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 * Eugene Cozzolino - Wrestling State Champion (1958)
 * Paul Martinez - Wrestling State Champion (1986)
 * Misty Wyant - Track and Field State Champion - Shot Put (1981)
 * Jerome Howes - Wrestling State Champion (1990)
 * Brenda Noakes - Rifle Team State Champion (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998)
 * Grant Willits - Wrestling State Champion (2014, 2016, 2017)
 * Hunter Willits  - Wrestling State Champion (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017)
 * Chris Sandoval - Wrestling State Champion (2015)
 * Josiah Nava - Wrestling State Champion (2015)
 * Erin Young - State Champion Rifle Team (2015)
 * John Buffalo - Boys Golf State Champion (1998)
 * John Thomason - Track and Field State Champion - Mile Relay (2001)
 * Jeremy Behling - Track and Field State Champion - Mile Relay (2001)
 * Chad Stapleton - Track and Field State Champion - Mile Relay (2001)
 * Adam Arellano - Track and Field State Champion - Mile Relay (2001)
 * Dani Musso - Gymnastics State Champion - Uneven Bars (2003, 2004)
 * Amy Mikasa - Rifle Team State Champion (2006)
 * Greg Ross - Rifle Team State Champion (2007)
 * Bryce Sciumbato - Wrestling State Champion (2009)
 * Justin Davis - Wrestling State Champion (2016)
 * Dante Garcia  - Wrestling State Champion (2016)
 * Brendon Garcia - Wrestling State Champion (2017)
 * Jordan Chavez - Boys Track and Field - 1600 Meter Relay (2012)
 * Logan Stout - Boys Track and Field - 1600 Meter Relay (2012)
 * Jared Muniz - Boys Track and Field - 1600 Meter Relay (2012)
 * Eric Texeira - Boys Track and Field - 1600 Meter Relay (2012)
 * Donavon Rincon - Wrestling State Champion (2017)
 * Abby Simpson - Girls Track and Field - 400 Meter Dash (2012)
 * Cody Martinez - Two Man Rifle Team State Champion (2012)
 * Connor Dowd - Two Man Rifle Team State Champion (2012)
 * Cody Martinez - Rifle Team State Champion (2012)
 * Amanda Blickensderfer, Anna Maurello, Julianna Krinsky, and Alexa Musso - Swimming State Champions - 200 Meter Freestyle Relay (2017)
 * Amanda Blickensderfer - Swimming State Champion  - 100 Meter Breaststroke (2017)

Pueblo County High School is a four-year public school in the School District 70 in Pueblo, Colorado and is one of the five major schools in District 70. The school's current mascot is fighting Hornet, with respective school colors of green and gold. Students are also open to a variety of different clubs and extracurricular activities, as well as a highly respected program referred to as School of Engineering and Biomedical Science (SEBS). Featuring a graduation rate of eighty-seven percent, higher compared to the state average of seventy-six percent, Pueblo County High School offers courses for all academic levels, as well as the foreign languages of Spanish and Italian.

The school has recently finished new construction, due to the bond issue of 2012. The construction included a new Arts Department, a new Auxiliary Gym, solar panels, and a relocated main office for staff. In the year of 2016-2017, there are a total 899 students enrolled as well as a student-to-teacher ratio of 21:1.

History
In the early 1950’s it was decided by the School Board to build Pueblo County High School as a merging school, including students that attended all of the Junior High Schools in the area at the time. Students from Pleasant View, Vineland, Avondale, and a few from Boone enrolled to attend Pueblo County High School in the Spring of 1953, where they took up Pueblo County High Schools' colors and mascot. Since the school was still under construction at the time, an anonymous school-wide vote was cast to decide the mascot, which also featured a pair of colors. The selected mascot was a Hornet, paired with green and gold.

Farmers to Students
While the school opened as a legal Senior High school, construction of the building was still in progress; leaving many classrooms unavailable. Students took class time to the grassy fields of their school, boiler rooms, or inside buses as an alternative. Originally the location in which Pueblo County High School was built was used as farmland and was tended as such. Harvest time and planting season respectively were the most important times of the year for Pueblo at the time, to which parents and children participated. This caused many students to miss months of school due to Harvest Seasons or Planting Seasons, as that was more of a priority.

A Better Learning Environment: Bond Projects
The Bond Project originated in 1977. In the 70’s Pueblo County High School was booming with roughly 1400 students. The student body was so large there was a need for more classrooms. The bond allowed construction of a pool, auditorium, original stadium, and another building containing English and foreign language classrooms.

In November of 2012, Ballot Question 3A was approved, granting a second bond to Pueblo District 70 schools for improvements. NorthStar and Pueblo County High School created a contract for athletic facility changes. H&L Construction was also responsible for construction. Renovation of the school began in early 2013, including an artificial turf football field and a multi-weather track. The main office structure was moved from the West Building and built onto the center south side of County. A new Auxiliary Gym was added and a Wrestling Room took the place of the previous Auxiliary Gym. A new breezeway between the West East structures, connected all buildings with an exception of the separate JROTC and Agriculture complex.

One-to-One: School Computers
Pueblo County High School incorporates the One-to-One computer method, designed to enable more learning opportunities for students. Each student that attends Pueblo County High School is given a MacBook Air 2011.

4-Day School Week
At Pueblo County High School, there is no school on Fridays as a result of large budget cuts. In March of 2010, the District 70 School Board voted anonymously to switch from the traditional 5-day school schedule. Years later, the practice of a 4-Day school schedule has become accustomed with District 70 and is planned to continue unless school funding is increased appropriately.

A normal day will consist of class beginning at 7:30 AM MST and ending at 3:30 PM MST. Bus routes are also available at this time to areas only in the District 70 region during a regularly scheduled school day.

Curriculum
Although there are a few select classes unavailable at Pueblo County High School, there is a wide variety of classes open to students. This includes weighted classes, which are classes that are worth more total to a student's GPA but are overall more challenging compared to the standard counterparts. Weighted classes included AP (Advanced Placement) and Honors courses for any student who is academically fit to attempt such a class.

The high school also offers language courses in Spanish and Italian with their own respective Honors/AP courses. A full list of available classes can be found on the public Word Document on the School Website.

Principals
Like the traditional American school, Pueblo County High School has a current principal, as well as many predecessors of which have their own wall of fame, featuring their faces. There has only been one female principal: Terrie Tafoya (2010-2016).

Demographics
County High features a close 50-50 ratio between Hispanics or Latinos to Whites. Ultimately, this is due Pueblo's tie in the 1970s, being the largest steel industry, where immigrants came to work, largely Hispanics, for money. However, not only did the steel industry influence the demographics of Pueblo, but the land was also owned by multiple nations at one point, becoming a cultural melting point.

Because of this history, generations later, students who attend Pueblo County High School carry their ethnic group with them, leaving the school with students who are 52% White in origin, and 45% who are Hispanic in origin or Latino in the school year of 2016-2017.

Urban Legends
There are claimed to be many “ghosts stories” around the school, including comments coming from teachers themselves. A memorable story comes from a science teacher where he allegedly heard the flushing of a toilet in the girls bathroom while school was out of session. When he knocked on the door to question who was there, he got no reply. Upon returning to his classroom, collectively he heard the sounds of multiple flushing of toilets. The custodial staff has also encountered some events such as whistling, changing radios, moving shadows, jingling keys, coughing, footsteps and falling objects. Another notable story comes from one of the custodial workers that reported being grabbed and scratched by something/someone while cleaning in the girls locker room. All of these occurrences mainly happen in the older part of the school located in the west side of the buildings.

However, not all stories and tales are about ghosts. In the Mess Hall, a tiled hornet (seen in the image to the right) can be found in the red wing of the lunch line of the Cafeteria. It is considered by many to be bad luck to step on the Hornet and is often avoided. It is unclear where this practice first took place.

SEBS – School of Engineering and Biomedical Science
The school of Engineering and Biomedical Science, more commonly known as SEBS, is a specialized program offered to high-level students to prepare for career readiness and hands-on experience in the fields of Engineering and Biomedical Science. However, the course is not limited to only engineering and biomedical science as there are courses that also assist in jobs revolving around software and computer programing. This project is paired with Project Lead the Way (PLTW) courses, and is a certified PLTW school.

Uniquely, although classified as a separate course, the SEBS program is more commonly known to be a school within a school, rather than courses to take. Like other schools, you have to register to be in the SEBS program to stay inside. It is also highly recommended to stay within the Grade Point Average (GPA) of >3.0 or else the managers, advisors, and/or counselors will recommend other courses for the student's benefit.

History
Formerly known as Pueblo Technical Academy, the SEBS course is only found at Pueblo County High School, although other schools have a similar plan known as STEM. The school of Engineering and Biomedical Science joined Pueblo County High School in the year of 2010.

During this time, the SEBS program, known at the time as the Tech Academy, was always part of District 70 but was previously rented in a building by the local airport. Because of large economic failure of the United States in the years of 2005-2010, to continue the program, the District allowed the Tech Academy into Pueblo County High School and has since continued to educate future adults.

Opportunities
Since the SEBS program offers opportunities for a wide variety of real world jobs and scenarios, there are different branches of the school that are similar in nature but different in education. An engineering student may be taught how to build a robot physically as well as understand every aspect of the machine while a biomedical student might dissect a sheep heart in order to physically understand it's function as well as the many different cells that it's made of. The sections available for students to choose are School of Biomedical Science, School of Engineering, and School of Computer Software Engineering. Specialized courses related to each subject is present for students academically fit for such courses.

The Fighting Hornets
Pueblo County High School has a proud athletic division. Students that choose to participate in athletics represent their school and compete to be the best of their ability.

The school has a wide variety of athletic opportunities for capable students to choose from. Each sport has a specific season it is available to organize the games and schedules of students and coaches alike.

It is also important to note that all important games are recorded and can be re-watched on the NFHSNetwork under the Pueblo County High School channel. These are recorded by Sting TV.

Eligibility
A student who does not have a recommended GPA level will not be permitted to play. Students who wish to play in a sport must fill out a physical form, go through examination, and pass the tryouts if available in order to successfully join a Pueblo County High Sports Team. The current athletic director of 2016-2017 is Dennis Downs. In order for a student to join in a sport, the student is also required to obtain a physical form, signed, from your primary care physician, and pay any fees that are required. The student must also be passing in all classes to participate or continue participating. The current athletic director runs eligibility every Monday during a school year.

Championships and Awards
Student achievements are rewarded to students who went above and beyond. Green banners are created for these students and are displayed in the main gymnasium in numerical order for all to see. Those of a swimming related sport are blue and are displayed in the Swimming Pool Room of the East Building.

Student Leadership
Student Leadership is a group of students who schedule on assemblies, dances, and do special activities for the school. In Pueblo County High School, the Homecoming assembly, Homecoming dance, Snoball assembly, Snoball dance, Project Respect assembly, Tailgate, and so much more are created, designed, and scheduled by the Student Leadership Club. In order to be in Student Leadership, the student must fill out a paper requesting to be in and receive 15 teacher signatures of approval. The student must also maintain a 3.0 Grade Point Average (Unweighted). Flo Downs is the current sponsor.

National Honors Society (NHS)
National Honor Society is a club for students that have had a GPA of 3.5 or better for at least 3 semesters. The goal of the club is to get students involved with their school and to maintain good grades. Students in NHS fundraise throughout the school year to help out other clubs and even help run different events such as graduation or Green and Gold. These students also do their best to help out the elementary schools and middle schools in their area (District 70).

Skills USA
SkillsUSA is a national organization serving teachers, high school and college students who are preparing for careers in technical, skilled, and service occupations, including health occupations, and for further education. SkillsUSA’s mission is to empower its members to become world-class workers, leaders, and responsible American citizens. SkillsUSA offers local, state, and national opportunities in which students can demonstrate their personal, workplace, and technical skills. These three components comprise the organizational framework of SkillsUSA. This framework serves as the blueprint for career readiness.

Arcana Verba
As part of the many opportunities the school offers, a project called Arcana Verba, which can be translated to 'The Mysterious' from Latin, is a local school opportunity present for young writers, poets, and artists by hand or by photography at Pueblo County High School. The goal of the club is to promote publishing done by a student body.

Future Farmers of America (FFA)
Future Farmers of America, commonly known as FFA, is an organization based around agricultural business and farming. There are multiple different agriculture classes and opportunities taught within the program, including Ag Mechanics, Animal Sciences, and Ag Business. Everyone that is enrolled into an agriculture class is automatically in FFA, and can further into FFA by participating in agricultural related events / SAE (Supervised Agricultural Experience). FFA also does events with the local middle schools, such as painting pumpkins for Halloween, as well as fundraisers such as selling of fruit baskets. They also help run the Barnyard during the State Fair for Colorado.

Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA)
Fellowship of Christian Athletes, also known as FCA, is a group of Christian athletes within the Pueblo County High School that meet once a week to discuss the importance of God within their sports. This group is led by Jeff Wilson. On occasion, this club also helps out around the school when they can by doing simple tasks, such as raising and lowering of the US Flag.

Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA)
Future Business Leaders of America is an organization for student business of young people progressing for success as leaders in business, government, and communities. It is their mission to bring both education and business together through inventive career development and leadership programs. Scott Santisteven is the current sponsor and also a teacher at Pueblo County High School.

Sting TV
Sting TV is a broadcasting crew originated in SEBS that broadcasts different sporting events and assemblies specific to Pueblo County High School. The broadcast team uploads them to a website known as The High School Sports Network. Their goal is to get parents, students, and teachers alike involved with school sports even when they can’t make it to such events. Sting TV is a finalist in a nationwide broadcasting competition for new broadcasting channels in the year of 2017.

Graduation
Pueblo County High School is a 4-year public school which requires a total of four years of education to graduate. Like most high schools, the grades taught are 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th; respectively called freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

=== Requirements === There are certain requirements needed to graduate from Pueblo County High School. The system used in this school is high school credits, to which a certain amount of each must be earned each year. If a student fails to make the quota of credits in one year, they will either have to be 'held back' or take the failed classes during Summer School, online school, or night school. Having extra credits of a section will be transitioned into elective credits. For example, if a student were to take four science class for four years, they would have 4 science credits. Since the requirement is only to have 3 science credits, that student will have 3 science credits and an elective credit if their elective slots are not full. The specifics can be found on a PDF on the District 70 website.
 * Graduation: 25 credits total
 * English: 4 credits
 * Social Studies: 3 credits
 * Math: 3 credits
 * Science: 3 credits
 * Physical Education: 1.5 credits
 * Health: 0.5 credits
 * Technology: 1 credit
 * Electives: 9 credits

Graduation Ceremony
A graduation ceremony is a must for students of a graduating class. Each year, students obtain their official High School Diplomas during the Graduation Ceremony on the Pueblo County High School football field on the Saturday before Memorial Day. These students are allowed up to a 17-day difference in being the last day of school to help prepare for this ceremony. These graduating students must purchase a robe as well as cap for their school. The only reason why there is a need for the correct robe purchase is because the SEBS program is also classified as its own school and as such as purple robes. The male students have green robes and female students have gold robes. Students with honors of gold or silver have the appropriate cord on their attire as well.

During the ceremony, family and friends of the graduates are invited to the stands to watch as valedictorians and salutatorians of the graduating class give a personal speech before each student receives their diploma. Afterward, the observers are allowed to leave the stands to go down to the field to take pictures with the graduates. This is after the graduates have conducted the traditional graduation cap tossing, and moving of their cord to the other side of the cap to signify officially graduating.

The official diploma is delivered in the mail to the graduates due to the reason that not all graduates could attend the ceremony.

Assemblies
Traditionally, Pueblo County High School holds assemblies where students are grouped up in the auditorium or in the gymnasium. These assemblies celebrate student achievements, sports, dances and other notable events.

Assembly Traditions
There are many annual and commonly repeated traditions throughout assemblies. These are unique to this school and normally cannot be found in other schools.

The Bell
School spirit and memorable items are a big part of the Pueblo County community. This includes a school bell, which is given to the class with the most pride. During an assembly, each class is given common ground to shout their Class Yell as loud as they can, while their peers and other classes are permitted to "boo." If the class can cheer louder than the surrounding booing, they have a high chance to obtain the bell.

Clapping the Seniors Out
This tradition is after assemblies and it involves all students respectfully waiting in their assigned areas while clapping, allowing the Seniors, or 12th graders to exit first.The tradition serves as a tribute to the seniors of the school and provides respect for classmates.

Class Yell
Each class have a certain chant they share collectively, which differ from their lower or upper classmates. These chants are usually shouted in a contest against their other classmates during an assembly, to which the winner is determined by which class shouted their chant the loudest. These chants, however, are not created by classes themselves, but given to them during Freshmen Orientation by the Seniors of the school. The shouts usually consist of 3 verses of which the last two rhyme together. The last is always the year of the class.

Example - "Fresh and clean; bright and fine; we're the class of the Big one-nine ('19)!"

School Chant
To further the pride of the school, there is a school chant shared between all classmates. Usually when shouted, teachers alike sometimes join in on the shouting, but is mainly shared between students. When sung, each class present gets to say a verse, starting with the freshmen to senior till the full verse is spoken. It is also yelled as loud as the students can muster. We also have a school song that is sung at assemblies, and played during sporting events.

Example - "Rip them up; tear them up; give them hell—Hornets!"

As well as a school chant, Pueblo County High School features a school song that can be found on a banner hung in the main Gymnasium.

Traditions
Traditions are a large part of culture, and traditions bring communities together. Here are a select few annual traditions found at Pueblo County High School.

Pigskin
Established in the year of 2000, The Pigskin Classic is an annual football game between the Pueblo County Hornets and the Pueblo West Cyclones of Pueblo West High School. The location of the game rotates between Pueblo County and Pueblo West each year and is always the first football game of the school year. For the first 8 years, Pueblo County won the Pigskin Classic. For the next 8 years, Pueblo West won the Pigskin Classic. At the 17th annual Pigskin Classic (2016), Pueblo County High School won the pigskin for the first time in 8 years. The school of the winning Pigskin team gets to take home the Pigskin Trophy. We have an assembly every year before that works as a pep rally to get students excited for the game. When the Hornets win the Pigskin, another assembly is scheduled celebrating the victory, while the football team walks the halls with the trophy.

School Dances
Homecoming, SnoBall, and Prom are dances at Pueblo County High School that the students look forward to all year long. The dances are formal and the students come dressed up ready to dance the night away! Homecoming is an annual dance where the Senior class elects six candidates to be on the Homecoming Court. The Homecoming Court consists of six senior girls who have been chosen for Homecoming Queen.The homecoming football game is played on the friday night before the dance and the dance takes place on saturday of that week. Snoball is an annual dance where the Senior class elects six candidates to be on the Snoball Court. The Snoball Court consists of six senior boys who have been chosen for Snoball King. Prom is the final dance of the year and it is a junior/senior orientated dance that happens towards the end of every year for departing seniors and new seniors for the upcoming year.

Tailgate
Every year on the Thursday before Prom, most students and teachers meet up in the back parking lot of the high school for an annual Tailgate. During Tailgate, students are allowed to bring grills and food to cook in the back of their vehicles. Not only this, but games are also available sometimes provided by teachers for students to play. It's a good bonding experience for students just to sit back and relax before a weekend of fun.

Badminton Tournament
The Badminton Tournament is a tournament against many different teams, all competing for the title of Badminton Champion. The teams are made up of one boy and one girl (student or staff member), and they compete against the other teams until we are left with one winner!

Spirit Weeks
Spirit Week is a student event created by the students for mainly entertainment purposes. During Spirit Weeks, each day is selected for a certain theme in which both students and teachers are allowed to follow. For instance, a Monday could be registered as Pajama Day, where students and teachers are allowed to come to school in pajamas and night-time slippers. The following day would be different, holding a different theme such as Hat Day, permitting all students and teachers to wear a hat inside the school building. During the final day, on Thursday, the theme is usually revolving around school pride, such as Green and Gold Day. Spirit Weeks are usually held the week of a large school event or sporting event.

Veterans Day Assembly
The Veterans Day Assembly is one of the most treasured annual traditions of Pueblo County High School. Six soldiers who graduated from Pueblo County High School lost their lives in the Vietnam War, and they are honored by both teachers and students.

The names of the fallen soldiers are as follows: Reuban Aragon (1965), Mike Hanratty (1963), David Heller (1966), Danny Ruybal (1965), Sam Solano (1965), and Pete Valdez (1967).

Championship Flags
For every state championship achievement of a student or team of students at Pueblo County High School, it is rewarded and remembered by the school. In the main Gymnasium of Pueblo County High School, flags of the student's success is displayed for all to view. There is usually an assembly held to reward those select students' achievements before they are hung up on the walls.

The Unified Basketball Game
Students with disabilities and/or special needs are given the opportunity to participate in a Unified Basketball game as a part of the school's “Respect Assembly.” The assembly is designed to teach students about accepting their peers.

Trunk or Treat
On Halloween, the Deca students at County High School park their cars in the parking lot and decorate them any way they want and get ready to hand out candy. It provides a safe way for younger children in the community to have fun on Halloween.

Powder Puff
Powder Puff is an annual football game where the roles are switched! The junior girls play football against the senior girls while the boys are cheerleading on the sidelines!

Powder Buff
Powder Buff is an annual boys volleyball game between the Junior and Senior Boys. Whoever wins the game gets to claim the school bell.

Notable Alumni
Here are a few select picks of known Alumni that graduated from this school.
 * Kory Sperry, a professional Football Player
 * Jessica Hartman, Miss Colorado runner-up (2010) and Miss Missouri (2014)
 * Josh Faiola, a Dartmouth Baseball Player
 * Jason Sanders (Filmmaker)
 * Casey Colletti (Professional Rodeo)
 * Patrick Razo (Artist)
 * Kelly Reno (Actor)
 * Andrea Nue (Miss Colorado and Miss US International)
 * Kim Borrego-Couture (UFC Fighter)
 * Jim Swagerty (Artist)
 * Joe Pannunzio (D1 Football Coach and NFL Front Office Staff)
 * Kim Pritekel (Author)
 * Amber Tozer (Comedian and Author)
 * Kasie Pigg (Miss Rodeo Colorado)
 * Kellie (Dilka) Lambert (Miss Rodeo America and Miss Rodeo Colorado, and Author)
 * Megan Masser (Professional Softball Player)
 * Josh Peek (Professional Rodeo)
 * Michael Radiff (Professional Dancer)
 * Erin Young (2016 National Champion JROTC Rifle Army and 2015 State Champion JROTC Rifle Army)
 * Hunter Willits (4x State Champion Wrestler and 2015 & 2017 State Champion Wrestler of the year. 2017 National Champion, D1 Wrestler at Oregon State University)
 * Grant Willits (3x State Champion, D1 Wrestler at Oregon State University)
 * Sam Goure (Played Baseball for the Toronto Blue Jays)
 * Jeannine Schafer (Artist)