Northwest Classen High School
Northwest Classen High School is a public high school serving students in grades 9–12 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
History
Northwest Classen High School was built in 1955 to accommodate the growing population in the northwest corridor of Oklahoma City. Along with Classen School of Advanced Studies, it was named for Anton H. Classen, an early Oklahoma City real estate developer and philanthropist.As the neighborhoods around Northwest Classen have changed, so has the cultural makeup of the campus. Initially an almost all-Caucasian school, the population has gradually become more multi-cultural. Today, the enrollment in the school is predominantly Hispanic with about 1/2 as many African-American and 1/4 Caucasian students with almost 100 different races and cultures represented.
Hudson Performance Hall
The original auditorium was, along with the rest of the school, targeted for upgrades and renovation as part of Oklahoma City's "MAPS for Kids" program in 2010. After meeting in the auditorium, local businessman and alumni J. Clifford Hudson and his wife Leslie donated $500,000 in additional funds to install updated sound and lighting technology, improve the acoustics and update the audience area for the site. Now named the "Hudson Performance Hall", the venue has held concerts by notable acts such as Vince Gill, Al Yankovic, Arlo Guthrie, and Sinbad.Extracurricular activities
Northwest fields teams in Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association–sanctioned competition in baseball, fast-pitch softball, football, cheerleading, cross country, volleyball, basketball, tennis, wrestling, golf, soccer, and track.Northwest is host to an active JROTC program. Clubs include a chess club, multicultural club, history club, native-American student services club, Anime club, and a dance team.
Notable alumni
- William A. Martin – Computer Scientist, Artificial Intelligence Pioneer
- Edward Ruscha – Artist
- Mason Williams – Recording Artist
- Susanna Talley Clark – Songwriter, artist and wife of Guy Clark
- Henson Cargill – Recording Artist
- Gary Nixon – Professional motorcycle racer, AMA Grand National Champion, member of AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame and Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.
- Ron Norick – Former mayor of Oklahoma City
- Jerry C. Elliott High Eagle – Physicist and engineer. Recipient of Presidential Medal of Freedom
- Ronald Fagin – Computer Scientist, Author of Fagin's theorem
- Steven T. Kuykendall – Member, US House of Representatives, California's 36th congressional district from 1991 to 2001.
- Elizabeth Warren – United States Senator from Massachusetts, Democratic Party presidential candidate. Special Advisor to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner while establishing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Professor, Harvard Law School.
- Kirk Humphreys – Former Mayor of Oklahoma City
- Skip Bayless – Sports Broadcaster
- Matthew T. Mason – Roboticist
- Rick Bayless – Chef and restaurateur
- J. Clifford Hudson – Chairman and chief executive officer of Sonic Corp.
- Vince Gill – Recording Artist
- Sean O'Grady – World Boxing Association Lightweight
- Walter Emery Fountain – Major General, United States Army
- Kevin Thornton – Recording Artist
- Bryan Abrams – Recording Artist
- Mark Calderon – Recording Artist
- Brent Learned – Native American Artist with works in the Smithsonian and many other collections
- Sam Watters – Recording Artist
- Jabee Williams – Recording Artist
- Darnell Jackson – Former NBA Basketball Player
Order of the Round Table Hall of Fame
- James R Daniel – Vice Chairman, BancFirst Corporation
- Dayna Davis Savage – Leader, The Gathering Place, a memory care ministry in Houston, Texas
- Cliff Hudson – Chairman, Sonic Corporation; Chairman, Oklahoma City School Board
- Ron Norick – Mayor, Oklahoma City
- Vince Gill – Recording artist
- Skip Bayless – Sports columnist and television personality
- John D. Carreker – Entrepreneur, Chairman and CEO of Carreker Corporation
- Jerry C. Elliott – Physicist and engineer. Recipient of Presidential Medal of Freedom for his role in the recovery of the Apollo 13 astronauts.
- Lynne Hardin – Author of The Magic of Why and former Chair of the Oklahoma City Public School Board.
- Mason Williams – Musician, composer, comedian, comedy writer. Winner of both Grammy and Emmy awards.