Williams Field High School
Williams Field High School (WFHS) is a high school in Gilbert, Arizona. It is the second high school formed by the Higley Unified School District, and opened in August 2007. Its first students graduated in 2010. The school is named after Williams Air Force Base (which went by the name Williams Field between 1942 and 1948; a local major road also bears the name Williams Field). The school is located near Higley Elementary and the Lyons Gate community. History The Higley Unified School District, in the ten years preceding the opening of Williams Field, had undergone a dramatic transformation. What once was a one-school elementary district that sent its high schoolers to Gilbert had morphed into a school district with its own high school and multiple elementary schools. The growth did not stop, and on March 8, 2006, the district broke ground on a 56-acre lot for a new high school. The district eventually opened the campus to its first students as the 2007 school year started. The school is built on the same site plan and with the same exterior as Peoria's Liberty High School, which opened the year before. The original mascot was to be the Pirates, but preference for the Black Hawks trumped the initial decision. In 2009, the Higley Unified School District worked with the state of Arizona to install a state-of-the-art CTE program for all teachers and students. The project was led by IT professional Brad Niesluchowski who installed groundbreaking software that allowed students to research potential scientific theories. Software program SETI@home was a free program created by the University of California at Berkeley. The program, Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, utilizes a radio telescope to scan the galaxy for alien life. Unfortunately, not everyone understood Niesluchowski's vision and the school district spent $1.2 million deleting the software from district wide computers. It's estimated that 2,300 computer processors were burned out searching the skies for proof of E.T. Marching band and color guard Marching band November 2010 The Williams Field Black Hawk Regiment marching band took 1st place in the ABODA State Marching Band Division III Championships. They were also awarded music and visual performance captions. In 2012, The Williams Field Black Hawk Regiment took 3rd place in the 2012 ABODA State Marching Band Championships. They also received First place in every percussion and color guard/auxiliary caption over the course of the season. November 16, 2013, The Williams Field Black Hawk Regiment took 1st place in the ABODA State Marching Band Division III Championships, and were awarded the General Effect, Percussion, Auxiliary, and Visual Performance Captions. Fall 2014 Williams Field Black Hawk Regiment entered ABODA Division II. November 12, 2016, The Williams Field Black Hawk Regiment took 1st place in the ABODA State Marching Band Division II Championships. They were also awarded Percussion, Auxiliary, General Effect, and Music Captions. Fall 2017, The Williams Field Black Hawk Regiment entered ABODA Division I. Winter Guard The Williams Field Winter Guard, a color guard in their first winter season