Appleton North High School

'''Appleton North High School''' is a comprehensive [[secondary school]] in [[Appleton, Wisconsin]] that is part of the [[Appleton Area School District]]. Opened in August 1995, it is the most recently built of the three four-year public high schools in the district. The school has roughly 1900 students. The school colors are gold, silver and navy blue. The school's nickname is the Appleton North Lightning. North is led by Principal James Huggins, with Associate Principals David Pynenberg, David Mueller, and Jack Knaack. === Theatre === The theatre department is known throughout the state of Wisconsin for its musicals. Some of the musicals performed include ''[[Cinderella (musical)|Cinderella]]'', ''[[The Sound of Music]]'', ''[[Aida (musical)|Aida]]'', ''[[Les Misérables (musical)|Les Misérables]]'', ''[[The Secret Garden (musical)|The Secret Garden]]'', and ''[[The Phantom of the Opera (musical) |The Phantom of the Opera]]''. North was one of the first high schools in the country to produce the Tony Award-winning play ''[[Metamorphoses (play)|Metamorphoses]]'', complete with an 1800-gallon pool of water on stage.{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}} In 2003, North's production of ''Les Misérables'' featured a rotating stage. For the 2006 Wisconsin High School Theatre Festival, the school gave a one-act version of ''[[Hamlet]]''. The spring drama for the 2006-2007 school year was ''[[The Arabian Nights (play)|The Arabian Nights]]'', which was the 2007-2008 One Act presentation. In March 2008, ''[[Miss Saigon]]'' was performed. The school was the first to introduce two weekends of shows and double casting to the Fox River Valley.{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}} In 2008, the production of ''[[Cyrano de Bergerac]]'' was performed in the round with the audience on the stage. The winter 2009 play was ''The Odyssey''. Appleton North also was involved in the first Appleton all-school musical ''[[The Music Man]]'', which involved the drama departments from North, East and West. The One-Act Team has won the Critics' Choice Award twelve years in a row at the Wisconsin High School Theatre Festival.{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}} Appleton North High School is also the setting of Appleton's Summer Shakespeare Theatre. === Band === The students are separated into three bands (increasing in experience and talent of members): Concert Band, Wind Symphony, and Honors Band. The music department has approximately 186 band members who participate in multiple [[parades]], pep band at the home varsity basketball games, a pre-game show for most home football games and a half time show for the homecoming football game. Formal concerts are performed in November, February, and May. The band also performs in the Appleton Holiday Parade, Flag Day Parade, and Veterans Day Parade. There are two [[jazz]] ensembles, Jazz I and Jazz II, with Jazz I being for the more talented and experienced jazz musicians. These ensembles perform a variety of shows throughout the course of the year. === Choir === Appleton North's choral department has received recognition as one of the best choral departments in the state.{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}} The program consists of six choirs: Overture Women's Chorus and Overture Men's Chorus, for freshmen; Women's Choral Society, an unauditioned ensemble for women in grades 10-12; Varsity Men's Choir, for men in grades 10-12; Varsity Women's Choir, an auditioned ensemble for grades 10-12; and North Choir, an auditioned, touring mixed ensemble for students in grades 11-12. There has been widespread support for the choir program not only within the school, but also within the community of Appleton and the Fox Cities.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} North's ''Holiday Classics'' is a holiday show put on by the choirs during the Christmas season, and features a collection of choral songs, soloists and a play. The school sells thousands of tickets for the show annually.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} === Football === Appleton North Lightning is a conceptional team lead by Rob Salm. During the 2011-2012 football season, we got to be the FVA Conference Champions and is looking forward to the playoffs. Here are some of the players, QB - Nathan Otto, LB - Matthew Gajewski,C - Brett Harvath. === Boy's Basketball === Since the team was founded, the Appleton North Boy's Basketball program has struggled to find success in the highly competitive Fox Valley Association Conference (FVA). The team has never won the FVA or made an appearance to the State Basketball Tournament. In 2009, former girl's basketball coach Eric Eastman took over for Greg Huenink after a dismal 3 win and 19 loss season. In Eastman's first year, the team went 7-16 and are looking to improve in 2010 behind the leadership of Clifford Sperl, Nate Otto, Trevor Smith and Nate Van Handel. === Orchestra === The [[orchestra]] department at North is split into two main groups: freshmen orchestra, and the lightning symphonic orchestra for sophomores, juniors, and seniors. The North honors orchestra is for qualified string students who take private lessons and participate in [[Youth Orchestra]]. From the time Appleton North opened, both orchestras were conducted by Gary Wolfman. Wolfman retired in 2011. === Math Team === The [[Appleton North]] [[math]] team has a history of exceptional ability. The math team is made up of North's most achieved math students. With a current win ratio of 2:1, these advanced math students well represent their school. The majority of the students score in the top few during meets, and are commonly a part of the Fox Valley Math League first team. === DECA === DECA is an association of marketing students. Appleton North is proud to have Cyndi Dechant teaching all the DECA students. Doing so well at the DECA districts competition, Appleton North's DECA chapter continually brings a number of students to compete at the State level (Lake Geneva, WI), as well as ICDC, the Internation Career Development Conference (Anaheim CA, Louisville KY, Orlando FL) === Boys Volleyball === The Appleton North boys volleyball team won back to back to back FVA Championships from 2005–2009 and advanced to the WIAA State Tournament in all four years. Key Players include setter- Aaron Lang(2006) and Andy Borree(2007), middle-Pat Lueck(2007) Parker Gross (2008), Outside Hitters Michael Cotter(2006) Steve Thao(2006) DJ Van Boxtel(2007) Drew Oswald(2007) Kyle Ullsperger(2008) Andrew Goodman(2008), Libero-TJ Van Fossen(2007) Jeffery Moua(2008), Server- Mike Degroot(2007), Ryan Lang (2003 Wisconsin State Tournament Record Holder). == Other achievements == {{Unreferenced section|date=March 2009}} During the 2009 football season Appleton North went undefeated. Notable events include breaking Kimberly's undefeated streak during the regular season, and eventually advancing to level 4 playoffs. The 2009 football team is the first in school history to go 12-1 (only loss was to Menomonee Falls, level 4 playoffs). In 2009, the school's performance dance team won first place in the medium poms division at the national high school dance championship in [[Orlando, Florida]]. The class of 2008 was the first class in history to defeat Appleton East and West all four years in football. During the 2008 women's soccer season the varsity team won conference, regionals, sectionals and went to the state tournament, losing to the eventual state champions. In the 2007-08 season, Appleton United Men's hockey team went to the state tournament for the first time. The following year they had a record of 20-0-1 during the regular season. During the 2006-2007 inaugurale season, Appleton United Women's hockey team won secitonals and went to the state tournament, eventually winning against Chippewa Falls 4-2 in the State Championship Game. During the 2006-2007 season, the Appleton North Math Team won the Fox Valley Math League competition for the first time in school history. During the 2004 football season Appleton North went undefeated. == External links == *[http://www.aasd.k12.wi.us/North/ Appleton North High School website] *[http://www.appletonnorththeatre.com Appleton North theatre website] *[http://www.aasd.k12.wi.us/Staff/thaldorfjames/index.htm Appleton North band website] {{coord missing|Wisconsin}}