Bangor High School, a member of the Bangor School System, is a

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

Bangor, Maine Bangor ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Penobscot County. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's 3rd-largest settlement, behind Portland (68,408) and Lewiston (37,121). Modern Bangor ...

, United States. It has an enrollment of approximately 1,200 students in grades 9–12. It is Bangor's only public high school. Since its 2001–2002 selection as a

National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...

by the

U.S. Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department ...

Bangor High School has consistently been recognized for the achievements of its students. For four years from 2012–2016, the school was named a National Silver Award winner by '' U.S. News & World Report''s "America's Best High Schools. In 2013, BHS was the only urban school among the state's 133 high schools to earn this designation. BHS consistently ranks among the top five Maine schools in annual rankings of America's Most Challenging Schools published by the ''Washington Post'' and journalist Jay Matthews. To determine its rankings, the Post considers the degree to which disadvantaged students outperform their state peers coupled with percentage of most recent graduates having earned a score of 3 or higher (out of 5 maximum points) on one or more Advanced Placement exams. In 2014, the ''Post'' analysis placed Bangor High in the top 8% nationally (of approx. 22,000 'normal-enrollment' public high schools), and Bangor was one of only six Maine high schools to make the top 10%, and one of only two in a Maine city. In 2011, Maine's male and female AP Scholars were students at Bangor High School. In 2016, a Bangor High School senior earned the AP International Diploma for having achieved scores of 3 or higher on three or more AP exams in each of three content areas. In 2014, the College Board recognized Bangor as one of 547 US / Canadian District Honor Roll designees, a critical element in the district's selection by the College Board to serve on its national steering committee for its revision of the SAT and the PSAT.

History

Bangor's first public high school (for boys only) was founded in 1835, followed by a school for girls in 1838. These were consolidated as Bangor High School in 1864. The first principal was Robert P Bucknam, a graduate of

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...

. In the late nineteenth century, Bangor High School was located on Abbott Square, across from the present

Bangor Public Library The Bangor Public Library is the public library of Bangor, Maine. It shares the URSUS online cataloging system with the University of Maine and other Maine libraries. The library's roots date to 1830, when the Bangor Mechanic Association assembl ...

. Designed by architect Wilfred E. Mansur, this building burned down in the Great Fire of 1911. Its steel-framed, yellow-brick replacement was built in 1913 on Harlow Street, just across from its earlier location, from designs by the Boston architects

Peabody and Stearns Peabody & Stearns was a premier architectural firm in the Eastern United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, the firm consisted of Robert Swain Peabody (1845–1917) and John Goddard Stearns J ...

, who also designed the new

next door. The high school moved into its present building on outer Broadway, designed by architect Eaton W. Tarbell, in 1964.

Sports

Bangor High School is known for its athletic teams and earned its 100th team state championship in 2016. In that year, Bangor won its third consecutive Class A Baseball title. A source of great pride is the precise arrangement of its state championship banners, which hang on the back wall of the school's Red Barry Gymnasium. Five soccer state championships (three boys, two girls) as well as a 2013 sweep of girls track (indoor and outdoor) are among recent highlights. In 2009, The Varsity Football Team went 11-1 and the Rams won the Eastern Maine Championship. In 2007, Bangor High School earned state championships (Class A) in boys

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

, boys

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, boys

indoor track Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping event ...

, boys

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

and

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

, girls

and

, and boys

outdoor track Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping event ...

. Fall sports at Bangor include

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

(varsity, freshman),

cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...

(V, JV), soccer (V, JV, F),

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

(V, JV), cross country, and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

. In 2011 The Varsity Girls Soccer Team won their first ever State Championship in school history. Winter sports include basketball (V, JV, F),

pickleball Pickleball is an indoor or outdoor racket/paddle sport where two players (singles), or four players (doubles), hit a perforated hollow polymer ball over a net using solid-faced paddles. Opponents on either side of the net hit the ball back and ...

(intramural), cheerleading (V, JV),

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. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

(intramural),

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

(V, JV), indoor track, swimming and diving, and

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

. Spring sports include baseball, (State Champions 2006, 2014, 2015, 2016) (V, JV),

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

(V, JV, F), outdoor track, and

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

. Bangor High School's highest-achieving sport is its Boys Varsity Swim Team. The Swim Team has won 27 State Championships and 1 New England Championships. In 2012, the Boys Swim team went undefeated and maintained a 6-year State Championship winning streak. Coach Phil Emery has led the team to 26 of its State titles and the New England title in the 2018-2019 varsity basketball season Bangor high school won the state championships.

Activities

Bangor High offers a variety of activities. The speech and debate teams win various competitions across the state during the year and send students to nationals annually. In June 2015, Bangor High School junior Nick Danby won the National Speech and Debate Association Grand Tournament for Congressional Debate in Dallas, Texas. Danby was the first junior in the country to win, and the first person from Maine to exceed tenth place. Bangor has a large number of juniors and seniors in its chapter of the

National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is a nationwide organization for high school students in the United States and outlying territories, which consists of many chapters in high schools. Selection is based on four criteria: scholarship (academic achi ...

Miscellaneous

Peakes Auditorium is used by many groups around the city and state. Most notably, the

Bangor Symphony Orchestra The Bangor Symphony Orchestra is one of the oldest continually-operating community orchestras in the United States. Based in Bangor, Maine Bangor ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Penobscot County. The city pro ...

held concerts there while the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universities, flagshi ...

Collins Center for the Arts The Collins Center for the Arts, formerly the Maine Center for the Arts, is a performing arts center and concert hall located on the campus of the University of Maine in Orono, Maine. It has been operating since 1986, hosting both local and na ...

was being renovated. Graduation exercises for

Beal College Beal University is a private university in Bangor, Maine. It specializes in professional programs such as healthcare and business. History The institution was first established as the Bangor Business School by Mary E. Beal and several partner ...

also use the Peakes Auditorium. The

school year A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...

runs from September to June. School days are 8:00 to 2:00. The day is split up into sixteen ' mods', or 20-minute blocks of time. There are five minutes between each class, and each class takes up 2 mods. Lab sciences take up 3 mods 2, 3, or 5 days a week, depending on the difficulty of the class. The school utilizes locally developed assessments to document student proficiency in Maine learning standards. Although Bangor takes students from communities lacking a high school, about 2/3 of the students come from Bangor's two public middle schools: the William S. Cohen School and the James F. Doughty School, each of which enrolls approximately 500 students.

Notable alumni

* John F. Appleton -

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

general * Taber D. Bailey - lawyer and politician *

John Baldacci John Elias Baldacci (born January 30, 1955) is an American politician who served as the 73rd Governor of Maine from 2003 to 2011. A Democrat, he also served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003. During hi ...

- politician *

William Cohen William Sebastian Cohen (born August 28, 1940) is an American lawyer, author, and politician from the U.S. state of Maine. A Republican, Cohen served as both a member of the United States House of Representatives (1973–1979) and Senate (1979� ...

- politician and U.S. Secretary of Defense * Galen Cole - military veteran and philanthropist *

Marcus Davis Marcus Paul Davis (born August 24, 1973), is an American professional mixed martial artist and former professional boxer who is perhaps best known for competing in the UFC. A professional MMA competitor from 2003 until 2014, Davis also compete ...

- mixed martial arts fighter *

William Hammatt Davis William Hammatt Davis (August 29, 1879 – August 13, 1964) was the Chairman of the War Labor Board (WLB) in the administration of President Franklin Roosevelt, where his job was keeping industrial peace between management and labor. He was also ...

- former chairman of the National War Labor Board * Prescott Freese Dennett - one of 30 people indicted for sedition for sympathizing with the Axis powers * Henry Payson Dowst - novelist and short story writer *

Fannie Hardy Eckstorm Fannie Pearson Hardy Eckstorm (1865–1946) was an American writer, ornithologist and folklorist. Her extensive personal knowledge of her native state of Maine secured her place as one of the foremost authorities on the history, wildlife, culture ...

- writer, ornithologist and folklorist *

Ashley Emerson Ashley Emerson is an American soprano. She has made more than 60 opera appearances since 2007, including starring roles at major venues; and she has received acclaim from various sources. # Early life Daughter of Robert and Beth Emerson, Emerson ...

- soprano * Keith Farnham - politician who pleaded guilty to distributing child pornography * John F. Godfrey - sailor, soldier, and officer * Adam Goode - politician *

Bettina Gorton Bettina Edith Gorton, Lady Gorton (née Brown; 23 June 1915 – 2 October 1983) was an American-born Australian academic who was best known as the first wife of John Gorton, the 19th Prime Minister of Australia. She was born in Portland, Maine, ...

- academic and former Spouse of the Prime Minister of Australia *

Carl Frederick Holden Carl Frederick Holden (May 25, 1895May 18, 1953) was a decorated officer in the United States Navy who reached the rank of Vice Admiral. A veteran of both World Wars, he became an expert in Naval communications, graduating with Master's degree ...

- vice admiral * Blanche Willis Howard - novelist * Chris Johnson - politician *

Matt Kinney Matthew John Kinney (born December 16, 1976) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He spent with the Saitama Seibu Lions of the Nippon Professional Baseball (MLB). Kinney is a graduate of Bangor High School. Kinney and his Little ...

- baseball player *

Wayne Maunder Wayne Ernest Maunder (December 19, 1937 – November 11, 2018) was a Canadian-born American actor who starred in three American television series between 1967 and 1974. Three television series From September 6 to December 27, 1967, Maunder star ...

- actor *

David Richard Porter David Richard Porter (1882–1973) was a major figure in the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) during the height of the organization's popularity and influence on American high school and college campuses. Porter was Executive Secretary of ...

- former major figure in the YMCA * Gerald Talbot - politician * Artemus E. Weatherbee - Assistant Secretary of the Treasury * Cary Weston - politician * Charles Huntington Whitman - academic * Donald Norton Yates - Air Force general * Elmer P. Yates - Army general * H. Edwin Young - former chancellor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison''Bennington Banner'' (Vt), Sept. 16, 1965, p. 2

References

External links

* {{authority control Public high schools in Maine Schools in Bangor, Maine 1835 establishments in Maine Educational institutions established in 1835