Henry Ford II High School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Contents |
[edit] Facilities and History
Two new district high schools became possible with successful voter approval of a $29.5 million bond issue in November of 1969. Site development began in the Spring of 1971, immediately as structual designs emerged from the drawing board. The bid on structural steel began before the interior designs were even complete. The actual building contract was signed just 12 months after the day the Bond issue was approved. Building cost was $24.79 per square foot and total original square footage was 247,500.
Henry Ford II Senior High School was dedicated on September 27th, 1973 by Henry Ford II, who was Chairman/Board of Directors for Ford Motor Company at the time. It was founded on one principle: "A place for learning". The concepts considered were that Education is dynamic, Facilities are shaped by program, Buildings must be capable of change, and Buildings are used for many years. With this in mind, Joseph St. Cyr Architects and Associates designed a school of open spaces, to fit the trend that was already becoming popular in the early 1970's. The building was designed to last independently for 50-100 years.
The floor plan of the building is a unique shape, resembling a 4 leaf clover. In actuality, it is a series of curved exterior walls straddled by 3 structural identical ceilings, and the athletic area. These ceilings are completely independent of interior walls so that changes are easily possible. This unique design produces many wedge-shaped classrooms and curved hallways. The 4 main pods of the school house the athletic facilities, the English/social studies/foreign language (also known as “The Forum”), Math and Science, and Industrial Technology. 2 smaller pods house the Main office, and the band and music facilities.
The original "open space" building design, with many half-walls and open classrooms proved to be insufficient to learning. Years after the building opened, the district added many walls and extensions to walls. The result is an uneven and completely unbalanced HVAC system and many noticeable seams in walls.
Many of these same modifications have taken place at the school’s sister school, Dwight D. Eisenhower high school, which was dedicated in 1972 and has the same floor plan. The buildings are so alike, in fact, that in the early 70s, the same lockers in both buildings had interchangeable combinations.
The school has a large main gym with a balcony, originally intended for an auxiliary gym. The main auxiliary gym is however an addition, and was completed in 1990. As of February 2007, a second auxiliary gym was opened to implement and meet the needs of the MHSAA changes to the girls basketball season regulations. The athletic facility also features a weight room, a fitness room, and a competitive 25-yard pool, an advantage that many other schools have not, most namely Adlai E. Stevenson high school, who calls Henry Ford II’s pool home.
The outdoor athletic facilities are named after “James P. King”, who was a former board member in the district. The school has a regulation track, 2 baseball diamonds, 2 practice football fields, and 2 soccer fields. The football field is sufficient for freshmen and JV football games, but was never converted into a standard stadium. One of the several reasons for this is because it is located near the M53 Van Dyke Expressway and that stadium lights would interfere with traffic. Thus, Henry Ford II’s varsity football team calls Runkel Field home, which is located at Adlai E. Stevenson high school.
The school's "little theatre" was demolished in 2005 along with the media center to make way for the new “Lillian Demas Media Center” and a “Distance Learning Center” renamed the “ECC” or Electronic Collaboration Classroom in 2006. The ECC and the Media Center opened in the 2005-2006 school year. The ECC features state of the art projection and lighting systems and is used for presentations and small to medium-sized gatherings.
In 2004, the school’s locally-famous circle drive was modified to make way for construction on the new Performing arts center on the Clinton River Road front of the school. The performing arts center dramatically modifies the aesthetic front of the school. It officially opened in the Fall of the 2007-2008 school year and holds 800 patrons featuring modern touches and state of the art lighting and sound systems. The new center debuted officially with the musical, Into the Woods, in the December 2007.
The school has 5 parking lots arranged in a concentric pattern around the building: a main student lot, athletic lot, auxiliary student lot, limited access industrial tech lot, and staff/visitors lot. Juniors, Seniors, and those participating in varsity sports are permitted to drive.
[edit] Falcon Sports
Freshman, JV, and Varsity Dance Freshman, JV, and Varsity Cheer JV, And Varsity Bowling Varsity Swim (boys and girls)
Freshman Football 2007 Record 8-1 Jv Football 2007 Record 7-2 Varsity Football 2007 5-4 ( did not make playoffs)
UCS Figure Skating Team
And lets not forget the Varsity, JV, and Fresh baseball teams.
[edit] Extra Curricular Activities
Ford II ice Hockey
[edit] Notable Alumni
Kevin R. Grazier, Ph.D. Planetary scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Science Advisor for the Sci-Fi Channel series "Battlestar Galactica" and "Eureka".
Michael Killoran, currently a biochemist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, best known for being a runner on the Coastal Carolina University Cross Country team and Big South Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2002. His seminal work includes the publication of the effects of the HRDC domain on RecQ helicase activity in the organism Deinococcus radiodurans.
Craig Krenzel, all-state Falcon and all-American Ohio State Buckeye.
Dennis Blunden, head writer on the sitcom According to Jim.
[edit] Statistics
Student/Teacher ratio: 21:1
[edit] Nicknames
Henry Ford II High School was known locally as "Suicide High". Although the name is fading, October 22nd 2007 will mark the 10th anniversary of a series of 5 suicides that took place between June and October of 1997. 1
Henry Ford II High School also has many novelty nicknames, such as "H.F. Two" and "H.F. Duece", which are variations of namesake Henry Ford II
[edit] Feeder Schools
Henry Ford II High School has only one of the district's 7 junior high schools as a feeder school,Bemis Junior High school. Bemis Junior High contains grades 7 and 8,and produces freshman classes that range from 550-700 students.
