Fordson High School is a secondary school located in Dearborn, Michigan, USA. It was completed in 1928 on a fifteen-acre parcel of land which was then the village of Fordson. Prior to the opening of the school, students attended the nearby Miller School.
Ground was broken for the original school building in 1926 with representatives from each of the four entering grades participating. The senior class president was George E. Sarkozy, one of those that participated in the ceremony. The school was designed by architect H.J. Keough of the Detroit architectural firm Van Leyen, Schilling & Keough. The school building, at $2.2M was the first American school building to cost more than $1m, and was inspired in part by the Lawyer's Club at the University of Michigan as well as the Rushton and Apethore halls in Northamptonshire, England. The exterior of Fordson is made of granite and uses Briar Hill sandstone trim. The library has hand carved oak paneling, a fireplace, painted wall murals by Zoltan Sepeshy, tapestries and Jacobean fumed-oak furnishings and many bronze and marble statutes including, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Nike, Niobe, Venus, and Mercury. The main entrance has ten busts that include philosophers and mathematicians like Plato, Aristedes, Sophocles, Homer, Demosthenes, Aesculapius, Euripedes, Pindar, Archimedes, and Socrates. The main hall also includes a blue and gold Fordson Tractor with lettering of state champions imprinted on its top.http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/North_America/United_States/photo58852.htm The building features architectural sculpture by Corrado Parducci. Fordson's architecture was represented in the 1987 film, The Rosary Murders when the library and tower were displayed. The school also became recognized as a Michigan Historical Site in 1998.
Fordson has many traditions within its history. Every class that graduates from Fordson provides the school with a gift. The class of 1956 presented seventy-six flags representing members of the United Nations of that year. The flags have been used at every graduation since then with many other flags being donated over the years. Football has a strong tradition within the school and the helmet is a basic element of this example. The helmet at Fordson comprises yellow with two blue stripes over the top for the varsity team, one for the junior varsity team and zero for the freshman team.
In 2005, an addition was adjoined to the northwestern body of the school. A cafeteria, ten classrooms including science and computer labs, and the replacement of the greenhouse comprised the new wing. The addition preserved the structure and appearance of the school by using the altering dark and light limestone scheme and proceeding with the same architectural model developed from the school's inception. Consequently, Fordson received the Governor's Award for Historic Preservation and has been featured in many publications including the Masonry Institute of Michiganhttp://www.mim-online.org/storypole_archives.htmland the architects of the addition, TMP architecture. http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:uhEe5-o10JUJ:www.dearbornschools.org/district/documents/37FordsonAward.doc+fordson+addition&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us
In 2007, the athletic facility underwent an extensive renovation. The football field formerly encompassing grass and the practice field on the eastern side of the athletic campus were replaced to AstroTurf. The track and tennis courts were replaced as well. Behind the tennis courts on the northern side of the campus, the sidewalk was expunged for trees. Sarkozy field, the prior soccer field for the school was sold to the city of Dearborn for $800,000. The total cost before the sale was $1.6 Million.
The Tower was constructed in 1926 and has been used for innumerable things. During World War II, the Tower was used to spot enemy aircraft that could have been headed for the River Rouge Plant, where tanks were in production. The media center has used the Tower for archival storage, classes, and media center office space. Students of Fordson hung signs over the Tower including a "for sale" sign in the 1950s and the most recent in 1993 exclaiming Fordson's State Championship in football.
Present day
As of 2007, the school principal is Imad Fadlallah, where he has served in that capacity since 2004. Fordson High is located in the largest Arab community outside the Middle East, where more than 30% of the residents are of Arab ancestry. This is reflected at Fordson High, where approximately 95% [1] of the 2,300 student body is of Arab ancestry. According to SchoolMatters, in 2006, 51.6% of students passed the Michigan reading test while 40.4% passed the math portion. Of the students taking the ACT, the average score was 19.7 out of a possible 36. [2] See: Dearborn, Michigan
Fordson is a member of the Michigan Mega Conference. The Fordson Tractors have a strong tradition in its athletics. Their primary rivals are intracity foes Dearborn High School and Edsel Ford High School while also having a longtime rivalry with Monroe High School, an opponent since 1928 when Fordson was established. The school's strongest program lies within its football team. Fordson Football has accumulated 4 state championships (1930, 1943,1971, 1993) and 3 state runner-up seasons (1980,1982,1984). Fordson had an undefeated season in 1972, but was not regarded as the number one team. The Tractors have won more league championships than any team and have the only state championship in playoff play within the 28-member conference. The wrestling team has enjoyed much success recently. In 2002, Fordson became the first school in the city of Dearborn to win a regional championship in the sport. Currently, Fordson is in the MEGA Red, the highest division in the MEGA Conference and has won seven consecutive district and all-area championships. The girls' tennis team has prospered in the past decade. Since 2000, the team has won six of the eight conference championships and have gone on to the state finals four times. Fordson also accomplished rare feats in Michigan girl's tennis. During three seasons from 2000-2002, Fordson won 31 consecutive matches, and 30 consecutive conference wins placing the team fifth and ninth respectively in Michigan's girl's tennis history. http://mhsteca.org/recordbook.html
Fordson sports include (achievements are since 1999-2000 season):
Fall Sports
Boy's Cross Country
2001 MEGA Red Champions
2002 MEGA Red Champions
2002 State Finalists (16th)
2003 MEGA Red Champions
2007 State Finalists (26th)
Girls' Cross Country
2005 MEGA Blue Champions
Football
2000 MEGA Red Champions
2002 District Champions
2002 MEGA Red Champions
2003 District Champions
Boy's Soccer
2007 MEGA Blue Champions
Girl's Swimming
Boy's Tennis
2003 MEGA White Champions
Volleyball
2002 MEGA Blue Champions
2003 MEGA Blue Champions
Winter Sports
Boy's Basketball
2001 District Champions
2004 District Champions
2007 MEGA White Champions
Girl's Basketball
Boy's Swimming
Wrestling
2000 District Champions
2002 MEGA White Champions
2002 District Champions
2002 Regional Champions
2003 MEGA White Champions
2003 District Champions
2004 District Champions
2005 District Champions
2006 District Champions
2007 District Champions
2008 District Champions
Spring Sports
Baseball
2001 MEGA Gold Champions
2002 MEGA Gold Champions
2003 MEGA Gold Champions
Girl's Soccer
2005 MEGA Blue Champions
2008 MEGA Blue Champions
Softball
Girl's Tennis
2000 MEGA Blue Champions
2001 MEGA Blue Champions
2001 State Finalists (17th)
2002 MEGA White Champions
2002 State Finalists (17th)
2003 MEGA Red Champions
2003 State Finalists (16th)
2005 MEGA Red Champions
2005 State Finalists (19th)
2006 MEGA Red Champions
Boy's Track
Girl's Track
State Champions and Runners-up
Year
Sport
Result
Class
1928
Boy's Basketball
State Runners-Up
B
1930
Football
State Champions
B
1935
Boy's Swimming
State Runners-Up
OPEN
1940
Boy's Basketball
State Runners-Up
A
1943
Football
State Champions
A
1944
Boy's Track
State Runners-Up
A
1952
Boy's Swimming
State Champions
A
1953
Boy's Basketball
State Champions
A
1953
Boy's Swimming
State Champions
A
1954
Boy's Swimming
State Champions
A
1971
Football
State Champions
A
1975
Volleyball
State Champions
A
1976
Volleyball
State Champions
A
1980
Football
State Runners-Up
A
1982
Football
State Runners-Up
A
1984
Football
State Runners-Up
A
1993
Football
State Champions
AA
Fordson won the 1975 State Volleyball Championship albeit it was not an MHSAA-sanctioned tournament. The MHSAA started sponsoring volleyball in 1976. http://www.mhsaa.com/news/legendvb1.htm
Fordson Fight Song
Come on ye Fordson, dear maize and blue
Come on ye Fordson High!
We're here to fight for you
And we will cheer for you
As ye go down that line
Rah! Rah! Rah!
Come on ye Fordson fight for victory
As we will loyal be
Straight for the fame
Of our fair name
Go ye Fordson win that game!
Fight ye Fordson fight!
Fight ye Fordson fight!
Hit them high, hit them low
Go ye Fordson go
Come on ye Fordson, dear maize and blue
Come on ye Fordson High!
We're here to fight for you
And we will cheer for you
As ye go down that line
Rah! Rah! Rah!
Come on ye Fordson fight for victory
As we will loyal be
Straight for the fame
Of our fair name
Go ye Fordson win that game!
Notable alumni
Michael Adray, philanthropist, founder of Adray Appliance, inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1983.
Michael Berry, first Muslim lawyer in Michigan and longtime chairman of the Wayne County Road Commission. A terminal is also named after him at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport.
Janice Prochaska, president and CEO of Pro-Change Behavior Systems, Inc., has pledged $250,000 to the Prochaska Cancer Prevention Research Center Leadership Endowment at University of Rhode Island along with her husband, James Prochaska.http://www.uri.edu/news/releases/?id=4370
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