Waukesha West High School

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Waukesha West High School is a high school located in the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha, Wisconsin, and established in 1993.

It has become famous statewide for its marching band, The Cadets of Waukesha West, who have won the Wisconsin School Music Association State Marching Band Championship 7 times since 1997, and have finished second 3 times. The Marching Band took first in the state competition in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005, and just this past October for the 2006 season. Two years prior (2004-2005), Waukesha West's football team took first in the state championship for Division II. The girl's cross country and track and field teams are also quite successful.

West's art department has had similar successes. Winning regional and national scholastic art awards, the arts department is one of the finest in the district. Performance art, installation art, video art, and other new age media forms are explored, while having a strong foundation in their photography, drawing and painting and ceramics department. An art show occurs for seniors and general art students every year, and in the 2005-2006 school year, the department hosted their first (of many to come) art sale which inscluded the sale of student and professional artists.

West's choir department has also made enormous strides. The Concert Choir and Jazz singers performed at the Viking Festival in 2004-2005 school year, a precedence unset by having two groups from the same department perform. In another astounding feat, the Concert Choir was asked back to perform again in 2005-2006. In 2006 the choir placed first for all groups (Jazz, Concert Choir, and Treble) at the SanDiego Heritage Festival, and the concert choir was even given a gold to move on to national competition. The Concert Choir has recorded exceptional tracks and performed at many venues such as the Wisconsin State Capital in Madison. They have opened for the Nordic Choir and Lawrence Choir and have performed challenging works by composer Eric Whitacre. They are not without fun, however, as they have sung renditions of popular songs, such as Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody and the Jazz group is famous for their vocal percussion and moving renditions of Free Ride, Yesterday, and Moon River.

West is also notable for its Academic Decathlon team, finishing in the top three teams overall at nationals five years running, winning division two from 2002-2005, receiving third place in division one in 2006, and winning overall first place in 2002. This year, West's Decathlon team won the Wisconsin state competition by over 7,000 points (out of a possible 60,000) and swept the team subject awards, breaking the state record for Essay and Social Science. They will be heading to Honolulu for the national competition in April.