Great Bend High School is a

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 located in

Great Bend, Kansas Great Bend is a city in and the county seat of Barton County, Kansas, United States. It is named for its location at the point where the course of the Arkansas River bends east then southeast. As of the 2020 census, the population of the ci ...

, serving students in

grades Grade most commonly refers to: * Grade (education), a measurement of a student's performance * Grade, the number of the year a student has reached in a given educational stage * Grade (slope), the steepness of a slope Grade or grading may also r ...

9–12. The school is the only high school in Great Bend USD 428 public school district. The athletic teams are known as the Panthers and all athletic programs compete in the 5A division according to the

KSHSAA The Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) is the organization which oversees interscholastic competition in the U.S. state of Kansas at the high-school level. It oversees both athletic and non-athletic competition, and sponsors ...

History

Great Bend High School was established early in the 20th century in order to help educate the growing population of Great Bend, Kansas. Shortly after the school was founded, the Panther was chosen as the official school mascot and students voted to implement red and black as the school colors. As the years progressed, Great Bend established many programs, both athletic and non-athletic.

Extracurricular activities

The school is a member of the

Kansas State High School Activities Association The Kansas State High School Activities Association (KSHSAA) is the organization which oversees interscholastic competition in the U.S. state of Kansas at the high school, high-school level. It oversees both athletic and non-athletic competition, ...

and is classified as a 5A school, the second-largest division in Kansas. The Panthers have won several state championships and have produced several collegiate athletes. The football games are played at

Great Bend High School Memorial Stadium Great Bend High School Memorial Stadium is a sport stadium in Great Bend, Kansas. The facility is primarily used by the Great Bend High School American football, football and Track and field, track & field teams. The stadium underwent renovation ...

. Soccer games are played at the Jean Cavanaugh Soccer Complex.

Athletics

Basketball

During the years of 2005 and 2006, Great Bend High School won two state championships in basketball. Jeff Langrehr was the first

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

in Great Bend High School history to help the team win back-to-back state championships. The girls basketball team was the state runner-up in 2009.

State championships

Non-athletic programs

Danceline

Great Bend High School's danceline performs new dances at football and basketball games during halftime. The 'Panther' Danceline consists of 18 dancers ranging from freshmen to seniors.

Madrigals

Great Bend High School's select ensemble singing group is known as The Madrigal Pop Singers. The group is composed of students in the junior and senior classes.

Great Bend High School Marching Band

The Great Bend High School

Marching Band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Most marching bands wear a uniform, ofte ...

averages between 40 and 90 students every year. The band won 1 ratings in the

Hutchinson, Kansas Hutchinson is the largest city and county seat in Reno County, Kansas, United States, and located on the Arkansas River. It has been home to salt mines since 1887, thus its nickname of "Salt City", but locals call it "Hutch". As of the 2020 cen ...

State Parade, WAC Marching Festival in

Garden City, Kansas Garden City is a city in, and the county seat of, Finney County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 28,151. The city is home to Garden City Community College and the Lee Richa ...

, and High Plains Marching Festival at

Fort Hays State University Fort Hays State University (FHSU) is a public university in Hays, Kansas. It is the fourth-largest of the six state universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents, with a total enrollment of approximately 15,100 students. History FHSU ...

in 2005 and 2006. During

Labor Day Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...

, the band dedicates its time to perform a parade in

Hoisington, Kansas Hoisington is a city in Barton County, Kansas, Barton County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,699. History In 1886, a group of Barton County businessmen formed the Centr ...

. Ronald D. Mink was the first Band Director to start the American Heritage Concerts era and the first to take the band to major national competitions every four years.Great Bend band director to retire , KSN.com - News, Weather, Sports - NBC - Wichita - Great Bend - Garden City - McCook - Kansas , Local News

Debate/Forensics

The school offers debate and forensics programs for students. The debate team won KSHSAA state championships in 1974, 1976, 1978 and 1983.

Notable alumni

Jack Kilby Jack St. Clair Kilby (November 8, 1923 – June 20, 2005) was an American electrical engineer who took part (along with Robert Noyce of Fairchild) in the realization of the first integrated circuit while working at Texas Instruments (TI) in 1 ...

(1923–2005), 2000

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

laureate in physics, co-inventor of the

integrated circuit An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...

(IC), handheld calculator, and thermal printer. The commons area of the high school is named after him, ''The Jack Kilby Commons Area''. *

Monte Robbins Dammond R. "Monte" Robbins (born September 19, 1964) is a former American football punter. He played for the University of Michigan from 1984 to 1987. He holds Michigan's all-time records for the longest punt (82 yards) and for average yards p ...

(born 1964), former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

punter.

References

External links

*
USD 428 School District Boundary Map
KDOT {{Authority control Public high schools in Kansas Schools in Barton County, Kansas