Ben Lomond High School


Ben Lomond High School is a comprehensive high school located in the Ogden City School District of Ogden, Utah, United States, currently educating students in grades 10–12. As of 2018, the principal is Steve Poll, his first year at Ben Lomond.

History

Ben Lomond High School was named for the nearby Ben Lomond Mountain, so called by Scottish settlers who were reminded of Ben Lomond in Scotland. This local cultural influence gave the school its theme, including bagpipers, Royal Stewart tartan, and Scots. Students are known as "Friendly Fighting Scots."
The school was originally to be called North East Ogden High School, with school colors of black and red and the spikes as the mascot; however, at the very first assembly held on the floor of the wood shop the students said that since the school was closest to Ben Lomond it should be named hence. "We weren’t going to Ogden High and we didn't want to be called Ogden High," one student recalled fifty years later. After renaming the school, the "Scot" became the mascot and the school's colors were changed to red, white and blue, the colors of traditional Scottish uniforms.

Rivalry

Ben Lomond has a long running rivalry with Ogden High School which culminates each year with a football game known as the "Iron Horse" game. The winner takes possession of a trophy called the Iron Horse, a statue of two trains to signify Ogden's well-known railroad history. In the most recent game, on October 16, 2019, Ben Lomond lost to Ogden High School 33-13.
The rivalry also exists in basketball,
although not as strongly.

Renovations

In June 2006, residents of Ogden passed a bond to obtain money to reconstruct and renovate Ben Lomond High and other Ogden City schools. A partial demolition commenced in June 2007 on Ben Lomond's library media center, English/Freshmen building, ceramics room, courtyard, boiler/furnace room, the ROTC drill field and two JROTC classrooms, and was completed in September 2007. Construction of a new building was completed in August 2010. This included the construction of new classrooms, cafeteria, commons area, Media Center, office area, and a "facelift" to areas not replaced by new construction, including the auditorium and gym areas. The entry of the school was changed to face 9th Street in a southeasterly direction, with a new address of 1080 9th Street. The renovation of Ben Lomond High School was awarded the Mountain States Construction Silver Award for grades K-12 in 2010.

Hymn

The School Hymn, written by Richard Packham, is sung to the tune of The Bonnie Banks O' Loch Lomond. The song is sung with crossed arms and swaying from side to side. The lyrics are:
From the green Scottish hills where the proud pipers play,
To the Great Salt Lake and the Wasatch,
There's no better clan, nor will there ever be
Than the Friendly Fighting Scots of Ben Lomond.
We're proud of Ben Lomond and all that she stands for,
And though o'er the earth we may wander,
A part of our hearts will always yearn to be
In the memory-hallowed halls of Ben Lomond.

Notable alumni