Kingston High School (Kingston, New York)
Encyclopedia
Kingston High School is a comprehensive four-year school with an enrollment of approximately 2,500 students and staff located on Broadway in Kingston, New York
Kingston, New York
Kingston is a city in and the county seat of Ulster County, New York, USA. It is north of New York City and south of Albany. It became New York's first capital in 1777, and was burned by the British Oct. 16, 1777, after the Battles of Saratoga...

.

Campus layout

The school comprises five buildings, connected on all levels or by pedestrian bridges. The Main building, which was the original high school building, contains many of the faculty and administration offices. Built in the neoclassical style, the main building still features its original terrazzo marble flooring. The main building houses the majority of English and history classes. The auditorium and theatrical stage are also located there. On the left side of the Main building is the Kate Walton Field House, which contains the high school's gym and pool. On the other side is the Whiston science building, which is where many science classes and labs are located. Two cafeterias, a library, and the KHS-TV studio are in the Salzmann building directly behind the Main building. The fifth building is the Myron J. Michael, or MJM, building, which was originally the junior high school and now houses classrooms and the auxiliary gymnasium. The school was founded in 1915, at its current location.

Kingston High School Television

KHS-TV is a student-run television studio within the school. Founded during the 1991-1992 school year as a replacement to loudspeaker announcements on the high school complex, the studio began producing "KHS Morning Edition" on November 13, 1992 to bring students in select rooms a daily ten-minute show packed with announcements, video coverage of happenings in the school, lunch and weather forecasts, sports, and more. As time went on, coverage spread throughout the campus via closed-circuit television, eventually completely replacing loudspeaker announcements and changing its flagship show's name name to "Wake Up, KHS."

Programming

KHS-TV's central focus is "Wake Up, KHS," a ten-minute broadcast produced live during the beginning of second period at the high school. Primarily intended to inform the high school student body, the show highlights school events, sports, weather, and happenings from throughout the city while also occasionally including student-produced original comedy shorts in an effort to entertain viewers. With the creation of KHS-TV Channel 20, the show was first viewable on January 6, 2009.

The studio also periodically produces "Kingston City Schools Chronicles," a show hosted by the current Kingston City Schools superintendent, discussing the internal workings of the school district and the latest news from the District's various schools. Shows are approximately thirty minutes in length and are pre-recorded for airing at later times. Originally debuting on public access channel 23 in February 2005, the show moved to KHS-TV Channel 20 upon the creation of the new outlet.

When not airing pre-packaged shows, various independently-produced video clips and announcement slides are aired to fill the rest of the broadcast day. Typical broadcast blocks are noon, 4PM, 7PM, 9PM, and midnight, with the "Wake Up, KHS" broadcast live at 8:36AM on school days.

Distribution

KHS-TV debuted on channel 17 via closed-circuit television within the high school campus, later moving internally to channel 5 for various reasons. During its first sixteen years, the station could be viewed only within the school. As part of a deal with Time Warner Cable and the City of Kingston, KHS-TV began broadcasting programming throughout the area via Kingston Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...

 channel 20 towards the end of December 2008. The station remains on channel 5 within the campus, showing slides during the day after "Wake Up, KHS" instead of video so as to not disrupt classes in progress.

KHS-TV has slowly branched out to have a limited presence on the Internet, beginning with K.B. Alantine Productions, a production group formed in January, 2007, and comprising past members Kevin Brice, Alan Fortine, and Richard Valentine. The group originally formed in an effort to bring fresh new comedy to "Wake Up, KHS." The three quickly started an ongoing series featuring characters Mr. Bananaman and Agent V in comedic situations, eventually dubbing the segment "WUKI4" (Wake Up, KHS in 4 after a countdown found at the end of some early videos). Since the 2006-2007 school year, the segment has expanded to include other kinds of features such as coverage of local events, with the segment's name incrementing by 0.1 each year. Though all members have since graduated, production has continued on a limited basis. This eventually grew to include KHS-TV Summer, a brand-new summer programming block produced in association with K.B. Alantine Productions. Created in the summer of 2009 and later renewed through 2010, the show combined comedic shorts with in-depth coverage of local events during the summer months.

Music

Musically, Kingston High School maintains a well-respected music program, involving approximately ten percent of the student body. The department features a string orchestra, chorus, choir, symphonic band, concert band, wind ensemble, as well as a nationally recognized jazz program, which, in 2009, was selected as a finalist at the Essentially Ellington Competition at Lincoln Center in New York City. In addition, the Kingston High School Music department consistently sends its students to NYSSMA All State and MENC
MENC: The National Association for Music Education
MENC: The National Association for Music Education is an organization of American music educators dedicated to advancing and preserving music education and as part of the core curriculum of schools in the United States...

 All Eastern Conferences.

In the fall of 2010, the Kingston High School Tiger Marching band placed second in the New York State Field Band Conference Championships, held on October 31 at the Carrier Dome
Carrier Dome
The Carrier Dome is a 49,250-seat domed sports stadium located on the campus of Syracuse University in the University Hill neighborhood of Syracuse, New York, USA. It is home to the Syracuse Orange football, basketball, and lacrosse teams. High school football championships are also held in "The...

 in Syracuse, New York
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...

. The band scored 82.85, its highest ranking ever. The marching band program is the largest in New York State.

The KHS Choir has also performed at such venues as Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....

 and the Fisher Center at Bard College. Founded by Leonard Stine in the 1930s, the choir has maintained a tradition of excellence ever since.

Sports

Kingston High School's Tiger sports program is highly active, featuring many different school-funded activities. Kingston's team members can be identified by their maroon, gold, and white colors. Among the sporting activities sponsored by the school are football, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field, cross-country, Nordic skiing, golf, lacrosse, field hockey, soccer, basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, wrestling and crew. Other sports, including rugby and cheerleading, operate semi-independently as a club within the school without varsity program funding.

Notable alumni

  • Todd Wells
    Todd Wells
    Todd Wells is a professional bicycle racer specializing in cyclo-cross and mountain bike racing from the United States. Todd Resides in Durango, Co...

     graduated in 1994 - USA Olympic Athlete & 2-time USA Cycling Cyclocross National Champion
  • Josh Eppard
    Josh Eppard
    Josh Eppard is an American musician from Kingston New York and the drummer for progressive rock band Coheed and Cambria. He has worked as a solo rapper under the name Weerd Science and was the drummer for supergroup rock band Terrible Things...

     graduated in 1998 - Former Drummer of Coheed and Cambria

External links

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