William Mason High School (Mason, Ohio)

William Mason High School, also known as Mason High School (WMHS or MHS), is a four-year public high school located in the Mason City Schools district in Mason, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio. Its enrollment makes it the largest high school in Ohio, serving more than 3,300 students in grades 9 through 12 in a 620,000 square-foot, three-story facility on a 73-acre campus.^[1]

History

The school's first graduating class was in 1886, with 7 students at commencement at Mason's Opera House. In the following years, graduating classes consisted of 10, 3 (all girls), 3 (all girls), and, in 1890, 14, according to "Around Mason, Ohio: A Story", 1982, by Rose Marie Springman. At the school's 50th commencement in 1935, the school graduated 27. In 1959, the long-time high school on North East Street became a K-8 school with the building of a new high school on Mason-Montgomery Road (the site of the current Mason Middle School). Indoor athletics continued to be held at the old building until a new gym was added to the high school in 1967.

Extracurricular activities

Academic clubs and teams

Mason High School is home to several academically competitive clubs, including Speech & Debate, Mock Trial, Science Olympiad, MathCounts, and an Academic Quizbowl Team.^[2]

Other activities include award-winning such as Dance Team, Speech and Debate and the Science Olympiad team. The school has a National Honor Society and a Student Government appointed to make a difference in students' communities, along with other leadership clubs such as Mason African-American Students for Change and H.O.P.E. Club. Most recently, Mason's Science Olympiad placed third at the state competition, after nationally ranked schools, Centerville and Mentor.

The school has a strong media outlet in its monthly campus student newspaper The Chronicle — a completely student-run publication which has won awards from the National Scholastic Press Association and the Columbia Scholastic Press Association — and MBC Newsmakers, a monthly broadcast show presented to the entire campus. Also present in the school are The Masonian yearbook and Writer's Block, the literary magazine.

Performing arts

The school's Drama Club performs two plays in the fall and winter, culminating in a spring musical each year. Mason High School is a member of the Cappies of Greater Cincinnati, and its winter 2009 play "Noises Off" won the Best Play Cappie. Its outstanding theater facilities include a complete auditorium, scene and costume shop, Green Room and newly constructed black box theater space.

The Instrumental Music Department encompasses six concert bands (concert white, green, silver, winds, symphonic band, and wind symphony), four orchestras, Marching Band, Jazz Band, Pep Band, Chamber Strings, Winter Guard, Winter Percussion, and AP Music Theory. The Mason Band Program was awarded the John Philip Sousa Foundation Sudler Flag of Honor on May 24, 2008. In 2011, the William Mason High School Marching Band was the recipient of the John Philip Sousa Foundation Sudler Shield, the highest honor a marching band can receive.^[3] MHS is one of only 15 schools to ever receive both awards.

Athletics

The Comets participate in the Greater Miami Conference. Previously, Mason was a charter member of the Fort Ancient Valley Conference from 1965-66 to 2006-07.^[4] Mason has won the GMC All Sports Trophy for eight consecutive years.^[5]

Athletic facilities include:

• Dwire Field at Atrium Stadium: Seating for 6,800, synthetic turf football field, 8-lane all-weather track, Jumbotron scoreboard, three concession stands, two press boxes. Hosts state playoff football games. Named for Walter Dwire, MHS class of 1936 who was the first inductee into the Mason Athletic Hall of Fame, and was Mason's athletic director when the football program was started and the field built in 1962.
• Mason Arena: Seating for 3,200 (with auxiliary gym that seats 1,000), center-court scoreboard, 4 corner scoreboards. Hosts state playoff games.
• Multipurpose Field (soccer, lacrosse): Seating for 1,240, synthetic turf.
• Natatorium: Seating for 600, 11 lanes, movable floor. Hosts state playoff meets.
• Softball fields: three, including main stadium with permanent seating/brick facade. Hosts state playoff games.
• Baseball field: one with permanent seating/brick facade.
• Tennis: Seating for 100, 16 hard courts.
• Atrium Fitness Center: State-of-the-art training and fitness center.

Ohio High School Athletic Association State Championships/Team

Division I

• Boys Soccer, 2013^[6]
• Boys Cross Country, 2014,^[7] 2008
• Girls Golf, 2010, 2009, 2008^[8]
• Girls Basketball, 2000^[8]
• Girls Track and Field, 2004^[8]
• Girls Cross Country, 2013, 2012^[8]

Non-OHSAA State Championships/Team

• Boys Lacrosse, 2004^[9]
• Girls Water Polo, 2013^[10]

Notable alumni and staff

• Dan Patrick (class of 1974), sports broadcaster and host, NBC Sports,^[11] radio host, The Dan Patrick Show^[12]
• Brant Daugherty (class of 2004), actor, Pretty Little Liars, Army Wives, Dancing with the Stars^[13][14]
• Josh Kline (class of 2008), NFL Tennessee Titans' offensive lineman;^[15] member of 2015 Super Bowl-winning New England Patriots^[16]
• Percy Coleman (class of 1894), Major League Baseball pitcher, Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Browns
• Angela Bizzarri (class of 2006), NCAA champion, All-American cross country and track runner at the University of Illinois

References