West Jessamine High School
Encyclopedia
West Jessamine High School is a public high school in Nicholasville
, Kentucky
. It opened in 1997 along with East Jessamine High School
after rapidly-growing Jessamine County
split its former high school, Jessamine County High, in two. West Jessamine inherited the former Jessamine County High's nickname of Colts.
The boys' varsity basketball team has made a number of state tournament appearances as well, including 2005's Sweet Sixteen run. In 2009 they made it to the Final Four in basketball. The boys' baseball, girls' softball, boys' and girls' soccer, and boys' and girls' track and cross country teams have all also achieved status among the better programs in the state; West Jessamine's two state athletics championship came in girls' slow pitch softball, and girls' Golf.
In the 2008 season, boys' cross country team placed 4th in the sate, only 2 points away from 2nd. The track and field team has placed in the top 5 in the state each of the past five years, achieving state champions in the mile, two mile, pole vault, and 4 by 800 meter relay. The West Jessamine Baseball team has been successful in the past couple of years, most recently winning the district tournament and going on to win their first region championship, then advancing to state. The team was led by seniors Chase Greene who is now playing at the University of Kentucky, Joseph Griffitt now at Kentucky Wesleyan and Cody Stotts and Scott Gross.
The chorus program at West Jessamine High School has a reputation as one of the best in the state of Kentucky, receiving distinguished ratings. Elite voices in the chorus ensembles have represented West Jessamine High School at the Kentucky Governor's School for the Arts majoring in Vocal Music. Three individuals have been selected in the past two years, two whom attended as sophomores.
The band program at West Jessamine High School has received numerous "distinguished" ratings over the past several years. The band program consists of five major components - marching band, symphonic band, indoor percussion, pep band, and jazz band.
The High School's Drama and Musical Theater program, under the theatrical direction of Mrs. Edie Moon and Ms. Hallie Brinkerhoff and with assistance from the other arts departments at the high school, has performed plays and musicals such as Antigone, Wait Until Dark, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Fiddler on the Roof, The Real Inspector Hound, and The Crucible. In the fall of 2007, the high school put on the play "On the Verge." Also, in the fall of 2006 the drama department entered Antigone into the yearly competition sponsored by the Kentucky Theater Association. The school's drama department won the 'Best Newcomer' award. Also, out of all actors attending, three out of ten were chosen from West Jessamine High School as 'Most talented'.
Nicholasville, Kentucky
Nicholasville is the 11th largest city in state of Kentucky and the county seat of Jessamine County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 19,680 at the 2000 census...
, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
. It opened in 1997 along with East Jessamine High School
East Jessamine High School
East Jessamine High School is a public high school in Nicholasville, Kentucky.-Academics:East Jessamine High School offers the following AP classes:* Art* Biology* Calculus AB* Calculus BC* Chemistry* English Language* English Literature* French...
after rapidly-growing Jessamine County
Jessamine County, Kentucky
Jessamine County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is within the Inner Blue Grass region, which was the center of farming and blooded stock raising, including thoroughbred horses. It was formed in 1799. The population was 48,586 in the 2010 Census...
split its former high school, Jessamine County High, in two. West Jessamine inherited the former Jessamine County High's nickname of Colts.
Athletics
- Baseball (boys only)
- Basketball (separate boys and girls)
- Cheerleading squad (girls only)
- Cross country team (coeducational, but boys and girls compete separately at the state levelKentucky High School Athletic AssociationThe Kentucky High School Athletic Association has been the governing body of Kentucky high school athletics since 1917. Located in Lexington, the organization sanctions competition in the following sports:*Boys and girls**Basketball**Bowling*...
) - Dance Team
- Football (boys only)
- Golf (separate boys and girls)
- Soccer (separate boys and girls)
- Fastpitch Softball (girls only)
- Tennis (separate boys and girls)
- Track (separate boys and girls)
- Volleyball (girls only)
- Swim Team (coeducational, but boys and girls compete separately at the state level)
Academics
West Jessamine High School has the following academic departments:- Agriculture
- Alternative
- Business
- Family and Consumer Science
- Fine Arts
- Fresh Start
- Language Arts
- Mathematics
- Physical Education
- Science
- Social Studies
- Special Education
- Technology Education
- World Languages
Extracurricular activities
West Jessamine's varsity football team has made a number of state playoffs appearances, most recently in 2005. The JV and Freshman Football Teams have also had some recent success, going a combined 7-2 in the 2007 season. In the 2009 football season West Jessamine's football team went a record 9-3, most wins in school history, and won their first playoff game against Harrison County High School, but was defeated by Boyle County, who would later win the state championship.The boys' varsity basketball team has made a number of state tournament appearances as well, including 2005's Sweet Sixteen run. In 2009 they made it to the Final Four in basketball. The boys' baseball, girls' softball, boys' and girls' soccer, and boys' and girls' track and cross country teams have all also achieved status among the better programs in the state; West Jessamine's two state athletics championship came in girls' slow pitch softball, and girls' Golf.
In the 2008 season, boys' cross country team placed 4th in the sate, only 2 points away from 2nd. The track and field team has placed in the top 5 in the state each of the past five years, achieving state champions in the mile, two mile, pole vault, and 4 by 800 meter relay. The West Jessamine Baseball team has been successful in the past couple of years, most recently winning the district tournament and going on to win their first region championship, then advancing to state. The team was led by seniors Chase Greene who is now playing at the University of Kentucky, Joseph Griffitt now at Kentucky Wesleyan and Cody Stotts and Scott Gross.
The chorus program at West Jessamine High School has a reputation as one of the best in the state of Kentucky, receiving distinguished ratings. Elite voices in the chorus ensembles have represented West Jessamine High School at the Kentucky Governor's School for the Arts majoring in Vocal Music. Three individuals have been selected in the past two years, two whom attended as sophomores.
The band program at West Jessamine High School has received numerous "distinguished" ratings over the past several years. The band program consists of five major components - marching band, symphonic band, indoor percussion, pep band, and jazz band.
- Marching Band
- In 2004, the West Jessamine High School Marching Band, under the direction of Steven Page, placed 16th in Class 3A at the KMEA (Kentucky Music Education Association)State Marching Band Semifinals.
- In 2005, with band director Steven Page, the marching band placed 8th, Distinguished rating, in the Class 4A KMEA State Marching Band Semifinals with their show "En La Oscuridad," which is translated as "Into the Darkness." In spring 2006, while still under the direction of Steven Page, the concert band won the prestigious Dixie Classic music festival in the Overall Honor Group category, scoring higher than the bands competing in Virginia Beach from across the country.
- In 2006, they placed 7th overall, Distinguished rating, in Class 4A KMEA State Marching Band Semifinals with their show "A Heart Divided",. They were under the direction of Rex Payton.
- In 2007, the West Jessamine High School Marching Band placed 10th in Class 4A KMEA State Marching Band Semifinals with their show "Four".
- Along with that, the band also received a numerous amount of best percussion awards and a few best color guard awards in their 2008 season in the Class 4A KMEA State Marching Band Semifinals with their show "Pulse." The show brought the band to 5th place in the Class 4A KMEA State Marching Band Semifinals, and just barely kept them out of state finals, with only two points between them and the fourth place band.
- In 2009, under new band director, Michael White, the band performed "The Pursuit", in which they placed 5th, Distinguished rating, in the Class 4A KMEA State Marching Band Semifinals, falling short of making Finals by .09 points.
- In 2010, the band performed the Show entitled "From the Ashes", under the direction of Michael White. They earned 7th place, Distinguished rating, in the Class 4A KMEA State Marching Band Semifinals and 4th Place Mid-States Class 3A Marching Band Championship.
- In 2011, under the direction of Michael White, the The West Jessamine Colts Band made school history by with their Class 4A KMEA State Marching Band Semifinals performance on October 29, 2011 at Barren County High School. That performance earned them the title of a KMEA State Finalist, Distinguished rating, and sent them to the KMEA Finals Championship at Western Kentucky University that same evening. The Colts finished in fourth place, thereby placing them as the 4th best high school marching band in 4A division in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The program, entitled "One", was composed and choreographed by band director Michael White. The 'story' looks at how each of us as an individual who can cause ripples and influence the whole world while our strength comes in our unity with each other. The show was innovative in two ways. First, at every point during the performance, with the exclusion of the second movement where the whole band became a 'color guard', there was only one color guard performing. Second, the band used iPads in three of the four pieces, with this technology use featured in the second movement.
- Drumline
- The drumline brought home the silver medal from the Tri-State Indoor Drumline and Guard Circuit in the winter of 2006 in class Independent A with the show "High Octane." In 2008, they set up an indoor drumline to train future marching band percussionists. The show was entitled "Paradox."
The High School's Drama and Musical Theater program, under the theatrical direction of Mrs. Edie Moon and Ms. Hallie Brinkerhoff and with assistance from the other arts departments at the high school, has performed plays and musicals such as Antigone, Wait Until Dark, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Fiddler on the Roof, The Real Inspector Hound, and The Crucible. In the fall of 2007, the high school put on the play "On the Verge." Also, in the fall of 2006 the drama department entered Antigone into the yearly competition sponsored by the Kentucky Theater Association. The school's drama department won the 'Best Newcomer' award. Also, out of all actors attending, three out of ten were chosen from West Jessamine High School as 'Most talented'.