.[7]

In 2011, East added the Institute for the Fine Arts, a specialized study program in vocal and instrumental music performance. In 2013, visual arts were added to the Institute's offerings, with theatre arts coming in 2015.[8] In 2019, as part of the school's expanding offerings in fine arts, a series of renovations created an orchestra pit for the auditorium, turned former computer lab space into a dance/acting studio, and provided new art and design facilities.[9]

The "Hilltopper" building on South Webster Avenue c. 1921. The building was constructed in 1893 and remodeled in 1908.

Demographics

The school is approximately 32.7% white and 44.2% Hispanic, and 9.9% Black. Other races make up the remainder of the school. Gender distribution is about equal. Over sixty percent of East students qualify for free or reduced lunch.[10]

Incidents

1999 mercury spill

In March 1999, a 14-year old student stole a small amount of mercury from a chemistry department storage compartment.[11] The chemical made its way to nearby Riviera Lanes, where the school took students bowling for gym classes, and students poured it on lanes and into bowling balls.[11] 88 individuals, mostly students, were treated for contamination, and the school remained closed for two days afterward. Riviera Lanes also shut down, but was reopened in time for a bowling tournament, and all the owner lost was "109 pairs of shoes."[11]

2006 attempted school shooting

In September 2006, three men were arrested for planning a shooting at East. One had been upset at being rejected by a girl and said that he was going to "shoot the place up" Columbine-style. The student said that his plan grew from the constant bullying he had received at the school.[12] The would-be attack was foiled when a senior who was an acquaintance of the suspects learned of the plan and reported it to school administrators.[12] Police found nine rifles and shotguns, homemade explosives, camouflage clothing, two-way radios, and "hundreds of rounds of ammunition" in the students' houses.[13] All three men were charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree intentional homicide and conspiracy to commit damage of property by use of explosives, while one received additional charges for possessing homemade explosives and a sawed-off shotgun.[12] They served three to six years in prison.[14][15]

Extra-curricular activities

Academic and career-focused

Performance
  • Rhapsody in Red, a competitive show choir.[16] The school also hosts a show choir festival, called Show Choir Sh'Bango.[17]
  • Dancing Devilettes (the school's dance team)

Athletics

The school's mascot, the Red Devil, is a reference to the clay-based East River (formerly called the Devil River) that wraps around the school. In January 2014, the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association finalized a realignment plan that would send both Green Bay East and Green Bay West to the smaller Bay Conference starting in 2015-2016 due to both schools' athletic programs failing to win any conference titles since 2000 stemming from the growth of athletic programs in suburban schools.[18] In 2020, the WIAA announced that they would transfer the planning of football-only conferences to the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association, which returned East to the lower division of the Fox River Classic Conference for football only.[19]

The Red Devils play at City Stadium, home of the Green Bay Packers from 1925 until 1956. Recent renovations of the field included ornamental fencing and monuments to the history of the field, a new scoreboard, and a turf surfacing made possible by contributions from the Packers.[20] The school has won one WIAA state championship in girls hockey as part of a co-op team.[21]

Football rivalry with Green Bay West

Green Bay East and its crosstown rival Green Bay West hold the longest consecutively-played high school football rivalry in Wisconsin.[22] Though students played against each other informally since the formation of a citywide team in 1895, the East-West games did not formally begin until 1905.[23] The schools have met almost without interruption since then (except for 1906, when no game was played), and celebrated 100 years of football competition in 2005.[24] Mark Green, then Green Bay's House representative, referenced the 100th game in a September session of the House.[25] In the teams' 2018 meeting, East defeated West 70-0 in the highest scoring game of the rivalry's history. Neither team reached even 60 points at any other time.[26] East currently leads the series 62-49-3.[22]

Notable alumni

Many Green Bay East alumni from the early part of the 20th century played for the Green Bay Packers in their earliest years.

Packers alumni

Other alumni
gollark: Oh. Sure, maybe.
gollark: Specifically, ironic "beliefs" shouldn't factor into your decisions and world models.
gollark: I mean, presumably there's a difference between actually believing things and ironically believing them, if you believe that beliefs mean anything.
gollark: In what way?
gollark: I agree. They have *such* wrong opinions on programming languages and tooling.

References
  1. "East High". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  2. "EHS History". East High School. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  3. "District Timeline - Green Bay Area Public School District". www.gbaps.org. Retrieved 2019-01-02.
  4. "The Aeroplane". 1917. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. "East High Aeroplane". 1924. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. "History of Green Bay". City of Green Bay. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  7. "East High School Restoration". www.vanguardsculptureservices.com. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
  8. "About Us". Fine Arts Institute at East High. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  9. Green Bay Area Public Schools press release on East arts renovations, February 19, 2019.
  10. "Search for Public Schools - School Detail for East High". nces.ed.gov. Retrieved 2020-04-23.
  11. "East will close for mercury cleanup". Green Bay Press-Gazette. March 7, 1999. p. 1. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  12. Andy Nelesen (September 22, 2006). "District sues to bar suspects from schools". Green Bay Press-Gazette. p. 2. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  13. "3 Arrested In High School Bomb Plot". Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  14. Ryan, Courtney. "School leader recalls foiled 'Columbine-Style' plot at Green Bay East High School". WLUK. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  15. "10th Anniversary of East HS Plot Arrests". WSAU. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  16. "Green Bay East High School". Show Choir Community. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
  17. "Green Bay East Show Choir Sh'Bango 2020". Show Choir Community. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
  18. "WIAA approves large conference realignment plan affecting northeastern Wisconsin". WeAreGreenBay.com. January 30, 2014. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  19. Ritchay, Doug (2019-04-16). "Football-only conference vote approved for 2020". WLUK. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  20. "Green Bay East's City Stadium to get synthetic turf". Press Gazette Media. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  21. "State Championships by School". WIAA. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
  22. "Rivalries". Wisconsin High School Sports | Wisconsin Sports Network | WisSports.net. Retrieved 2018-09-22.
  23. "Packers at 100: What makes Green Bay a legendary franchise". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-09-22.
  24. "16 Sep 2005, Page 20 - Green Bay Press-Gazette at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2018-09-18.
  25. Congressional Record, V. 151, Pt. 15, September 8 to September 22, 2005. Government Printing Office.
  26. "High school football Week 5 takeaways: West isn't seeking sympathy; Bay Port keeps rolling". Press Gazette Media. Retrieved 2018-09-22.
  27. Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League, edited by Bob Carroll, Michael Gershman, David Neft, and John Thorn (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1999)
  28. "The 1936 Green Bay Packers (10-1-1) - World Champions". www.packershistory.net. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  29. Thomas, Robert McG., Jr (January 16, 1986). "Jim Crowley, Final Member of Four Horsemen, Is Dead". The New York Times. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  30. "Jim Crowley Bio". University of Notre Dame. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  31. "Curly Lambeau". Biography.com. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  32. "Judge Robert J. Parins". Green Bay Packers. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  33. "Tony Shalhoub on a Green Bay Childhood". Wall Street Journal. February 18, 2015. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  34. "Comedy world mourns death of Green Bay native Mitzi Shore at age 87". Green Bay Press Gazette. April 11, 2018. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  35. Berkow, Ira (January 16, 1982). "Red Smith, Sports Columnist Who Won Pulitzer, Dies at 76". The New York Times. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  36. "Austin Straubel (1904-1942)". Ironwood Daily Globe. February 6, 1942. p. 2. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
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