Weston-McEwen High School is a

public high school State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in pa ...

Athena, Oregon Athena is a city in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. The population was 1,126 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Pendleton– Hermiston Micropolitan Statistical Area. History Athena, about halfway between Pendleton, Oregon, and Wa ...

, United States that is known for its

pipe band A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of Bagpipes, pipers and drummers. The term pipes and drums, used by military pipe bands is also common. The most common form of pipe band consists of a section of pipers playing the Great Highland b ...

History

Athena Weston School District was created in the 1970s with the merger of when the Athena and Weston school districts merged. Weston High School and McEwen High School were also merged, along with their respective mascots, the Tiger and the Scottie Dog, to form the new mascot, the "TigerScot".

Academics

In 2008, 84% of the school's seniors received their

high school diploma A high school diploma or high school degree is a North American academic school leaving qualification awarded upon high school graduation. The high school diploma is typically obtained after a course of study lasting four years, from grade 9 to gra ...

. Of 43 students, 36 graduated, three dropped out, and four were still in high school the following year.

Pipe band

The Weston-McEwen Pipes, Drums, and Military Band began as a girls'

pep band A pep band is an ensemble of instrumentalists who play at events, usually athletic, with the purpose of entertaining and creating enthusiasm in a crowd. Often members of a pep band are a subset of people from a larger ensemble such as a marchin ...

and

highland dancing Highland dance or Highland dancing ( gd, dannsa Gàidhealach) is a style of competitive dancing developed in the Scottish Highlands in the 19th and 20th centuries, in the context of competitions at public events such as the Highland games. It ...

team in the early 1950s. A girls' pep band was organized at McEwen High School in Athena. Attempting to continue the community's Scottish heritage, six girls were selected annually as a highland dancing team. Called the "Highland Lassies", they performed the

Highland Fling The Highland Fling is a Solo dance, solo Scottish highland dance, Highland dance that gained popularity in the early 19th century. The word 'Fling' means literally a movement in dancing. In John Jamieson's 1808 ''Etymological Dictionary of the Sc ...

with the school band at sports events. In 1958, the group acquired a set of pipes. In 1972, the group was transformed into a full-fledged pipes and drums unit. In 1980, the first male players joined and the group's name was officially changed to the Weston-McEwen Pipes and Drums.

References

External links

Weston-McEwen High School website
{{authority control High schools in Umatilla County, Oregon Public high schools in Oregon 1970s establishments in Oregon