Welcome to the (Red)
Mountain Lions’ Den
Into the Lion’s Den.
The den of most mountain lions is simple, a rocky area with a bit of moss and vegetation to add softness. Red Mountain High School is not mossy, but it is beautiful. Grassy hills and 20-year-old trees encircle a two-story, red-brick academic building. The nearest stone to be found is located on the medians between the portables and gravel surrounding the gymnasium.
More than 2,700 Red Mountain lions focus on a number of different pursuits, from their academic successes (80 percent of seniors plan on attending college) to participating in the more than 70 clubs offered on the campus.
Hobbies for our lions range from painting to paint-balling. Perhaps even more remarkable is the fact that though mountain lions are traditionally solitary and territorial cats, Red Mountain’s lions are generally open-minded and accepting. Instead of inhabiting a solitary area like most mountain lions, Red Mountain lions inhabit the suburban area of east Mesa, one of the most rapidly growing areas in the Valley, allowing for an amazing amount of personal diversity and interaction. The school’s economic boundaries speak for themselves, fluctuating from a community of multi-million dollar houses in the Las Sendas Mountains to more modest abodes.
“It is so important to experience diversity when you are growing up,” says senior Kyle Hutchinson, highly involved in with the Criminology Club and the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) Club. “It decreases prejudice and racism, since so much of those two are based off of ignorance. Thus, the ignorance evaporates when you actually experience diversity.”
Adds junior Harrison Geams, who participates in orchestra and Speech & Debate: “I think the best thing about Red Mountain is its ability to accommodate everyone’s passions. We have so many clubs that it’s impossible to not find one that advances your mind and makes you excited to get involved.”
The Grub.
Hunters by nature, mountain lions are ferocious when it comes to food. Red Mountain’s student store, the “Catty Shack,” is one of the most visited facilities around campus, the only room where lions can find a variety of (now health-conscious) foods in one convenient place.
“I’d have to give the Catty Shack an A+,” says junior John Quinonez, an art student involved in Mind’s Eye (Red Mountain’s student-run literary magazine). “Where else can I get ramen and Starbucks within a yard of each other?”
Off-campus lunch, a hot topic for mountain lions over the past few years, is allowed to seniors. From McDonald’s to Panda Express and Tasty Joe’s Asian Diner, Port of Subs and Cold Stone Creamery, students leaving for lunch are offered their choice of over a dozen food options, all within a mile’s radius of the school.
“After eating whatever food we’ve brought with us, we go to the Catty Shack or to the library,” said Adams. “At the library we just go and hang out with people at random tables. The most important part of lunch by far is the socializing.”
The Roar of Victory.
Red Mountain has rules regarding athletic tradition. Rule one: Fridays are Game Days. Rule two: You’ve got to buy a Game Day shirt, whether you support basketball, football, volleyball, swimming or competitive chess. The point is to support. After all, Red Mountain has shown itself to be a fierce predator on the playing field over the past two decades.
Last season, the girls basketball team made its mark in the 5-A state championships, devouring its competition and winning a state title. Ranked one of the top players in the state, last year Red Mountain girls basketball star Kayla Pedersen signed a letter of intent to play for Stanford in 2007-2008. Two years ago, girls softball secured its own championship. Boys golf has won seven state championships in the school’s 20-year history. Varsity football had back-to-back state championships in 2000 and 2001. Last season, Red Mountain’s wrestlers were ranked number one by four different publications and the Arizona Coaches Association.
Learning in the Den.
Mountain Lions are not only aggressive in their sports victories, but also in their academic success. In the 2006-2007 year, 400 students took Advanced Placement classes, and 850 were taking honors classes. Red Mountain offers lions options from credit recovery to AP classes and dual enrollment courses for honors students hoping to receive college credit. With three diploma options, students are offered a chance at whatever future they want to create.
“Red Mountain counselors were wonderful last year about coming into every English class a couple of times a semester to talk about transcripts, schedules, plans for the future, credits and so forth,” says junior Abby Davis. “They offered direct appointments and a welcoming attitude toward students planning to attend college.”
At Red Mountain, the stress on lions’ academic futures is more a matter of what they want to achieve for themselves than the standard plan. A Career Center near the counseling office offers information on graduation, scholarships and hundreds of different secondary education and post-graduate information. The Mesa Youth Placement Program encourages students to pursue a career early by assisting in job placements for students attending a Mesa Public School. Individualized classes like Holocaust Studies, Criminology, Pilates and Bowling allow students to personalize their studies.
Recently the school has brought itself to the cutting edge with different technology options never before offered to students. A new building was added to the campus, introducing series of block programs in Biotechnology and Agricultural Science, a set of courses that act more like a separate college in the high school than the average class. According to the program’s mission statement, the courses were implemented to prepare students to “make a seamless transition to a successful post-high school education and/or related position within the [Biotechnology industry.]”
Stumble Into the Lion’s Den.
Should a visitor to Red Mountain decide to enter the lions’ den, they will find our mountain lions to be lively and playful, ferocious in our achievements, but altogether welcoming. We hold our friends closer than any championship or academic achievement, and the only prey we hunt is victory, whether it is social, academic, or athletic. Secretly, we’re rather cuddly beasts.
Red Mountain High School Statistics.
- Location: Brown and Power, southeast corner
- Enrollment Size: 2700+
- Mascot: Mountain Lion
- Colors: Cardinal Red and Black
- Year Opened: 1988
- Physical Size: Five academic buildings, two gymnasiums (one large and one small), and one auditorium
- Motto: Freedom with responsibility
- Students taking AP classes: 400
- Students taking honors classes: 850
- Seniors planning college after High School: 80%
- Seniors planning on attending two-year colleges/vocational schools: 42%
- Scholarships/Financial Aid awarded for 2006-2007: $8,500,000 (Four students received National Merit Scholarships)
- ACT Composite (mean): 23.1
- SAT 2004: Critical Reading (mean): 523, Math (mean): 549
More Information.
Photo Gallery
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Photo Credits: Red Mountain Students.
Lauren Bingham ’08; Chandra Porter’08; Rudy Ramirez ’08;
Vanessa Wright ’08; Alexandra Prenzno ’09; Megan Thorson ’10
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