Western High School is an accredited

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

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 ...

located in

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...

, serving students in grades 9–12. The school is one of ten high schools in the

Anaheim Union High School District The Anaheim Union High School District (AUHSD) is a public school district serving portions of the Orange County cities of Anaheim, Buena Park, Cypress, La Palma, and Stanton. It oversees eight junior high schools (7-8), eight high schools (9 ...

. It is located in the western end of Anaheim and also serves southwest

Buena Park Buena Park (''Buena'', Spanish for "Good") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census its population was 84,034. It is the location of several tourist attractions, namely Knott's Berry Farm. It is about 12 m ...

and northwest Stanton. It was established in 1954. The school's mascot is the Pioneer.

Academics

Western High is a two time California Distinguished High School.

Athletics

Athletic teams compete in the

CIF Southern Section The California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section (CIF-SS) is the governing body for high school athletics in most of Southern California and is the largest of the ten sections that comprise the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF ...

of the

California Interscholastic Federation The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is the governing body for high school sports in the U.S. state of California. CIF membership includes both public and private high schools. Unlike most other state organizations, it does not have a s ...

and are known as the "Pioneers". Notable athletes from the school include

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records. * * * Woods is widely regarded as ...

and

Andy Messersmith John Alexander "Andy" Messersmith (born August 6, 1945) is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. During a 12-year baseball career, he pitched for the California Angels (1968–72), Los Angeles Dodgers (1973–75 and 1979), Atlanta B ...

. In 2007, the Pioneers won the 2007 CIF wrestling championship. The annual football game between Western and its rival

Anaheim High School Anaheim High School is a public, four-year high school in the city of Anaheim, California, United States and serves students living in the Colony District of Anaheim. Anaheim High School was first established in 1898, which makes it the oldest ...

is referred to as the traditional "Bell Game", with the winning school receiving the Victory Bell. Western High School offers the following sports:

Fall

* Football * Marching Band * Volleyball * Boys' Cross-Country * Girls' Cross-Country * Girls' Golf * Girls' Tennis * Boys' Water Polo * Cheerleading

Winter

* Boys' Basketball * Girls' Basketball * Wrestling * Boys' Bowling * Girls' Bowling * Girls' Water Polo * Winter Cheerleading * Winter Guard

Spring

* Baseball * Boys' Golf * Boys' Tennis * Girls' Soccer * Boys' Soccer * Boys'/Girls' Swimming * Softball * Boys' Track and Field * Girls' Track and Field

Notable staff and alumni

David Gilliland David Leonard Gilliland (born April 1, 1976) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. Since 2017, he has operated David Gilliland Racing, a team that races in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, ARCA Menards Series, ...

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

Sprint Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971 ...

driver *

Mike Iupati Michael Iupati ( ; born May 12, 1987) is a Samoan-American former American football guard who played for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). A native of American Samoa, Iupati went to high school in southern California, played col ...

National Football League 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 ...

(NFL) offensive lineman *

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), ...

(MLB) pitcher *

Fili Moala Siaosi Toutoupau'u "Fili" Moala (born June 23, 1985) is a former American football defensive end. He played college football at Southern California, and was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the second round of the 2009 NFL Draft. Early yea ...

, NFL player *

John Moses John Moses may refer to: * John Moses (Norwegian politician) (1781–1849), member of the Norwegian Constituent Assembly * John Moses (Illinois politician) (1825–1898), Illinois judge and politician * John Moses (American politician) (1885–1945) ...

, MLB

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 ...

Dana Nafziger Dana Albert Nafziger (born October 26, 1953) is a former American football player who played five seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). Early life Nafziger attended Western High School in Anaheim, Califor ...

, NFL football player *

Lute Olson Robert Luther "Lute" Olson (September 22, 1934 – August 27, 2020) was an American basketball coach, who was inducted into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. He was the head co ...

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

basketball coach *

Mike Penner Michael Daniel Penner (October 10, 1957 – November 27, 2009) was an American sportswriter for the ''Los Angeles Times''. Penner self-identified as transsexual in a 2007 column; soon afterward he returned from a vacation writing with the nam ...

, sportswriter for ''Los Angeles Times'' *

Carol Rodríguez Carol Ann Rodríguez Taylor (born 26 December 1985 in Pomona, California) is a Puerto Rican sprinter. Her mother was an African American from New Orleans, and her father grew up in Yauco, Puerto Rico. Carol Rodríguez is currently the Host of ...

, Puerto Rican sprinter *

Randy Schekman Randy Wayne Schekman (born December 30, 1948) is an American cell biologist at the University of California, Berkeley, former editor-in-chief of ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences'' and former editor of ''Annual Review of Cell and ...

, cell biologist, winner of 2013 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine * Rich Severson, MLB infielder *

, professional golfer

References

External links

Western High School websiteHistory of Western High SchoolArchive

Anaheim Union High School District website
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1954 High schools in Anaheim, California Public high schools in California 1954 establishments in California