West Florida High School of Advanced Technology

West Florida High School of Advanced Technology
Location
2400 Longleaf Dr., Pensacola 32526, Florida USA
Information
Type	Magnet
Established	2001
Dean	Wanda Perkins
Principal	Shenna Payne
Number of students	1200+
Campus	Suburban
Color(s)	Black and Red           homepage = wfhs.net
Mascot	Jaguar
District	Escambia County School District

West Florida High School of Advanced Technology is a magnet high school located in Pensacola, Florida.

West Florida High School of Advanced Technology opened in August 2001 with 325 ninth graders. Today, the current enrollment is 1,253 students, ninth through twelfth grade.

West Florida High provides many sports such as football, volleyball, baseball, cheerleading, softball, cross-country, track and field, basketball, soccer, swimming, weightlifting, tennis and golf. They also added a marching band for the 2010-2011 school year. Known as the Sound of the Jags, they are now led by Peter Krostag. With the first new sport addition in the last few years, lacrosse has been made an official sport for both boys and girls in the 2014-2015 school year.

Technical fields

• Academy of Information Technology (AOIT)
• Aerospace Engineering
• Agricultural Biotechnology
• Biomedical Sciences
• Civil Engineering and Architecture
• Cox Telecommunications Academy
• Criminal Justice
• Drafting and Design Technology
• Emergency Medicine/Fire Rescue Services
• Gulf Power Academy
• Multimedia Academy
• Pre-Professional Nursing
• Sports Medicine

Though previously on block scheduling, beginning with the 2008-2009 school year, the school switched to seven periods a day. In the 2009-2010 school year, the school switched back to block scheduling, which remains the scheduling method today.

There are many mentoring and job shadowing programs, including the A.C.E. program, which allows students to get on the job training while getting paid by participating in internships in place of electives.

In the 2007-2008 year, West Florida has announced its "C.I.M." (Continuous Improvement Model) program. It dedicates 10 minutes every day to FCAT Prep and reinforcing prior knowledge. This changed in the 2009-2010 school year, where they changed the ten-minute period of FCAT to a ten-minute snack break, as students were too hungry due to the late 'D' lunch, which begins at 1:24.

Previous technical fields

• Automotive (2001–2008)
• Automotive Repair (2001–2008)
• CISCO (200X/0X—2007/08)
• Pre-Engineering (200X/0X-200X/0X)
• Veterinary (200X/0X—2007/08)
• Legal Services (200x/0x - 2012/2013

Capstone

Each student completes a Capstone project—a display of comprehension and mastery of a given field - that focuses on a field-related topic. A student's technical courses, junior and senior year English courses, and T.E.C.H. courses are involved in its completion.

The project is separated into three parts:

• technical paper (eleventh grade)
• product or project-related community service (11th and 12th grades)
• presentation with visual aides (twelfth grade)

If a mean grade of 60% or above is earned, a student is presented with a technical certificate (or available equivalent) upon graduation.

During the 2011-2012 school year, the school changed their Capstone system with a major revision. This is now called "Capstone 2.0". Students complete it during the 11th grade year only, and it consists of a small proposal paper, an established timeline, and the final product.

Valedictorians

2005 - Allison Simpson
2006 - Brittany Hammac
2007 - Yen Chau
2008 - Eric Peterson
2009 - Robin Marcoe
2010 - Christopher Jones
2011 - Hieu Chau

Athletics

The West Florida Softball team brought the school its first team state championship in the 2013 - 2014 year, with senior standout pitcher Korina Rosario leading the way. Nearly every teacher in the school put the championship game on their TV's, which led to continuous suspense and celebration throughout the day. Rosario has since gone on to pitch at Florida State University, but her legacy lives on.

The 2014 - 2015 football team was a team that met and exceeded expectations. Predicted to have a mediocre season by many after losing many seniors, they seemed like they might live up to those expectations with a 19-7 loss to J.M. Tate High School to start the year. But after this they went on a tear, winning 11 straight, including a playoff win against a good Wakulla High School team. They met their match yet again, though, at the hands of Godby. In a game filled with turnovers by West Florida, they got beat by a sizable margin. The season was not a disappointment, however, due to the extensive perseverance and toughness that they showed throughout the season. It was a commendable season that deserves recognition.

The 2013 - 2014 team fell just short of another district championship. After being ranked #1 in the state for a few weeks to start the season, the team lost to the then #2 ranked Catholic High. They still made the playoffs, but they were thwarted by Catholic again with an overtime loss in the second round of the playoffs. They did beat Tallahassee Godby in the first round, which was a major accomplishment considering the fact that Godby had knocked them out of the playoffs the previous two years.

In the 2011 - 2012 year, the Jaguars went 9-1, becoming district champions. The 2008 varsity football team defeated the Chipley Tigers 35-0, to break a three-year-long losing streak. They ended the year 4-6. This was the first season that the varsity football team won a game since their inaugural season in 2004.

The 2009 football team went 4-6 with only 10 seniors on the roster. The 2009 varsity football team had more sophomores than seniors. The 2009 team broke many previous school records. They won their opening game against the Walton Braves, becoming the first team to win their opening game.

The most points scored in a single game came in West Florida High School's first ever school victory against Class 2A rivals Marianna High School in 2004. The game, played at Escambia High School, ended with a final score of 64-28. The team scored on its first nine possessions of the game. Quarterback John Boatner went 13-14 passing for 421 yards and 5 touchdowns. Receiver Kelvin King ranks third in FHSAA history with 328 receiving yards in the game, along with 3 touchdowns. Nelson Rembert and Trace Whitman had one touchdown catch each. Running backs Jolante and JohnDale Wiggins and Ruben Powers added four more touchdowns on the ground.

Many other athletics have had continual success, but no other teams than the softball team have brought home the coveted state championship. Cross Country has enjoyed much success in the last few years winning three consecutive district titles from 2012 - 2014. Girls' Soccer has also won consecutive district titles in 2012-2013 and appear to be en route to another one in 2014.

Student Government Association

The SGA at WFHS is a dynamic group of student leaders. During 2007-2008, in only its 9th year in existence, WFHS served as the President school of the Florida Association of Student Councils. Since then, it has earned a Gold Medallion every year and has lived up to the potential it created in these first nine years. This year, newly elected Student Body President, Logan Adams will take the lead. The other members serving on the executive board are Vice President Dana Miller, Recording Secretary Riyana Patel, Corresponding Secretary Bailey Alvarez, Treasurer Jenna Ward, Parliamentarian Elizabeth Tomlinson, and FASC Treasurer-Elects Olivia Adams and Jake McDonald. Senior SGA Members serving as class officers are President Benny McNease, Vice President Ashleigh Gardner, Secretary Deedee Mitchell, and Treasurer Ramaya Grace. Shelia Renee Giles became the sponsor for the 2013 - 2014 year, and is still in that post. The organization's main project this year involves a local nursing home, Bayside Manor. All SGA members volunteer there for 4 hours per nine weeks, a great activity to be promoting community service in the youth.

See also

• Escambia County School District
• Pensacola, Florida

External links

• Official website