Wellington High School (Wellington, Florida)


Wellington High School is a public school located in Wellington, Florida, in central Palm Beach County.

Curriculum

Schedule

School begins at 7:30 AM and ends at 2:50 PM. The school is run on a 7 period day, for five out of the seven days in the week.

English

Four Credits of English are required. English 1 is offered all the way up to English 4, with the addition of AICE General Papers for 9th graders, AICE Language and Composition for 10th graders, AICE Literature and Composition AS Level for 11th graders and AICE Literature and Composition A Level for 12th graders. Dual Enrollment is now offered as well.

Social Studies

One credit of World History, one credit of U.S. History, 0.5 credits of Economics, and 0.5 credits of Government are required to graduate. Geography is optional during freshman year, World History is taken during sophomore year, U.S. History during junior year, and Economics and Government is taken during senior year, one semester each.

Math

Four Credits of Math are required to graduate. Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra II, , Math College Readiness, Pre-Calculus,
Calculus, AP Calculus, Trigonometry, and AP Statistics are offered.

Science

Three Credits of Science are needed to graduate. Integrated Science, Biology, Chemistry, Anatomy, Physics, Zoology, Marine Biology, Environmental Science, and the Veterinary Academy are all offered, and in the 2010–2011 school year, Forensic Science will be offered.

Foreign Languages

Foreign Language is required to graduate from high school. You need one foreign language credit to graduate, At least two credits are required for college acceptance. Spanish and French are both offered from Spanish and French 1 up to AP Spanish and French. American Sign Language is also offered. American Sign Language offers from ASL 1 to ASL 4.

Magnet Programs

The Veterinary, marketing, fine arts, and fire academy are offered as magnet programs at WHS. There are two science labs and a long distance communications lab

Extra curricular programs

Debate

The debate team has had much success in regional and even national competition. The team is under the direction of Paul Gaba, who took over the Wellington program in 2002. Since then, Wellington has qualified 17 students to six National Forensic League national championship tournaments, including advanced rounds in Public Forum Debate and Congressional Debate. Gaba was voted chairperson of the new Florida Oceanfront NFL District in 2013, after the NFL approved a split of Palm Beach County and Martin County programs from the Orlando area. He has also served as Vice President - Individual Events of the Palm Beach Catholic Forensic League and Vice President/Webmaster of the Florida Forensic League. In 2014, Gaba was chosen for a National Federation of State High School Association "Speech, Debate and Theatre Association District 3 Award," representing Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. He was named a George Mason University Patriot Games Invitational Debate Tournament "Mason Mentor" in 2013, and was the Florida Forensic League's State Debate Coach of the Year in 2011-12.
Wellington Debate's first coach was Barbara Dale McCall - dubbed "The Queen of Lincoln Douglas Debate" by the National Forensic League. She retired in 2000 after a 32-year-long tenure of coaching debate in Palm Beach County. She earned more than 16,000 NFL points, and was honored as a Sixth Diamond Coach on June 30, 2000. During her time at both Twin Lakes High School and Wellington High School, Dale was named a "Key Coach" of the Barkley Forum at Emory University, elected to the NFL Hall of Fame, and was the major figure in the implementation of Lincoln Douglas Debate, including codifying the original set of LD rules and practices. Dale served as the NFL's South Florida District chair, helped create the NFL Manitee District, and spearheaded the drive to create the NFL Orange Blossom District, of which Palm Beach debate programs are currently members. In addition, as a staunch advocate of academic freedom in the classroom, Dale was named winner of Florida's Intellectual Freedom Award.
As coach at Twin Lakes, Dale coached National Boys Extemp Champion Barry Mann, who finished 4th two years earlier, as well as Jeannette Kuvin, runner-up in Oratory. In all, 51 qualifiers represented Twin Lakes at NFL Nationals, many placing in late rounds of Lincoln Douglas, Policy Debate, Oratory, and Extemp. The Twin Lakes chapter was one of Florida's best at a time when Florida was a single NFL district and one of the most competitive states in the nation. Dale's Twin Lakes chapter won two Leading Chapter Awards, the District Plaque, and two District Trophies. Dale coached Florida's Student Points Leader five different years. In 1986, Twin Lakes was second in the U.S. in enrollment of new degrees.
After coming to Wellington in 1988, Dale achieved similar success, qualifying 13 students to eight nationals, including late-round competitors in Lincoln Douglas and Policy Debate. Under McCall, Wellington twice was the district's largest chapter, and won the district trophy.
Dale coached at the Georgetown, American and Iowa summer institutes, and was a most popular teacher. She coached nationally ranked debate teams and extempers early in her career, and then almost singlehandedly invented Lincoln Douglas Debate in the early 1980s. Following her retirement, Dale served as treasurer of the Palm Beach Catholic Forensic League, and assisted in workshops for students and new coaches. Barbara Dale McCall passed away in June of 2019 at 84 years old.
Special thanks to the National Forensic League for supplying biographical information for Dale McCall.

Sports

The Girls lacrosse team won State Championships in 2002 and 2004. The Girls soccer team were the state champions in the 2007–2008 school year. There are also a full complement of team sports, including Football, Soccer, Tennis, Swimming, Bowling, Basketball, Baseball, Track, Volleyball, Hockey, Golf, and Lacrosse
The 2008–2009 Boys Varsity Soccer team is ranked 2nd in the country by Adidas and 4th overall by Rise Magazine.
Track star Ashley Brasovan graduated in 2009. She was ranked number one in the country by Rise Magazine and is currently attending Duke University.

Varsity football

2009–2010: The team under coach Chris Romano went 5–5. The football team beat Forest Hill during homecoming 2009. The Wolverines eventually would get into the playoffs and lose to Blanche-Ely 49–3.
2010–2011: The varsity football team under Coach Romano went 5–5 winning the first district title since 2001. The Wolverines played the Boyd Anderson cobras in the first round of the playoffs, but lost 21–12
2014-2015: The varsity football team under Coach Tom Abel went 9-1 and beat Park Vista in the first round of the state playoffs 53-29. They beat Palm Beach Gardens 16-10 in the Regional Semifinals, but lost in the Regional Finals to Flanagan 32-0.
Junior wide receiver Ahmmon Richards had 56 receptions for 1,318 receiving yards and 23 touchdowns in 2014-15
2015-2016: The Varsity football team under coach Tom Abel went 6-4 and made the state playoffs but lost in the first round 34-0 to Atlantic.

Band

The Mighty Wolverine Sound Marching Band has over 150 participants. The band is directed by Mary S. Oser. The Concert Bands are split by skill. There is the Wind Ensemble, the Symphonic Band, the Concert Band, and the Beginning band for students new to music. There is also the Jazz Group, consisting of two groups, Jazz Group 1 and Jazz Group 2.

"Now in its 30th year, the Wellington High School Band program has consistently earned straight Superior ratings at Marching Performance Assessment seven years in a row, and Superior Ratings at Florida Bandmasters Association district assessments in the areas of marching, concert, solo, ensemble, jazz, and auxiliary performance. The band program has also earned several Gold ratings and Sweepstakes Awards in national competitions held in Nashville, Atlanta, Toronto, Orlando, New York City, and Chicago. The band also flies to Hawaii, to perform at the U.S.S. Missouri, located at Pearl Harbor every four years."

"The Mighty Wolverine Sound also comprised many concerts throughout the years such as Surround Sound 9.0 and Winter concerts. They also attend many parades like the Veterans Parade held in City Place, Homecoming Parade held in from Wellington Landings Middle School to Wellington High School, and the Christmas Parade held in Forest Hill Blvd. A few band members who are in Jazz are also selected to play in the school's annual play."

Chorus

At the end of the 2006-2007 school year, longtime choral director Dr. Robert Sharon retired, leaving behind an impressive legacy for the department. The three choirs at that time were separated by talent level. Visions, the women's beginning choir, the all-women choir - Sirens, then Mens, and Chamber. In the fall of 2008, Mr. Chase took the reins from Mr. Bradley, and promptly missed 50 days of school due to a rare inner ear disease. He is now deaf in ear, and the chorus continues to grow. Bradford Chase is very close to colleague, Barb Forgash. They frequently play tennis and chill in a small jacuzzi located behind Bradford Chase's house. Ever since Dr. Sharon left, the choral department has continued to grow under the leadership of Bradford Chase. Today there are 6 choirs. Women's, Menly Men, Sirens, Valkyries, Chamber, and Symphonic Chorus. The largest of these is the Symphonic Chorus that performs an annual masterwork every spring since the year of its forming. They have performed works such as the Rutter Gloria, Requiem For the Living by Dan Forrest, The Arnesan Magnificat, as well as excerpts from Carmina Burana.

Literary magazine

Scott Zucker has published Poetic Justice Magazine for very nearly two decades, and it is the longest running poetry magazine in Palm Beach County. In Zucker's class, students are encouraged to submit poems, photos, and other forms of artistic creativity. The magazine is sold to students with the incentive of obtaining extra credit in their English classes. After Scott Zucker's retirement Trent Laubscher took over the magazine.

Cross Country

Coached by Kara Weber and Salvador Mucino, both the girls cross country and boys cross country moved onto Florida's Regional's meet on November 2, 2013. Catie Hessler and Brendan Hessler then progressed onto Florida's States meet.

Notable alumni