John Jay High School (Cross River, New York)

Infobox School
name=John Jay High School
native_name=
latin_name=
motto =
established =
type = Public high school
endowment =
staff =
faculty =
principal = Richard Leprine
student =
enrollment =
grades = 9-12
city = Cross River
state = NY
country = USA
free_label =
free =
colors = Purple, White, Black
mascot = Indian, Statesman
affiliations =
information =
website = [http://jjhs.klschools.org/home.aspx School website]
footnotes =

John Jay High School is a four-year public high school located in Cross River, New York. [http://jjhs.klschools.org/home.aspx School homepage] It is the only high school in the Katonah-Lewisboro School District. [Katonah-Lewisboro School District, http://www.klschools.org/home.aspx] The school is named after John Jay, a Founding father of the United States, and first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court who lived nearby.

ports teams

Wrestling

Over the last seven years, John Jay wrestling became Section 1 dual meet champions and #2 in the section. In the 2007-2008 season John Jay wrestling had a record of 27-28. This was also a record breaking season for them, including John Jay qualified fifteen wrestlers into the section 1 tournament. They also won every tournament except the section 1 tournament where they came in 2nd.

occer

Since 1999, the men's soccer team, coached by Peter Neidell, has maintained a record over .500 and has made it to sectionals every year. In 2006, the Indians made a remarkable run in the sectionals. After landing the 14th seed out of 16, and avoiding having to play a play-in game, they faced the tough opponent of White Plains, the favorites to win the section. After pouring rain, one goal by White Plains, and a few shots off the post by White Plains, the Indians scored two goals in the last minute and a half of injury time to upset White Plains 2-1. It was the biggest win in John Jay soccer history. The team went on to lose to section runner-up, Suffern, 1-0 in the section quarterfinals. In 2007, the team will be returning almost all of its players, losing only 3 seniors the year before. [ [http://www.freeteams.net/jjhs John Jay High School Varsity Men's Soccer Web site] ]

Football

The Indians have recently revived their football team after struggling through the 1990s. Since the hiring Coach Jimmy Clark, previously an assistant coach on the multi-champion team from Edgemont, the team has turned around and been in the section finals for the three of the previous five years. Notable memories from the new era of teams include the last minute game winning touchdown for the section semi-final win against New Rochelle in 2002, the victory over Carmel in a huge upset to start the season of 2002, as well as a lopsided victory over Carmel High School in the 2003 season just two years after a 2-8 season. After being seen as the favorite for the sectional title in 2006 and being ranked 6th in the state, the Indians were upset by Carmel 13-7 in OT at Carmel High School and was seen as one of the best games of the year by the Journal News. [ [http://johnjayfootballcr.com John Jay High School Football Web site] ]

Men's lacrosse

John Jay High School's lacrosse team is ranked in the top 50 in the country and in the top 5 in the state.

Ultimate Frisbee

While not recognized as a varsity sport at the school, Air Raid is one of the most recently successful sports teams at John Jay. The team was formed in 2007 by students and managed to coach themselves and place 2nd in state championships as a first year team. The team returned in 2008 and managed a 1st place finish, pushing them up to 8th in the nation. The Ultimate team is unlike many of the JJHS sports, as it is played year round. Also besides Air Raid, there is the JV or B team which is called the SkullHuckers.

Mock trial

In 2007, JJHS Mock Trial Team continued its long standing tradition of winning as they entered the semi- final round of the Westchester County Championships. In what was deemed as an "epic battle", JJ went against arch-rival (and eventual 2007 champion) Blind Brook High School in their quest to be the County champions. JJHS fell to Blind Brook in this round.

John Jay's Mock Trial team has a long-standing tradition of excellence. In 2003, John Jay's team went on to face some of the toughest Mock Trial teams in New York state, finishing just short of becoming District Champions. In 2005, the team went on to surpass its achievements in 2003, and were crowned New York State Mock Trial Champions. The trophy for this monumental achievement is still on display in the office of John Jay's Mock Trial Faculty Adviser, Mr. Richard Clinchy.

Junior State of America

In 2005, a chapter of the Junior State of America (JSA) was founded at John Jay High School by Thomas Alex Cooper. John Jay has gone on to become the cornerstone of the organization in the Northeast, in 2007 with the successful election of Jason Katz to Lieutenant Governor of the Northeast State, and Cooper to Vice Mayor of the Empire Constitution Region. Kate Ginsbern, the former President, was succeeded by the current chapter president, Sarah McShane. [http://www.northeastjsa.org]

'Vagina Monologues' censorship controversy

John Jay briefly made national and international [ [http://www.spiegel.de/schulspiegel/ausland/0,1518,470361,00.html Article] about the 'censorship' incident on "Spiegel Online", major German magazine Der Spiegel's internet section (in German)] news in March 2007 when three students were facing punishment after reading a poem from the play "The Vagina Monologues" at an Open Mic Night, an event open to the community. The extract included the word "vagina", and the girls had been asked to edit the word out because of the expected crowd which would include many young children; they had said they would follow this order but then disobeyed (they underlined the word by saying it in unison). The school gave them a one-day suspension - not for what was said, but for their insubordination. The girls decided not to appeal their suspension. They agreed they had been insubordinate, but the incident was widely reported and the original order criticized as an act of censorship. Many students protested the punishment to no avail. However, many students also protested the media's portrayal of the situation, believing that the school had acted correctly and that the girls deserved to be punished for their insubordination, for they had previously agreed not to say the word. The play's author Eve Ensler gave the students her support [ [http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/17535427/ Appearance] on the Today Show by the students, the author and the president of the school district's education board] and was invited by parents for a school visit. The suspension was put on hold while policies were reviewed and eventually rescinded. [ [http://wcbstv.com/local/local_story_072170107.html Story] on WCBS-TV after the suspension was lifted.]

Bomb Scare

On January 30, 2008, a note was found that suggested a possible attack on the school. Subsequently, the entire student body was evacuated to the Middle School and sent home. The person has been found according to announcements at the school, and in the local newspaper the Lewisboro Ledger. There was another bomb scare approximately a week later that has considered Wednesday, February 13th, 2008 "Doomsday" The person responsible for this bomb threat has been found, but the name has not been released to the general public.

Notable alumni

*Alexander Chaplin, actor. [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0300040/ Chaplin's imdb.com profile] ]
*Matthew Del Negro, actor
*Andy Milonakis, actor. 1993.
*Robert Reich (1946-), former secretary of labor in the Clinton Administration. [Turco, Al. [http://www.stonehamindependent.com/archives/2002/03/20/2 "Democrat Robert Reich says he’s prepared to make a difference in Mass."] , "Stoneham Independent", March 20, 2002. Accessed April 21, 2008. "Reich started out as a graduate of John Jay High School, a regional public high school in small-town Cross River, New York."]
*Campbell Scott (1961-), actor and director.
*Stanley Tucci (1960-), actor and director."GLUTTONS FOR PUNISHMENT: Actors take over the kitchen to whip up the cinematic souffle `Big Night'", "The Dallas Morning News", September 28, 1996. "...the pair - Mr. Tucci is 35, Mr. Scott 34 - have been friends since John Jay High School in Cross River, NY..."] [ [http://www.tv.com/stanley-tucci/person/2167/biography.html Stanley Tucci profile] , TV.com, accessed April 8, 2007. "He studied at John Jay High School Cross River, New York. "]

References

External links

* [http://jjhs.klschools.org/home.aspx John Jay High School Web site]
* [http://johnjayfootballcr.com John Jay High School Football Web site]
* [http://johnjaywrestling.com John Jay Wrestling Web Site]
* [http://www.newsphoto.com/usa1_detail.php/50831/Sports/John_JayHigh_SchoolIndiansTrojansGarden_CityboysLacrosseVarsity/ Varsity Lacrosse Team Photos]