Parkersburg High School (PHS) is a secondary school located in

Parkersburg, West Virginia Parkersburg is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, West Virginia, Wood County, West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Ohio River, Ohio and Little Kanawha River, Little Kanawha rivers, it is the state's fourth-largest city and ...

, United States, that serves

grades Grade most commonly refers to: * Grade (education), a measurement of a student's performance * Grade, the number of the year a student has reached in a given educational stage * Grade (slope), the steepness of a slope Grade or grading may also r ...

nine through twelve and is part of the Wood County School District. As of the 2018-2019 West Virginia Secondary School Activity Commission's high school classifications, the school has 1,739 students and the average classroom size is twenty-five. The Wood County School District has 13,746 students in 29 schools. Its partner in education is

DuPont DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...

. Parkersburg High is the second-largest populated school in the state of

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

(behind

Cabell Midland High School Cabell Midland High School is located in Ona, West Virginia. Cabell Midland is a four-year high school which serves grades 9 through 12. The school's name is derived from two sources; "Cabell" for the county in which it is located, and "Midland" f ...

in Ona, WV) and has the largest campus in West Virginia. The feeder schools contributing to this student population are Jackson Middle School, Hamilton Middle School and Van Devender Middle School. When the current high school campus opened in 1917, the former high school building was re-established as Washington Junior High School. Previously, Washington Junior High School fed PHS as well. The Washington Jr. High School building was demolished in 1964. Washington Junior High then opened in the former Jefferson Elementary School on Plum Street, adjacent to a newly built Jefferson Elementary School. Washington Junior High closed in 1992, combining with Jefferson Elementary School to become an elementary center in 1998.

History

Parkersburg High School was one of the first high schools in the state of

. The school was founded in 1867, originally located in downtown

Parkersburg Parkersburg is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Ohio and Little Kanawha rivers, it is the state's fourth-largest city and the largest city in the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna metro ...

. The current building housing PHS has a Tudor Style architecture with three stories. It was designed by noted Ohio architect

Frank Packard Frank L. Packard (June 11, 1866 October 26, 1923) was a prominent architect in Ohio. Many of his works were under the firm Yost & Packard, a company co-owned by Joseph W. Yost. Life and career Frank Lucius Packard was born June 11, 1866 in ...

(1866–1923), and built in 1917, making it one of the oldest school buildings in West Virginia. It remains the largest high school campus in the state. Later additions included Stadium Field and the Field House, a multi-story gymnasium. It is located in the

Parkersburg High School-Washington Avenue Historic District Parkersburg is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Ohio and Little Kanawha rivers, it is the state's fourth-largest city and the largest city in the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna metro ...

, listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1992. PHS continued to serve as the only high school in Parkersburg, at one point holding a population of around three thousand students. It was only after graduating a class of eleven hundred thirty seven (1137) students in 1965 that a second public school,

Parkersburg South High School Parkersburg South High School (also known as South) in Parkersburg, West Virginia, United States serves grades 9 through 12, and is part of the Wood County School District. The school's colors are navy blue and white (with a touch of scarlet), ...

, was founded in 1967. This in turn started a rivalry between the two schools that continues to be one of the largest and most famous in the state of

. The rivalry between the two sides of

originated much earlier in the town's history, so the rivalry between the two schools was a natural spin-off that has brought about some dramatic competition. Planetarium The construction of a planetarium was conducted in the 1960s through the joint efforts of the Rotary Club of Parkersburg, Corning Glass Works, the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) and the Wood County Board of Education. Cost for constructing the room and purchasing equipment was $32,770.00. It is one of the first high schools in America to have a planetarium. Data Processing Center During the 1965–66 school year, PHS became one of the first high schools in the United States to offer students classes in data processing and computer programming in the "new" and expanding technology. The Burroughs computer required a huge, temperature controlled room of its own, and had a memory capacity of 640 Kb—considered top-of-the-line then. It used six phone booth-sized magnetic tape readers for computations. in 1967, upon completion of the second high school, the computer center was re-located to the new building.

Notable alumni and faculty

Alumni

Joseph Albright Joseph P. Albright (November 8, 1938 – March 20, 2009) was an American jurist who first served on the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia from 1995 to 1996. In November 2000, he was elected to the Supreme Court of Appeals for a full ...

(class of 1956), West Virginia supreme court justice *

Zak Boggs Zak Devin Boggs (born December 25, 1986 in Marietta, Ohio) is an American soccer player. Career College and amateur Boggs grew up in Vienna, West Virginia, and attended Parkersburg High School before transferring to IMG Academy in Bradenton, F ...

, professional soccer player * Glen Gainer, Jr. (class of 1945), State Auditor of West Virginia, 1977–1993 *

Linda Goodman Mary Alice Kemery, popularly known as Linda Goodman (April 9, 1925 – October 21, 1995), was a ''New York Times'' bestselling American astrologer and poet. She wrote the first astrology book to make the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list. ...

(class of 1943), astrologer * Bill Earley (class of 1938) Assistant Head Coach Notre Dame, 1946-1954 *

Leon Claire Metz Leon Claire Metz (November 6, 1930 – November 15, 2020) was an American cultural historian, author, television documentary personality, and lecturer on the American Old West period. Metz presented hundreds of his programs to groups all over t ...

(class of 1948), cultural historian *

Greasy Neale Alfred Earle "Greasy" Neale (November 5, 1891 – November 2, 1973) was an American football and baseball player and coach. Early life and playing career Neale was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Although writers eventually assumed that Nea ...

, football coach *

Mick Staton David Michael Staton, better known as Mick Staton (February 11, 1940 – April 14, 2014) was an American banker and politician. He was a Republican congressman from West Virginia, serving one term in the U.S. House of Representatives from ...

(class of 1958), West Virginia Republican politician *

Gibby Welch Gilbert Laverne "Gibby" Welch (December 24, 1904 – February 10, 1984) was an American football player who played college football for the University of Pittsburgh. He broke Red Grange's single season yardage record in 1926 and was an All-Am ...

, football player *

Patsy Ramsey Patricia Ann Ramsey (née Paugh; December 29, 1956 – June 24, 2006) was an American beauty pageant winner who won the Miss West Virginia Pageant at age 20 in 1977. She was best known as the mother of JonBenét Ramsey, a six-year-old child ...

, (class of 1975), Miss West Virginia 1977, Mother of JonBenét Ramsey *

Doug Marks Doug Marks is a musician, guitarist and guitar instructor. He is the founder and owner oMetal Method Video guitar lessons Marks founded Metal Method in 1982. Metal Method is both one of the longest established and worlds most popular video guit ...

, Founder of Metal Method guitar instruction *

Nick Swisher Nicholas Thompson Swisher (born November 25, 1980) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB). He was a switch hitter who threw left-handed, and played for the Oakland Athletics, Chica ...

(class of 1999), outfielder for the Atlanta Braves * Stephen D. Barnett (Class of 1985), Rear Admiral U.S. Navy, Commander of the Navy Region of Hawaii *

Brenton Strange Brenton Lamont Strange (born December 27, 2000) is an American football tight end for the Penn State Nittany Lions. Early life and high school career Strange grew up in Parkersburg, West Virginia and attended Parkersburg High School Parkers ...

, (class of 2019), TE Jacksonville Jaguars, drafted in 2023.

Faculty

Ben Schwartzwalder Floyd Burdette Schwartzwalder (June 2, 1909 – April 28, 1993) was a Hall of Fame football coach at Syracuse University, where he trained future National Football League stars such as Jim Brown, Larry Csonka, Floyd Little and Ernie Davis, the fi ...

, Big Reds coach, 1936–40 * Bob Dutton, Big Red Wrestling Coach, 1951–1976. Inducted into The National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2003, and honored with their "Lifetime Service to Wrestling” award.
WV Chapter, National Wrestling Hall of Fame

Mascot, alma mater, and school colors

The nickname "Big Reds" came to PHS in 1915 with the arrival of Ralph Jones, who came from Denison University. The Big Reds of Denison were an athletic power at the time and their colors were red and white. The name was adopted by Parkersburg, as well as the school colors. The mascot of PHS is the Big Red Indian. It was adopted in 1961. The Alma Mater of PHS is set to the tune of the song "Spanish Chant", also known as "Spanish Hymn". This is the same song used by

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

for their alma mater, and is known there as

Carmen Ohio "Carmen Ohio" (Latin: Song of Ohio) is the oldest school song still used by Ohio State University. The song was composed by freshman athlete and Men's Glee Club member Fred Cornell in 1902 or 1903. According to some accounts, he composed it on th ...

. The PHS alma mater pre-dates Ohio State's.

Music

PHS is home to musical ensembles that are regarded as some of the most successful ones in the state. The most recognizable ensemble is the Parkersburg Big Red Band. In addition to these groups, Parkersburg High School has a

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

ensemble,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

ensemble,

chamber choir A chamber choir is a small or medium-sized choir of roughly 8 to 40 singers (occasionally called 'chamber singers'), typically singing classical or religious music in a concert setting. (This is distinct from e.g. a church choir, which sings in rel ...

, men's ensemble, and women's ensemble.

Choral music

The A Cappella Choir was formed in 1931 with its first director, Dr. Marie Boette (pronounced Bo-tee), after she sent some of her students to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

to an

A cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

singing competition. This led to the formation of West Virginia's first A Cappella Choir in 1932, as a way to present advanced music without accompaniment. The robes are a white cotta (or surplice) worn over a red cassock, similar in form to Roman Catholic or Episcopal altar boy or chorister vestments, and have remained the same since the inception of the choir. They were initially created by Hazel McHenry. The choir is best known for its annual

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

Concert, which begins with "Fanfare for Christmas Day" sung in the grand hall. The choir will then process to "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" by candlelight (originally real candles and then replaced by electronic ones). The concert ends with the "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's ''Messiah,'' where all alumni come up to sing with the choir. Finally, the choir recesses to "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" by candlelight. The Parkersburg High School A Cappella Choir has performed for two presidents:

Harry S Truman Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

in 1949 and

Lyndon B Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

in 1966. It also performed in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, in 1997. The choir was selected as an honor ensemble for the 2000, 2002, 2005, 2018, and 2023 West Virginia Music Education Association annual conference. In April 2010, they performed in

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

alongside OSU's choir and a few other high school and college choirs. They performed two pieces (a work by Brahms and a work by Amy Beach) under the direction of Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt. The Chamber Choir sang at two professional

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 ...

games, in 2004 and 2005. They were invited to sing again in 2006. In addition to this, they were with Parkersburg South's Chamber Choir and West Virginia University at Parkersburg's chorus in premiering "The Unknown Region" by Kenton Cole. Most recently, the Chamber Choir was selected to sing during the 2019 White House Christmas Open Houses in Washington DC. The current choral director is Joshua A. Dubs, a graduate of Geneva College. Due to the 2008 grade shift in Wood County Schools, a new choral organization was formed for 9th graders who were not inducted into the A Cappella Choir called the Freshman Choir. In its first year, there were over eighty members in this organization. All four of the schools vocal music programs are internationally awarded. The choir takes an annual competition trip and has competed in such cities as New York City, New Orleans, Toronto, Boston, Orlando, and many others. The choirs always do very well in competition, often bringing home gold 1st places in each category.

Instrumental music

The Big Red Band was first a concert band only organized in 1919 and was under the direction of C. O. Chapman. The first Big Red Band as a marching band was organized under George Dietz in 1924. It was all-male and women were not allowed into the band itself until 1970. The Big Red Band is the only military-style marching band in the state of West Virginia and prides themselves on being a music making organization first. The original uniforms for the band were all white with red trim and buttoned down the middle. They featured red capes and red navy-style dress uniform hats (similar to the ones worn by the Navy

ROTC The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in all ...

at PHS). The current uniforms have been essentially the same since at least 1955, with the only noticeable change being the crossbelts. Originally they were just one sash crossing over the body; the current ones have two sashes (which in 1955 were worn by the field commanders) that criss-cross the band member with the right one over the left one. The current uniforms also are made of wool and are red tops with white bottoms. The uniform top has two sets of silver buttons, one for each side, and the uniform pants have a red stripe down each outward facing side. The field commander's uniform has seen its share of changes also. Originally, there were multiple field commanders/drum majors. One wore an all red uniform with the same styled white hat, and the others wore the white uniforms that eventually became the current field commander's uniform. The current field commander uniform was all white with a tall white hat with the 1955 set, this was changed slightly to include a red breastpiece and yellow shoulderpieces. The crossbelts worn by them in 1955 became the current crossbelts for the band. The field commander uniform lacks a crossbelt. The Big Red Band has its own fair share of recognition, performing at the

World's Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...

in 1982. They were also in the

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade in New York City presented by the U.S.-based department store chain Macy's. The Parade first took place in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States with ...

in November 1992. They also performed in the

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...

Pegasus Parade in 1995, and are regularly invited to participate in

New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...

"bowl festivities." Also, the Big Red Band won two

Veterans of Foreign Wars The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), formally the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, is an organization of US war veterans, who, as military service members fought in wars, campaigns, and expeditions on foreign land, waters, or a ...

junior band championships, one in Boston (1955) and one in Dallas (1956) and are one of only a few groups at PHS to be able to call themselves national champions. The band also won the Lion's Club International Band Contest four times: in Providence (year unknown), Chicago (1937), Pittsburgh (1939), and New Orleans (1941). They performed for the National Moose Convention in 1948. In addition, they were selected as the best band in the state in 1930 and won the tri-state band concert in 1933. The band received the Ohio State Governor's Cup in the fall of 1991. The concert and jazz band also traveled to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

for the Heritage Festival national competition in the 2004–2005 school year, the jazz band ended up taking 2nd place nationally and the concert band 1st place. The band has performed for

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

and

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

during their visits to Parkersburg as presidents of the United States. They also played for Queen Marie of

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

during an incidental visit to

(this was due to a snow squall hitting the area, forcing the Queen's train to stop) in 1926.

Fine arts

With active

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

and

forensics Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and crimina ...

programs, the fine arts department at Parkersburg High School is widely recognized as one of the best and fastest growing in the state.

Drama

The Parkersburg High School drama program is split between the PHS Drama Club and Thespian Troupe #264, which work together to produce plays as the combined "PHS Players." Drama Club members work towards earning enough Thespian "points" in order to be inducted into the Troupe at a ceremony which takes place at the end of each school year. The Troupe is one of the oldest in the country, considering that there are currently over 4000 registered school and became registered with the

International Thespian Society The International Thespian Society (ITS) is an honor society for high school and middle school theatre students. It is a division of the Educational Theatre Association. Thespian troupes serve students in grades 9–12; Junior Thespian troupes s ...

while former Broadway actor John Lee was teaching as Parkersburg High School's Director of Performing Arts in the 1960s and 70s. Other past directors include Connie Brant, Heather Gates-Rusher, Amanda Witt, and current teacher Lori Zyla. Past PHS productions include ''

No Exit ''No Exit'' (french: Huis clos, links=no, ) is a 1944 existentialist French play by Jean-Paul Sartre. The play was first performed at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier in May 1944. The play begins with three characters who find themselves waiting ...

Dinny and the Witches ''Dinny and the Witches'' is a satirical comedy written by William Gibson in 1948, revised in 1961. It is a parody of the Cold War and nuclear scares of the 1960s, although the actual play takes place in the early 1950s in New York City, namely in ...

, Interview, The Serpent, Comings And Goings, War, Charlie's Aunt, The Boyfriend, Box & Cox, The Acting Lesson, Shakespeare Unbound, Love Death and the Prom, The End of Civilization As We Know It, Seven Murders and It's Only Monday,

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

, The Wizard of Oz, The Long Red Herring,

Our Town ''Our Town'' is a 1938 metatheatrical three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play tells the story of the fictional American small town of Grover's Corners between 1901 and 1913 throug ...

, Small Actors, French Toast, The Great Pandemonium, The Empty Chair,

The Crucible ''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692–93. Miller wrote the play as a ...

, Imaginary Harry, Little Shop of Horrors, A Piece of My Heart, Grease, FREAK, 4 a.m.,

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatur ...

, Hard Candy,

Night of the Living Dead ''Night of the Living Dead'' is a 1968 American independent horror film directed, photographed, and edited by George A. Romero, with a screenplay by John Russo and Romero, and starring Duane Jones and Judith O'Dea. The story follows seven peop ...

, Radium Girls, Black Comedy,

Damn Yankees ''Damn Yankees'' is a 1955 musical comedy with a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop, music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story is a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., during ...

The Wedding Singer ''The Wedding Singer'' is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Frank Coraci, written by Tim Herlihy, and produced by Robert Simonds and Jack Giarraputo. The film stars Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, and Christine Taylor, and tells the ...

, Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, The Haunting of Hill House, The Insanity of Mary Gerrard, Things Fall (Meanwhile),

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee ''The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee'' is a musical comedy with music and lyrics by William Finn, based on a book by Rachel Sheinkin, conceived by Rebecca Feldman with additional material by Jay Reiss. The show centers on a fictional spe ...

, and

Once Upon a Mattress ''Once Upon a Mattress'' is a musical comedy with music by Mary Rodgers, lyrics by Marshall Barer, and book by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller, and Marshall Barer. It opened off-Broadway in May 1959, and then moved to Broadway. The play was written ...

. In 1971, under the direction of the late John Lee, Thespian Troupe #264 won best play for both the regional and state drama festival for Comings And Goings. Best actor for the regional festival for this production was Dan Strimer, who also won runner-up best actor for the WV state competition for the same play that year in Morgantown, WV. In 2009, under the direction of Amanda Witt, Thespian Troupe #264 placed in the top five schools at the West Virginia Thespian Festival in the one-act play competition against thirteen other schools statewide for their performance of Bradley Hayward's ''Imaginary Harry.'' Other awards to PHS at the 2009 Festival included the naming of Frankie Love (''Harry'') and Jamie Mace (''Mom'') as All State Cast Members and Scarlet Sheppard (''Jamie'') as WV Best Actress. PHS Thespians were awarded a $10,000 grant towards representing West Virginia at the

International Thespian Festival The International Thespian Festival is an annual week-long theatre festival that brings together U.S. high school theatre clubs, thespian troupes, and programs. Organized by the International Thespian Society, it was held annually in late June on t ...

in Lincoln, Nebraska in June 2009 making them State Champions.20 The troupe travelled and performed, and were named one of the Top Five one-acts at the International Festival. '' Imaginary Harry'' playwright, Bradley Hayward, travelled from his home in Canada to see PHS's performance and now features videos of PHS's version on his professional website. In 2010, under the direction of Amanda Witt, Thespian Troupe #264 again placed in the top five schools at the WV State Thespian Festival for their performance of Shirley Lauro's "A Piece of My Heart." Other awards to PHS at the 2010 Festival included the naming of Audriana Davis (''Leeann'') as WV Best Actress, Danielle (''Steele'') as WV Best Supporting Actress and first place in Solo Musical Theatre Performance, second place in Stage Management to Meghan Handley, third place in fantasy makeup to Brittani Hill and a Best Sound Design award to Timm Romine. For her win in Solo Musical Performance, Danielle Grays was invited to compete at the International Thespian Festival in June 2010. Under the direction of Lori Zyla, Troupe #264 has placed in the top five schools at state festival, once in 2011 and once in 2015, and continues to be competitive at the state festival.

Dance

The dance program at PHS consists of students taking dance classes for arts credits. Along with learning about the history and application of dance around the world, dance students also perform at multiple venues such as the annual

Justo Lamas Justo Lamas is an Argentine singer. He was born in Buenos Aires and tours the United States singing for middle- and high-school Spanish students. Most notable is his song ''Siempre Por Siempre''." He has released six albums: ''Vivir'', ''Justo Pa ...

concerts presented for Spanish language students and the Parkersburg High School Talent shows.

Forensics

The Parkersburg High School

Forensics Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and crimina ...

Team consists of a Speech team and Debate team under coach Lori Zyla. Both teams travel and compete together around the state and at a "home" Tournament dubbed the Isenhart Invitational in spring. The Forensics Team sponsors various fundraisers including the Mister and Miss PHS Pageants held in April. In 2008, three competitors from the PHS Speech Team won at the state level in their respective "events" (

Original Oratory {{Multiple issues, {{No footnotes, date=November 2017 {{Notability, date=May 2020 Original Oratory (often shortened to "OO") is a competitive event in the National Speech and Debate Association, Stoa USA, National Catholic Forensic League, and o ...

and

Duo Interpretation Duo Interpretation, or often simply called Duo Interp, or just Duo, is an official speech event of Stoa USA, the National Speech and Debate Association, the National Catholic Forensics League, National Christian Forensics and Communications Associa ...

) and a bid to compete at the Grand National Tournament in Appleton, Wisconsin where all three did well, but did not "octofinal" or go on to place nationally. In 2009, Parkersburg High School was awarded third place overall at the State Tournament behind Wheeling Park High School and Huntington High School. At the Qualifying tournament, two PHS team members were selected as alternates for the 2009 National Tournament. Also in 2009, Senior Speech Captain Valerie Price was named PHS's first All American by the National Forensic League, the oldest and largest speech and debate honor society in the nation. All Americans are students with exceptional combined achievements in GPA, Test Scores and NFL (National Forensics League) points earned through performance at tournaments. In 2010, Parkersburg High School was awarded third place overall at the State Tournament. In 2017, six of Parkersburg High School's students qualified at the state level and went on to compete in the Catholic League Grand National Tournament in Louisville, Kentucky. They competed in Declamation, Original Oratory, Duo Interpretation, and Public Forum Debate.

Academics

Parkersburg High School consistently beats the state averages on standardized tests. 9th Grade Math 69% proficient vs state average of 61%. 10th Grade Math 60% proficient vs state average of 54%. 11th Grade Math 60% proficient vs state average of 58%.

Athletics

Parkersburg High is well known for its athletic achievements. Former PHS Big Red player Matt Kimes was named PHS Head Football Coach on February 22, 2022. As a player Kimes led the Big Reds in both rushing and receiving yards during the 1996 season. PHS was rated by Sports Illustrated as the #9 sports high school of all time due to its long winning traditions and graduates such as Earl "Greasy" Neale who is in the Football Hall of Fame as well as other graduates such as outfielder

of the New York Yankees (and formerly of the Chicago White Sox and Oakland Athletics), and Larry "Flash" Rhodes. Parkersburg High experiences a very strong rivalry with cross-town high school

. The rivalry is recognized as one of the best in the state. Following the 2010 season it was discovered PHS was voted the top football team in West Virginia for the 1918, 1919, 1921, 1922 & 1927 seasons The school is known as "The School of Champions" and holds twice as many state titles in athletics as any other

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 ...

. The

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 ...

team has the 12th most victories in the United States with 827 (as of 8/20/2019). For the first time in one hundred three years of PHS football, 2007 marks the first time the team has won back to back state championships (2006 and 2007). The boys' and girls'

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 ...

teams are also 2006 state champions with the boys' team having won two in a row, making for a state record four state championship wins for one high school. The boys' team is also currently ranked 24th in the nation. Parkersburg High School is also famous for the achievements of its wrestling team including a 2006-07 and 2007-08 AAA State Championship of their own, tying the Wrestling team with the PHS Boys'

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 ...

Team, which has 21 titles, the record for the most titles for one team in West Virginia. Former Big Red Wrestling Coach, Joe Handlan, has the record for having coached the most individual state wrestling champions in the state's history, as he has coached 51 individual state wrestling champions. During the summer of 2008, due to the successes of the Parkersburg athletic programs, Parkersburg, West Virginia was featured on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

as a candidate for Titletown USA. Parkersburg came in as the runner-up in the Titletown voting process, losing to

Valdosta, Georgia Valdosta is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County, Georgia, Lowndes County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. As of 2019, Valdosta had an estimated population of 56,457. Valdosta is the principal city of the Valdosta Metr ...

. As of November 2022, Parkersburg High School has a total of 147 West Virginia high school state championships.

References

External links

* {{authority control Buildings and structures in Parkersburg, West Virginia School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia Public high schools in West Virginia Educational institutions established in 1867 1867 establishments in West Virginia Tudor Revival architecture in West Virginia Gothic Revival architecture in West Virginia Schools in Wood County, West Virginia Frank Packard buildings National Register of Historic Places in Wood County, West Virginia