Midwest City High School is located in Midwest City, Oklahoma. The name Midwest City confuses some people because Midwest City is not in the Mid-West, nor is it on the west side of Oklahoma City. The name actually has its roots with Tinker Air Force Base. Tinker AFB was once named Midwest Air Depot, so when Midwest City was founded, the name seemed appropriate since those affiliated with the base would be living in the town. That same name helps to identify why the East and West borders of the "Original Mile" are Air Depot Blvd. and Midwest Blvd. This "Original Mile" is a one-square-mile area that was pre-planned by the city founders. The roads were all designed in curves that prevented speeding and the design included civic and commercial areas as well. This area held the first homes in Midwest City and the design even earned the city the award for "America's Model City". Midwest Air Depot was later renamed "Tinker Air Force Base" after a former General of the base, Gen. Clarence Tinker. You can learn more about Midwest City at the Midwest City Chamber of Commerce website. Midwest City was founded to help meet the need for housing for Tinker Air Force Base. The "Original Mile" helped to meet that need with housing that could be built quickly and affordably. With the new population, a school was needed to educate the children. The first school was opened in 1944 and was a combination of all grades.
In 1947 director Jack Clark managed to recruit 55 students to be in band out of a school that had only 90 seniors. When MCHS
eventually moved to its current site the old building turned into Jarman Jr. High and is still there to this day. However, Jarman has had its share of accidents. Late one night, an airplane having difficulty landing at Tinker AFB crashed into the school causing a great deal of it to burn down. The school was repaired and life went on. MCHS has triumphed over its challenges through the years. MCHS students have dealt with downed airplanes from Tinker, many tornadoes over the years (including the May 3rd 1999 tornadoes), the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing in downtown Oklahoma City on April 19th, 1995, and like every other American, the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11th, 2001. With the spirit of all Americans, the life of MCHS and its students goes on and both triumph over tragedy. MCHS still has much history to tell though.
The current school does not resemble the old building at all. The school was renovated and basically torn down to the ground. MCHS faced 15th street for much of its life at its present location. What were the front doors of the school are now the front doors of the old gymnasium's foyer. This foyer now houses the MCHS Museum. The school now faces Maple Dr. and the Mid-Del Technology Center, turning the school in the opposite direction. Over the years, new wings, a new fieldhouse named after the first principle of MCHS (J.E. Sutton), and a new band facility named after a former band director at MCHS (E. Paul Enix) were constructed. Final construction on the school wasn't completed until 1981 with the addition of "A" Hall. In 1994 the school was given a face lift covering most of the brick faces of the building with stucco and improving the overall appearance of the school. The school now consists of 4 wings, A, B, C, D, a commons area connecting each hall to a central location, offices, a library, the old gym, J.E. Sutton Fieldhouse, E. Paul Enix Band Building, and Performing Arts Center. The south end of the campus facing 15th street now houses the Mid-Del Schools Administration Building adding a prestigious look to the campus.
The MCHS band room has had quite a life of its own. Starting at the Jarman site, the band room started as a permanent structure at that campus. While at the Jarman location, the band had its performances in the "Gymnatorium". This multifunctional room has since been turned into a practice gym for the Jarman students. The band left this room when the high school moved. This oldest band room was eventually removed and is no longer on the school grounds. When the school moved to its current location, the band was moved into a temporary barracks on what is now the tennis courts. This building was very small and barely even fit the 115 
member band in it. In 1969, the school district decided to construct new band rooms for all 3 high schools. On a Wednesday, the architect, Fred Quinn, met with the directors from each high school and in an hour and a half, the basic floor plan was drawn up. The directors were told that the basic design must be complete by Friday of the same week so that the School Board could approve it. At this point, the band room had been designed to be a single floor building, but to save on exterior material costs, the design was changed to move the storage and mechanical equipment to the second level. In these two days, the architect and directors managed to incorporate acoustical panels, practice rooms, office and library space, main and ensemble rehearsal room, as well as a large amount of storage space into the design. This design also included a non-square, high ceilinged main rehearsal area, a feature now common to most rehearsal rooms. Both the Midwest City and Del City band rooms were completed by the next year, but the Carl Albert band room was delayed by a year. The MCHS band had its first rehearsal in its new band room in 1970. In 1978, there was a flood in the band room that ruined many scores and papers from the band, fortunately, the building did not suffer major damage.
The auditorium was not so lucky. Constructed in 1957, the Performing Arts Center is located between the band room and the main school building. The PAC, as it is known, suffered a major fire in the mid-70's and was almost completely gutted in its renovation. The auditorium was renovated again in the mid-90's when the rest of the school was given a face lift. In this most current renovation, the district decided to renovate the building to be the premier performance hall in Eastern Oklahoma County. During the Christmas Break of the 98-99 school year, the PAC also suffered a flood that damaged much of the new sound equipment and made for very wet seats. The seats were aired out and the damaged equipment was repaired.
The football, soccer, and track fields are still located at Rose Field behind Jarman Jr. High on Lockheed in the Original Mile. For driving instructions, check the Extras page. In its wondrous history, the school has won more state championships in more sports than I can remember and has achieved a rich academic record also. With National Merit Scholars, state academic awards, and other academic awards, MCHS proves that if you have good activities, you can also have good academics. The Fine Arts department has had equal success. From Art to Band to Drama, the Fine Arts have won countless awards and competed all over the country to prove that MCHS is still the best.
A new wing is currently under construction to accomodate the addition of the 9th graders to MCHS starting in the 2007-2008 school year. A new picture of the school will be posted atfter the wing is completed.
MCHS is fed by numerous schools including Cleveland Bailey Elementary, Country Estates Elementary, East Side Elementary, Parkview Elementary, Ridgecrest Elementary, Sooner Rose Elementary, Steed Elementary, Tinker Elementary, Traub Elementary, Jarman Jr. High, and Monroney Jr. High. These students all help to preserve the Bomber Tradition and the idea, "Once a bomber, always a bomber!"
In the years since MCHS was founded, the MCHS band has had many directors. These directors have lead the band through the evolution of music that has so dramatically changed in the last 50 years. From the evolution of the marching band to the contemporized concert band, these directors have helped to keep MCHS at the front of the evolution of music and throughout their carrer have influenced countless students.
