Manatee High School
Encyclopedia
Manatee High School is an American public high school in Bradenton, Florida
Bradenton, Florida
Bradenton is a city in Manatee County, Florida, United States. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city's 2007 population to be 53,471. Bradenton is the largest Principal City of the Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a 2007 estimated population of 682,833...

 operated by the Manatee County School District
Manatee County School District
The Manatee County School District, in Manatee County, Florida, provides education to 42,000 students. It employs over 7,000 people.-High schools:*Bayshore*Braden River*Central*Lakewood Ranch*Manatee*Palmetto*Southeast-Middle schools:...

.

History

What is now Manatee High School has had at least four names over the years and has had several different grade configurations during that time.

1897–1930

What is now MHS began in 1897 as Braidentown High School in a building located on the northwest corner of 9th Avenue and 14th Street, West, where the city shuffleboard courts were later located. (The "i" had been put into Bradentown's name earlier because visitors could not seem to pronounce the name correctly. The "i" and "w" were later dropped to produce the present name Bradenton.) It is not known had many grades there were originally since the 12th grade was not required for high school graduation in many Southern states until the 1940s. Most certainly, though, the original high school did have grades 9 through 11, with grades 7 and 8 being transferred later from grade school.

In 1912, a new high school building was built on the south side of Manatee Avenue west of 1st Street, just east of where the school district offices are now located. Sometime before 1915, students from Palmetto
Palmetto, Florida
Palmetto is a city in Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was listed as 12,606 It is part of the Bradenton–Sarasota–Venice Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Palmetto is located at ....

 were added and the school became Manatee County High School for the first time. The 1915 MCHS football team gained fame for never losing a game as well as never being scored upon. Sometime in the 1920s MCHS became Bradenton High School (BHS) when Palmetto students once again had their own high school to attend.

1930–1947

In 1930, the Manatee Avenue building was closed and BHS was moved to the red brick building at 1000 32nd Street, West, which had been built in 1926 as the Biltmore Grade School, but had been closed after less than a year's use because of the collapse of the Florida Land Boom. This building is now called the Davis Building in memory of longtime principal, Paul F. Davis. In 1938 the old building on Manatee Avenue was opened as Bradenton Junior High School with grades 7 through 9.

1947–1958

In 1947, Florida adopted the present system of having a single school district for each county and as a result Palmetto High School
Palmetto High School (Florida)
Palmetto High School is a high school located in Palmetto, Florida. The school's athletic teams are known as the Tigers, and the school colors are red, white, and black. The school's principal is former NFL player Willie Clark. The school currently serves over 2,000 students in grades 9 through 12....

 was merged back into Bradenton High School and the school's name again became Manatee County High School, which required changes in many school traditions. The school colors became red, white and blue by taking red from Palmetto's "red and black" and blue from Bradenton's "blue and gold" and adding white. BHS's teams had been the Golden Wave, but that was replaced by the Hurricanes. Palmetto's year book had been the Palmetto Leaves, so the new one got the incongruous name of Manatee Leaves. The school newspaper became the MaCoHi or Macohi.

1955 was another year of change for MCHS. The three junior high schools south of the Manatee River, Bradenton, Manatee and Oneco were consolidated into a brand new school, Walker Junior High School, which was built across 11th Avenue, West from the high school. Walker had state of the art music facilities which were used by MCHS's orchestra, chorus and band.

The MCHS graduating class of 1958 was the last one to have students from both sides of the river, since Palmetto High School had been phased back in beginning in 1956. During the summer of 1958. the school's name was shortened to the present Manatee High School to reflect the fact that it no longer drew students from the entire county. Student and public opinion was overwhelmingly in favor of keeping the name Manatee instead of reverting it to Bradenton High School.

1958–present

Since 1958 many other changes have happened at Manatee High School, including:
  • Integration when the school district ended racial segregation in all schools.
  • The addition of the 9th grade when the school district converted its junior high schools (grades 7-9) into middle schools (grades 6-8}.
  • The Manatee Leaves became the Cane Echo.
  • The annexation of the Walker school campus;
  • The demolition of the old Walker Building and the old Science building on 9th Avenue.
  • The completion of new buildings, such as the Science and Technology Building (1996).
  • The demolition of the Davis Building due to age and condition (2009-2010)

Academics

Manatee High School currently offers an academic curriculum known as the AP+ Program. In essence, this is simply an official title given to students who take a certain number of Advanced Placement courses. Manatee also offers a Dual-Enrollment program which arranges for its students to take courses at the local State College of Florida (formerly Manatee Community College
Manatee Community College
State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota, formerly known as Manatee Community College, is a Florida state college with campuses in Bradenton, Venice and Lakewood Ranch...

). In 2006 and 2007, Manatee received a grade of D (on an A-F scale) in the Florida Department of Education rating of school quality. In 2008, Manatee was able to demonstrate statistical improvement, and was given a grade of A instead. In 2009, Manatee was demoted to B.

The Medical Academy

The goal of the Academy of Medical Arts and Sciences is to provide an overall education for students who select health-care as their career choice.

The purpose of this academy is to provide students with core health courses and to relate the area of health to the necessary academic skills within the curriculum, thereby making learning relevant to their chose careers.

Current enrollment of 285 students, grades 9-12.

Nationally Certified Academy for the past two years.

Students in this program are eligible to participate in Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA), a national student organization. HOSA’s two-fold mission is to promote career opportunities in the health care industry and to enhance the delivery of quality health care to all people. HOSA provides a unique program of leadership development, motivation, and recognition for students enrolled in health occupations educating programs.

Shadowing program for all Medical Academy junior students is once a quarter in their area of interest in the health care field.

Internships include:
- Athletic training
- Dental assisting
- Veterinary assisting
- Vision Care assisting
- Radiology assisting
- Pharmacy technicians
- Long-term care facilities
- PT/OT assisting
- Manatee County EMS
- School health services
- Local physician offices

Clubs/Extracurriculars

Manatee High school offers an array of clubs for many types a person. Manatee offers:
Academic Team,
African American Cultural Arts Club,
American Sign Language,
Anchor Club,
Anime Anonymous,
Art Club,
AV Club,
Ballroom Dancing,
BETA Club,
CROP (College Reach-out Program),
FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes),
FCCLA (Family, Career and Community Leaders of America),
Footlighters,
Foreign Language Club,
Freshman Class Board,
FBA (Future Builders of America),
FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America),
Generations,
HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America),
JROTC,
Junior Class Board,
Key Club,
Model UN,
Mock Trial,
Mu Alpha Theta,
National Honor Society,
Oceans Awareness Club,
Rhetorics,
Science National Honors Society,
Senior Class Board,
Sophomore Class Board,
STAND (Students Taking Action Now : Darfur),
Students Athletic Trainers,
Student Council,
Teen Trendsetters,
TSA (Technology Students Association),
Z Club.
The Technology Students Association in Manatee High School is very active in its community and around the nation. MHS TSA has attended many national conferences over the past years and attends TSA-U, CTSO (Manatee County), and Florida TSA competitions, taking 1st places.

The Macohi

In 1990, the paper was awarded a Silver Crown Newspaper (for high schools) by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.

Hazing

On Oct. 18, 2001, Manatee High Students James Brier and John Acosta confronted each other in a parking lot. James Brier was killed in the ensuing fight by multiple blows to the head. John Acosta was convicted of charges of manslaughter and sentenced to nine years in state prison. In the following investigation, it was uncovered that Interact Club, one of Manatee High's extracurricular public service groups, had carried through extensive hazing rituals on its initiates, including Brier. The source of the tension between Brier and Acosta was attributed to teasing which took place during the hazing. In face of a public outcry, Interact Club was shut down by the Manatee High administration.

Alumni

In 1996, MHS had alumni in all 50 states, Washington, DC, Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...

, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

, U.S. Virgin Islands and 22 foreign countries. Florida had the largest number of alumni followed by Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

. Of the foreign countries, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 with 18 alumni had the most followed by Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 with 9. Among notable alumni: Best-selling author Kathleen Flinn
Kathleen Flinn
Kathleen Flinn is an American writer and journalist best known for the 2007 best-selling work, The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry . The book was the first to provide an in-depth look at her experience attending and graduating from the famed Paris culinary school Le Cordon Bleu...

. Members of the indie/powerpop band We the Kings
We the Kings
We the Kings is an American powerpop band formed in 2005 from Bradenton, Florida, currently signed to record label S-Curve Records. The group released their self-titled full-length debut album in 2007, which peaked at No. 151 on the Billboard 200. Their second full-length album, Smile Kid, was...

 Travis Clark, Hunter Thomsen, Drew Thomsen and Danny Duncan are also alumni. Pro Baseball Brian McRae, Lance Carter, Brian Tollberg, Former Nebraska Football players Tommie Frazier, Tyronne Williams.
National radio personality Rick Dees.
Marita Lane, model/actress, Class of 1974. Most notably for the famous Nair commercial, "Who wears short shorts?"

Athletics

Manatee High School athletic teams have won 14 official state championships, according to the Florida High School Athletic Association (fhsaa.org). This total ranks second only to Lakeland High School among “old line” major high schools in the Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and estuary along the Gulf of Mexico on the west central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay."Tampa Bay" is not the name of any municipality...

 area.

Official State championships:
1925 Baseball
1931 Baseball
1932 Baseball
1942 Baseball
1955 Boys Track (Class 2A, largest class)
1956 Boys Track (Class 2A, largest class)
1957 Boys Track (Class 2A, largest class)
1963 Baseball (Class 2A, largest class)
1983 Football (Class 4A, largest class)
1985 Football (Class 5A, largest class)
1985 Boys Tennis (Class 4A, largest class)
1989 Football (Class 5A, largest class)
1990 Boys Weightlifting (Class 4A, largest class)
1992 Football (Class 5A, largest class)

Hurricane Football teams were state powers in the 1950’s and state and national powers in the 1980’s and 1990’s.

Teams in the 1950’s were coached by Wheeler Leeth, who was elected to the Florida High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 1992. One of his players, Roger Pettee, center-linebacker, was selected All-American by Parade Magazine in 1960.

Current Hurricane coach Joe Kinnan, MHS class of 1963, coached his teams to the four football state football championships. The Hurricanes also were state runner-up in 1993 and 2009, and reached the state semi-finals in 1987, 1990, 1994, 2005 and 2006. His teams were ranked in the final USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...

 Football polls in 1983 (number 16), 1989 (number 10) and 1992 (number 22). State championships in Boys Tennis and Boys Weightlifting have also been won during his tenure as MHS athletic director. Kinnan was elected to the Florida Athletic Coaches Association (FACA) Hall of Fame in 1999. The FHSAA also designated him as one of the top 12 Florida High School Football Coaches of the century in 2007. Two of his players were selected to the USA Today HS Football team, First Team: Tommie Frazier
Tommie Frazier
Tommie James Frazier, Jr. is a former American football player and coach in the United States. He played quarterback for the Nebraska Cornhuskers....

, quarterback (1990) and Rob Stevenson
Rob Stevenson
Rob Stevenson is an American music executive and currently the Executive Vice President of A&R at Universal Republic Records, reporting to both President/CEO Monty Lipman and Co-President/COO Avery Lipman....

, punter (1994). Frazier was also selected All-American by Parade Magazine. Two Hurricanes were also selected among the top 100 High School Football players of the Century by the FHSAA: Tommie Frazier
Tommie Frazier
Tommie James Frazier, Jr. is a former American football player and coach in the United States. He played quarterback for the Nebraska Cornhuskers....

, quarterback, and Henry Lawrence, lineman.

Hurricanes with Super Bowl Rings
  • Bill Anderson, Green Bay Packers
    Green Bay Packers
    The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...

    , Super Bowl I
    Super Bowl I
    The First AFL-NFL World Championship Game in professional American football, later known as Super Bowl I and referred to in some contemporary reports as the Supergame, was played on January 15, 1967 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California.The National Football League ...

  • Henry Lawrence
    Henry Lawrence (American football)
    Henry Lawrence is a former professional American football player. A two-time Pro Bowler, he played in the National Football League for 13 seasons as an offensive tackle with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders...

    , LA/Oakland Raiders
    Oakland Raiders
    The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

    , Super Bowl XI
    Super Bowl XI
    Super Bowl XI was a football game played on January 9, 1977 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California to decide the National Football League champion following the 1976 regular season...

    , Super Bowl XV
    Super Bowl XV
    Super Bowl XV was an American football game played on January 25, 1981 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 1980 regular season...

    , Super Bowl XVIII
    Super Bowl XVIII
    Super Bowl XVIII was an American football game played on January 22, 1984, at Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Florida, deciding the National Football League champion following the 1983 regular season. The American Football Conference champion Los Angeles Raiders defeated the National Football Conference...

  • Alvoid Mays
    Alvoid Mays
    Alvoid Wilson Mays is a former American football cornerback in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins and the Pittsburgh Steelers...

    , Washington Redskins
    Washington Redskins
    The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...

    , Super Bowl XXVI
    Super Bowl XXVI
    Super Bowl XXVI was an American football game played on January 26, 1992 at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota to decide the National Football League champion following the 1991 regular season...

  • Tyrone Williams, Green Bay Packers
    Green Bay Packers
    The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...

    , Super Bowl XXXI
    Super Bowl XXXI
    Super Bowl XXXI was an American football game played on January 26, 1997, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 1996 regular season. The National Football Conference champion Green Bay Packers defeated the American...



Hurricanes who were starters on College National Championship teams.
  • 1983: Mike Moore, offensive lineman, national champion Miami Hurricanes
    Miami Hurricanes
    The Miami Hurricanes, of Coral Gables, Florida, are the varsity sports teams of the University of Miami. They compete in the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference . The university fields 15 athletic teams for 17 varsity sports...

  • 1993: Patrick McNeil, offensive lineman, national champion Florida State Seminoles
    Florida State Seminoles
    The Florida State Seminoles are the men's and women's sports teams of Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. Florida State participates in the NCAA's Division I . FSU joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1991, and competes in the Atlantic Division in any sports split into a...

  • 1994 & 1995: Tommie Frazier
    Tommie Frazier
    Tommie James Frazier, Jr. is a former American football player and coach in the United States. He played quarterback for the Nebraska Cornhuskers....

    , quarterback, national champion Nebraska Cornhuskers
    Nebraska Cornhuskers
    The Nebraska Cornhuskers is the name given to several sports teams of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference...

    , Tyrone Williams, defensive back, national champion Nebraska Cornhuskers
    Nebraska Cornhuskers
    The Nebraska Cornhuskers is the name given to several sports teams of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference...

  • 1996: Rob Stevenson
    Rob Stevenson
    Rob Stevenson is an American music executive and currently the Executive Vice President of A&R at Universal Republic Records, reporting to both President/CEO Monty Lipman and Co-President/COO Avery Lipman....

    , punter, national champion Florida Gators
    Florida Gators
    The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. The "Lady Gators" is an alternative nickname sometimes used by the Gators women's teams...

  • 1997: Shevin Wiggins, wingback, national champion Nebraska Cornhuskers
    Nebraska Cornhuskers
    The Nebraska Cornhuskers is the name given to several sports teams of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference...

  • 1998: Bernard Gooden, offensive lineman, national champion Tennessee Volunteers
    Tennessee Volunteers
    The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the National Collegiate Athletic Association college sports teams at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. Mike Hamilton is the most recent Men's Athletic Director, but resigned on June 7, 2011, and Joan Cronan is the current Women's...



According to the Green Bay Packers official website, Tyrone Williams is the only NFL player ever to start on two collegiate national championship teams and a Super Bowl Champion in three consecutive years (Nebraska, 1994, 1995 and Green Bay 1996).

Other Hurricane All-Americans
  • Soccer: Hunter West, 2001, National Soccer Coaches Association of America First Team


Other Hurricane Ranked Teams
While Hurricane football teams have grabbed most of the highlights over the past 27 years, other teams have also done the school proud in state tournaments:

Boys Weightlifting: In addition to its 1990 class 4A state championship, the 1989 team was state runner-up.

Wrestling: The 1973, 2007 and 2009 teams were state runners-up.
As it goes for wrestling, although it does not bring in as many fans as the football team, but its still one of if not the best athletic team Manatee High has.
Manatee won the County title from 1996 to 2009 Lost the streak in 2010 to Palmetto.
In the 2006/2007 Manatee was the 2A District 10 champs, 2A Region 3 Champs, and were runner up in the Class 2A state Finals to the powerhouse Brandon High Eagles(Longest Winning streak over 500 wins). The team is headed by coach Andrew "Gug" Gugliemini, with help from coach Fair (JV Coach), Coach David Mason, and Coach Dan Gysel.

In the 2008/2009 season Manatee finished second in the state tournament as well as being County Champs and District champs and coming in second to Palmetto Ridge(Naples) High School in the Reginal finals but then avenged that loss by beating them at states (Jacob Gregory becoming a state champ after going to the state Finals for the 3rd time, Alex Doran becoming a runner up after finishing his freshman year with a state title becoming the first freshman to do that in the history of the school in 2007/2008 School year. Marshall Stewart placed third in the State after starting the year off on the JV Squad, he also pinned his opponent in 19 seconds which was the fastest pin in the State Consolation finals(verified by the FHSAA state website). Daniel Dykes, Isaac Riley, and Ronnie Daniels all Placed 5th in the State. Jonathan Espinoza also had a great season, winning many match's and nearly making a trip to states. Asked what he was going to do after the season ended Espinoza stated, "I'm gonna go eat sushi."
Coach Gug and Mason had the team peaking at the right time.

External links

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