Waterloo West High School is one of three public

high schools 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 ...

under the auspices of the Waterloo Community School District in

Waterloo, Iowa Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2020 United States census the population was 67,314, making it the List of cities in Iowa, eighth-most populous city in the st ...

. The school is located at the intersection of E. Ridgeway Ave. and Baltimore Ave.

Mascot

The school mascot is Westy the Wahawk. The name "Wahawk" is a portmanteau of the city name (

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces * Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Australia * Waterloo, New South Wale ...

) and the county name ( Black Hawk). Much controversy has surrounded the mascot, which was once an Indian chief thought to be

politically incorrect "Political correctness" (adjectivally "politically correct"; commonly abbreviated to P.C.) is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in society. ...

. It was later changed to a flying eagle flying through a flaming hoop but was changed back after 3 years. The logo is currently the "Flying W," a capital "W" with a feather hanging off of it. More recently an arrow has been added behind the "Flying W". This is also the only school in the United States with "Old Rose" as its school color.

Demographics

In the 2015–2016 school year, West High had an enrollment of 1,638 students. The racial makeup of the school during the 2015–2016 school year was 60%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 18.5%

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

, 10%

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

, 4.6%

Multiracial The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more races (human categorization), races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicity, ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used ...

, 4.5% Asian and 2.4% from other races

Athletics

The Wahawks compete in the Mississippi Valley Conference in the following sports: *Cross Country *Volleyball *Football *Basketball ** Boys' 1925 Class A State Champions *Wrestling ** 17-time State Champions (1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1951, 1952, 1955, 1959, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1977, 1989) *Swimming *Track and Field ** Boys' 1981 Class AA State Champions *Golf ** Boys' 10-time State Champions (1950, 1951, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1998) ** Girls' 4-time State Champions (1956, 1957, 1981, 1993) ** Coed 5-time State Champions (1972, 1973, 1980, 1981, 1985) *Soccer *Softball *Baseball ** 1991 Class 4A State Champions *Tennis ** Boys' 1991 Class 2A State Champions *Bowling ** Girls' 2013 Class 2A State Champions ** Boys' 2-time Class 3A State Champions (2020, 2023)

Notable alumni

* David L. Baker, Iowa Supreme Court justice * Bob Bowlsby,

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

commissioner (2012–current), athletic director at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

(2006–2012) University of Iowa (1990–2006). *

Dan Gable Danny Mack Gable (born October 25, 1948) is an American former folkstyle and freestyle wrestler and coach. Considered to be one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, Gable is a two-time NCAA Division I national champion, a World gold medalist ...

, 1972 Olympic gold medalist in

freestyle wrestling Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling. It is one of two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games, along with Greco-Roman wrestling, Greco-Roman. scholastic wrestling, High school wrestling and men's collegiate wrestling in the U ...

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

, former head

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

coach at

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

. * Molly Goodenbour, women's basketball coach,

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...

Nikole Hannah-Jones Nikole Sheri Hannah-Jones (born April 9, 1976) is an American investigative journalist known for her coverage of civil rights in the United States. She joined ''The New York Times'' as a staff writer in April 2015, was awarded a MacArthur Fellow ...

, journalist *

Don Perkins Donald Anthony Perkins (March 4, 1938 – June 9, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a fullback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at the University of New Mexico. ...

, former professional football player,

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

for

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

Cal Petersen Calvin Louis Petersen (born October 19, 1994) is an American professional ice hockey goaltender for the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected ...

, American professional ice hockey player * Jack Rule, Jr., former professional golfer who played on

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

in 1960s * Mike van Arsdale, retired

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

; current

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

coach *

Emily West Emily Marie Nemmers (born July 9, 1981) is an American music artist, who performs and records under the name Emily West. Signed to Capitol Records Nashville, she debuted on '' Billboard's'' Hot Country Songs charts in early 2008 with the single ...

, country music singer-songwriter, signed with

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

; '' America's Got Talent (season 9)'' runner up

References

External links

Waterloo West High School website
Buildings and structures in Waterloo, Iowa Public high schools in Iowa Schools in Black Hawk County, Iowa 1922 establishments in Iowa Educational institutions established in 1922 {{Iowa-school-stub