Bremerton High School
| Bremerton High School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
|
1500 13th Street Bremerton, Washington U.S. | |
| Coordinates | 47°34′23″N 122°38′20″W / 47.573°N 122.639°WCoordinates: 47°34′23″N 122°38′20″W / 47.573°N 122.639°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Public |
| Motto | Respect, Responsibility, and Safety is the Knight way |
| Established | 1921, 95 years ago |
| School district | Bremerton S.D. |
| Principal | Monica Sweet |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Enrollment | 1,264 (2012) |
| Color(s) |
Royal Blue & Gold |
| Mascot | Knight |
| Website | Bremerton High School |
Bremerton High School is four-year public secondary school in the port city of Bremerton, Washington, west across Puget Sound from Seattle, in the Bremerton School District. As of the 2008–2009 school year, Bremerton High facilitates grades 9–12. Several changes in the district's grade configuration have meant freshmen have been in and out of the building. From 1993 to 2007, the school only contained grades 10–12, with the ninth grade at the junior high school.
History
The original Bremerton High School was founded in the 1930s. From at least the 1940s, the school was located in West Bremerton. In 1955 or 1956, the school was split into West High School (which remained in place) and East High School, located across the Port Washington Narrows in East Bremerton, on Wheaton Way.
In 1978, "Bremerton High School" returned when East and West were combined, and its first commencement was held on June 8, 1979. Ronald K. Gillespie, former principal of West High School, was the first principal of the new Bremerton High. For the first few years, BHS occupied the buildings of former East High School. Then in September 1988, following the completion of a new facility at the original location of Bremerton/West High, the student body was moved back across the water to 1500 13th Street.
School colors and mascot
Bremerton High School's mascot is a Knight carrying The Sword of Justice and The Cape of Truth. The Cape of Truth was handmade by Marialis Jurges and introduced by the Class of 1996. During the Class of 2012 graduation, a second mascot, the Page was introduced. She now accompanies the Knight at all school gatherings. The school's traditional colors are Royal Blue and Gold. The official emblem is a Knight on a horse carrying a lance surrounded by a major arc with "Bremerton High School" written upon it.
The origin of the school colors and mascot comes from the unification of West Bremerton Wildcats, whose colors were blue and gold, and the East Bremerton Knights, whose colors were black and white. They chose the colors of West Bremerton and the mascot of East Bremerton giving us Bremerton High School's Knight along with Royal Blue and Gold as its colors. The Bremerton High School yearbook is known as "The Gauntlet."
Fight Song and Alma Mater
The Bremerton High School fight song is set to the melody of Anchors Aweigh. It is repeated a second time with shortened notes for the "Spell Off" (e.g. "K! - N!...") then finishes the same as it did the first time.
Fight for the blue and gold,
Fight for our school;
We never will say die,
We're with you win or lose that's why
So proudly our cheers will ring
Up to the sun
Bring back those victories Knights
And make the others bow to Bremerton.
K-N-I-G-H-T-S! Go Knights!
That's why so proudly our cheers will ring
Up to the sun
Bring back those victories Knights
And make the others bow to Bremerton.
The words to the school's alma mater are:
Hail Bremerton
Our Own Alma Mater
We Will Be True
We'll Honor the Gold and Blue
To Thee We Pledge
Our Loyal Devotion
And To Our Alma Mater
Hail Bremerton
Academics
Bremerton High School offers many honors and advanced placement classes:
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Controversy
In the fall of 2015, BHS drew national attention over assistant football coach, Joe Kennedy, and his seven year old practice of taking a knee and praying at the 50-yard line after varsity and JV games. School Superintendent Aaron Leavell,[1] declared in September that Kennedy was in violation of federal court rulings and school district policy. Initially Kennedy bowed to Leavell's order, but in October, after acquiring legal advice and defense from the Liberty Institute, coach Kennedy resumed his post-game prayer.[2] Kennedy was put on paid leave on October 29, 2015 and was relieved of his position of football coach. See the school district statement: http://www.bremertonschools.org/cms/lib/WA01001541/Centricity/domain/4/2015%20pattys%20uploads/Bremerton%20Public%20Statement%20-%2010.28.15.pdf. [3]
Notable alumni
- William H. Gates, Sr. (1943), attorney and father of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates
- Gale Wade (1947), MLB outfielder
- Don Heinrich (1948), NFL quarterback and coach
- Ted Tappe (1949), MLB outfielder
- Norm Dicks (1959, West), U.S. Congressman, 18 terms (1977–2013)
- Tara Kirk (2000), Olympic swimmer
- Dana Kirk (2002), Olympic swimmer
- Marvin Williams (2004), NBA forward
- Joe Pichler (2005), child actor
- Nathan Adrian (2006), Olympic swimmer, 2012 gold medalist in the 100-meter freestyle
- Cameron West (2004), Actor, film producer, writer.