Homestead High School (Indiana)

Homestead High School
Address
Map
4310 Homestead Road

Fort Wayne, Indiana
46804

United States
Coordinates41°02′39″N 85°17′04″W / 41.0441°N 85.2844°W / 41.0441; -85.2844
Information
TypePublic, secondary
MottoPreparing Today's Learners for Tomorrow's Opportunities
Established1970
LocaleSuburban
School districtSouthwest Allen County Schools
NCES District ID1800030[1]
SuperintendentPark D. Ginder
CEEB code151103
NCES School ID180003000002[2]
PrincipalSusan Summers
Faculty122.83 (FTE)[2]
Grades9-12
Enrollment2,470 (2022–2023)[2]
Student to teacher ratio20.11[2]
Color(s)     
Athletics conferenceSummit Athletic Conference
MascotSpartan
PublicationThe Spartana
YearbookRetrospect
School NewscastHHS In Depth
Radio StationWCYT 91.1 FM
Websitehomestead.sacs.k12.in.us
[3][4]

Homestead Senior High School, in Fort Wayne, United States, is a public four-year high school. Part of Southwest Allen County Schools, the school receives accreditation from the Indiana Department of Education and the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.

Activities

Media program

Homestead Media is the school's student-run, not-for-profit and award-winning Digital Media Program. The school has Television, Radio and Sports Broadcasting programs that help make up the Homestead Media department.

The TV/video department has a YouTube channel dedicated to its award-winning weekly school news program, HHS In Depth, which has released weekly episodes during the school year on its YouTube channel since 2013.[5] In 2017, Intercollegiate Broadcasting System named HHS In Depth the nation's best school newscast.

The 'live' video department broadcasts Homestead sports and performing arts events live on Homestead Live via the same YouTube channel. Homestead Live covers all home football and basketball (boys and girls) games, along with other sports and performing arts associated with the school.

Homestead won “High School TV Station of the Year” at Indiana Association of School Broadcasters (IASB) in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

WCYT is the school's student-run, not-for-profit radio station. It has been broadcasting in the city of Fort Wayne since 1995. It features indie-rock music on a 24/7, 365 day basis, along with occasional talk shows.[6] WCYT has won "High School Radio Station of the Year" in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2023 at IASB.[7][8]

Publications

The Spartana, Homestead's student newspaper, was awarded the NSPA Pacemaker award for its 2002-2003, 2004-2005 and 2008-2009 volumes.[9]

Sports

Homestead has a variety of sports teams and clubs. Homestead's varsity teams compete in the largest class in the state of Indiana. The school belongs to the Summit Athletic Conference for Football and Boys and Girls Basketball but has no conference affiliate for all other sports teams. Their previous conference the Northeast Hoosier Conference disbanded in 2015. Homestead's biggest rival and fellow member of the SAC is the Chargers of Carroll High School.

There are currently 23 Varsity-level sports team (11 boys' sports, 10 girls' sports and two Unified sports teams) at the high school. These sports are sanctioned by the Indiana High School Athletic Association and all teams are eligible to participate in the state of Indiana's championship tournaments.

State Championships

Taken from IHSAA State Championship History [10]

Sport Year(s)
Girls Gymnastics (6) 1983, 1984, 1985, 1996, 1999, 2001
Boys Basketball (1) 2015 (4A)
Girls Basketball (1) 2017 (4A)
Girls golf (1) 2019
Girls Soccer (1) 2021 (3A)
Girls Cross Country (1) 2023

Controversy

On February 8 of 2023, Homestead High School became embroiled in a controversy that sparked outrage from members of the community. A student from the school had posted a photo on social media of themselves wearing blackface, which sparked widespread criticism. Prior to this, there were reports of minority students being subjected to slurs and taunts, further igniting the controversy.[11][12]

Reaction and aftermath

In response to the incident, students and community members organized protests calling for greater diversity and inclusion within the school.[13][12][14] Additionally, there were calls for the administration to take steps to address and combat racism within the institution. Following the incident, a student was arrested for a lunchroom fight that occurred due to racial tensions associated with the incident.[12]

The school district issued a statement condemning the behavior of the student who posted the offensive photo.[14] In August 2023, the school announced a partnership with the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR) to address racial tensions within the school.[13] However, some parents have protested the partnership, citing concerns about the organization's positions on critical race theory and accusations of transphobia.[15] FAIR has also faced criticism for opposing a debt relief program for black farmers.[16]

Notable alumni

See also

References

  1. ^ "Search for Public School Districts – District Detail for MSD Southwest Allen County Schls". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d "Search for Public Schools - Homestead High School (180003000002)". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  3. ^ "School Snapshot". state.in.us. Archived from the original on 22 September 2004. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  4. ^ "School Office". sacs.k12.in.us. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  5. ^ "Homestead High School Media - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2022-09-16.
  6. ^ Locke, Greg (2011). "A Radio Station for the Rest of Us" (PDF). Whatzup Magazine. WhatzUp Magazine. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  7. ^ IASB (March 12, 2015). "2016IASBHighSchoolAwards" (PDF). IASB Online.
  8. ^ "WCYT Celebrates National High School Radio Day (NBC33 VIDEO)". 21Alive. Archived from the original on 2016-05-31. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
  9. ^ NSPA – Contests and Critiques Archived 2015-02-21 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ "State Championship History" (PDF). IHSAA. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  11. ^ "SACS addresses viral post of Homestead student in blackface". WANE 15. 2023-02-09. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
  12. ^ a b c Bebout, Jazlynn; Null, Alex (2023-02-09). "Protest held at Homestead regarding offensive social media post depicting blackface". www.21alivenews.com. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
  13. ^ a b Byus, Briana (2023-02-21). "Parent organization meets with SACS to address racism concerns". FOX 55 Fort Wayne. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
  14. ^ a b Gazette, Ashley Sloboda | The Journal (2023-02-10). "SACS administration, students respond to student's 'highly offensive' social media post". Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
  15. ^ VanCleave, Karli (2023-08-17). "Parents worry SACS has partnered with 'anti-woke' group to combat racism". www.21alivenews.com. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
  16. ^ Wong, Julia Carrie (2021-05-25). "The fight to whitewash US history: 'A drop of poison is all you need'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-09-17.