West Monroe High School

West Monroe High School is a high school in West Monroe, Louisiana, United States. It is administered by the Ouachita Parish School Board. WMHS is fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The school's mascot is The Rebel Man.

West Monroe High School
Address
201 Riggs Street

West Monroe
,
(Ouachita Parish)
,
Louisiana
71291

United States
Coordinates32.5115°N 92.13896°W / 32.5115; -92.13896
Information
TypePublic
MottoGreat is the truth, and it will prevail.
Established1953
School districtOuachita Parish School Board
PrincipalShelby Ainsworth
Faculty103.05 (FTE)[1]
Grades9–12
Number of students2,173 (2018-19)[1]
Student to teacher ratio21.09[1]
Color(s)Red and Navy Blue
Athletics conferenceLHSAA District 2-5A
MascotRebel
RivalOuachita Lions
Neville Tigers
Ruston Bearcats
YearbookRebelaire
Websitewww.gorebs.org

History

In 2013, 87 percent of WMHS students who took the Advanced Placement test passed the examination, the highest rate in the state. Four thousand more students in Louisiana took the 2013 exam compared to the number doing so in 2012, the largest increase in participation of any state. Louisiana students taking the exam earned a collective 5,144 college credits, an increase of 25 percent over 2012.[2]

In 2015, WMHS principal Shelby Ainsworth banned students from displaying the Confederate battle flag from vehicles parked on campus though the school team is called The Rebels. Ainsworth said that students may wear clothing with the flag displayed at games, but flags cannot be waved from sticks or poles. Administrators confiscated several flags on August 28 but offered to return them to students or parents.[3]

In 2017 Andre Perry, previously the founding dean of the urban education division of Davenport University, wrote an article published in The Hechinger Report which criticized West Monroe for continuing to use the rebel mascot.[4]

Extracurricular activities

Student Council

The West Monroe High School Student Council is one of the largest active clubs on campus. It boasts over 100 members per year. The club is active on the state and regional level attending both state and regional conferences each year. The Council has also held the title of District President in the past.

French Club

The West Monroe High School French Club competes at A.L.C.F.E.S. (Association Louisianaise des Clubs de Français des Écoles Secondaires) annually against the state's best public and private schools. Over the past few years, the club has done exceptionally well in theatre, media, and music. Five students (in 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, and 2020) have competed and won scholarships to study abroad in Nova Scotia and Belgium.

Band

The band received consecutive Superior ratings at Marching and Concert festivals since 1966. The band consists of 200 students. In 2014, the band appeared in the London New Years Day Parade in Westminster, UK. The band has appeared in two Presidential Inaugural Parades, George W. Bush in 2005 and Donald Trump in 2017.[5] The band was one of only 7 high school bands invited. The band has also been invited to the Louisiana Showcase of Marching Bands in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. In those years, they placed 11th (2014), 6th (2015), 5th (2016), 9th (2017), and 3rd (2018,) in the state of Louisiana.[6]

Choir

West Monroe High School's Rebel Choir has a total of about 120 students. It is an auditioned ensemble that performs at an advanced level. The choir is directed by Greg Oden. The choir has an unbroken streak of Superior Ratings beginning in 1994, and has toured Italy, Europe, and Austria. The students were also invited to sing at New York's Carnegie Hall in 1999, 2003, 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020.

AFJROTC

In the 2015–2016 school year West Monroe's Air Force Junior ROTC was awarded the Distinguished Unit with Merit award recognizing the program for being in the top 10% of 878 AFJROTC programs located around the world. Their Falcon Honor Guard was recognized as one of the best in the state at a statewide drill meet held in January 2016 at Louisiana Tech University. The AJFROTC program is led by Retired Lt. Col. Brain Buck and was named, instructor of the year worldwide. The accomplishments of LA-061 continue and live on forever at West Monroe High School

Junior Classical League

West Monroe High School has an established chapter of the Junior Classical League that over a hundred students are involved in.

Athletics

Football
West Monroe Rebel Stadium in Don Shows Fields underwent renovation in 2017 with the installation of AstroTurf.[7]

Under the late Don Shows's coaching, the Class 5-A Rebels have won seventeen district and eight ('93, '96, '97, '98, '00, '05, '09, '11) state championships. National championships were won in 1998 and 2000 and were runners-up in six state designations.[8][9] The school has a fully outfitted football stadium, mostly funded by the team's Rebel Booster Club.[10] The Rebels have ranked nationally for more than 10 years and have won district titles 19 years in a row. Their most recent state championship was in 2011 when they defeated Carencro(Lafayette) by a score of 20–13.

Notable alumni

Notable faculty
  • Steve Ensminger, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at LSU, wide receiver coach in 2002
  • Justin Hill, head baseball coach at McNeese State, assistant baseball coach in 2003
  • Don Shows, football coach from 1984 to 2012

See also

References
  1. "West Monroe High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  2. "Barbara Leader, State shows gains in advanced testing". Monroe News-Star, July 30, 2013. Retrieved July 31, 2013.
  3. "West Monroe High School restricts use of Confederate flags at athletic events". Baton Rouge Advocate. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  4. "Why one Louisiana high school and its mascot will become a symbol of national division". The Hechinger Report. January 10, 2017. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
  5. USA Today Article. Retrieved December 2010
  6. http://www.lafmusic.com/Showcase
  7. "Jerry Arledge talks Rebel Stadium renovations". Monroe News-Star. July 30, 2017. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  8. "Coach's Corner". olerebels.com. Retrieved December 13, 2010.
  9. "Greg Hilburn, "West Monroe-West Ouachita Chamber Honors Don Shows with A.O. Evans Award"". Monroe News Star, January 26, 2010. Retrieved December 13, 2010.
  10. Harvey, Gordon E. (2007). Historic Ouachita Parish: An Illustrated History. ISBN 9781893619708.
  11. "Chuck Finley Stats". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
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