William Mason High School (Mason, Ohio)

William Mason High School (MHS) is a four-year public high school located in Mason, Ohio, located north of Cincinnati, Ohio. It serves more than 3,000 students in grades 9 through 12, supported by classroom teachers, media specialists, technologists, administrators, counselors and an array of staff members, special educators, volunteers and aides. Mason Schools are accredited by the North Central Association. MHS was built in 2002 and now seeks for a 30 million dollar addition that will open in 2009 School Year.

Overview

Mason High School was an Ohio Blue Ribbon of Excellence School in 1997 and 1998 and a National Blue Ribbon of Excellence School in 2002.

Mason High School has eliminated class rank and will not be including or stating it on any transcript starting with the 2007-2008 school year. This was a decision made by the Mason Board of Education.

Technology

Each classroom has a projector, DVD player, VCR, synchronized atomic clocks, a telephone with voicemail for each teacher and cable hookup, as well as multi-media computers (depending on the type of classroom). There are 28 computer labs in the building, and they have between 13 and 25 instructional software ranging from photography, media production, math, accounting, CAD/CAM, biology, etc. supporting hands-on project-based instruction. There are approximately 1,100 computers in the school. The entire building has wireless internet capability, including a lecture hall and a 1,200 seat auditorium with a theatrical sound system and lighting.

Mason City Schools has one of the fastest school networks in Ohio, operating over 1,700 times faster than the standard home Internet connection while supporting over 3,200 classroom computers. There are approximately 3 students per computer in the district. The district also supports individual teacher pages for posting of work assignments and other class information. Parents have secure web access to student grades, transportation information, lunch account balances, and more.

=Extra Curricular=More than 85 percent of students at Mason High School are involved in extracurriculars. As a member of the Ohio High School Athletic Association and the Greater Miami Conference, Mason High School Athletic Department sponsors numerous sports, such as a phenominal soccer program, American football, gymnastics, cheerleading, cross country, swimming, basketball, wrestling, track, baseball, softball and more.

Other activities are superior music programs, including band, orchestra, chorus and especially drumline, drama presentations, intramural, broomball, special interest and honor clubs, and publications, such as The Chronicle and Vicissitudes and dance team.

In the 2007-2008 school year, the highly successful "Black Hole" varsity basketball student section was formed. Seniors Kyle Raffel, Lucas Long, and Pete Noxsel were the main founders, along with 10 other students. The Black Hole gained notoriety city wide, averaging 1.00 students per game, dominating rival student sections and giving the varsity basketball team a "sixth man," which provided the extra boost to win close games. The Black Hole has been featured in local newspapers the Pulse Journal [http://www.pulsejournal.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/high-schools/2008/01/24/pjm012408blackhole.html] , and the Cincinnati Enquirer [http://m.cincinnati.com/detail.jsp?key=48489&rc=sp&full=1] Even with the implementation of the "Black Hole", however, the basketball team struggled its way to a disappointing 9-12 record.

Ohio High School Athletic Association State Championships

* Girls Basketball - 2000 cite web|url=http://www.ohsaa.org/|title=Ohio High School Athletic Association Web site|accessdate=2006-12-31|author=OHSAA]
* Girls Track and Field – 2004 cite web|url=http://www.ohsaa.org/|title=Ohio High School Athletic Association Web site|accessdate=2006-12-31|author=OHSAA]

candals

A senior prank in 2003 involved the release of a peacock, rabbit, and chickens in the building. The animals had been stolen from a nearby farm and as a result of the prank, the peacock died. Vincent E. Dean, 18, and Chad Scheben, 19, both students at Mason High School, were charged with misdemeanor theft and cruelty to animals [http://www.wlwt.com/education/2252063/detail.html] " and others were prevented from walking at graduation. The event also made the national news and into an episode of MTV's High School Stories.

A 15 year-old sophomore, Sara Schneider, ran away in the wee hours of the morning on January 28th, 2006. She was considered and endangered runaway, due to what the police thought was a suicide threat. She was found 2 days later at a local farm. She and one other were banned from the premesis of Mason High School, and would later be refused entry. Both Sara and her partner, Johnathan Marsh, were convicted and served time. Due to the high publicity surrounding the case, this was considered one of the most well known scandals surrounding the prestigious school.

Notes and references