East Mecklenburg High School
Encyclopedia
East Mecklenburg High School is a public secondary school
in Charlotte
, North Carolina
and one of 19 high schools in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
system. The principal of the school is Rick Parker. East Mecklenburg High School is partial magnet school in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. It is part of the International Baccalaureate program.
The school also hosts a top-notch special education department, known as its Exceptional Children program. More than 30 faculty members serve as resources and assistants in the program.
. Team colors are blue and yellow and the school mascot is an eagle. Local rivals of East Mecklenburg include Butler High School
, Providence High School
and Myers Park High School
.
In 2007, East's football
team finished in a three-way tie for first place in the conference standings. The Eagles, along with rival Butler, ended Independence High's seven-year exclusive reign atop the SW4A standings. However, the title was taken away when three students were found to be ineligible.
The men's basketball
team of East Mecklenburg has seen success in recent years as well. The team won the SW4A title each year from 2004 to 2008, and in the state playoffs made it as far as the semifinals two straight years before finally winning the state championship in 2008. The Eagles defeated the Apex High School
Cougars 73-61 to clinch the school's first basketball state title in its history.
The East Meck rugby
team (colloquially referred to as Beast Meck), in only its second full year of existence, won the 2009 Division I state championship after defeating crosstown rival Myers Park in the title game. East won the Division II State Championship in 2008, its first full year.In 2010 they were runner-ups for Division I State Championship's losing to West Mecklenburg High School
25-12.
East's soccer team enjoyed a successful 2004, finishing the season as state 4A runners-up.
The winningest team in school history, in terms of state championships, is the men's cross country
team. The Eagles have won six cross country state titles, including a three-peat from 1990-92. Members of East Meck cross country designed and built Charlotte's famed McAlpine Greenway Park cross country course, the site of major meets such as the Wendy's Invitational and the Southern regional qualifying race of the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships
.
State 4-A Championships
.
The Class of 2008 broke a school record when it collectively earned more than $7 million in college scholarship money.
Also frequently earning awards is East Meck's culinary program. Since 2005, East's culinary team has won gold medals in state and national competition. In April 2008, senior Luis Rojas was named the National High School Chef of the Year by Johnson & Wales University
in the dessert field, garnering him more than $80,000 in scholarship money.
The Eagle, East Mecklenburg's school newspaper, was named a Paper of Distinction in 2008 by the North Carolina Scholastic Media Association, and perennially picks up numerous individual awards in writing and photography.
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
in Charlotte
CHARLOTTE
- CHARLOTTE :CHARLOTTE is an American blues-based hard rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1986. Currently, they are signed to indie label, Eonian Records, under which they released their debut cd, Medusa Groove, in 2010. Notable Charlotte songs include 'Siren', 'Little Devils',...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
and one of 19 high schools in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is a local education agency headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina and is the public school system for Mecklenburg County. With over 133,600 students enrolled, it is the second-largest school district in North Carolina and the twentieth-largest in the nation...
system. The principal of the school is Rick Parker. East Mecklenburg High School is partial magnet school in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. It is part of the International Baccalaureate program.
Student profile
East Mecklenburg High (or simply East Meck or East) touts one of the most diverse student bodies in Charlotte. In 2007, the school of 2,500 students reported the following racial breakdown to CMS: 45.6% African-American, 32.6% White, 20.81 Hispanic, 5.0% Asian, 1.7% Multi-racial, and 0.2% American Indian.Classes
East Mecklenburg offers a wide array of classes to its students. The most challenging are those found in its International Baccalaureate program and its 23 Advanced Placement courses.The school also hosts a top-notch special education department, known as its Exceptional Children program. More than 30 faculty members serve as resources and assistants in the program.
Athletics
East Meck competes in the Southwestern 4A conference of the North Carolina High School Athletic AssociationNorth Carolina High School Athletic Association
The North Carolina High School Athletic Association is the governing organization of high school athletics in North Carolina, United States. The association maintains the official rule books and governs the officiating standards across the state....
. Team colors are blue and yellow and the school mascot is an eagle. Local rivals of East Mecklenburg include Butler High School
David W. Butler High School
David W. Butler High School, established in 1997, is located in Matthews, North Carolina. Butler's campus is .46% of the Butler teaching staff hold a master’s degree or above. - Official Bulldog Logo :- Athletics :...
, Providence High School
Providence High School (North Carolina)
Providence Senior High School is a Charlotte Mecklenburg School District high school located off of Pineville-Matthews Road in Charlotte, North Carolina. Providence serves southern and southeastern Mecklenburg County...
and Myers Park High School
Myers Park High School
Myers Park High School is a secondary school in Charlotte, North Carolina.-History:The school opened its doors in 1951 and has a rich sense of history and a legacy of academic success.-Facilities:...
.
In 2007, East's football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
team finished in a three-way tie for first place in the conference standings. The Eagles, along with rival Butler, ended Independence High's seven-year exclusive reign atop the SW4A standings. However, the title was taken away when three students were found to be ineligible.
The men's basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
team of East Mecklenburg has seen success in recent years as well. The team won the SW4A title each year from 2004 to 2008, and in the state playoffs made it as far as the semifinals two straight years before finally winning the state championship in 2008. The Eagles defeated the Apex High School
Apex High School
Apex High School is located in Apex, North Carolina in the United States. It is part of the Wake County Public School System and is on a 4x4 Block Schedule.- Athletics :Apex High School fields varsity teams for the following sports:...
Cougars 73-61 to clinch the school's first basketball state title in its history.
The East Meck rugby
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
team (colloquially referred to as Beast Meck), in only its second full year of existence, won the 2009 Division I state championship after defeating crosstown rival Myers Park in the title game. East won the Division II State Championship in 2008, its first full year.In 2010 they were runner-ups for Division I State Championship's losing to West Mecklenburg High School
West Mecklenburg High School
West Mecklenburg High School, colloquially known as West Meck is a high school located in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is part of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System and was opened in 1951. The sports teams are known as the Hawks...
25-12.
East's soccer team enjoyed a successful 2004, finishing the season as state 4A runners-up.
The winningest team in school history, in terms of state championships, is the men's cross country
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
team. The Eagles have won six cross country state titles, including a three-peat from 1990-92. Members of East Meck cross country designed and built Charlotte's famed McAlpine Greenway Park cross country course, the site of major meets such as the Wendy's Invitational and the Southern regional qualifying race of the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships
Foot Locker Cross Country Championships
The Foot Locker Cross Country Championships are a series of annual cross country running races held in various regions of the United States to determine the premier cross country runner in various age groups, but mainly serves to find the best prep cross country athlete in the country...
.
State 4-A Championships
- Men's Basketball 2008
- Men's Indoor Track 2000
- Men's Outdoor Track 1997
- Men's Cross Country 1960, 1973, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1992
- Women's Indoor Track 1991
- Women's Cross Country 1982
- Football 1977
- Men's Soccer 1968, 1969
Awards
Based on its proportion of graduating seniors taking AP and IB tests, East was ranked among the 500 top high schools in the nation by NewsweekNewsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
.
The Class of 2008 broke a school record when it collectively earned more than $7 million in college scholarship money.
Also frequently earning awards is East Meck's culinary program. Since 2005, East's culinary team has won gold medals in state and national competition. In April 2008, senior Luis Rojas was named the National High School Chef of the Year by Johnson & Wales University
Johnson & Wales University
Johnson & Wales University is a private, nonprofit, co-educational, career-oriented university with four campuses located throughout the United States. Providence, Rhode Island, USA, is home to JWU's first and largest of four currently operating campuses. Founded as a business school in 1914, by...
in the dessert field, garnering him more than $80,000 in scholarship money.
The Eagle, East Mecklenburg's school newspaper, was named a Paper of Distinction in 2008 by the North Carolina Scholastic Media Association, and perennially picks up numerous individual awards in writing and photography.
Notable alumni
- Jeff Reed, Class of 1997: Former Pittsburgh SteelersPittsburgh SteelersThe Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
kickerPlacekickerPlacekicker, or simply kicker , is the title of the player in American and Canadian football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals, extra points...
and two-time Super BowlSuper BowlThe Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
winner
- Kwame JacksonKwame JacksonKwame Jackson is an American entrepreneur who appeared on NBC's The Apprentice, a reality series where contestants compete for a chance to work under real estate mogul Donald Trump...
, Class of 1992: Businessman, public speaker, Apprentice star, and one of People magazinePeople (magazine)In 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...
's 50 Most Beautiful People of 2004
- Joe PosnanskiJoe PosnanskiJoe Posnanski is an American journalist and senior columnist for Sports Illustrated and former columnist for the The Kansas City Star. He writes extensively on his personal site, Joe Blogs and his SI blog Curiously Long Posts.-Journalism:Posnanski began his journalism career as a multi-use...
, Class of 1984: author and Sports IllustratedSports IllustratedSports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
columnist, twice named best sports columnist in America by the Associated PressAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
Sports Editors
- Sonja Gantt, Class of 1983: Award-winning television journalist. A graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, after working in Chicago and Florence, SC, she has been reporting and anchoring on WCNC in Charlotte since 1997.
- Joan Nesbit, Class of 1980: National cross country champion and Olympian in the 1996 Summer Olympics1996 Summer OlympicsThe 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....
in the 10,000-meter run
- Mike FoxMike Fox (baseball coach)-External links:*...
, Class of 1974: University of North CarolinaUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillThe University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
baseballBaseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
coach; one of only six men to play in and then coach his alma mater to the College World SeriesCollege World SeriesThe College World Series or CWS is an annual baseball tournament held in Omaha, Nebraska that is the culmination of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, which determines the NCAA Division I college baseball champion. The eight teams are split into two, four-team, double-elimination brackets,...
- Bob Silver, Class of 1973: New JerseyNew JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
businessman; donated $500,000 to the school in 2006, sparking the popular All Star Teacher Initiative
- Richard VinrootRichard VinrootRichard A. Vinroot is a Republican political figure and attorney from Charlotte, North Carolina. He served as the 52nd Mayor of the City of Charlotte from 1991–1995, and ran unsuccessfully for Governor of North Carolina in 1996, 2000, and 2004.-Early life:The son of a Swedish immigrant, Richard...
, Class of 1959: Politician, attorney, former Charlotte mayor (1991–1995)
- Macoumba KandjiMacoumba KandjiMacoumba Kandji is a Senegalese footballer who currently plays for the Colorado Rapids in Major League Soccer.-Early Life and College:Kandji was born in Senegal, raised in The Gambia, and came to the United States in 2003...
, Class of 2004: Professional footballer with the Colorado RapidsColorado RapidsThe Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver suburb of Commerce City, Colorado which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having competed in the league...
.
External links
- http://pages.cms.k12.nc.us/eastmeck/ East Meck's school website