Aplington–Parkersburg High School is a rural

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

Parkersburg, Iowa Parkersburg is a city in Butler County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,015 in the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, an increase from 1,889 in 2000 United States Census, 2000. Parkersburg, although not the county seat, has the high ...

, United States. It is a part of the

Aplington–Parkersburg Community School District Aplington–Parkersburg Community School District is a rural public school district in Parkersburg, Iowa. Occupying portions of Butler and Grundy counties, it serves the towns of Aplington and Parkersburg. History The district formed on Jul ...

History

It was formed in 1992, from the merger of the high schools of the Aplington and

Parkersburg Parkersburg is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Ohio and Little Kanawha rivers, it is the state's fourth-largest city and the largest city in the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna metro ...

school districts. The Parkersburg district maintained the joint high school. The two districts legally merged into a single district on July 1, 2004. On May 25, 2008, the school was destroyed by an EF5 tornado. It has since been rebuilt.

Athletics

The athletic extracurricular activities at Aplington–Parkersburg High School are football, volleyball, cross country, basketball, wrestling, tennis, soccer, golf, track and field, softball and baseball. The Falcons are classified as a 2A school and compete in

North Iowa Cedar League The North Iowa Cedar League (NICL) is a high school athletic conference made up of 15 high schools in north central and northeast Iowa. Most of the schools compete as 2A schools, (the second-smallest classification). The conference's most recent ...

Conference. Throughout its history, Aplington–Parkersburg has won several state championships in various sports and were state runner-up numerous times. In addition, several graduates have gone on to participate in Division I, Division II, and

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

athletics. Prior to the 1992 merger, the separate high schools in Aplington and Parkersburg were members of the Big Marsh Conference until the 1976–77 school year, when both schools left to join the Mid Iowa Conference, then the Big Iowa Conference.

Ed Thomas

On June 24, 2009,

Ed Thomas Edward Arthur Thomas (July 17, 1950 – June 24, 2009) was an American high school football coach. On June 24, 2009, Thomas was shot and killed in his Parkersburg, Iowa football team's weight room by Mark Becker, one of Thomas' former players. ...

, the football coach, track coach, and athletic director, was shot and killed in the weight room. He was featured on the July 6, 2009, cover of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

''.

State championships

Notable alumni

Jared DeVries Jared Jay DeVries (born June 11, 1976) is a former American football defensive end. He played college football for the University of Iowa, and earned All-American honors. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the third round of the 1999 NFL Dr ...

, retired

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

player for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

Aaron Kampman Aaron Allan Kampman (; born November 30, 1979) is a former American football defensive end who played ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Iowa. He was drafted by Green Bay Packer ...

, retired NFL player who played mainly for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

Brad Meester Bradley Ryan Meester (born March 23, 1977) is a former American football Center (American football), center for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Jaguars in the second round of the 2000 NFL Draft. He p ...

, retired NFL player for the Jacksonville Jaguars * Chelsea Poppens, professional basketball player who formerly played for the San Antonio Stars of the WNBA. *

Casey Wiegmann Casey Peter Wiegmann (born July 20, 1973) is a former American football Center (American football), center who played sixteen seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Iowa. He was signed by ...

, retired NFL player who played mainly for the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

and

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

References

External links

Official website

NPR story on school and shooting
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aplington-Parkersburg High School Public high schools in Iowa Schools in Butler County, Iowa 1993 establishments in Iowa Educational institutions established in 1993