Chaparral High School (Colorado)

Chaparal High School
Location
156 Brookstone Drive, Parker, Colorado
Information
Established 1997
School district Douglas County School District
Principal Greg Gotchey
Staff 183
Grades 9-12
Enrollment 2600[1]
Color(s) Navy, red, white and gold                 
Athletics 5A
Athletics conference Contnental League[1]
Mascot Wolverine
Website http://www.chaparralhs.org/

Chaparral High School is a public high school located in Parker, Colorado, United States. It is a part of the Douglas County School District RE-1.

The school is notable in Colorado for how it came to have an automated external defibrillator (AED) unit. Chaparral student Cody Schmidt died in 2003 after his heart stopped while in gym class, spurring his parents to raise funds to acquire AED units for all Douglas County schools.[2]

The school has the first rap club in Douglas County.

Extracurricular activities

Chaparral High School offers over thirty activity organizations, the majority of which are open to all interested students. Service organizations include Link Crew, a mentor program for incoming freshmen; Interact; National Honor Society; Peer Counseling; and Student Government. Competitive activities which allow students to earn a varsity letter include Speech and Debate, DECA, FBLA, FCCLA, Marching Band, Drama Choir, Orchestra and Journalism.

Chaparral also has several club sports which have earned state recognition, such as boys' and girls' rugby, ice hockey, inline hockey and boys' volleyball.

Chaparral activities have earned numerous state and national recognition and awards. Chaparral activity-based groups have also traveled nationally and internationally. The CHS band and orchestra have traveled to Ireland, and the select choir has traveled to Germany and China.

The school has hosted an annual jazz festival, the Chaparral High School High Plains Jazz Festival, since 1996.

The school has a competitive marching band, competing in the Colorado Bandmasters Association[3] since 2001. The band is under the direction of Steve Hinman. The band has appeared in the Hollywood Christmas Parade, under the direction of Orlando Otis at the time. They were a finalist band in 2009 (placed 8th in 5A) and 2014 (placed 7th in 5A). The drill for their shows is written by Brandon Specht. The percussion is written by Zack Argotsinger. The musical arrangements are written by Nick Hinman.

Usually their field shows consist of either pop songs or musical compositions for movies. In 2014, their show was entitled "Celtic Fire: A Life with Dragons", and included selections from John Powell's musical works from How to Train Your Dragon. Their 2015 show, entitled "This Amazing Day", was based on the E.E. Cummings poem. The through-line was "Joy", including parts of "Joy in All Things"[4] by Brian Balmages, "Joy"[5] by Joseph Curiale, "October"[6] by Eric Whitacre, and "joyRiDE" by Michael Markowski.[7]

Chaparral High School's theatre department was named the number one high school theatre program in the southwest US by Stage Directions magazine in November 2011. Their production of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables was awarded a total of five Bobby G awards by the Denver Center of the Performing Arts in 2013, including Best Overall Production, Best Direction, Best Musical Direction, and Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role. The theatre and performing arts department continue to be a leader in the nation.

Honor societies

National Honors Society (NHS) is the largest honor society at Chaparral High School. It was established in 1921.

Other honor societies include National Art Honor Society, National Asian Honor Society, Tri-M Music Honor Society and National Hispanic Honor Society.

The National Art Honor Society (NAHS) was founded in 1978 to inspire and recognize scholarship and art in the development of creativity, character, service and leadership. NAHS strives to aid members in working toward the attainment of the highest standards in art areas, and to bring art education to the attention of the school and community. Every September 10–12 grade students who hold a GPA of a 3.0 or higher and have completed two or more art classes are formally invited to apply for membership.

The National Chinese Honor Society was established in 2009 to honor dedicated students of the Chinese language. Chaparral has an active sister school relationship in China with Xinjin Middle School in Chengdu, Sichuan.

Clubs

General:

Co-curricular activities:

Club sports:

Other clubs in the school include Guitar Hero Club, Asian Culture Club (cosplay), Spanish Club, French Club, and Chess Club.

Sports

The school's football team is conditioned and competitive. The volleyball team was state champion two years in a row (2010 and 2011). The boys' basketball team won state in the 2011-2012 school year. The varsity cheerleading squad also won state in the 2011-2012 school year. Chaparral won three state titles were won in the 2011-2012 school year.

The unified soccer and basketball teams provide a unique opportunity for students to volunteer with a branch of Special Olympics in their own school. The unified basketball team was organized for the first time at Chaparral High School in winter 2006. The formation of the teams was spearheaded by physical education instructor Lori Pace in concert with the special education department. The unified soccer team was first organized in the fall of 2007. The unified sports teams provide an opportunity for students with special needs to participate in organized team sports with their peers in a fun and competitive environment.

Fall sports:

Winter sports:

Spring sports:

Club sports:

References

  1. 1 2 Colorado High School Activities Association profile for Chaparral High School Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.. Accessed 1 December 2006.
  2. ↑ Augé, Karen. "Parents push for lifesaving gear" Archived October 1, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.. Denver Post, 21 March 2006. Accessed 1 December 2006.
  3. ↑ Colorado Bandmasters Association
  4. ↑ "Joy in All Things"
  5. ↑ "Joy"
  6. ↑ "October"
  7. ↑ "joyRiDE" by Michael Markowski
  8. ↑ Stick Art Club

External links

Coordinates: 39°32′23.7″N 104°48′28.16″W / 39.539917°N 104.8078222°W / 39.539917; -104.8078222

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