Francis Howell Central High School (abbreviated FHC) is the third high school created in the Francis Howell School District. The school is located in Cottleville, Missouri

Cottleville, Missouri

Cottleville is a city in St. Charles County, Missouri, United States. The population was 3,227 at the 2009 census estimate.-Schools:Cottleville is home to the Francis Howell Central High School Spartans and Louis C. Saeger Middle School Spartans. At Saeger Middle there is an annual Turkey Ball...

, but a large part of its student population comes from its larger neighbor St. Peters. Home of the Spartans, Francis Howell Central is a four-year comprehensive high school offering programs in college preparatory, vocational, honors/advanced credit, advanced placement and a special education program.

Brief history

FHC opened in the fall of 1997 with only freshmen and sophomore students. The school had been built in a series of phases; much of what is visible today had not yet been constructed at the time of its opening. The school's founding principal was Mr. Don Muench. The building opened with fairly small number of teachers, which was due to low student enrollment at the time. Eventually the school expanded to the junior and senior grades as well. Students and staff were distraught when, in late 2001, Don Muench died tragically. Mr. Steve Griggs was hired as the new building principal. Griggs remained principal until 2006, when he transferred to a new position in the district's administration. Mr. Jack Ameis, former administrator at Francis Howell North High School

Francis Howell North High School

Francis Howell North High School is a secondary school located in St. Peters, Missouri. The school's mascot is the knight.-Notable alumni:* Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox* Rob Wort-Washington Nationals-Athletics and activities:...

, served as the interim principal for the 2006-2007 school year. Starting with the 2007-2008 school year, Dr. Sonny Arnel returned to Central to serve as head principal. The school enrollment currently hovers around 2,000 students. The school's mascot is King Leo the Spartan.

Death and Memorial of Phillip Vinnedge

On October 13, 2010, students and staff at Francis Howell Central learned of the tragic death of LCpl. Phillip Vinnedge, after a roadside bomb killed LCpl. Vinnedge and 3 other Marines. He was 19 years old and a 2009 graduate of FHC and also attended Mary Emily Bryan Middle School. His family agreed to have the funeral procession proceed to the school. The procession lasted around 30 minutes long, with every student and staff member waving an American Flag, and the flag at Don Muench Memorial Stadium being lowered to half staff.

Don Muench Stadium

After Muench's passing in 2001, the school named their stadium the Don Muench Memorial Stadium. It hosts football, track and field, and soccer events, as well as many other sports and club events. It is widely considered one of the best high school stadiums in St. Charles County. In May 2011, the stadium was host to the Missouri District Track Meet.

Athletics

Francis Howell Central supports three athletic seasons, with all sports supported by their own Booster club, selling products that help benefit their individual sport. Teams participate against other local schools in the surrounding area and win. The wrestling program is stated to be the best in the state of Missouri, and one of the top in the country, as they have won not only state championships, but national ones as well.

Fall Sports Cross Country Cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road... Girls' Softball Softball Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand... Football American football American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by... Girls' Volleyball Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive... Boys' Soccer Girls' Tennis Tennis Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all... Boys' Swimming Swimming (sport) Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native... Girls' Golf Golf Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

Winter Sports Boys' Basketball Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules... Girls' Basketball Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules... Boys' Ice hockey Ice hockey Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take... Boys' Wrestling Wrestling Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position... Girls' Swimming Swimming (sport) Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native... Winter guard Winter guard Winter guard is an indoor color guard activity, derived from marching band or drum & bugle corps. Unlike traditional color guard, winter guard is performed indoors, usually in a gymnasium or an indoor arena... "Evolutions" Winter Drumline

Spring Sports Track Track and field Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area... Baseball Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond... Boys' Rugby Rugby football Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:... Girls' Soccer Boys' Golf Golf Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes.... Boys' Tennis Tennis Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all... Boys' Volleyball Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive... Ultimate Frisbee

Year Around Sensations Cheerleading Cheerleading Cheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate... Marching Band Marching band Marching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...

State Championships

In 2011, the FHC Boys Varsity Ice Hockey team defeated CBC High School 7-3 to win the Missouri State Hockey Championship. The victory led to somewhat of a controversy, as the team was not allowed to keep the trophy it earned in the school's display case due to ice hockey being a club sport rather than a school-sponsored activity.

Clubs

Students attending Francis Howell Central have clubs to choose from including, but not limited to the following:


Games Club
Art Club
DECA

DECA (organization)

DECA, also known as Collegiate DECA on the college level) is an international association of students and teachers of marketing, management and entrepreneurship in business, finance, hospitality, and marketing sales and service . DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing,...

 
FBLA 
FCA

Fellowship of Christian Athletes

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes is a non-profit interdenominational Christian organization founded in 1954 and that has been based in Kansas City, Missouri since 1956. It falls within the tradition of Muscular Christianity. Although established by evangelical Protestants, the concept has...

 
FCCLA 
National Honor Society

National Honor Society

The National Honor Society is a recognition program for high school students in grades 10-12 in the United States and in several other countries...

Pep Club
FHC Spotlight Players 
Robotics
Scholar Quiz Bowl
Youth In Government

YMCA Youth and Government

YMCA Youth and Government, or Y&G is a YMCA civic engagement and service-learning program in the United States that offers high school students the opportunity to serve in a model government process at the local, state, national, and international levels...

 
300 Spartans Spirit Club

Spartan Regiment

The Spartan Regiment is FHC's marching band. They have competed in several national events, including winning first place in several awards, and Grand Champions at the Orange Bowl in 2003. During that competition they brought home 15 awards. At the 2001 Cotton Bowl Classic they came home as Grand Champions, winning several awards. A recent success is in being Grand Champions in the 2007 Cotton Bowl Classic, where they took 10 awards, including 4, first place, Grand Champion trophies.
Their shows have included Boo, E.T, West Side Story, Gladiator, Robin Hood, Tchaikovsky Celebration, Los Ninos de la Noche, Journey, Wounded Knee Relived, Fury and Fire, Masters of Sword, Colors in Motion, Breaking Through, Rise, and currently: Believe. Mr. Nathan Griffin replaced Mr. David Opperman as Director of Bands in 2008.
In 2009, the Spartan Regiment performed their show Breaking Through, and with that show, they went down to the Gator Bowl and came very close to winning the sweepstakes. Only by a small margin did they take second place; they took around 13 awards. The 2010 show Rise was also very successful under the direction of Mr. Griffin. They placed second in their division at the Blue Spring marching competition, and in the top eight during the finals.

Student publications

The journalism program at FHC is very robust, with the monthly student-run newspaper, the Central Focus, having won many state and national high school journalism awards. The staff of the Central Focus also runs a website, FHCtoday.com, which features more news and information about what is happening at the school and the surrounding area. FHCtoday.com was last ranked fifth among scholastic news websites in the nation at the Fall 2010 JEA/NSPA Journalism Convention. The Odyssey is the name of the yearbook published yearly by the yearbook staff. Members of both staffs have also won numerous individual awards. Francis Howell Central also has a facebook page of their website (FHCtoday.com), which hundreds of people have become fans of.

FHC Spotlight Players

The members of Francis Howell Central's theatrical department have been named The Spotlight Players. This department within Francis Howell Central is one of great status. In years past, it has been recognized for successfully producing shows at a high level of difficulty for a high school department. The Spotlight Players perform three mainstage shows each season along with several smaller, second-stage events in the school's 513-seat auditorium. From 2007-2010, the department went through various director changes. The 2007-2008 school year was the 4th and final year for director Stephen Kimball, he was forced to resign at the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year. Afterwards, Jennifer Ritter took over that fall, and was not rehired for the 2009-2010 school year. Instead, Shannon Latzke was transferred from Saeger to take the position, but she left at the end of the year due to the grueling schedule in order to spend more time with her family. Michelle Moll was hired as our director for the 2010-2011 school year. Therefore, the class of 2011 had a different director every year. Thankfully though, Michelle Moll is returning for the 2011-2012 school year.

The 300

The 300 elite squad of Spartans represent the best spirit of the student body. Easily noticeable by their distinct head gear which consists of a blue foam helmet, this squad occupies their own section at all home football games and are a major presence in other sporting events. Created under the ingenious direction of 2010 Class President Brad DiMariano in 2009, the squad reached a pinnacle with highest participation rates and dedication. Since his graduation, however, the squad has lost leadership and direction and most of its tradition has become lost. The squand still hopes to stand strong this coming football season 2012, and following men's volleyball season 2013.