Lakota East High School


Lakota East High School is a high school in the Lakota School District which comprises both West Chester Township and Liberty Township in the suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio. The high school is for ninth through twelfth grades, though there are separate buildings for ninth grade students and tenth through twelfth grade students.

History

Along with Lakota West High School, Lakota East was part of a unified Lakota High School. The two physically identical schools were built in 1997 when severe over-crowding forced the district to expand. The two high schools have an interdistrict rivalry in sports, particularly in football. The annual East/West football game usually draws large crowds, is usually televised, and is alternately hosted by each school except in 2017 when the game was held at Lakota West High School for two consecutive years. In 2009, the Lakota freshman building was split and a brand new building was made for Lakota East freshman. The Lakota freshman building became Lakota West freshman building.

Sports and traditions

Lakota East's mascot is the Thunderhawk. The school colors are black and white and silver.
The school is classified as a Division I school in all sports under OHSAA standards and is a member of the Greater Miami Conference. The Lakota East baseball team won the school's first state title in 2011 under head coach Ray Hamilton.

Extracurricular activities

The school's student-run, nationally accredited and award-winning news magazine, Spark , runs seven issues each school year and a college football bowl guide.
Lakota East's Latin Club functions as a local chapter of both the Ohio Junior Classical League and National Junior Classical League.
Lakota East has a group of musicians called the Singing Thunderhawks. Run by Rebecca Huddilston, Lakota East sports an impressive six choirs: Women's Freshmen Choir, Women's Black Choir, Women's Silver Choir, Men's Choir, Eastside Voices and Eastside Music Company. They perform four concerts a year and at OMEA, frequently scoring high and, because they choose not to, they usually do not continue on to state championships. Once every two years, they perform at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, frequently placing.
The school has a thespian troupe, called Thunderhawk Theater, run by Kristen Hoch. They perform three shows each year: a children's show in the fall, a play in the winter, and a larger, musical production in the spring.
Lakota East High School is the home of the FIRST robotics team 1038, which in 2001 won the Newton Divisional of the International Championships.
Lakota East High School functions as a local chapter for the INTERalliance of Cincinnati and as of 2017, started a Hack Club.

Marching band

Lakota East High School is home to the Lakota East Marching Thunderhawks marching band, under the direction of Robert Tanis and Kevin Engel. Since 1997, the Lakota East Marching Thunderhawks have received state superior ratings in every OMEA -adjudicated event in which they have competed. 2014 marked the Marching Thunderhawks 18th consecutive state superior rating. The Lakota East Marching Thunderhawks have been named competition grand champions more than 30 times, as well as earning numerous first-place, best-in-class and best-of-show awards.
The Lakota East Marching Thunderhawks have participated in multiple Bands of America events and has been Dayton Regional finalists three consecutive times as of 2017. The top placement was third place in 2017 under Carmel High School and Avon High School marching bands. In 2017, The Marching Thunderhawks made finals and scored 10th place in the Bands Of America Indianapolis Super Regional.
The Lakota East Marching Thunderhawks appeared in the 2014 Hollywood Christmas Parade. Past Lakota East Marching Thunderhawks band trips include the 2011 Universal Studios Orlando Macy’s Holiday Parade, the Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom Parade, and the 2008 Waikiki Holiday Parade, which commemorates Pearl Harbor.