Harry A. Burke High School is a

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

located in

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

, United States. The principal is Darren Rasmussen. The school's mascot is the Bulldog. Each year in May, the Nebraska State Track Meet is held at the school. Its stadium was renovated in 2008. The school property abuts the eastbound lanes of West Dodge Road (

US 6 U.S. Route 6 (US 6) or U.S. Highway 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the Grand Army of the Republic, American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the United States Numbere ...

Name

Burke High School was dedicated to Harry A. Burke in November 1967. Burke, who was

Omaha Public Schools Omaha Public Schools (OPS) is the largest school district in the state of Nebraska, United States. This public school district serves a diverse community of about 52,000 students at over 80 elementary and secondary schools in Omaha. Its distric ...

superintendent from 1946 to 1962, actively prevented black educators from having positions of authority during his tenure. Among Burke's racist statements was "I would never want black people in a position of power, where white children would be educated." A 2019 op-ed in school newspaper ''The Burke Beat'' and a June 2020 petition both called for the school to change its name. Alternative namesakes were suggested, including Lucinda Gamble, Omaha Public Schools' first African American teacher.

Extracurricular activities

Academic Decathlon

Burke has participated in the

Academic Decathlon The Academic Decathlon (also called AcDec, AcaDeca or AcaDec) is an annual Student competition, high school academic competition organized by the non-profit United States Academic Decathlon (USAD). The competition consists of seven objective mult ...

competition for 14 years, and has been the Nebraska state champion seven times. Their chief rivals are

Creighton Preparatory School Creighton Preparatory School (simply referred to as Creighton Prep or Prep) is a private, Jesuit high school for boys in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. It was established in 1878 under the name Creighton College and is located in the Archdio ...

and Pius X High School. Burke holds the record for the highest overall score by a Nebraska team (48,337), set in 2008. In 2009, the Burke Academic Decathlon team placed second in Division I and third overall at the national competition.

Athletics

Burke athletic teams have won 39 state championships.

Notable alumni

* George Andrews, professional football player for the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

, 19th overall pick in the 1979 NFL Draft *

Craig Anton Craig Ward Anton (born August 28, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his roles as Mr. Pettus in '' Lizzie McGuire'' and Lloyd Diffy in ''Phil of the Future''. Early life Anton was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, ...

, supporting character on ''

Phil of the Future ''Phil of the Future'' is an American science fiction comedy television series that originally aired on Disney Channel for two seasons from June 18, 2004, to August 19, 2006. It was created by Douglas Tuber and Tim Maile and produced by 2121 Pr ...

'' * Joshua Becker,

minimalist In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...

writer * Barney Cotton, offensive line coach for the

Nebraska Cornhuskers football The Nebraska Cornhuskers football team competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, representing the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the Big Ten Conference. Nebraska has played its home games at Memorial Stadium (Linc ...

team * Jason Dourisseau, professional basketball player * Mike Freeman, jazz musician * Alex Henery, professional football player * Ricky Henry, former offensive lineman for the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding t ...

and former NFL player * Rich King, professional basketball player * Rod Kush, professional football player and founder of Rod Kush Furniture *

Xavier Watts Xavier Watts (born November 22, 2001) is an American professional football safety for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, winning the Bronko Nagurski Trophy in ...

, All-American safety for the

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 26 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

Jackson Withrow Jackson Withrow (born July 7, 1993) is an American professional tennis player who specializes in doubles. Withrow has a career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 16 achieved on 19 February 2024. Withrow has won 10 ATP doubles titles. Career ...

, professional tennis player

References

External links

Burke website

Omaha Burke High School alumni website
{{authority control Omaha Public Schools High schools in Omaha, Nebraska Educational institutions established in 1965 Public high schools in Nebraska Magnet schools in Nebraska 1965 establishments in Nebraska