Wellington High School is a public school located in Wellington, Florida, in central Palm Beach County.
Curriculum
Schedule
School begins at 7:30 AM and ends at 2:50 PM. The school is run on a 7 period day, for five out of the seven days in the week (Monday through Friday).
English
Four Credits of English are required. English 1 is offered all the way up to English 4, with the addition of AICE General Papers for 10th graders, AP Language and Composition for 11th graders and AP Literature and Composition for 12th graders. Dual Enrollment is now offered as well.
Social Studies
One credit of World History, one credit of U.S. History, 0.5 credits of Economics, and 0.5 credits of Government are required to graduate. Geography is optional during freshman year, World History is taken during sophomore year, U.S. History during junior year, and Economics and Government is taken during senior year, one semester each.
Math
Four Credits of Math are required to graduate. Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra II, Pre-Calculus, Calculus, AP Calculus(AB and BC), Trigonometry, and AP Statistics are offered ..
Science
Three Credits of Science are needed to graduate. Integrated Science (formerly known as Earth Sciences), Biology, Chemistry, Anatomy, Physics, Zoology, Marine Biology, Environmental Science, and the Veterinary Academy are all offered, and in the 2010â€"2011 school year, Forensic Science will be offered.
Foreign Languages
Foreign Language is required to graduate from high school. At least two credits are required for college acceptance. Spanish and French are both offered from Spanish and French 1 up to AP Spanish and French. American Sign Language is also offered.
Magnet Programs
The Veterinary, marketing, and fire academy are offered as magnet programs at WHS. There are two science labs and a long distance communications lab
Extra curricular programs
Debate
The debate team has had much success in regional and even national competition. The team is under the direction of Paul Gaba, who took over the Wellington program in 2002. Since then, Wellington has qualified 17 students to six National Forensic League national championship tournaments, including advanced rounds in Public Forum Debate and Congressional Debate. Gaba was voted chairperson of the new Florida Oceanfront NFL District in 2013, after the NFL approved a split of Palm Beach County and Martin County programs from the Orlando area. He has also served as Vice President - Individual Events of the Palm Beach Catholic Forensic League and Vice President/Webmaster of the Florida Forensic League. In 2014, Gaba was chosen for a National Federation of State High School Association "Speech, Debate and Theatre Association District 3 Award," representing Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. He was named a George Mason University Patriot Games Invitational Debate Tournament "Mason Mentor" in 2013, and was the Florida Forensic League's State Debate Coach of the Year in 2011-12.
Wellington Debate's first coach was Barbara Dale McCall - dubbed "The Queen of Lincoln Douglas Debate" by the National Forensic League. She retired in 2000 after a 32-year-long tenure of coaching debate in Palm Beach County. She earned more than 16,000 NFL points, and was honored as a Sixth Diamond Coach on June 30, 2000. During her time at both Twin Lakes High School and Wellington High School, Dale was named a "Key Coach" of the Barkley Forum at Emory University, elected to the NFL Hall of Fame, and was the major figure in the implementation of Lincoln Douglas Debate, including codifying the original set of LD rules and practices. Dale served as the NFL's South Florida District chair, helped create the NFL Manitee District (where she served as chair), and spearheaded the drive to create the NFL Orange Blossom (later Panther, now Oceanfront) District, of which Palm Beach debate programs are currently members. In addition, as a staunch advocate of academic freedom in the classroom, Dale was named winner of Florida's Intellectual Freedom Award.
As coach at Twin Lakes, Dale coached National Boys Extemp Champion Barry Mann, who finished 4th two years earlier, as well as Jeannette Kuvin, runner-up in Oratory. In all, 51 qualifiers represented Twin Lakes at NFL Nationals, many placing in late rounds of Lincoln Douglas, Policy Debate, Oratory, and Extemp. The Twin Lakes chapter was one of Florida's best at a time when Florida was a single NFL district and one of the most competitive states in the nation. Dale's Twin Lakes chapter won two Leading Chapter Awards, the District Plaque, and two District Trophies. Dale coached Florida's Student Points Leader five different years. In 1986, Twin Lakes was second in the U.S. in enrollment of new degrees.
After coming to Wellington in 1988, Dale achieved similar success, qualifying 13 students to eight nationals, including late-round competitors in Lincoln Douglas and Policy Debate. Under McCall, Wellington twice was the district's largest chapter, and won the district trophy.
Dale coached at the Georgetown, American and Iowa summer institutes, and was a most popular teacher. She coached nationally ranked debate teams and extempers early in her career, and then almost singlehandedly invented Lincoln Douglas Debate in the early 1980s. Since retiring, Dale has served as treasurer of the Palm Beach Catholic Forensic League, and has assisted in workshops for students and new coaches.
Special thanks to the National Forensic League for supplying biographical information for Dale McCall.
Sports
The Girls lacrosse team won State Championships in 2002 and 2004. The Girls soccer team were the state champions in the 2007â€"2008 school year. There are also a full complement of team sports, including Football, Soccer, Tennis, Swimming, Bowling, Basketball, Baseball, Track, Volleyball, Hockey, Golf, and Lacrosse
The 2008â€"2009 Boys Varsity Soccer team is ranked 2nd in the country by Adidas and 4th overall by Rise Magazine.
Track star Ashley Brasovan graduated in 2009. She was ranked number one in the country by Rise Magazine and is currently attending Duke University.
Varsity football
2009â€"2010: The team under coach Chris Romano went 5â€"5. The football team beat Forest Hill during homecoming 2009. The Wolverines eventually would get into the playoffs and lose to Blanche-Ely 49â€"3.
2010â€"2011: The varsity football team under Coach Romano went 5â€"5 winning the first district title since 2001. The Wolverines played the Boyd Anderson cobras in the first round of the playoffs, but lost 21â€"12
2014-2015: The varsity football team under Coach Tom Abel went 9-1 and beat Park Vista in the first round of the state playoffs 53-29. They beat Palm Beach Gardens 16-10 in the Regional Semifinals, but lost in the Regional Finals to Flanagan 32-0.
Junior wide receiver Ahmmon Richards had 56 receptions for 1,318 receiving yards and 23 touchdowns in 2014-15
2015-2016: The Varsity football team under coach Tom Abel went 6-4 and made the state playoffs but lost in the first round 34-0 to Atlantic.
Band
The Mighty Wolverine Sound Marching Band [1] has many participants. The band is directed by the Mary S. Oser. The Concert Bands are split by skill. There is the Wind Ensemble (the advanced band), the Symphonic Band (the intermediate band), and in the 2008â€"2009 school year, there will be a Beginning band for students new to music.
"Now in its 20th year, the Wellington High School Band program has consistently earned Superior ratings at Florida Bandmasters Association district assessments in the areas of marching, concert, solo, ensemble, jazz, and auxiliary performance. The band program has also earned several Gold ratings and Sweepstakes Awards in national competitions held in Nashville, Atlanta, Toronto, Orlando, New York City, and Chicago."
Chorus
At the end of the 2006-2007 school year, longtime choral director Dr. Robert Sharon retired, leaving behind an impressive legacy for the department. The three choirs at that time were separated by talent level. Visions, the beginning choir, Montage, the all-women show choir, and Impressions, the co-ed advanced honor show choir. Montage was seen performing around 15 concerts a year around Palm Beach County. The Impressions choir traveled overseas every year to perform for prime ministers, ambassadors, czars, assistant principals, and sultans, just to name a few. With nearly 60 concerts a year spanning 7 months the Impressions choir was widely known in the area, state, county and even overseas. The choir room became a safe haven for all choir students, many of them calling Dr. Sharon and fellow choir members a family. Doc, as he was known to his students, retired with the 2007 class, leaving behind fond memories for every student he taught, and many recognitions and awards for Wellington High School. In Fall 2007 Ms. Braedi DeLong took his place. Under Ms. DeLong's guidance, Montage, Impressions, and Visions received high scores at Solo & Ensemble, a local competition. Ms. DeLong was replaced by Mr. Bradley during winter break of that year for unspecified reasons. During that time, the three choirs scores at MPA were impressive, mostly due to the extensive work done by Ms. DeLong, which even Mr. Bradley has stated. At the end of 07â€"08 school year, it was said that Mr. Bradley would be returning to retirement and a new director would be taking his place. In the fall of 2008, Mr. Chase took the reins from Mr. Bradley, and promptly missed 50 days of school due to a rare inner ear disease. He is now deaf in one ear, and the chorus continues to grow. Bradford Chase is very close to colleague, Barb Forgash. They frequently play tennis and chill in a small jacuzzi located behind Bradford Chase's house.
Literary magazine
Scott Zucker has published Poetic Justice Magazine for very nearly two decades, and it is the longest running poetry magazine in Palm Beach County. In Zucker's class, students are encouraged to submit poems, photos, and other forms of artistic creativity. The magazine is sold to students with the incentive of obtaining extra credit in their English classes.
Cross Country
Coached by Kara Weber and Salvador Mucino, both the girls cross country and boys cross country moved onto Florida's Regional's meet on November 2, 2013. Catie Hessler and Brendan Helssler then progressed onto Florida's States meet.
Notable alumni
- Nick Zano (Class of 1997), American actor and producer
- Sean Burnett (Class of 2000), relief pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
- Everett Stern (Class of c. 2002), whistleblower, businessman, and politician
- Vanessa Rousso (Class of 2001), professional poker player and cast member on Big Brother 17
- Arin Hanson (Class of 2005) (did not graduate), animator, internet personality, comedian, and musician
- Tyler Herron (Class of 2005), baseball player
- Cassadee Pope (Class of 2008), country music singer-songwriter
- John Brebbia (Class of 2008), MLB pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals
- Kevin Siegrist, MLB pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies
References
External links
- Wellington Community High School Main Site
- Wellington High School Marching Band Main Page
- Wellington High School Debate Main Page