Kenmore West Senior High School
Encyclopedia
Kenmore West Senior High School is one of two public high school
s in the Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda School District
. The other is Kenmore East Senior High School
. Both are located in the Town of Tonawanda, New York and named after the nearby Village of Kenmore
.
grant of about $700,000 was received from the federal government
toward the creation of a separate building for the senior high school on Highland Parkway, and the school district provided over $1M in additional funds. The 20 acres (80,937.2 m²) plot on which the school is situated cost $35,000. The school opened in the fall of 1939 with fifty faculty members and 1,250 pupils. In 1959, Kenmore East High School was opened as the district continued to grow. At that time, the Highland Parkway school officially became Kenmore West High School. Raymond S. Frazier was appointed to the position of principal of Kenmore West in 1952.
The community continued to grow in the subsequent years, requiring a classroom addition to the west wing of school in 1967-68. The latest building project was the construction of the new library information center on the west lawn, and the athletic complex east of the original gymnasium. The additions were planned by Buffalo architects Duscherer Oberst Design, and completed at a cost of about $10M in the fall of 2000. The design for the library won an award for educational architecture in the summer of 2001.
Another notable architectural change to the building occurred after a fire in the cafeteria bay, causing a several month relocation of the student's cafeteria to the 'Old Gym' while a new cafeteria was erected, finally opening to a very appreciative student body.
Kenmore West's enrollment grew steadily through about 1970, and reached its peak in 1969 with over 3000 students in grades 10, 11 and 12. Alan MacGamwell, a 1944 graduate of the school, was appointed its third principal in 1971, after serving as a teacher, coach and assistant principal in the Ken-Ton Schools. In that era, the school boasted large numbers of National Merit Scholarship winners. The varsity football team under coach Jules Yakapovich
won the national championship in 1969.
MacGamwell retired in 1980 and served the Ken-Ton District on the Board of Education. He died February 16, 2004. Another Kenmore graduate, Charles Kristich, class of 1955, succeeded him as principal that year. The Kenmore community, like the rest of western New York, lost population between 1970 and 1990. West's enrollment dipped to a low of under 1,400 students in the early 1990s, and many teachers were laid off. Despite the loss of population, however, Kenmore continued to be recognized for its achievements.
high schools in terms of academic performance.
In January 2011, Kenmore West was designated as an International Baccalaureate (IB) School. They are the first public school in Western New York with this distinction. Only two schools in the area are International Baccalaureate recognized schools (City Honors is the other).
The only district-authorized alumni group is the Kenmore West Alumni Association. The Kenmore West Alumni Foundation, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) tax-deductible organization that provides thousands of dollars in scholarships to graduating seniors.
The musicals are directed by Mathematics teacher Philip Jarosz, and choral teacher Paul Laduca. The choral and choir instructor is Paul LaDuca. The theatre program is led by Vanessa Scinta and Diana Grunninger, who directs the Fall and Spring plays and also teaches Theater classes at Kenmore West. The band director is Ken Belote, and the orchestral director is Karen Fryer.
(NFL) in most sports. Exceptions include the football team which competes in the Class AA North division and the gymnastics team which competes in ECIC Division I. The school's sports teams are consistently competitive, and have produced numerous championships throughout the school's 60 year history. The Blue Devils have a fierce cross-town rivalry with Kenmore East.
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
s in the Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda School District
Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda School District
The Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda School District, also called the Ken-Ton School District, serves Kenmore and a majority of the Town of Tonawanda in New York State. It is one of the largest in Western New York...
. The other is Kenmore East Senior High School
Kenmore East High School
Kenmore East High School is a high school in the Town of Tonawanda, New York. Its name refers to the Village of Kenmore, which it serves. The school's mascot is a bulldog. The school was founded in 1959 and is the sister school to Kenmore West Senior High School...
. Both are located in the Town of Tonawanda, New York and named after the nearby Village of Kenmore
Kenmore, New York
Village of Kenmore is a village in Erie County, New York, in the United States. The population was 16,426 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area....
.
History
In 1938, a WPAWorks Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
grant of about $700,000 was received from the federal government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
toward the creation of a separate building for the senior high school on Highland Parkway, and the school district provided over $1M in additional funds. The 20 acres (80,937.2 m²) plot on which the school is situated cost $35,000. The school opened in the fall of 1939 with fifty faculty members and 1,250 pupils. In 1959, Kenmore East High School was opened as the district continued to grow. At that time, the Highland Parkway school officially became Kenmore West High School. Raymond S. Frazier was appointed to the position of principal of Kenmore West in 1952.
The community continued to grow in the subsequent years, requiring a classroom addition to the west wing of school in 1967-68. The latest building project was the construction of the new library information center on the west lawn, and the athletic complex east of the original gymnasium. The additions were planned by Buffalo architects Duscherer Oberst Design, and completed at a cost of about $10M in the fall of 2000. The design for the library won an award for educational architecture in the summer of 2001.
Another notable architectural change to the building occurred after a fire in the cafeteria bay, causing a several month relocation of the student's cafeteria to the 'Old Gym' while a new cafeteria was erected, finally opening to a very appreciative student body.
Kenmore West's enrollment grew steadily through about 1970, and reached its peak in 1969 with over 3000 students in grades 10, 11 and 12. Alan MacGamwell, a 1944 graduate of the school, was appointed its third principal in 1971, after serving as a teacher, coach and assistant principal in the Ken-Ton Schools. In that era, the school boasted large numbers of National Merit Scholarship winners. The varsity football team under coach Jules Yakapovich
Jules Yakapovich
Jules Yakapovich was an American football coach.Born in Tonawanda, New York, he served during World War II as a U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant. Yakapovich was head football coach at Kenmore West High School in New York from 1950 to 1976...
won the national championship in 1969.
MacGamwell retired in 1980 and served the Ken-Ton District on the Board of Education. He died February 16, 2004. Another Kenmore graduate, Charles Kristich, class of 1955, succeeded him as principal that year. The Kenmore community, like the rest of western New York, lost population between 1970 and 1990. West's enrollment dipped to a low of under 1,400 students in the early 1990s, and many teachers were laid off. Despite the loss of population, however, Kenmore continued to be recognized for its achievements.
Academics
In 2009, Kenmore West Senior High School was ranked 78th out of 131 Western New YorkWestern New York
Western New York is the westernmost region of the state of New York. It includes the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Niagara Falls, the surrounding suburbs, as well as the outlying rural areas of the Great Lakes lowlands, the Genesee Valley, and the Southern Tier. Some historians, scholars and others...
high schools in terms of academic performance.
In January 2011, Kenmore West was designated as an International Baccalaureate (IB) School. They are the first public school in Western New York with this distinction. Only two schools in the area are International Baccalaureate recognized schools (City Honors is the other).
Notable alumni
Currently, Kenmore West enrolls more than 1,600 students and has a full staff of over 175 people. The school's alumni include state and federal judges, nationally known scientists, authors, journalists, decorated military officers and local and state business leaders and humanitarians. They include:- Wolf BlitzerWolf BlitzerWolf Isaac Blitzer is an American journalist who has been a CNN reporter since 1990. Blitzer is currently the host of the newscast The Situation Room and was the host of the Sunday talk show Late Edition until it was discontinued on January 11, 2009...
, CNN journalist and author (who sent a video to the Class of 2009 graduation and visited Kenmore West on 4/9/10 to speak with the school) - Frank H. EasterbrookFrank H. EasterbrookFrank Hoover Easterbrook is the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He has been Chief Judge since November 2006, and has been a judge on the court since 1985...
, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit - Dr. John M. Erhart, research ophthalmologist
- Gregg EasterbrookGregg EasterbrookGregg Edmund Easterbrook is an American writer, lecturer, and a senior editor of The New Republic. His articles have appeared in Slate, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Reuters, Wired, and Beliefnet. In addition, he was a fellow at the...
, author and journalist - John Marohn, Chemistry professor at Cornell University
- Bob SmithBob Smith (comedian)Bob Smith is an American comedian and author. Smith, born in Buffalo, New York, was the first openly gay comedian to appear on The Tonight Show and the first openly gay comedian to have his own HBO half-hour comedy special...
, comedian and author - Edward GibsonEdward GibsonEdward George Gibson, PhD, is a former NASA astronaut, pilot, and engineer.Before becoming a NASA astronaut, Gibson graduated from the University of Rochester and the California Institute of Technology...
, Skylab astronaut (who spoke to the student body at the 2010 Homecoming rally) - Jim McNallyJim McNallyJim McNally is a retired NFL offensive line coach, whose 28-year career included tenures with the Cincinnati Bengals, Carolina Panthers and New York Giants before retiring following a four-year stint with the Buffalo Bills...
, former offensive line coach in the NCAANational Collegiate Athletic AssociationThe National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
(1966—1979) and in the NFLNational Football LeagueThe National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
(1980—2008) - James Mallory, college football player at Central Connecticut State and 2010 NFL Draft prospect
- Patrick Mang Mayor of Kenmore, N.Y.
- Denny Clements, top executive at automaker Lexus
- Beth KromBeth KromBeth Krom is an Irvine, California, council member and was twice mayor of the city, as a Democrat. Krom received a B.S. in education from the University of Texas, Austin....
, two-term mayor of Irvine, Calif., and U.S. congressional candidate - Dan McFall, NHL hockey player
- Green JellyGreen JellÿGreen Jellÿ is a Grammy-nominated American comedy rock band formed in 1981. Originally named Green Jellö, the band changed its name due to legal pressure from the owners of the Jell-O trademark, Kraft Foods, who claimed that it was an infringement of their trademark...
, musicians and theatrical group - Mark Freeland, musician
- Jeff Czum, guitarist in the band Cute Is What We Aim For
- Zachary Anner, Internet-Celebrity with Cerebral Palsy
The only district-authorized alumni group is the Kenmore West Alumni Association. The Kenmore West Alumni Foundation, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) tax-deductible organization that provides thousands of dollars in scholarships to graduating seniors.
School Colors & Mascot
The school's colors are blue and white, and the mascot is the Blue Devil. There are many different images used for the Blue Devil all throughout the school, and most have been designed by students. In recent years, the old mascot costume was replaced by a newer, more 'pumped-up' Blue Devil costume.The arts
Kenmore West also boasts a wonderful theatre program. In recent years they have performed such shows as Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream", Mary Zimmerman's "Metamorphoses", Shirley Lauro's "A Piece of My Heart", Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Titanic the Musical, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.The musicals are directed by Mathematics teacher Philip Jarosz, and choral teacher Paul Laduca. The choral and choir instructor is Paul LaDuca. The theatre program is led by Vanessa Scinta and Diana Grunninger, who directs the Fall and Spring plays and also teaches Theater classes at Kenmore West. The band director is Ken Belote, and the orchestral director is Karen Fryer.
Athletics
The Blue Devils compete in the Niagara Frontier LeagueNiagara Frontier League
The Niagara Frontier League is high school athletic league in Western New York. It was formed in the spring of 1937 at a meeting in Mike Cutt's Clay Pipe Inn in Tonawanda, New York. Representatives from Lackawanna, Tonawanda, North Tonawanda, Niagara Falls, Trott, Kenmore and Lockport merged the...
(NFL) in most sports. Exceptions include the football team which competes in the Class AA North division and the gymnastics team which competes in ECIC Division I. The school's sports teams are consistently competitive, and have produced numerous championships throughout the school's 60 year history. The Blue Devils have a fierce cross-town rivalry with Kenmore East.
Men's Basketball
- NFL Champions: 1956, 1960, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1983, 2005
- Section 6 Champions: 1967, 1977, 1978, 1982
- New York State Champions: 1978
Girls' Basketball
- NFL Champions: 1975
- Section 6 Class A Champions: 2003
Cross Country
- NFL Champions: 1992, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
Football
- NFL Champions: 1953, 1967, 1968, 1969, 2010
- New York State Champions: 1969
- National Champions: 1969
Softball
- NFL Champions: 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
- Section 6 Champions: 1995, 1999, 2002, 2005
- Far West Regional Champions: 1999, 2002, 2005
- New York State Champions: 2002
Boys' Tennis
- NFL Champions: 2008
Track & Field
- NFL Champions: 1974, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998
Boys' Volleyball
- NFL Champions: 1992, 1993, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006
- Section 6 Champions: 1970, 1972, 2000
- Far West Regional Champions: 2000