Highland High School (Pocatello, Idaho)

History

Opened 54 years ago in 1963, Highland was the second of the three traditional public high schools in Pocatello, and serves the northern portion of the school district, including portions of Pocatello, Chubbuck, and Tyhee. It was originally going to be called "Gate City," one of Pocatello's historical nicknames. Students voiced their dislike for the name and a vote was held, and the winning name was "Highland." The campus is in an elevated area on Bench Road, northeast of the city center; the elevation is 4,740 ft (1,445 m) above sea level, about 270 feet (80 m) above rival Pocatello High.

There is another Highland High School in the state, at Craigmont in Lewis County in north central Idaho. A small school in Class 1A, it is usually distinguished by the name Highland-Craigmont to avoid confusion.

Traditions

Since its founding, Highland has been the rival of Pocatello High. The "Black and Blue Bowl," the annual rivalry football game, received national attention across the years, most recently being named the best rivalry game in the state of Idaho in 2009 by ESPN. The rivalry's intensity was expectedly diminished with the addition of the city's third high school, Century, which opened 18 years ago in 1999.

Highland has three fight songs and the official one is the "Highland High School Fight Song." The more commonly sung fight song is called "Loyalty," the lyrics to which are printed on the back of student activity cards. The last is called "Ram Power," which most students know the tune of (Budweiser's 1971 jingle Here Comes the King) but not the lyrics, outside its last stanza, which is "When you say RAM POWER... You've said it all!".

Highland also celebrates its traditions through the "Scottish" traditional dance performed every year by the Lassies dance team. Scottish was choreographed in 1963 by Jackie Beam and has been performed every year since. It is specifically choreographed to Highland's gym floor. The Lassies are usually assisted in the performance of Scottish by the HHS Band, as two drummers and a bagpipe player traditionally play the seven-minute song for the team. Additionally, the team has been known to perform it at parades as well as the first girls' Highland versus Pocatello basketball game of the season.

Athletics

Highland competes in athletics in IHSAA Class 5A, with the largest schools in the state. It is currently a member of the High Country Conference (5A), with Idaho Falls, Skyline, Hillcrest, and Madison. Intra-city rivals Pocatello and Century are in Class 4A; Pocatello was in the top classification until the arrival of Century in 1999. Highland's enrollment in 2011 was among the lowest in 5A. In its early years, Highland was a member of the Southern Idaho Conference, which spanned from Caldwell in the west to Idaho Falls in the east (the current SIC is limited to southwest Idaho, in both 5A and 4A).

Over its history, the Highland football program has been one of the best in the state and last won the 5A state championship in 2014. The Rams have won a total of ten official state championships, the first in 1984. Prior to the introduction of the A-1 (now 5A) playoffs in 1979, Highland won three unofficial state titles in the writers' poll, in 1972, 1973, and 1976, and were runners-up twice, in 1970 and 1975, behind only undefeated Borah of Boise both years.

The boys' cross country team won nine state titles in ten years from 1981–90, with streaks of five and four consecutive titles.

State titles

Boys

Girls

Cross Country

Highland High School was awarded the 1984 National Cross Country Championship through the XC Legacy series published through Milesplit.us in an effort to begin filling in the national rankings from 1980–1988. This was the first national championship in cross country for legendary coach Bob Conley, who also garnered nine state crowns in a 10-year stretch (1981–1990). On Bob Conley: "He stands at the top of the list, as the greatest cross country coach in Idaho prep history". Of the 1984 team: "Let it be known as well that the first national championship cross country program out of Idaho came from Pocatello."

Marching Band

The school band was invited to Florida to play in the BCS Championship game halftime show in January 2009. The band practices at 6:45 AM during the first trimester. They also compete at several competitions throughout Idaho and Utah and even if they don't start out very well they always rank high in the BOA championships. In 2012 they placed 2nd in BOA which is the best they've done in a long time. The color guard is very involved with the marching band as well. They got almost every guard caption in 2010. They perform at all the home football games including the ISU Marching Invitational at Holt Arena where many bands come to compete from Idaho, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, and Washington.

Student activities

Highland boasts over 40 student organizations in a wide array of interests. There are multiple school funded sports teams at Highland including:football, boy and girls soccer, boys and girls basketball, girls volleyball, wrestling, baseball, softball, golf, tennis, cross country, track, and the marching band.

Notable alumni

Notable faculty