Miami High School - Miami High School

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MISSION

MHS--Preparing and Empowering all students to be college/career and citizen ready!

MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

The administration, faculty and staff at Miami High School would like to welcome you to our website!

The Spring 2013 semester is well under way and before we know it we'll soon be celebrating the success and accomplishments of another graduating class.

Our goal at Miami High School is to provide a comprehensive educational program for our students. We stress academic excellence and have teachers who are committed to education. Having received an “A” on the state’s A-F grading system we rank in the top 10% of schools in the state.

A school with the right educational environment can make all the difference in your teen’s life. At Miami High School we seek to provide the best education possible for your children and we offer a wide variety of academic and extracurricular programs to meet the needs of our students. We emphasize high expectations, active student learning, higher order thinking, cooperative learning, reading and writing across the curriculum, and parental involvement.

We also strive to provide the safest environment possible for all of our students. In the wake of recent tragedies in our nation, we have taken the opportunity to review our safety measures at Miami High School. We have had discussions with local law enforcement and our building safety committee has met to discuss and review our current procedures. A few of the measures we take on a regular basis to keep are students safe are:

Lock exterior doors
Be aware (Be on the lookout)
Monitor surveillance equipment to make sure it is working properly
Stress the importance of maintaining a presence in the hallways, etc.
Follow timelines for drills
Enforce visitor check-in procedures
Review lockdown procedures
Report irregularities
Review safety procedures with staff

The safety of our student is of utmost concern and we pledge to assess our safety measures on a regular basis.

The work ahead will continue to be challenging and at times daunting for your child, but we look forward to celebrating the successes of all students at Miami High School. We hope that students will continually challenge themselves to achieve their personal best. If so, Miami High School will achieve beyond everyone’s expectations. Remember, pride in your school begins with pride in yourself, and “You can’t hide Wardog pride!”

We look forward to a continued year of great accomplishments.

Sincerely,

Lisa Munson

Miami High School Alumni Site. Come Join US!

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LEGEND OF THE MIAMI WARDOGS

Miami, Oklahoma High School has the most unique team mascot nickname for interscholastic athletics and activities in the United States. If not the most unique, MHS is tied for the first place...there are no other schools in the fifty states that can claim the proud, powerful WARDOGS as their official symbol.

Recent research by the Miami Chamber of Commerce and Miami High School historians unearthed that fact, plus a variety of additional information of interest to loyal Wardog supporters, MHS alumni, faculty, and friends.

The Wardog can be described as a ferocious animal, originally used in England for bull baiting, but gained its famous name from the Western Front French and Belgium trench warfare campaigns of World War I. The Wardog's conspicuous characteristics are a low-slung muscular body, a massive head with pendulous folds from jaw to chest, heavy wrinkles on the head and face, wide-apart forelegs and a short, straight, flat, fine-textured coat.

The first use of the Wardog name closely followed the conclusion of World War I. Precise verification of the exact date had not been found. However, what is known is that between 1919 and 1923, the Wardog name was accepted for official use by the athletic teams of Miami High School. The reasons appear to be two-fold.

Prior to 1919, MHS representatives were called the Demons. That name did not have universal appeal, primarily because of negative characteristics associated with an anti-Christ symbol in a predominately religious community. Plus, the Demon name is common. Many schools statewide and nationwide were using the Demon nickname. Something unique for MHS was sought.

The "wardogs" as they were called, were used by Allied forces during the First World War "trench" warfare phase to ferret out German and other Axis soldiers during an attack. American and British forces were the prime users of "wardogs" for this purpose. Most "wardogs" were English pit bulldogs, though other canines were employed.

Ferocious, aggressive, fearless dogs were chosen to be hurled into the German trenches to distract fire and route the enemy in the face of Allied infantry assaults. The effective use of the "wardog" tactic was positive in establishing several "breakthroughs" in Axis positions and, in essence, helped shorten the Great War. Although "wardogs" were a general part of Allied offensive tactics from Alsace-Lorraine to Ypres, their maximum effective use was in the Meuse- Argonne attack (between September 16 and 26, 1918), which was to end the war.

Early-day Miamians, evidently, were so impressed with the spirited, positive strength image of the World War I "wardog" that the nickname was adopted for all future generations of Northeastern Oklahoma students who would attend the secondary schools in Miami, Oklahoma.