East High School (Sioux City, Iowa)

History

Sioux City East High School was founded in 1920 and its original location was on Morningside Avenue just across the street from Morningside College. In 1972, the Sioux City Community School district put in the plan to build three brand new high schools for all three public schools. East then moved to Mayhew Avenue, which is located by the Southern Hills Mall in Sioux City. East was one of three other public schools to be founded in Sioux City along with Leeds, Riverside, and Central high schools. The private school in Sioux City at that time was Trinity and Cathedral high schools which now make up Bishop Heelan High School. Trinity primarily consisted of all male and Cathedral was all female. Sioux City East is the only High School in Sioux City to remain in its original state. Riverside became what is now Sioux City West and Central became Sioux City North. East has also kept its same mascot, the Black Raider since its existence. However because of restrictions on their logo, East had to change their logo from a native war like figure to a Raider who more resembled a Knight.

Athletics

Sioux City East has sports for both boys and girls that include football, basketball, softball, track, baseball, golf, soccer, tennis, and bowling. Both the East boy’s and girl’s compete in the Missouri River Activities Conference. East High has three Iowa class 4A state championships which include a football state championship in 1984 over Waterloo West and boys' state basketball championships in 1935 and 2002. The Black Raider boys’ basketball program has made 17 state tournament appearances in which they have made it to the Iowa High School Boy’s State Basketball Tournament 9 out of the last 12 years. In 2012, the East boys made it to the championship game, in which they lost to Iowa City West. The previous game they defeated then undefeated Ankeny High School in overtime, which was seen as one of the most memorable games in Iowa state tournament history. Former head coach Jeff Vanderloo is first in all time coaching wins in Sioux City history with 311. Vanderloo is now the director of basketball operations at Creighton University. His brother, Ras Vanderloo is now the head coach of the Black Raider boys’ basketball team.

Black Raider football has made it to the Iowa high school playoffs 21 times. The baseball team has been state runner up 3 times, 1995, 1996, and 2013. One of the most memorable games was a thrilling 2-1 comeback victory over Iowa City High in the 1996 semi-final. The Black Raiders went down 1-0 in the 6th inning after losing All State pitcher Scott Vakulskas to a facial injury from a comebacker. East avoided defeat in the bottom of the seventh when Jared Linduski popped up suicide squeeze but the ball fell safely in fair territory tying the game. Brock Beekmann's bases loaded single two batters later drove in the winning run and propelled the victorious squad to the next days title game.

Sioux Interstate Conference

The Sioux Interstate conference was an athletic conference that was composed of all the Sioux City and Sioux Falls High schools. The conference include O’Gorman, Roosevelt, Washington, and Lincoln high schools from Sioux Falls, and East, West, North, and Bishop Heelan from Sioux City. The conference disbanded in 2001 after the formation of the Missouri River Activities conference which includes all the Sioux City high schools and Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln.

Vocal Music

The Vocal Music Program at East High School offers ten choral ensembles, providing a variety of opportunities including modern a-cappella and show choir. The Choirs at East present four concerts each year in addition to an authentic Renaissance Madrigal Dinner every December. While under the direction of Paula Keeler, East High School earned the distinction of being the first (and, to this day, one of the only) to place 28 singers (the maximum in Iowa) in the All-State Chorus. The premier ensemble, the Chamber Choir has performed in some of our country’s finest performance venues, including four appearances at New York City’s Carnegie Hall. They have earned awards at competitions throughout the country, including Grand Champion, Best Choral Tone, and Best Repertoire at FAME Los Angeles (2008), Best Repertoire and First Runner-Up at FAME Chicago (2010), Grand Champion, Best Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass Sections at the Grand River Concert Choir Competition (2012), and First Runner-Up at FAME Chicago in 2014. In 2013, they were a featured ensemble in the University of South Dakota’s Vocal Arts Festival. In 2016, they participated in Morningside College's Choral Composition Competition Festival Concert.

Since 2013, East has collaborated with neighboring Bishop Heelan, North, and West high schools in producing an annual Men's Choir Festival entitled "Man Up & Sing." Since its inception, the festival has featured guest ensembles including the Iowa Statesmen, the Great Northern Union, and the Wartburg College Ritterchor. Each year, the festival involves roughly 120 students from the four high schools along with guest ensembles and conductors.

Sioux City East is nationally recognized for its competitive Show Choir program, consisting of three ensembles: “Impulse” (JV female), “New Sound” (JV mixed), and “The Headliners” (varsity mixed). Since 1989, The Headliners have garnered nearly 50 Grand Champion awards and innumerable awards for Best Vocals, Best Choreography, and Best Band. In 2010, under the direction of Heath Weber, they were recognized by Parade Magazine as one of America’s Top 25 Show Choirs, eventually advancing to the Top 3, alongside Chantilly High School's “Touch of Class” (Chantilly, VA) and Preble High School's “Center Stage” (Green Bay, WI). In 2011, they appeared in choreographer Mike Weaver’s book, “Sweat, Tears, and Jazz Hands: The Official History of Show Choir from Vaudeville to Glee.”

Traveling extensively, The Headliners have competed in national events including FAME Los Angeles, FAME Chicago (twice), the Grand River Show Choir Invitational in La Crosse, WI (twice), and Show Choir Nationals in Nashville, TN. In 2017, they will compete at Heart Of America-Cincinnati. In 2014, they received the awards for First Runner-Up and Best Band at FAME Chicago, qualifying them for FAME Nationals, also in Chicago. In addition to competing, the EHS Show Choirs present an annual Dinner Theater each fall, and host their own competition, “Sing All About It!” on the first Saturday of every March. In 2016, The Headliners were recognized as the "Most Decorated" show choir in Iowa.

The choral program is presently led by Thomas Hales and Sydney McCoy.

Band

Under the direction of Anna Scott and Brad Anderson, the East High School Band Program offers five instrumental ensembles, giving students multiple opportunities including marching band, and jazz. The Bands at East High perform three concerts each year as well as marching band performances at every home football game. Sioux City East's "Black Raider Marching Band" has received a multitude of awards since its beginning including Best Drumline, Best Show, and Best Drill.

Along with their marching band, the jazz program at East High has received high praise as of late. In 2014 and 2015, under the direction of Jeff Soukup, the school's varsity jazz band qualified and performed in the Iowa Jazz Championships in Des Moines back to back for the first time since the early 2000s. In 2016, they were invited back for a third consecutive performance. During the 2016 season, both competitive jazz bands will perform at Morningside Jazz Festival (IA), Le Mars (IA), and Vermillion (SD).

Speech and Debate

Coached by Wendy Bryce and Marissa Behan, East's highly competitive Speech and Debate program is recognized as one of the finest in the state, earning numerous titles and banners over the past several years. In 2014, the program received the state banners for both Solo Mime and Choral Reading; in 2016, they earned the state banner for Radio Broadcast. Also in 2016, the Debate Squad boasted six State Champions and a First Place Sweepstakes at the Iowa Forensic League State Tournament.

Eastop

“Eastop” or East Stop is the student run store located in the Commons of East High School. Supervised by Kelly Sales, a business teacher at East, the Eastop opened in the fall of 2008. Students can purchase Black Raider apparel, school supplies, snacks, and various other novelties at the store. Eastop also sells their apparel at various Black Raider athletic events. The store gives students the opportunity to see how a business is run, and it gives them the understanding of the responsibility that comes with having a job.

Modern East High

Sioux City East just unveiled a brand new science wing in the fall of 2010. This science center offers state of the art technology in which students have the opportunity to experience the most updated technology, plus wall-mounted LCD TVs hanging on the walls. East also renovated the gym in 2012 with a brand new basketball court and improved seating. The auditorium was renovated in early 2009 with new black seats that have red fabric (replacing the original yellow seats that had orange fabric), and later replaced the original tan stage curtains with the red ones in early 2010. They also have a school website which provides up to date information about coming events and information for students and parents.

Alumni