Memorial High School is a public high school in

Eau Claire, Wisconsin Eau Claire (; ) (French for "clear water") is a city mostly located in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, of which it is the county seat, and with a small portion in Chippewa County, Wisconsin. It had a population of 69,421 in 2020, making it the stat ...

that serves grades 9 through 12. It is one of three high schools in the

Eau Claire Area School District The Eau Claire Area School District (ECASD) is a school district in western Wisconsin and the eighth-largest district in the state. Covering approximately , it includes the city of Eau Claire, part of Altoona, parts of the village of Lake Hall ...

Academics

Advanced Placement (AP) classes are offered in English, art, music, science, social sciences, and math. About half of Memorial students take AP classes.

Music

Memorial has two competitive

show choirs A show choir (originally known as a "swing choir") is a musical ensemble that combines choral singing with choreographed dance, often with an overarching theme. It is most relevant in the Midwestern United States and was popularized by the America ...

, the mixed-gender Old Abe Show Choir and the women's-only Eagle Show Choir. The school hosts a show choir competition, Winterfest, which takes place on the first weekend of February each year.

Athletics

Memorial belongs to the Big Rivers Conference for athletics. It has teams in football, cross country, soccer, golf, swimming and diving, tennis, volleyball, basketball, gymnastics, hockey, wrestling, baseball, softball, and track and field. The boys' hockey team won state championships in 2008 and 2013. The girls' cross country team won back-to-back state championships in 2014 and 2015.

In the news

In fall of 1992, a 17-year-old student, April Schuldt, who was four months pregnant, received more than 100 votes in the Eau Claire Memorial High School homecoming election. The runner-up, Elizabeth Weld, received fewer than 70 votes but still was crowned queen at the 3-4 Oct. celebration. The principal resigned and three assistant principals and a teacher were disciplined by the school board after an investigation found that ballots for April had been burned in a cover-up. Schuldt appeared on numerous TV talk shows after the incident. April's story was the partial inspiration for the book

Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

Tom Perrotta Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

, which was subsequently made into the 1999 movie

starring

Reese Witherspoon Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, she ...

and

Matthew Broderick Matthew Broderick (born March 21, 1962) is an American actor. His roles include the Golden Globe-nominated portrayal of the title character in ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986), the voice of adult Simba in Disney's ''The Lion King'' (1994), ...

. In early November 2017, an unnamed 15 year old girl, wrote a message on one of the bathroom stalls claiming, “Get your students out B4 I kill them! If you don’t they will die! I have a loaded gun and bomb!” Eau Claire Police responded to the school and, with the help of administration, conducted a controlled evacuation of the school grounds. No students were harmed or injured during this incident and the girl was later caught by police and sent to juvenile court on charges of

terroristic threat A terroristic threat is a threat to commit a crime of violence or a threat to cause bodily injury to another person and terrorization as the result of the proscribed conduct. Several U.S. states have enacted state law, statutes which impose criminal ...

Notable people

Larry Balow Larry C. Balow (born April 29, 1943) is an American Politician, who most recently served as an at large alderman on the Eau Claire, Wisconsin City Council. He served as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 68th assembly district fr ...

– former

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

member *

Nickolas Butler Nickolas Butler is an American novelist and short story author. He is the author of four novels: ''Shotgun Lovesongs'' (2014), The Hearts of Men (2017), Little Faith (2019), and ''Godspeed'' (2021). He also authored the short story collection ''B ...

– novelist and short story writer * Jake Dowell – hockey player for the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

and

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

* Dave Duax – former Wisconsin Cabinet Secretary, Vice President of the Eau Claire City Council, and Chairman of the Eau Claire County Board.David L. Duax, February 1, 1944 - April 17, 2015
Hulke Family Funeral Home & Cremation Services. *

Sarah Godlewski Sarah Ann Godlewski (born November 9, 1981) is an American businesswoman and politician serving as the 31st secretary of state of Wisconsin since March 2023. She was previously the 36th state treasurer of Wisconsin (2019–2023). Godlewski ...

– current

State Treasurer of Wisconsin The State Treasurer of Wisconsin is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Thirty-six individuals have held the office of State Treasurer since statehood. The incumbent is Sarah Godlewski ...

* Ann Jones – writer, journalist, photographer, educator and civil rights activist *

Michael Kapla Michael Steven Kapla (born September 19, 1994) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman who is currently playing for Rögle BK in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). Playing career After graduating from Eau Claire Memorial High School a ...

– professional ice hockey player *

Geoffrey Keezer Geoffrey Keezer (born November 20, 1970) is an American jazz pianist. Keezer was playing in jazz clubs as a teenager, playing piano for Art Blakey at age 18 and touring with Joshua Redman, Benny Golson and Ray Brown in his 20s. He has toured w ...

– pianist * Scott D. Legwold – U.S. National Guard general *

Chuck Mencel Charles Mencel (born April 21, 1933) is an American former professional basketball player with the Minneapolis Lakers. Mencel played collegiately at the University of Minnesota, and was named the Big Ten MVP in the 1955 season, his senior year wi ...

– former basketball player for the

Minneapolis Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers franchise has a long and storied history, predating the formation of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Founded in 1947, the Lakers are one of the NBA's most famous and successful franchises. As of summer 2012, th ...

Tom Poquette Thomas Arthur Poquette (born October 30, 1951) is a retired American outfielder who spent seven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Kansas City Royals (1973, 1976– 79, 1982), Boston Red Sox (1979, 1981) and Texas Rangers (1981). ...

(1970) –

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

, 1973, 1976–1979, 1981–1982 *

Justin Vernon Justin DeYarmond Edison Vernon (born April 30, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the primary songwriter and frontman of indie folk band Bon Iver. Known for his distinct falsetto voic ...

– frontman for indie band

Bon Iver Bon Iver ( ) is an American indie folk band founded in 2006 by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon. Vernon released Bon Iver's debut album, ''For Emma, Forever Ago,'' independently in July 2007. The majority of the album was recorded while Vernon ...

Joe Bee Xiong Joe Bee Xiong (August 10, 1961 - March 31, 2007) was a Hmong American politician and activist who served as a member of the Eau Claire City Council. Xiong was the first Hmong person in United States history to be elected to municipal government a ...

– first Hmong person elected to public office in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

References

{{authority control Public high schools in Wisconsin Buildings and structures in Eau Claire, Wisconsin Schools in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin