Kubasaki High School
Encyclopedia
Kubasaki High School is a United States Department of Defense
Dependents School located on Okinawa. Kubasaki is the oldest existing high school in the Department of Defense Dependents Schools
system.
Kubasaki has withstood destruction from fire and typhoons on six different campuses to become a school rich with tradition.
in a large quonset hut under the name "Okinawa University School". The first classes consisted of 30 students and faculty; the initial schedule consisting of a half day, six days per week and was inclusive of only six grades. The following year, after a fire burned down the quonset hut due to defective wiring, classes were moved to a group of 15 prefabricated buildings in the Awase housing area In 1948, the school moved again to a new site in Sukiran (Zukeran) in order to accommodate the number of students, and a need for a larger recreation area.
Typhoon Libby hit Okinawa in October 1948 and damaged the school's unfinished buildings, along with books and other materials. In July 1949, Typhoon Gloria destroyed the school and delayed the opening of the school year. When school did begin, teachers and students were forced to conduct their classes in two temporary family residences in the Sukiran (Zukeran) housing area. In November of that year, the school moved back into quonset huts in Awase.
In 1950, the school name was changed to "Okinawa-American Dependent High School" and relocated to quonsets in the Awase area. Later, communist aggression on the Korean Peninsula necessitated a ban on dependent travel in the Far East, resulting in few new students enrolled at the school until 1951. By 1952 rising enrollment forced a move to another set of quonsets at the Army Training School located at Kubasaki -- later referred to as "Kubasaki Nine" (K-9).
In 1958, the school was moved once again -- this time into partitioned barracks in the Port Wheel area of Naha. By the early 1960s, the school was hosting Grades 10 through 12.
Finally in 1964, the school moved to its present and permanent location in the Kishaba Terrace housing area, adjacent to the U.S. Army post of Fort Buckner, and was renamed Kubasaki High School.
The student newspaper (Typhoon) was established in 1964, when the present day Kubasaki High School was opened in Kishaba Terrace. During the late 1960s, the school newspaper gained national and international fame, winning 12 straight All-American ratings from the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA). In 1972, it was shortlisted for the Pacemaker Award as the top high school newspaper in America. Quill and Scroll awarded the Typhoon the George H. Gallup Award for excellence in 1972. The Typhoon has been the only Department of Defense high school to win an All-American rating. The student newspaper was printed locally by Okinawan printers. The Typhoon was the product of both extra-curricular students and the journalism class.
The student yearbook (Torii) was founded in 1961. In 1967, the Torii began production. In 1971, the Torii received an All-American rating (the first of any DoD high school) by the NSPA. The Torii was printed stateside after the new Kubasaki was established in 1964.
Quill and Scroll honorary journalistic society was established at Kubasaki High School in the spring of 1971.
As KBHS was the only school on the island with active varsity and JV gridiron programs at the time, teams were determined by the general location on-island the players were from. From the 1950s through the 1980s, Kubasaki's legacy teams and colors were: Kadena Falcons (blue & white), Sukiran (later Zukeran) Knights (black & white), and Naha Eagles (red & white).
The team names, mascots and colors also carried-over to Kubasaki's basketball and wrestling squads.
As there was no football field or stadium at Kubasaki's previous campus locales (and, until recently, the present Kishaba campus), each team had their respective "home field" stadium. MacDonald Stadium on Kadena Air Base was home to the Falcons; the Sukiran Knights shared Rambler Field at Sukiran Stadium in the Camp Sukiran Troop Area (now known as Marine Corps Base Camp Foster) with the Army's intramural football team, the Rangers; and the Eagles claimed Naha Field at Naha Air Base as their home turf.
By the mid-1970s, a fourth "expansion team" -- Kubasaki Warriors (gold & white) -- was added due to the large post-Vietnam student population, and to give those prep athletes an opportunity to play.
For regional games against opponents on mainland Japan, an "all-star" team of top players from all three (and later, four) Kubasaki varsity squads were selected and sported the green and white uniforms of the Kubasaki Dragons.
The legacy teams were dissolved with the opening of Kubasaki's new "cross-town rivals," Kadena High School on Kadena Air Base in the early 1980s.
Kubasaki has the Varsity Dragons and the JV Dragons.
At the beginning of the season, these teams are not formed yet, instead, they make up the Green Squad and White Squad and they have scrimmages against themselves.
The Kubasaki All-Stars lost the first "Cherry Bowl" game 30-0 in Yamato Japan(1961) to the Narimasu Dragons; coincidentally, this game was held on the 20th anniversary of Pearl Harbor
.
They split two games with Kanto Plains champion Yokota High School in the 1970s.
From 1982 to 2004, Kubasaki and Kadena High School fielded 2 teams each to make up the 4-team Okinawa Secondary Schools Athletic Association (OSSAA) football league. In 23 seasons, the Kubasaki Samurai won or shared 15 island championships, while the Kubasaki Shogun captured three.
At the end of the season, a Dragons varsity team was selected from the Samurai and Shogun and played against Kadena's varsity team. In 1992, the Dragons swept Kadena two games to none and routed Yokota 44-12 in the inaugural Ichiban Bowl.
The Kubasaki Dragons won the First Class AA Far East Championship against the Seoul American Falcons 34-14 in 2005, but lost to the Kadena Panthers 2 years in a row in the OAC best two-of-three series 28-14, 14-8 the first year and 45-0, 41-6 in the second.
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
Dependents School located on Okinawa. Kubasaki is the oldest existing high school in the Department of Defense Dependents Schools
Department of Defense Dependents Schools
The Department of Defense Dependents Schools are a network of schools, both primary and secondary, that serve dependents of United States military - and other non-US - personnel outside the United States. The schools themselves are operated by the Department of Defense Education Activity...
system.
Kubasaki has withstood destruction from fire and typhoons on six different campuses to become a school rich with tradition.
History
The first classes started sometime in November 1946 at a site named “Okinawa University Study Center” in Camp Hayward with Dr. Theodora J. Koob as its founder and first principal. Classes were held within the site of Okinawa University Study CenterOkinawa University Study Center
The Okinawa University Study Center was a collection of buildings used by military personnel stationed on Okinawa to gain access to higher education. It also housed the first dependant school on Okinawa which later became Kubasaki High School....
in a large quonset hut under the name "Okinawa University School". The first classes consisted of 30 students and faculty; the initial schedule consisting of a half day, six days per week and was inclusive of only six grades. The following year, after a fire burned down the quonset hut due to defective wiring, classes were moved to a group of 15 prefabricated buildings in the Awase housing area In 1948, the school moved again to a new site in Sukiran (Zukeran) in order to accommodate the number of students, and a need for a larger recreation area.
Typhoon Libby hit Okinawa in October 1948 and damaged the school's unfinished buildings, along with books and other materials. In July 1949, Typhoon Gloria destroyed the school and delayed the opening of the school year. When school did begin, teachers and students were forced to conduct their classes in two temporary family residences in the Sukiran (Zukeran) housing area. In November of that year, the school moved back into quonset huts in Awase.
In 1950, the school name was changed to "Okinawa-American Dependent High School" and relocated to quonsets in the Awase area. Later, communist aggression on the Korean Peninsula necessitated a ban on dependent travel in the Far East, resulting in few new students enrolled at the school until 1951. By 1952 rising enrollment forced a move to another set of quonsets at the Army Training School located at Kubasaki -- later referred to as "Kubasaki Nine" (K-9).
In 1958, the school was moved once again -- this time into partitioned barracks in the Port Wheel area of Naha. By the early 1960s, the school was hosting Grades 10 through 12.
Finally in 1964, the school moved to its present and permanent location in the Kishaba Terrace housing area, adjacent to the U.S. Army post of Fort Buckner, and was renamed Kubasaki High School.
Extracurricular activities
Student activities and groups include Associated Student Body, Chorus, Class elected officers, Seminar Representatives, Drama, Far East Activity Council events, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Future Educators of America, Band, MCJROTC, Model United Nations, Intellectual Cultural Society, Chess Club, Ryukyuan American Tomodachi Organization, Mu Alpha Theta, National Honor Society, School Newspaper (The Typhoon), Science & Humanities Symposium, Student-2-Student, Yearbook (Torii), and International Thespian Society.The student newspaper (Typhoon) was established in 1964, when the present day Kubasaki High School was opened in Kishaba Terrace. During the late 1960s, the school newspaper gained national and international fame, winning 12 straight All-American ratings from the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA). In 1972, it was shortlisted for the Pacemaker Award as the top high school newspaper in America. Quill and Scroll awarded the Typhoon the George H. Gallup Award for excellence in 1972. The Typhoon has been the only Department of Defense high school to win an All-American rating. The student newspaper was printed locally by Okinawan printers. The Typhoon was the product of both extra-curricular students and the journalism class.
The student yearbook (Torii) was founded in 1961. In 1967, the Torii began production. In 1971, the Torii received an All-American rating (the first of any DoD high school) by the NSPA. The Torii was printed stateside after the new Kubasaki was established in 1964.
Quill and Scroll honorary journalistic society was established at Kubasaki High School in the spring of 1971.
Athletics
The Kubasaki Dragons compete in interscholastic competition with other DoDDS schools and local Okinawan schools. Kubasaki fields teams in baseball, boy's and girl's basketball, coed cheerleading, girl's and boy's cross country, football, boy's and girl's golf, boy's and girl's soccer, softball, boy's and girl's tennis, boy's and girl's track and field, girl's volleyball, and wrestling. High school students can also join the local Okinawa Dolphins swim team and earn a High School letter.Football
Kubasaki has a prep football legacy going back to the start of the Cold War era.As KBHS was the only school on the island with active varsity and JV gridiron programs at the time, teams were determined by the general location on-island the players were from. From the 1950s through the 1980s, Kubasaki's legacy teams and colors were: Kadena Falcons (blue & white), Sukiran (later Zukeran) Knights (black & white), and Naha Eagles (red & white).
The team names, mascots and colors also carried-over to Kubasaki's basketball and wrestling squads.
As there was no football field or stadium at Kubasaki's previous campus locales (and, until recently, the present Kishaba campus), each team had their respective "home field" stadium. MacDonald Stadium on Kadena Air Base was home to the Falcons; the Sukiran Knights shared Rambler Field at Sukiran Stadium in the Camp Sukiran Troop Area (now known as Marine Corps Base Camp Foster) with the Army's intramural football team, the Rangers; and the Eagles claimed Naha Field at Naha Air Base as their home turf.
By the mid-1970s, a fourth "expansion team" -- Kubasaki Warriors (gold & white) -- was added due to the large post-Vietnam student population, and to give those prep athletes an opportunity to play.
For regional games against opponents on mainland Japan, an "all-star" team of top players from all three (and later, four) Kubasaki varsity squads were selected and sported the green and white uniforms of the Kubasaki Dragons.
The legacy teams were dissolved with the opening of Kubasaki's new "cross-town rivals," Kadena High School on Kadena Air Base in the early 1980s.
Kubasaki has the Varsity Dragons and the JV Dragons.
At the beginning of the season, these teams are not formed yet, instead, they make up the Green Squad and White Squad and they have scrimmages against themselves.
The Kubasaki All-Stars lost the first "Cherry Bowl" game 30-0 in Yamato Japan(1961) to the Narimasu Dragons; coincidentally, this game was held on the 20th anniversary of Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
.
They split two games with Kanto Plains champion Yokota High School in the 1970s.
From 1982 to 2004, Kubasaki and Kadena High School fielded 2 teams each to make up the 4-team Okinawa Secondary Schools Athletic Association (OSSAA) football league. In 23 seasons, the Kubasaki Samurai won or shared 15 island championships, while the Kubasaki Shogun captured three.
At the end of the season, a Dragons varsity team was selected from the Samurai and Shogun and played against Kadena's varsity team. In 1992, the Dragons swept Kadena two games to none and routed Yokota 44-12 in the inaugural Ichiban Bowl.
The Kubasaki Dragons won the First Class AA Far East Championship against the Seoul American Falcons 34-14 in 2005, but lost to the Kadena Panthers 2 years in a row in the OAC best two-of-three series 28-14, 14-8 the first year and 45-0, 41-6 in the second.