Hershey High School is one of four buildings which comprise the campus of the Derry Township School District

Derry Township School District

The Derry Township School District is a midsized, suburban public school district which serves Derry Township in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. The district includes the unincorporated Village of Hershey. Derry Township encompasses approximately . According to 2000 federal census data, it serves a...

 in Hershey, Pennsylvania

Hershey, Pennsylvania

Hershey is a census-designated place in Derry Township, Dauphin County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The community is located 14 miles east of Harrisburg and is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area. Hershey has no legal status as an incorporated municipality...

. In 1996, the school was nationally recognized as a Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education for its academic excellence.

Philosophy

Hershey High School's philosophy is as follows:

Fostering success in an ever-changing global society is the driving force behind Hershey High School’s program of studies. High school offerings are dynamic and continuously evolving to encourage the development of life-long learning skills. Classroom instruction and the many alternative programs available, such as work and independent studies, internship opportunities, and concurrent enrollment in a college or university, are designed to accommodate learners with divergent goals, capabilities, and interests. While the cultivation of individual proficiencies and needs is accentuated, several additional goals are prevalent including enabling students to effectively communicate, to apply everyday mathematical skills to real life problems, and to employ prudent analytical and critical thinking skills, all contributing to a rich and rewarding high school career.

Curriculum

The curriculum at Hershey High School is dynamic and changes frequently. There is an English Department which includes courses in journalism, speech

Public speaking

Public speaking is the process of speaking to a group of people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain the listeners...

, writing composition, literature

Literature

Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...

, and other concepts of the English language. The Mathematics Department offers courses in geometry

Geometry

Geometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers ....

, algebra

Algebra

Algebra is the branch of mathematics concerning the study of the rules of operations and relations, and the constructions and concepts arising from them, including terms, polynomials, equations and algebraic structures...

, trigonometry

Trigonometry

Trigonometry is a branch of mathematics that studies triangles and the relationships between their sides and the angles between these sides. Trigonometry defines the trigonometric functions, which describe those relationships and have applicability to cyclical phenomena, such as waves...

, precalculus

Precalculus

In American mathematics education, precalculus , an advanced form of secondary school algebra, is a foundational mathematical discipline. It is also called Introduction to Analysis. In many schools, precalculus is actually two separate courses: Algebra and Trigonometry...

 and calculus (and advanced calculus), finance

Finance

"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...

, statistics

Statistics

Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....

, and computer science

Computer science

Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...

.
The Social Studies department has courses in American and world history as well as courses which focus on aspects of society such as law and money. The Science Department offers classes in biology

Biology

Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...

, chemistry

Chemistry

Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....

, physics

Physics

Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...

, environmental science

Environmental science

Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physical and biological sciences, to the study of the environment, and the solution of environmental problems...

, and biotechnology

Biotechnology

Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...

. There are elective courses offered in foreign languages, music, drama, engineering

Engineering

Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...

 and AutoCAD

AutoCAD

AutoCAD is a software application for computer-aided design and drafting in both 2D and 3D. It is developed and sold by Autodesk, Inc. First released in December 1982, AutoCAD was one of the first CAD programs to run on personal computers, notably the IBM PC...

, accounting and business, and computers. Health courses include physical education, strength and conditioning, health, and driver's education.

Graduation project

By law, all Pennsylvania secondary school students must complete a project as a part of their eligibility to graduate from high school. The type of project, its rigor and its expectations are set by the individual school district.

Graduation rate

In 2011, the district's graduation rate was 97%. In 2010, the Pennsylvania Department of Education issued a new, 4 year cohort graduation rate. Hershey High School's rate was 96% for 2010.

According to traditional graduation rate calculations:

• 2010 - 97%
• 2009 - 96%
• 2008 - 97%
• 2007 - 97%
• 2006 - 94%

Academic achievement

In 2011 and 2010 the school achieved AYP status.

PSSA Results
11th Grade Reading

• 2011 - 88% on grade level, (3% below basic). 69.1% of 11th graders are on grade level.
• 2010 - 76%, State - 66%
• 2009 - 75%, State - 65%
• 2008 - 85%, State - 65%
• 2007 - 85%, State - 65%

11th Grade Math:

• 2011 - 81%, on grade level (5% below basic). In Pennsylvania, 60.3% of 11th graders are on grade level.
• 2010 - 71%, State - 59%
• 2009 - 75%, State - 56%
• 2008 - 82%, State - 56%
• 2007 - 75%, State - 53%

11th Grade Science:

• 2011 - 72% on grade level (3% below basic). State - 40% of 11th graders were on grade level.
• 2010 - 61%, State - 39%
• 2009 - 57%, State - 40%
• 2008 - 65%, State - 39%

College remediation

According to a Pennsylvania Department of Education study released in January 2009, 31% of Derry Township School District graduates required remediation in mathematics and or reading before they were prepared to take college level courses in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education

Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education

The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and a large public university system in the United States. It is the tenth-largest university system in the United States and 43rd largest in the world...

 or community colleges. Less than 66% of Pennsylvania high school graduates, who enroll in a four-year college in Pennsylvania, will earn a bachelor's degree within six years. Among Pennsylvania high school graduates pursuing an associate degree, only one in three graduate in three years. Per the Pennsylvania Department of Education

Pennsylvania Department of Education

The Pennsylvania Department of Education is the executive department of the state charged with K-12 and adult educational budgeting, management and guidelines. As the state education agency, its activities are directed by Pennsylvania's Secretary of Education, Gerald L. Zahorchak...

, one in three recent high school graduates who attend Pennsylvania's public universities and community colleges takes at least one remedial course in math, reading or English.

Dual enrollment

The high school offers a Dual Enrollment

Dual enrollment

In education, dual enrollment involved students being enrolled in two separate, academically related institutions. It may also refer to any individual who is participating in two related programs, but such a general form of usage is uncommon....

 program. This state program permits high school students to take courses, at local higher education institutions, to earn college credits. Students remain enrolled at their high school. The courses count towards high school graduation requirements and towards earning a college degree. The students continue to have full access to activities and programs at their high school. The college credits are offered at a deeply discounted rate. The state offers a small grant to assist students in costs for tuition, fees and books. Under the Pennsylvania Transfer and Articulation Agreement, many Pennsylvania colleges and universities accept these credits for students who transfer to their institutions.

For the 2009-10 funding year, the school district received a state grant of $1,628 for the program.

Extracurricular activities

Hershey High School has a drama program which produces a large musical each year, in addition to smaller productions throughout the year. The 2004 musical was The Pirates of Penzance

The Pirates of Penzance

The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...

by Gilbert and Sullivan

Gilbert and Sullivan

Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...

. In 2005 the High School performed Les Misérables

Les Misérables (musical)

Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....

. In March 2006, Hershey High became the first high school to perform Cats

Cats (musical)

Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...

by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Andrew Lloyd Webber

Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...

. In 2007, the musical was Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast (musical)

Beauty and the Beast is a musical with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice and a book by Linda Woolverton, based on the 1991 Disney film of the same name. Seven new songs were written for the stage musical...

, with music by Alan Menken

Alan Menken

Alan Menken is an American musical theatre and film composer and pianist.Menken is best known for his numerous scores for films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. His scores for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Pocahontas have each won him two Academy Awards...

 and lyrics by Howard Ashman

Howard Ashman

Howard Elliott Ashman was an American playwright and lyricist. Ashman first studied at Boston University and Goddard College and then went on to achieve his master's degree from Indiana University in 1974...

 and Tim Rice

Tim Rice

Sir Timothy Miles Bindon "Tim" Rice is an British lyricist and author.An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus...

. In 2008, the school put on Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story

West Side Story

West Side Story is an American musical with a script by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and choreographed by Jerome Robbins...

. The past three years and in years before the musical has been highly successful, consistently selling out.

There are a number of clubs such as Future Business Leaders of America, Key Club

Key Club

Key Club International is the oldest and largest service program for high school students. It is a student-led organization whose goal is to teach leadership through serving others. Key Club International is a part of the Kiwanis International family of service-leadership programs...

, Youth and Government, Young Democrats, Young Republicans, C.A.L.L., Student World Action Committee, and other organizations available for students. A student-produced newspaper, the nationally-accredited "Broadcaster", is distributed throughout the year. A literary magazine, "Nexus", is also produced with works by students.

By Pennsylvania law, all K-12 students in the district, including those who attend a private nonpublic school, cyber charter school, charter school and those homeschooled, are eligible to participate in all the extracurricular programs offered by the district, including all athletics. They must meet the same eligibility rules as the students enrolled in the district's schools.

Athletics

Hershey High has football

High school football

High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....

, boys and girls 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...

, wrestling

Wrestling

Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...

, powerlifting

Powerlifting

Powerlifting is a strength sport. It resembles the sport of Olympic weightlifting, as both disciplines involve lifting weights in three attempts. Powerlifting evolved from a sport known as 'odd lifts' which followed the same three attempt format but used a wide variety of events akin to Strongman...

, field hockey

Field hockey

Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...

, boys and girls golf

Golf

Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

, boys and girls volleyball

Volleyball

Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...

, boys and girls soccer, baseball

Baseball

Baseball 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...

, softball

Softball

Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...

, track

Track and field

Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

, 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...

, swimming

Swimming (sport)

Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

 and diving,boys and girls lacrosse

Lacrosse

Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...

,boys and girls tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

, and a hockey

Hockey

Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...

 team.
Hershey High is a member of the Mid-Penn Conference of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association, or PIAA. It is a AAA school. Hershey High has a marching band

Marching band

Marching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...

, cheerleading

Cheerleading

Cheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...

 squad, and pep band,which support athletics throughout the year.

Swimming and Diving

Hershey High School has a strong swimming tradition. In the 2009-2010 season the mens team went 13-0 in their duel meets and moved on to win both their district championship meet and the PIAA State championship. At the state meet David Nolan set a national age group record for high school boys going a time of 1:43.43 in the 200 yard IM, as well as setting the state record in the 100 yard freestyle. The medley relay consisting of David Nolan, Kyle Ruddle, Sean Grier, and Jeffery Young set the national age group record with a time of 1:30.27. They earned 7 gold medals out of a possible 12 and had 17 swimmers qualify and participate at the meet. Hershey also set the record for the highest points ever scored at a PIAA state meet with 416. The Hershey High School boys' swim team was the top-ranked boys' public high school team in the United States in 2010 according to Swimming World Magazine.

Previous results:

2008:

Mid-Penn Conference AA Champions - Boys

Mid-Penn Conference AAA Champions - Girls

District III AA Champions - Boys

2nd Place, District III AA - Girls

2007:

2nd Place, Mid-Penn Conference AA - Boys

2nd Place, Mid-Penn Conference AAA - Girls

3rd Place, District III AA - Boys

2nd Place, District III AAA - Girls

2006:

Mid-Penn Conference AA Co-Champions - Boys

Mid-Penn Conference AA Champions - Girls

2nd Place, District III AA - Boys

District III AA Champions - Girls

PIAA AA Champions - Girls

2005:

Mid-Penn Conference AA Champions - Boys

Mid-Penn Conference AA Champions - Girls

PIAA AA Champions - Boys

PIAA AA Champions - Girls

2004:

Mid-Penn Conference AA Champions - Boys

Mid-Penn Conference AAA Champions - Girls

PIAA AA Champions - Boys

2003:

PIAA AA Champions - Boys

1995:

PIAA AA Champions - Girls

School symbols

• Hershey High's school colors are blue
  Blue
  Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...
  
   and orange. The mascot is the Trojan, and on November 16, 2007, a costumed mascot made its debut. Hershey's principal rivals are the Lower Dauphin Schools. They also have minor rivalries with the Milton Hershey School, and Palmyra Schools, all of which are in the vicinity of Hershey.

• Every year, Hershey plays a football game against the Milton Hershey School, which is called the "Cocoa Bean Game". This, along with homecoming, is generally the best-attended game each year.

• The fight song is "Onward Trojans", which is sung to the tune of "On, Wisconsin." The lyrics are as follows:

Onward Trojans, onward Trojans,

To the Victory!

Hershey High School is the best school,

Show your loyalty, RAH RAH RAH!

Onward Trojans, onward Trojans,

Live up to your name.

Fight, Trojans fight and we will win this game!

• Hershey High's Alma Mater is as follows:

Let us tune our hearts and voices

Every care defy,

Let us sing with one accord, our praise to Hershey High.

Lift the chorus, speed it onward, over hill and dale,

Hail to thee, our Alma Mater

Hershey High, all hail!

Graduation

Hershey High School seniors graduate at Founders Hall, a building on the campus of the nearby Milton Hershey School

Milton Hershey School

The Milton Hershey School is a private philanthropic boarding school in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Originally named the Hershey Industrial School, the institution was founded and funded by chocolate industrialist Milton Snavely Hershey and his wife, Catherine Sweeney Hershey...

. Its largest graduating class thus far graduated in 2009.

Notable alumni

Jules Jordan

Jules Jordan

Jules Jordan is an American pornographic movie director, actor, and producer. Originally his movies were distributed under John Stagliano's adult video company, Evil Angel. In early 2006 his company Jules Jordan Video began handling its own distribution...

, Male film director and actor born Ashley Gasper, is a Hershey High School graduate, class of 1992.

Michael Horrocks, the co-pilot (first officer) of United Airlines flight 175

United Airlines Flight 175

United Airlines Flight 175 was United Airlines' daily scheduled morning transcontinental flight, from Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California...

, which struck Tower 2 of the World Trade Center

World Trade Center

The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...

 at 9:03 AM on September 11, 2001, was a graduate of Hershey High School.

Mark Malkoff

Mark Malkoff

Mark Malkoff is an American comedian, writer, and filmmaker who formerly worked for Comedy Central's The Colbert Report. He is a graduate of New York University and currently lives in New York City....

, Class of 1994, is a comedian and writer. He gained a small amount of web fame when he made videos detailing his attempt to visit all 171 Starbucks franchises in Manhattan in a single day during the summer of 2007, again when he moved into an IKEA store in Paramus, New Jersey for a week as his apartment was fumigated and for his latest project, in June 2009, Malkoff lived on an AirTran jet for 30 days in order to conquer his fear of flying. Malkoff has been featured on The Today Show, Good Morning America, CBS Early Show, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Inside Edition, and ABC World News Tonight.

Gavin Ferguson, Class of 1998, is a Morning Radio host. He started on WHKF (99.3 Kiss FM) in Harrisburg, PA on a show called The Morning Mess with Jason, Kelly & Gavin. That show was moved to Sacramento, CA to become The Wake Up Call with Jason, Kelly & Gavin in May '07 on KDND

KDND

KDND is an FM radio station licensed to Sacramento, California at 107.9 MHz. It is owned by Entercom. KDND broadcasts a Pop Contemporary Hits format under the name 107.9 The End...

 (107.9 The End). Kelly left the show in April '10 to become a full-time mother. Gavin is also a movie critic in the Sacramento area creating "Gavin Grades the Movies."

Former National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

 players Scott Campbell

Scott Campbell (American football)

Robert Scott Campbell is a former professional American football player who played quarterback for six seasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Atlanta Falcons. He played collegiately at Purdue University. He is currently a real estate broker and owner of Brownstone Realty in Hershey,...

, Chris Villarrial

Chris Villarrial

Chris Villarrial is a former American football guard who played with the Chicago Bears and Buffalo Bills in the National Football League. He played college football at Indiana University of Pennsylvania....

, and Jay Taylor

Jay Taylor

James "Jay" Taylor is an American professional football kicker for the Orlando Predators in the Arena Football League. He played collegiately for the West Virginia Mountaineers.-High school years:...

 are Hershey High School graduates.

Kellen Kulbacki is a left fielder in the San Diego Padres

San Diego Padres

The San Diego Padres are a Major League Baseball team based in San Diego, California. They play in the National League Western Division. Founded in 1969, the Padres have won the National League Pennant twice, in 1984 and 1998, losing in the World Series both times...

 organization. Kulbacki was colliegate player of the year in 2006 and was the 40th overall draft pick in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft

2007 Major League Baseball Draft

The 2007 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, and was held on June 7 and June 8, 2007...

.

History

The Philadelphia Phillies

Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...

held their spring training in Hershey, Pennsylvania prior to the 1943 season. They opened camp on March 18, 1943 with batting practice on the baseball field at Hershey High School.

Towson football tight end John Godlasky, and member of the Baltimore Ravens practice squad, was a graduate of Hershey High School class of 2005.

External links

• Hershey High School