William B. Travis High School (Austin, Texas)

William B. Travis High School is a high school located in south Austin, Texas, United States, which is part of the Austin Independent School District. It was opened in 1953 and is named after William B. Travis, who was one of the commanding officers at the Battle of the Alamo. It is the oldest high school in Austin, south of the Colorado River.

Not to be confused with William B. Travis High School (Fort Bend County, Texas).
William B. Travis High School
Location
1211 E. Oltorf St. Austin, Texas, 78704
Coordinates30.23368°N 97.744°W / 30.23368; -97.744
Information
Motto"Knowledge is power”
Established1953
School districtAustin Independent School District
School number512-414-2527
PrincipalChristina Steele-Hantgin
Teaching staff98.02 (FTE)[1]
Grades9-12
Number of students1,249 (2018-19)[1]
Student to teacher ratio12.74[1]
Color(s)Red & Grey
MascotRebel
Team nameThe Rebels, Runnin' Rebs, Lady Rebs

As of November 2009, there were over 1,400 students enrolled. Travis' athletic teams are known as the Rebels, and their school colors are red and grey. The Navy JROTC program at THS is the largest ROTC program in Austin and currently has the best shooting team out of all the JROTC units in the state of Texas. As of February 2015, the JROTC program, for the first time, has qualified for state competition under the command of C/LCDR Martinez, the commanding officer. The school has also been selected as a mentor school by the Texas Education Agency.

In 2002, an Institute of Hospitality & Culinary Arts was opened at Travis.[2]

History

In 1956 the first five African-American students began attending Travis as part of desegregation; a total of 13 black students attended white high schools in AISD at that time.[3]

Rivals

Travis' biggest rivalry is with fellow AISD school McCallum. The two schools meet annually in many different sports, the largest being an annual football game known as the "Battle of the Bell", in which the winning school is given possession of a 50-pound locomotive bell that has been fought over for decades.[4] During the game, "The Bell" will spend the first half on the defending school's side; at half time it will travel to the opponent's side (usually carried by the cheerleaders, student council, or journalism departments of both schools) where it will sit until the outcome of the game. "The Bell" is usually rung by the winning team in the middle of the field after victory, and at the winning team's school until midnight, at which time it will be stored until the next year's game. The winning school also engraves the date and score of the year's game on the bell, keeping track of the history of the rivalry. Most years, the outcome of this game highly affects which team is named District 26-4A Champions.

In 2010, the Rebels defeated the McCallum Knights for the first time in over a decade. "The Bell" was awarded to Travis, who defended it for the first time in 11 years at the 2011 game.

Another Travis rival is the AISD school David Crockett High School, a game in which the winner is tagged "Kings of the South".

Travis High School has been featured in two full-length motion pictures. Its hallways were featured in the 2004 football drama Friday Night Lights. Also, the THS Band annually participates in the filming of the NBC TV series based on the movie, participating as extras and featured as the visiting team band at football games (See Friday Night Lights (TV Series)). The school was also the main setting in the 2006 comedy-mockumentary Chalk. Its football field was featured in High School Musical. It has also been featured in several documentaries.

Travis High School was featured on Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas 19: Immigration Problems. Travis' Ethnic Studies class and teacher, Andrew Gonzales, were interviewed regarding immigration and Texas public schools.[5]

NJROTC: 2001-2019

The Travis NJROTC Unit was established in 2001 by agreement between Austin ISD and the United States Navy. One of the main tenets of the program was towards developing excellent citizens/leaders of our great Nation. Over the course of the last 18 years, the NJROTC has represented William B. Travis High school in many local and State Drill meets and supported countless community service events to the Austin area. Academic year 2018/2019 marked the final year of the program due to extremely low enrollment. The School and District declined the Navy's offer to transition to the smaller version of the program known as a Navy National Defense Cadet Corps.

Notable alumni

Psychedelic-rock cult legend Roky Erickson attended Travis High School beginning in 1962, but dropped out in 1965, one month before graduating, rather than cut his hair to conform to the school dress code.[6][7]

Country music singer/songwriter Rusty Wier, a South Austin legend [8] and a symbol of Austin's "Cosmic Cowboy" scene of the 1970s who was best known for his hit "Don't It Make You Wanna Dance," attended Travis High. Wier, who was part of Austin's "Cosmic Cowboy scene in the 1970s,[9] is a member of the Austin Music Awards Hall of Fame.

Former Major League Baseball player Ken Boswell, a member of the New York Mets' World Series championship team in 1969, played baseball at Travis and was in the Class of 1964.[10]

Rudy Alvarez, a Travis graduate in 1966 and a former teammate of Boswell's on the Rebels' baseball team, is a South Austin institution, having coached baseball at Travis and Bowie high schools for four decades. Alvarez is a member of the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.[11]

Journalist David Lindsey, a former co-editor of The Southerner, Travis High School's student newspaper, is an executive editor at National Geographic. Lindsey graduated from Travis in 1980.

Powderburn drummer Joel Reyes attended Travis High School beginning in 1991 and graduated in 1995. Reyes was a first-chair member of the drum line as well as an editor and photographer for the school newspaper and yearbook. Powderburn has earned numerous Austin Music Awards for "best metal band" (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006) and won "MP3 of the Year" in 2002.[12] They were also featured on the farmclub.com TV show hosted by Matt Pinfield back in the early 2000s. Powderburn continues to perform mainly in the Austin and Houston area markets.

gollark: It's cloud because it uses multiple computers and has internet.
gollark: They're just saved in memeCLOUD™.
gollark: No.
gollark: 819 memes-or-something stored!
gollark: The giraffe thing is ridiculous.

References
  1. "TRAVIS H S". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  2. Pack, MM (11 October 2002). "A Shared Vision: Combining generosity and hard work to build the Institute of Hospitality & Culinary Arts at Travis High School". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  3. "Five Decades of Social Change: A Timeline." Austin Public Library. Retrieved on June 6, 2016.
  4. Davis, Danny (October 16, 2013). "McCallum, Travis square off for right to ring Victory Bell". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
  5. https://www.hbo.com/wyatt-cenacs-problem-areas/season-2/9-immigration-problems
  6. "The fall and rise of Roky Erickson. Austin American-Statesman, July 12, 2007. p 13 (Xlent section).
  7. Drummond, Paul (2007). Eye Mind: The Saga of Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators, the Pioneers of Psychedelic Sound. Feral House. pp. 60, 67–68. ISBN 9780976082262.
  8. https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/statesman/obituary.aspx?n=Rusty-Wier&pid=134202032
  9. https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fwiau
  10. https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/2b9f7642
  11. http://www.buccaneersports.com/sports/bsb/2015-16/releases/20160330ohte3i
  12. Austin Music Awards Search
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