Western International High School

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Coordinates: 42°19′8″N 83°5′31″W / 42.31889°N 83.09194°W / 42.31889; -83.09194
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Western International High School
Co-ed
Enrollment1,398 [1]
LanguageEnglish, Spanish and French
AreaUrban
Color(s)Red and white
Athletics conferenceDPSL
NicknameCowboys
WebsiteWestern International

Western International High School is a

Detroit Public Schools
system.

As of 2012, it was the final remaining public high school in southwestern Detroit.

Springwells Village.[3]

History

The school opened in 1898 as "Western High School."[4] The Webster School held high school classes on a temporary basis until Western was built.[5]

On February 26, 1935,[6] Western High School's campus was destroyed by a fire.[7] No classes occurred during the incident.[8] Western received a new campus as part of the Public Works Administration projects.[9] $216,381 (around $4683651.15 when adjusted for inflation) in federal aid was used to rebuild the school.[10]

Western International previously had a rivalry with Southwestern High School.[2] In 2012 Southwestern closed, and part of its boundary was reassigned to Western International.[11] Students from both schools protested the closure of Southwestern,[12] the perceived quality of education, and DPS policies. As a result, over 100 students from Western received suspensions, with several also receiving tickets from police officers. In response several students started a "freedom school" so they could receive education during their suspensions.[13]

In 2015 DPS designated Western as part of the "Clark Park K-12 Educational Comunidad" ("Comunidad" means community in Spanish) along with Earhart and Maybury elementary schools.[14]

Academics

Curriculum

As of 2000 the school offered training programs in technical skills, including work and school cooperative programs, with business education,

computer-assisted drafting, desktop publishing, office management, and office technology available. In 1999 there were six teachers that were a part of this program, and the number doubled by 2000. In 2000 the school did not offer skilled manufacturing and trade courses.[15] These courses were offered at five different technical centers in Detroit, and interested students would arrive to their regular school early and board buses bound for a technical center. That year the technical schools had limited numbers of recruitment information available in Spanish, the primary language of many students at Western.[16]

Student assessments
2021–22 school
year[17]
Change vs.
prior year[17]
M-STEP 11th grade proficiency rates
(Science / Social Studies)
Advanced %1.0 / 1.3
Proficient %– / 6.8
PR. Proficient %7.2 / 46.1
Not Proficient %83.8 / 45.8
Average test scores
SAT Total782.8
(Decrease −70.4)

Admission

WIHS holds no admission test; enrollment is open to all Detroiters of high school age. Western is the most culturally diverse public high school in Detroit; the student body is (approximate figures) 72.2% Hispanic/Latino, 20.6% African American, 5.3% Caucasian, and 1.9% listed as "other".

Notable alumni

Author and athlete

All-American track and field performer at Detroit City College. During much of the 1920s, he was the nation's best decathlon performer; he won a bronze medal in the decathlon at the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam. Doherty's Track and Field Omnibook (1971) is the world's most widely read publication on the sport of track and field.[18]

Screenwriter John Briley (class of 1943) is a writer best known for screenplays of biopics. He won the 1982Academy Award For Best Original Screenplay for Gandhi. He has also written for television and theatre, and published several novels.[19]

Swimmer John Dudeck (class of 1952) was a nationally renowned athlete; as a WHS senior, he competed at the 1952 US Olympic Trials.

All-American for the Spartans (1953–55).[21][22][23]

MLB player for the Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, and the New York Yankees
.

George Lerchen is a former MLB player for the Detroit Tigers and the Cincinnati Reds.

George Saldana was named to the 1963 National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association (NISCA) All-America team, in the 400-yard freestyle event.[24]

Todd Cruz (1955–2008) was a 1973 Western graduate who played six seasons of Major League Baseball. In 1982, he hit 16 home runs and drove in 57 runs for the Seattle Mariners. One year later, as a member of the Baltimore Orioles, he took part in the 1983 World Series.[25]

Ron Simpkins was a 1976 graduate of Western High School. He then enrolled at the University of Michigan to play football for coach Bo Schembechler. While attending Michigan, Simpkins earned NCAA All-America recognition; he also won the school's John Maulbetsch Award in 1977, and team MVP honors in 1979. He would eventually become the university's all-time leading tackler. Upon graduation, Simpkins entered the National Football League draft; he was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 7th round (167th overall). He played in Super Bowl XVI at the Pontiac Silverdome, losing to Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers. Simpkins would play in six NFL seasons before taking 1988 off. He returned for one more year in 1989, with the Green Bay Packers. In the spring of 1990, Simpkins came home to coach football. During a career that spanned eighteen seasons, he was at the helm for the Cowboys of Western High School; he retired in 2007.

References

  1. ^ a b c "Search for Public Schools - School Detail for Western International High School". nces.ed.gov. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  2. ^
    MLive
    . Saturday February 25, 2012. Retrieved on November 1, 2012.
  3. Detroit Public Schools
    . Retrieved on November 1, 2012.
  4. ISBN 0738545775, 9780738545776. p. 95
    .
  5. ISBN 1439618984, 9781439618981. p. 60
    .
  6. Newspapers.com
    .
  7. ISBN 0472086499, 9780472086498. p. 188
    .
  8. Newspapers.com
    .
  9. ISBN 0472086499, 9780472086498. p. 131
    .
  10. ISBN 0472086499, 9780472086498. p. 148
    . "Between 1935 and 1941, federal aid for school construction in Detroit from the Works Project Administration and the Public Works Administration amounted to $1,303,323, of which $216,381 went to rebuild Western High School[...]"
  11. ^ Satyanarayana, Megha. "Contents of Southwestern High School go up for sale online today." Detroit Free Press. October 18, 2012. Retrieved on November 1, 2012.
  12. Huffington Post
    . April 25, 2012. Updated April 26, 2012. Retrieved on July 3, 2015.
  13. Michigan Radio
    . April 27, 2012. Retrieved on July 3, 2015.
  14. ^ Lewis, Shawn D. "DPS to expand academics, other school programs" (Archive). The Detroit News. May 13, 2015. Retrieved on July 4, 2015.
  15. ^ Brooks, Ann. Alternative Uses for Wolverine Tube and Beard/Chatfield Brownfield Sites (Archive). University of Michigan Urban and Regional Planning. April 26, 2000. p. 40. Also posted at Google Books (in snippet view form).
  16. ^ Brooks, Ann. Alternative Uses for Wolverine Tube and Beard/Chatfield Brownfield Sites (Archive). University of Michigan Urban and Regional Planning. April 26, 2000. p. 41. Also posted at Google Books (in snippet view form). Also in: Brooks, Ann, Steve Gutterman, Christina Kelly, Megan Masson, Kathryn Whiteman, and Moira Zellner. Planning for brownfield redevelopment in southwest Detroit. University of Michigan. p. 41.
  17. ^ a b "MI School Data Annual Education Report". Mi School Data. Retrieved 2023-01-10.
  18. ^ John Kenneth Doherty (born 1905), University of Pennsylvania University Archives
  19. ^ John Briley - Google Books. 1982. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  20. ^ "Final Swimming Tryouts for Men" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2005. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  21. ^ "School Sport Photos" (PDF). grfx.cstv.com.
  22. ISBN 978-1-58261-219-5
    .
  23. ^ "BIG TEN CONFERENCE Official Athletic Site – Big Ten Conference". bigten.org.
  24. ^ "NISCA All American" (PDF). woodswimming.org.
  25. ^ "Todd Cruz Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2024-02-05.

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Western International High School.
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