Wausau West High School is a public

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 ...

serving students in grades 9 to 12 of the

Wausau School District The Wausau School District is a public school district serving the Wausau metropolitan area, including the City of Wausau and the Towns of Rib Mountain, Wausau, Stettin, and Texas. It contains two high schools, two middle schools, 13 elementar ...

. It was built in 1970 on the west side of the city of

Wausau, Wisconsin Wausau ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States. The Wisconsin River divides the city into east and west. The city's suburbs include Schofield, Weston, Mosinee, Maine, Rib Mountain, Kronenwetter, and ...

to accommodate the growing city population. Its enrollment is approximately 1,775. Its rival school is

Wausau East High School Wausau East High School is a public secondary school in Wausau, Wisconsin. It serves grades 9-12 for the Wausau School District. History The first high school in Wausau was a two-room school house built in 1880 and occupied by multiple gr ...

History

The first high school in Wausau was built in 1889 and later replaced by a larger building, Wausau High School, in 1898. By the mid-20th century the school was beginning to become overcrowded. This was exacerbated by a state law passed in the early 1960s that integrated schools from surrounding areas into the Wausau School District. By the end of the decade, the school district decided to build a second high school on the west side, and in 1970 Wausau's second high school opened its doors. Wausau High School was renamed

, and the new building on the west side of Wausau became Wausau West High School.

Extracurricular activities

West provides extracurricular programs in the performing arts, athletics and academics (

Science Olympiad Science Olympiad is an American team competition in which students compete in 23 events pertaining to various fields of science, including earth science, biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering. Over 7,800 middle school and high school team ...

Performing arts

West's drama program has performed musical and non-musical shows, such as "Little Shop of Horrors" (Fall 1995), "The Music Man" (1988), ''

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' (often colloquially known as ''Joseph'') is a sung-through musical with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. Thi ...

'', '' Grease'', ''

Singin' in the Rain ''Singin' in the Rain'' is a 1952 American musical romantic comedy film directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds and featuring Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell and Cyd Charis ...

'', ''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

'', ''"

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 ...

"'' (Spring 1993), "''As You Like It''" (Spring 1994), "''Romeo and Juliet''" (Spring 1995), "''The Orange Splot''" (Spring 1996) and others. The drama program participates in the Central Wisconsin Educational Theatre Alliance, a group of local high school drama teachers and students that presents more challenging productions. With funding from grants, community donations, and the profits from past performances, the organization is able to produce plays and musicals on a larger scale than is possible at the high school level. Past shows include ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and Puer aeternus, never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending ...

'', ''

Cats The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of t ...

'', ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original ...

'', ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'', and ''

The Phantom of the Opera ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a novel by French author Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serial in from 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910, and was released in volume form in late March 1910 by Pierr ...

''.

Music

The school

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

department teaches

choral music A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

, and

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

. There are four choirs: freshmen, men's choir, women's choir, and concert chorale, and a select group from concert chorale known as master singers. The choral music program has been producing Pop Concert in the spring for over four decades. This

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own duri ...

of pop,

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

, and

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

music from all periods was shown on

Wisconsin Public Television PBS Wisconsin (formerly Wisconsin Public Television or WPT) is a state network of non-commercial educational television stations operated primarily by the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. It c ...

in 2014. Bandstock, a fall production of the band program and some of the choirs, is a performance with a professional rock band and light show. It started as a collaboration between local rock bands and the band program.

Sports

Wausau West High School is in the WIAA Division 1 bracket. A school rivalry exists between the two Wausau High Schools, East and West, who both compete in the Wisconsin Valley Conference. During the "Log Game", the annual football game between the two schools, the schools play for possession of the traditional log. (The concept of the "log" comes from the fact that Wausau was once an important logging center.) The boys' soccer teams compete for the Wausau Rock each fall. The two schools also compete in ice hockey for possession of the Kuehlman Cup. The teams also compete, along with Mosinee and D.C. Everest, for the Marathon Cup in ice hockey. Sports include: *

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 ...

- Head coach, Pete Susens, is the all-time winningest coach in Wisconsin high school boys' hockey history. State runner-up 2009–2010, state champion in 2011. Conference champions in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. *

Wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

- state runner-up in 2006–2007, state champion in 2007–2008, team state runner up in 2008–2009, state champion in 2012-2013 *

Cross-country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

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 ...

- won first post-season football game in 2007. *

Curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding ...

- state champion in 2009 (Girls), 2010 (Boys), and 2011 (Girls) *

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

*Girls'

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 ...

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 ...

Nordic skiing Nordic skiing encompasses the various types of skiing in which the toe of the ski boot is fixed to the Ski binding, binding in a manner that allows the heel to rise off the ski, unlike alpine skiing, where the boot is attached to the ski from toe ...

Alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...

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 ...

- Conference champions 2005, 2019 (boys) *

Track and field 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 events ...

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 ...

Lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

- third place at state in 2007 *

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 ...

- state runner-up in 1981, conference champion 2008-2009 *

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 ...

*Dance team *Intramural Volleyball *Intramural Bowling *Intramural Basketball *Robotics

Notable alumni

Chris Bangle Christopher Edward Bangle (born October 14, 1956) is an American automobile designer. Bangle is known best for his work as Chief of Design for BMW Group, where he was responsible for the BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce motor cars. Early life Bangl ...

(class of 1975): automotive designer, first American chief designer at BMW *

Marissa Mayer Marissa Ann Mayer (; born May 30, 1975) is an American businesswoman and investor. She is an information technology executive, and co-founder of Sunshine Contacts. Mayer formerly served as the president and chief executive officer of Yahoo!, a p ...

(class of 1993): former CEO of

Yahoo! Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Man ...

Grace Stanke Grace Marie Stanke (born April 30, 2002) is an American beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss America on December 15, 2022. A native of Wausau, Wisconsin, she is the third Miss Wisconsin to win the national title. Early life and educa ...

(class of 2019):

Miss America 2023 Miss America 2023 was the 95th edition of the Miss America pageant, which occurred at the Mohegan Sun on December 16, 2022. The 2023 calendar year, based on several sources, may be the final year at Mohegan Sun. Rather than being aired on mai ...

Jerry Wunsch Gerald "Jerry" Wunsch (born January 21, 1974) is a former American college and professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons during the 1990s and early 2000s. He played college ...

(class of 1992):

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

for

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

teams

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

and

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

References

External links

Wausau West High School websiteWausau School District website
{{authority control Public high schools in Wisconsin Educational institutions established in 1971 Schools in Marathon County, Wisconsin