Lake Highlands High School
Lake Highlands High School (LHHS) is a secondary school serving grades 9-12 in the Lake Highlands area of northeastern Dallas, Texas, United States, primarily serving the Lake Highlands community. The school is part of the Richardson Independent School District and is in central Lake Highlands near the DART Blue Line. The Lake Highlands Freshman Center (which sits on the same property as LHHS) formerly housed the 9th-grade students, but has recently been integrated into the rest of the school, housing classes for all 9-12 students. The first graduating class of Lake Highlands High  School was in 1964. Academics. In 2002, the school received a Blue Ribbon award from the U.S. Department of Education. Extracurricular activities. Athletics. The school mascot is the Wildcat. This is also the mascot of several of the high school's feeder schools including Lake Highlands Elementary, Northlake Elementary, and Lake Highlands Junior High School|Lake Highlands Junior High. The school's football team has been in the UIL regional and state playoffs numerous times, and won the 5A state championship in 1981. The school has won district championships in baseball over 20 times since 1964. The school has also won  several district titles in boys Basketball including winning the 1968 State Championship. Opened in 1969 as "Lake Highlands Stadium", RISD's Wildcat-Ram Stadium is located on the western border of the campus. The stadium is shared with L.V. Berkner High School as the Berkner campus is home to a natatorium but not a full size stadium. The facility seats approximately 9,000 and was upgraded to field turf in 2000. The 2006 bond issue included funds to renovate the original pressbox and a new videoboard in the north endzone replaced the original scoreboard in the south endzone. Prior to the  installation of the artificial playing surface, Wildcat-Ram had served as the showcase facility for the Dallas Cup youth soccer tournament due to the fact that it was the only facility of its size with natural grass inside Interstate 635. It was re-named for the mascots of both schools after the opening of Berkner's permanent campus in 1970-71.teams. Lake Highlands and Berkner have long been rivals in football and other sports.. Wildcat-Ram Stadium earned the nickname "The Boneyard" from LHHS students and fans and local sports media in reference to the team's use of the wishbone  formation rushing attach and suffocating defense under then head coach Mike Zoffuto. It also utilized as the home field for both of Lake Highlands High School's feeder junior highs, Lake Highlands Junior High School and Forest Meadow Junior High School. The Multi-Purpose Activity Center ("MAC") was completed in 2021 as part of the renovation of the entire campus. The 78,000 square foot facility includes an 80 yard indoor practice field and 24,000 square feet for offices, locker rooms, weight room and sport support areas. Band. The school is the home of the Wildcat Band, which consists of the  Wildcat Marching Band, Jazz Band, several Concert Bands (including Concert 1 and 2, Symphonic, and Honors), Winterguard, Percussion Program, Symphony Orchestra, and puts on a yearly Musical. The Symphonic Band made its first trip to the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in December 1971. Later that school year, the band was selected as the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) Honor Band and performed at the TMEA convention in February 1973. In 2021, the Marching Band was ranked as the top marching band in Richardson ISD, for the first time in the school’s history, after being named Grand Champion at  the Midlothian Marching Showcase. Dance team. The school is home of the "Wildcat Wranglers", one of the few high school Country/Western dance teams existing in the United States. The school is also the home of the "Highlandettes", a Texas-style dance squad. They have performed in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade numerous times, as well as at many Dallas Cowboys, Dallas Stars, and Dallas Mavericks games. They have also danced in Dublin, Ireland for the St. Patrick's Day parade; in Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, Hawaii, London, England; and Italy. 1983 shooting. On May 16, 1983, Lake Highlands High  School was the site of a fatal armed robbery when Billy Conn Gardner (1943-1995) entered the school's office, shot and fatally wounded 64-year-old cafeteria supervisor Thelma Row, and stole $1,600 in cash. Gardner was sentenced to death for the crime and was executed by lethal injection in 1995. 2021 graduation speech. On May 30, 2021, valedictorian Paxton Smith replaced her approved speech to the graduating class to attack the limitations on abortion in Texas Senate Bill 8 of the 87th legislature, a heartbeat bill signed by the governor earlier that month. Lake Highlands High School