South Eugene High School is a

public high school A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-f ...

located in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

, United States.

History

The school was founded as Eugene High School in 1903, and was located at Willamette Street and West 11th Avenue in a brick building that later served as Eugene's city hall. The Eugene school district in 1915 built a new high school on a one-block site on West 17th Avenue between Lincoln and Charnelton Streets. By 1943, the Eugene School District had outgrown the cramped old high school, and voters approved a

bond measure A municipal bond, commonly known as a muni, is a bond issued by state or local governments, or entities they create such as authorities and special districts. In the United States, interest income received by holders of municipal bonds is often ...

to build a new facility.

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and other factors delayed construction for a decade, but the current building at 400 E. 19th Avenue was completed and occupied in September 1953. The old high school then served as Woodrow Wilson Junior High School until 1967 (the previous Wilson building was converted to Lincoln Elementary School in 1953). In the fall of 1957, Eugene High was renamed South Eugene High School, when

North Eugene High School North Eugene High School is a public high school in the River Road/Santa Clara neighborhoods of Eugene, Oregon, United States. History Source: North Eugene High School opened to students on October 21, 1957. The opening was delayed nearly two m ...

opened in the River Road area north of the city. In April 2018, after more than 90 years as the Axemen, the name of the school mascot was officially changed to The Axe.

Academics

In 1983, South Eugene High School was honored in the

Blue Ribbon Schools Program The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...

, the highest honor a school can receive in the United States.Archived: Blue Ribbon Schools Program, Schools Recognized 1982-1983 Through 1999-2002 (PDF)
/ref> In 2008, 89% of the school's seniors received a

high school diploma A high school diploma (sometimes referred to as a high school degree) is a diploma awarded upon graduation of high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary s ...

. Of 410 students, 363 graduated, 40 dropped out, and seven were still in high school the following year. The school has regularly received a silver ranking in '' U.S. News & World Report''s "America's Best High Schools" survey. In 2010, a student at the school was honored as a Presidential Scholar, one of three from Oregon. A student at the school won the

Intel Science Talent Search The Regeneron Science Talent Search, known for its first 57 years as the Westinghouse Science Talent Search, and then as the Intel Science Talent Search (Intel STS) from 1998 through 2016, is a research-based science fair, science competition in ...

in 2009 after another South Eugene student placed third in 2007; other students have been named finalists or semifinalists in recent years. South Eugene High School hosts a branch of the Eugene International High School, which offers

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), more commonly known as the International Baccalaureate (IB), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the I ...

courses as well as the

International Baccalaureate Diploma The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is a two-year educational programme primarily aimed at 16-to-19-year-olds in 140 countries around the world. The programme provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry int ...

. The main campus of South Eugene High School offers numerous Advanced Placement courses as well as honors courses. South Eugene High School offers 14

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board. AP offers undergraduate university-level curricula and examinations to high school students. Colleges and universities in the US and elsewhere ...

(AP) classes and opportunities for college credit through

Lane Community College Lane Community College is a public community college in Eugene, Oregon, with additional facilities in downtown Eugene, Florence, Cottage Grove, and the Lane Aviation Academy at Eugene Airport. As of 2023-2024, Lane serves more than 15,000 cre ...

and the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

Activities

The school has many athletic teams (men's and women's ultimate frisbee, volleyball, football, lacrosse, cheerleading, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's basketball, wrestling, men's and women's golf, men's and women's tennis, men’s and women’s swimming, softball, baseball, cross country and track and field) and other student activities, such as band, choir, theater, orchestra and visual arts, as well as various student clubs. South Eugene competes in the 6A Southwest Conference, except for football, which competes in the 5A Midwestern Conference. The school has experienced difficulty fielding a football team in the past due to a lack of participants. South Eugene High School also offers a wide variety of clubs and programs. These include Speech and Debate, Alpine and Nordic Ski teams, National Honor Society, Rowing Club, Red Cross Club, Rotary Interact, Black Student Union, Feminist Union, Figure of Speech, Jewish Student Union, Habitat for Humanity, Key Club, Latino Student Union, Model United Nations, Wring Club, Mock Trial, Gender & Sexuality Alliance
South Eugene Robotics Team
(

FIRST Robotics Competition FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is an international high school robotics competition operated by ''FIRST''®. Each year, teams of high school students, coaches, and mentors work to build robots capable of competing in that year's game. Robots c ...

Team 2521), and the Yiddish Club.

State championships

*Baseball: 1961, 1962 *Boys basketball: 1927, 1946, 1955 *Boys soccer: 1998, 2002 *Boys track and field: 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983 *Football: 1936 *Girls basketball: 1987, 1999 *Girls track and field: 1975, 2019 *Gender diverse ultimate frisbee: 2024, 2023, 2022

Bomb Threats of 2023

On May 3 of 2023, the first of a series of bomb threats were made against the school. This happened again on May 10, May 16, and May 24. Following an investigation that involved both the Eugene PD and the FBI, it was determined that two students had been paying someone to call in the threats. No further information has been released and no threats have since been made.

Notable alumni

Sam Adams Samuel Adams (, 1722 – October 2, 1803) was an American statesman, political philosopher, and a Founding Father of the United States. He was a politician in colonial Massachusetts, a leader of the movement that became the American Revolu ...

(Class of 1982), former mayor of Portland, Oregon *

Cecil Andrus Cecil Dale Andrus (August 25, 1931 – August 24, 2017) was an American politician who served as 26th and 28th List of Governors of Idaho, governor of Idaho, for a total of fourteen years. A Democrat, he also served as United States Secretary of ...

(Class of 1948), Governor of Idaho (1971–1977, 1987–1995) and U.S. Secretary of the Interior (1977–1981) *

Garner Ted Armstrong Garner Ted Armstrong (February 9, 1930 – September 15, 2003) was an American evangelist and the son of Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of the Worldwide Church of God, at the time a Sabbatarian organization that taught observance of seventh-day ...

(Class of 1947), televangelist for the Worldwide Church of God *

Phil Barnhart Phil Barnhart (born 1946) is an American politician and psychologist from the state of Oregon. He was a Democratic member of the Oregon House of Representatives, representing District 11 from 2003 to 2019 and District 40 from 2001 to 2003. E ...

(Class of 1964), Oregon state representative * John Beckett (Class of 1912), member of the College Football Hall of Fame *

Bryce Boettcher Bryce Alan Boettcher (; born July 8, 2002) is an American football linebacker for the Oregon Ducks. He is also a professional baseball outfielder in the Houston Astros organization. Early life and high school Boettcher attended South Eugene Hi ...

(Class of 2021), college football linebacker and professional baseball outfielder *

Tracy Bonham Tracy Kristin Bonham (born March 16, 1967) is an American alternative rock musician. Born and raised in Eugene, Oregon, she is a classically trained violinist and pianist, and a self-taught guitarist. After building up a local following, Bonham ...

(Class of 1984), musician *

Richard Brautigan Richard Gary Brautigan (January 30, 1935) was an American novelist, poet, and short story writer. He wrote throughout his life and published ten novels, two collections of short stories, and four books of poetry. Brautigan's work has been publi ...

(Class of 1953), counterculture author and poet * Chris Carter (Class of 1991), record producer * Phoebe Cole Gordon, artist *

E. Max Frye Eric Max Frye (born 1956) is an American screenwriter and film director from Oregon. In 2015, he received an Academy Award nomination for co-writing, with Dan Futterman, the original screenplay for ''Foxcatcher''. Early life and education Frye ...

(Class of 1973), screenwriter and director *

Neil Goldschmidt Neil Edward Goldschmidt (June 16, 1940 – June 12, 2024) was an American businessman and Democratic politician from the state of Oregon who held local, state, and federal offices over three decades. After serving as mayor of Portland, Oregon, ...

(Class of 1958), mayor of Portland (1973–1979), Governor of Oregon (1987–1991), and

United States Secretary of Transportation The United States secretary of transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to transportation. The secre ...

(1979–1981) *

Tim Hardin James Timothy Hardin (December 23, 1941 – December 29, 1980) was an American folk music and blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. In addition to his own success, his songs " If I Were a Carpenter", " Reason to Believe", " Misty Roses" and " ...

(Class of 1960), anti-war folk singer *

Rick Hawn Richard Hawn (born September 15, 1976), known as Rick Hawn, is a former Olympic judoka and professional mixed martial artist. A professional MMA fighter from 2009 to 2015, Hawn most notably competed for Bellator MMA, where he won the Bellator S ...

(Class of 1994), mixed martial arts fighter * The Hunches (Class of 1999), rock band *

Jonh Ingham Jonh Ingham (born 1951) is an English entrepreneur who has worked in music journalism, pop band and nightclub management, advertising, internet application development and management consultancy. In the mid-1970s he worked for the British po ...

(Class of 1968), pop music journalist * Nate Jaqua (Class of 2000), MLS soccer player * Gerald R. Johnson (Class of 1938),

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

pilot and the fourth ranking USAAF

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

in the Pacific during

* Ben Kaplan (Class of 1995), author *

Mat Kearney Mathew William Kearney (; born December 1, 1978) is an American musician born in Eugene, Oregon, and based in Nashville, Tennessee. So far, he has a total of five top 20 hits on the Adult Top 40 Chart. '' Just Kids'' was released on February 2 ...

(Class of 1997), singer and songwriter *

John Kitzhaber John Albert Kitzhaber (born March 5, 1947) is an American former politician and physician who served as the 35th and 37th governor of Oregon from 1995 to 2003 and again from 2011 to 2015. In February 2015, shortly after beginning his fourth term, ...

(Class of 1965), Governor of Oregon (1995–2003, 2011–2015) * Mike Lafferty (Class of 1966), World Cup alpine ski racer, 1972 Olympian *

Dustin Lanker Dustin Ross Lanker (born October 7, 1976) is an American keyboardist, known for his work as a member of the ska- swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies and the ska punk band the Mad Caddies, as well as the singer-songwriter for the rock trio The ...

(Class of 1993), keyboardist for the Cherry Poppin' Daddies and the Mad Caddies *

Boseko Lokombo Boseko Lokombo (born October 15, 1990) is a Congolese-Canadian former professional Canadian football linebacker. During his career from 2014 to 2024, Lokombo played nine seasons in the Canadian Football League (CFL), eight of them with the BC Lio ...

, professional football player * Bill McChesney (Class of 1977), 1980 Olympian in track and field *

Miguel McKelvey Miguel McKelvey (born 1974) is an American businessman, and the co-founder and former chief culture officer of WeWork. Early life McKelvey grew up in a "five-mother collective" in Eugene, Oregon. His family started and ran a weekly newspaper call ...

(Class of 1992), co-founder of

WeWork WeWork Inc., headquartered in New York City, is a provider of coworking spaces, including physical and virtual shared spaces, in approximately 600 buildings in 125 cities. WeWork was founded in 2010 by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey. Ove ...

* Jason Moss (Class of 1986), guitarist for the Cherry Poppin' Daddies * Charlotte Plummer Owen, bandleader and clarinetist * Abraham Palmer, (Class of 1988), behavior geneticist * Julie Payne (Class of 1964), actress * Edwin J. Peterson (Class of 1947), Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice *

Paul Pierson Paul Pierson (born 1959) is an American professor of political science specializing in comparative politics and holder of the John Gross Endowed Chair of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. From 2007-2010 he served at UC ...

(Class of 1977), political scientist, author *

Rock n Roll Soldiers Rock 'n' Roll Soldiers was an American punk rock band from Eugene, Oregon. History In 1997, the band was formed in Eugene, Oregon by four friends who met there in middle school. They named their group—of frontman Marty Larson-Xu, guitari ...

(Class of 2001), rock band *

Brian Rowe Brian Michael Rowe (born November 16, 1988) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. Youth soccer Rowe went to South Eugene High School, where he was voted best defensive player in 2005 and MVP in 2006. He ...

(Class of 2006), MLS goalkeeper * Heidi Schellman (Class of 1975), physicist, head of Department of Physics at

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

* Dan Siegel (Class of 1972), pianist, composer and record producer *

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...

(Class of 1945 ), United States senator *

Holly Goldberg Sloan Holly Goldberg Sloan (born 1958) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and New York Times bestselling novelist. Life and career Sloan was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to psychology professor Lewis R. Goldberg and architect moth ...

(Class of 1976), film director, screenwriter, novelist *

Blake Stepp Blake Roy Stepp (born February 4, 1982) is an American retired professional basketball player. After a standout prep career at South Eugene High School and college career at Gonzaga University, he was drafted in the second round of the 2004 NBA ...

(Class of 2000), professional basketball player *

Corin Tucker Corin Lisa Tucker (born November 9, 1972) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known for her work with rock band Sleater-Kinney. Tucker is also a member of the alternative rock supergroup Filthy Friends, and previously record ...

(Class of 1990), lead singer of Sleater-Kinney *

Theresa Wayman Theresa Becker Wayman (born June 23, 1980), known professionally as TT, is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and occasional actress, best known as guitarist and vocalist of the indie rock band Warpaint (band), Warpaint. Early life Waym ...

(Class of 1998), Calvin Klein model, movie actress, keyboardist and singer for Warpaint *

Abraham Wickelgren Abraham Lee Wickelgren is an American lawyer who is currently the Fred And Emily Marshall Wulff Centennial Chair In Law at the University of Texas School of Law. He was previously the Bernard J. Ward Centennial Professor of Law. He is currently ...

(Class of 1987), law and economics professor, University of Texas at Austin *

Michelle Zauner Michelle Chongmi Zauner (born March 29, 1989) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and author, known as the lead vocalist of the indie pop band Japanese Breakfast. Her 2021 memoir, '' Crying in H Mart'', spent 60 weeks on ''The New York ...

(Class of 2007), musician and author

References

External links

1955 History of Eugene and University High Schools
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1953 High schools in Lane County, Oregon Education in Eugene, Oregon Public high schools in Oregon 1953 establishments in Oregon International Baccalaureate schools in Oregon