Easton High School
Encyclopedia
Easton Area High School is a four-year public high school located in Palmer Township
, Northampton County
, in the Lehigh Valley
area of Pennsylvania
. It is part of the Easton Area School District
. The school's colors are red
and white
and its mascot is the Red Rover. In 2009 Easton High School was divided into two separate learning communities. The current principals of Easton Area High School are Jeanette Kassis (Grades 9-10) and Michael Koch (Grades 11-12). An administrative restructuring of the school district in 2009 dictated a change to the two principal model, and lead to the subsequent retirement of William Rider as Head Principal.
. The two teams play an annual Thanksgiving
Day football game at Lafayette College
's Fisher Field that is considered one of the nation's longest-standing high school rivalries. The rivalry began in 1905 and is still ongoing.
The game, which typically draws in excess of 20,000 fans, has been televised on national networks. The 1988 game, which was broadcast on ESPN
, was the first high school football game to be broadcast on national television. The 100th anniversary game, played in 2006 and won by Easton 21-7, was broadcast on ESPN2
. Easton leads the overall series with 58 wins; Phillipsburg has 41 and the teams have tied five times. One of these ties, the 1993 game, was resolved as part of the Gatorade REPLAY series. The Easton and Phillipsburg teams from 1993 were brought back to play a rematch in early April 2009; Phillipsburg won the game 27-12.
contest (1996 and 1998), where Pennsylvania high schools compete against each other in an academic trivia contest. The team was led by Jennifer Frey, and assisted by Stephen Semanek, Sheila Viglianti and Norma Shriver.
Easton competes in the Lehigh Valley Conference
in the District XI
athletic division of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association
. Easton holds the record for the most recorded Lehigh Valley Conference championships in girls track and field athletics. In 2008, Easton girls track & field standout Chanelle Price won the Gatorade Female Athlete of the Year award. This award is handed to the nation's top high school female athlete. In 2007, the Girls Track and Field team were Indoor and Outdoor PIAA State Champions, led by Price and teammates Allyse Barlow, Abbie Dubin Rhodin, Jenna Liew, Jessica Dorsey, Abbie Shafer, Amy Matulewicz and Tara Bright. Easton holds the third most Lehigh Valley Conference championships in all sports, behind only Parkland High School
and Emmaus High School
. The cheerleading team consistently places within the top 10 at UCA Nationals, held in Orlando, Florida.
programs. All of the Rover's football games are played in legendary Cottingham Stadium off Northampton Street in Easton's West Ward. The football team is currently coached by Steve Shiffert, who was preceded by Robert Shriver. Coach Shiffert has thrice been voted as Coach of the Year by The Express-Times
newspaper. Steve Shiffert is also the all-time winningest coach in Easton football history. In 2009, he surpassed Bob Rute's record of 131 wins. The Red Rovers are #2 all time in wins in Pennsylvania and are ranked #10 for wins in the country in football. Easton also has the most District XI class 4A championships in the Lehigh Valley with 6 in football. "There is nothing else in the world that compare to the feeling of the honor of playing at Cottingham."- A rising football star at Easton.
s), the Camerata, the Chamber Singers and the Jazz Chorale. Some students from the EAHS Choir also participate in the PMEA District 10 and Region V Choirs.
The "Red Rover" marching band contains approximately 250 students. Significant accomplishments include performances at the 1993 Rose Bowl
. Also the 1998 Orange Bowl
and the 2003 Orange Bowl
where both times they also performed their own half-time show during a Jacksonville Jaguars game, and the Second inauguration of George W. Bush
(2005). The competitive band has also traveled to Florida for the Disney High Honors program in both 2007 and 2009. In 2010, the band traveled to San Diego, California, to perform in the Port of San Diego Bay Balloon Parade and the 2010 Holiday Bowl
.
Palmer Township, Pennsylvania
Palmer Township is a township in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. Palmer Township is located in the Lehigh Valley region of the state....
, Northampton County
Northampton County, Pennsylvania
As of the 2010 census, the county was 86.3% White, 5.0% Black or African American, 0.2% Native American or Alaskan Native, 2.4% Asian, 0.0% Native Hawaiian, 2.2% were two or more races, and 3.8% were some other race. 10.5% of the population were of Hispanic or Latino ancestry.As of the census of...
, in the Lehigh Valley
Lehigh Valley
The Lehigh Valley, known officially by the United States Census Bureau as the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ metropolitan area and referred to locally as The Valley and A-B-E, is a metropolitan region consisting of Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, and Carbon counties in eastern Pennsylvania and...
area of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. It is part of the Easton Area School District
Easton Area School District
Easton Area School District is an urban, suburban, and rural public school district located in Northampton County and Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA. In Northampton County it serves the city of Easton, as well as Forks, Palmer, and portions of Lower Mount Bethel Townships. In Bucks County, it...
. The school's colors are red
Red
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...
and white
White
White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...
and its mascot is the Red Rover. In 2009 Easton High School was divided into two separate learning communities. The current principals of Easton Area High School are Jeanette Kassis (Grades 9-10) and Michael Koch (Grades 11-12). An administrative restructuring of the school district in 2009 dictated a change to the two principal model, and lead to the subsequent retirement of William Rider as Head Principal.
Rivalry with Phillipsburg High School
The high school is probably best known for its rivalry with Phillipsburg High School in Phillipsburg, New JerseyPhillipsburg, New Jersey
Phillipsburg, known locally as P'burg, is a town in Warren County, New Jersey, in the United States. As of 2010 United States Census, the town's population was 14,950....
. The two teams play an annual Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
Day football game at Lafayette College
Lafayette College
Lafayette College is a private coeducational liberal arts and engineering college located in Easton, Pennsylvania, USA. The school, founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter,son of General Andrew Porter of Norristown and citizens of Easton, first began holding classes in 1832...
's Fisher Field that is considered one of the nation's longest-standing high school rivalries. The rivalry began in 1905 and is still ongoing.
The game, which typically draws in excess of 20,000 fans, has been televised on national networks. The 1988 game, which was broadcast on ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
, was the first high school football game to be broadcast on national television. The 100th anniversary game, played in 2006 and won by Easton 21-7, was broadcast on ESPN2
ESPN2
ESPN2 is an American sports cable television network owned by ESPN. The channel debuted on October 1, 1993.Originally nicknamed "the deuce," ESPN2 was initially branded as a network for a younger generation of sports fans featuring edgier graphics as well as extreme sports like motocross,...
. Easton leads the overall series with 58 wins; Phillipsburg has 41 and the teams have tied five times. One of these ties, the 1993 game, was resolved as part of the Gatorade REPLAY series. The Easton and Phillipsburg teams from 1993 were brought back to play a rematch in early April 2009; Phillipsburg won the game 27-12.
Academics
Easton Area High School has twice won the Scholastic ScrimmageScholastic Scrimmage
Scholastic Scrimmage is a high school quiz bowl game show airing on WLVT-TV and WPSU-TV , and is hosted by Karen Walton and David Price respectively....
contest (1996 and 1998), where Pennsylvania high schools compete against each other in an academic trivia contest. The team was led by Jennifer Frey, and assisted by Stephen Semanek, Sheila Viglianti and Norma Shriver.
Athletics
Varsity sports at Easton Area High School include baseball, basketball, cheerleading, cross country, field hockey, football, golf, indoor track, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling.Easton competes in the Lehigh Valley Conference
Lehigh Valley Conference
The Lehigh Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference is an athletic conference consisting of 12 large high schools from Lehigh and Northampton counties in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania, in the United States...
in the District XI
PIAA District 11
District 11 of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association is an interscholastic athletic association in Northeastern Pennsylvania. District 11 is one of the PIAA's 12 athletic conferences and comprises mostly high schools within the Lehigh Valley and a few surrounding counties. Member...
athletic division of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association
Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association
The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, Inc. is one of the governing bodies of high school and junior high school sports for the state of Pennsylvania, United States....
. Easton holds the record for the most recorded Lehigh Valley Conference championships in girls track and field athletics. In 2008, Easton girls track & field standout Chanelle Price won the Gatorade Female Athlete of the Year award. This award is handed to the nation's top high school female athlete. In 2007, the Girls Track and Field team were Indoor and Outdoor PIAA State Champions, led by Price and teammates Allyse Barlow, Abbie Dubin Rhodin, Jenna Liew, Jessica Dorsey, Abbie Shafer, Amy Matulewicz and Tara Bright. Easton holds the third most Lehigh Valley Conference championships in all sports, behind only Parkland High School
Parkland High School (Allentown, Pennsylvania)
Parkland High School, located near Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States, is a public high school serving students in grades 9 to 12. It is the only high school for the Parkland School District....
and Emmaus High School
Emmaus High School
Emmaus High School is a public high school located in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The school serves grades 9 through 12 in Pennsylvania's East Penn School District in the Lehigh Valley region of the state....
. The cheerleading team consistently places within the top 10 at UCA Nationals, held in Orlando, Florida.
Football
The school is particularly known for its highly successful football and wrestlingScholastic wrestling
Scholastic wrestling, sometimes known in the United States as Folkstyle wrestling, is a style of amateur wrestling practised at the high school and middle school levels in the United States. This wrestling style is essentially Collegiate wrestling with some slight modifications. It is currently...
programs. All of the Rover's football games are played in legendary Cottingham Stadium off Northampton Street in Easton's West Ward. The football team is currently coached by Steve Shiffert, who was preceded by Robert Shriver. Coach Shiffert has thrice been voted as Coach of the Year by The Express-Times
The Express-Times
The Express-Times is a daily newspaper published in Easton, Pennsylvania, with an emphasis on local news. It has won awards in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania.-Ownership:...
newspaper. Steve Shiffert is also the all-time winningest coach in Easton football history. In 2009, he surpassed Bob Rute's record of 131 wins. The Red Rovers are #2 all time in wins in Pennsylvania and are ranked #10 for wins in the country in football. Easton also has the most District XI class 4A championships in the Lehigh Valley with 6 in football. "There is nothing else in the world that compare to the feeling of the honor of playing at Cottingham."- A rising football star at Easton.
Wrestling
Easton's wrestling program also has been ranked as the 3rd best high school program in the nation since 1991. The current coach is Steve Powell, who, as of 2009, has a career record of 402-84-3 and is a member of the PIAA and National High School Wrestling Halls of Fame . Easton also won four consecutive state dual meet wrestling championships in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004. The wrestling team was also ranked as the number one public school wrestling team in the nation in 2004. The wrestling team's home matches are held in the Easton Area Middle School Campus Gymnasium in Forks Township. Prior to moving to Easton Area Middle School, Easton held its matches at the school's 25th Street Gymnasium.Choir
The high school is also famous in local artistic venues for its choir, which recently won first place at the Heritage Festival in Virginia Beach. The current directors are Peter Deshler and John Shilanskas, who took over from Ed Milisits - the previous director of 34 years - in 2009. The choir currently consists of six parts: the Concert Choir (for singers grades 10-12), the Freshman Choir, the Treble Choir (for all high voices, including countertenorCountertenor
A countertenor is a male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of a contralto, mezzo-soprano, or a soprano, usually through use of falsetto, or far more rarely than normal, modal voice. A pre-pubescent male who has this ability is called a treble...
s), the Camerata, the Chamber Singers and the Jazz Chorale. Some students from the EAHS Choir also participate in the PMEA District 10 and Region V Choirs.
Instrumental Music
Easton is also home to a prominent instrumental music program. Many students take part in the various high school ensembles. Instrumental music consists of 9th Grade Concert Band, 10th-12th Grade Concert Band, Marching Band, 9th Grade String Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, and Jazz Lab. Select groups which require audition include Jazz Band, Pit Orchestra, and Chamber Strings. All of the above named ensembles are under the direction of Carole Lutte.The "Red Rover" marching band contains approximately 250 students. Significant accomplishments include performances at the 1993 Rose Bowl
1993 Rose Bowl
The 1993 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 1993 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. It was the 79th Rose Bowl Game. In the game, the #7 Michigan Wolverines, champions of the Big Ten, defeated the ninth-ranked Washington Huskies, champions of the Pac-10, 38-31...
. Also the 1998 Orange Bowl
1998 Orange Bowl
The 1998 Orange Bowl a 1997-1998 Bowl Alliance game was played on January 2, 1998. This 64th edition to the Orange Bowl featured the Nebraska Cornhuskers, and the Tennessee Volunteers. Tennessee came into the game with an 11-1 record and #3 AP ranking, whereas Nebraska came into the game with a...
and the 2003 Orange Bowl
2003 Orange Bowl
The 2003 FedEx Orange Bowl game was a post-season college football bowl game between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the USC Trojans on January 2, 2003, at Pro Player Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. USC won the game, 38–17...
where both times they also performed their own half-time show during a Jacksonville Jaguars game, and the Second inauguration of George W. Bush
Second inauguration of George W. Bush
The second inauguration of George W. Bush as the 43rd President of the United States took place on Thursday January 20, 2005. The inauguration marked the beginning of the second term of George W. Bush as President and Dick Cheney as Vice President. Ailing Chief Justice William Rehnquist...
(2005). The competitive band has also traveled to Florida for the Disney High Honors program in both 2007 and 2009. In 2010, the band traveled to San Diego, California, to perform in the Port of San Diego Bay Balloon Parade and the 2010 Holiday Bowl
2010 Holiday Bowl
The 2010 Holiday Bowl was the thirty-third edition of the college football bowl game and was played at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. The game started at 7:00 PM US PST on Thursday, December 30, 2010 and matched the Nebraska Cornhuskers against the Washington Huskies. The game was...
.
Notable alumni
- Chuck AmatoChuck Amato-External links:...
, former head football coach, North Carolina State UniversityNorth Carolina State UniversityNorth Carolina State University at Raleigh is a public, coeducational, extensive research university located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Commonly known as NC State, the university is part of the University of North Carolina system and is a land, sea, and space grant institution... - Steve AponaviciusSteve AponaviciusSteve Aponavicius is an American football kicker. In 2009, he became the leading scorer in the history of Boston College's football program. A left-footed soccer convert, Aponavicius made his first start of his career against Virginia Tech on October 12, 2006 and successfully kicked two field...
, graduated kicker, Boston CollegeBoston CollegeBoston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early... - Omar DoomOmar DoomOmar Doom is an American actor, musician and artist. Doom is best known to audiences for his role as PFC Omar Ulmer in the 2009 film, Inglourious Basterds, directed by Quentin Tarantino.-Early life:...
, actor, musician - Christopher Lennertz, film music composer, Emmy nominee, Grammy Award winner
- Dennis MammanaDennis MammanaDennis Mammana is an astronomy writer, lecturer and sky photographer. His newspaper column "Stargazers" has run weekly since 1992, and his photos can be seen in national and international media.-Early years:...
, nationally-syndicated astronomy columnist, lecturer and sky photographer - Sally Jessy RaphaelSally Jessy RaphaëlSally Lowenthal , better known as Sally Jessy Raphael, is an American talk show host, known for the eponymous Sally talk show she hosted for two decades.-Early years:...
, television talk show host - Bobby WeaverBobby WeaverRobert Brooks Weaver, Sr. was a freestyle wrestler who won a gold medal at 48 kg at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles...
, Olympic gold medalist, Olympic wrestling, 1984 Summer Olympics1984 Summer OlympicsThe 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984... - Roger Ross WilliamsRoger Ross WilliamsRoger Ross Williams is an American television news, documentary and entertainment director, producer and writer. He directed most notably Music by Prudence that won the Academy Award for Best Documentary , about a 21-year-old Zimbabwean singer-songwriter Prudence Mabhena, who was born severely...
, Oscar award-winning filmmaker