Pittsburg High School is a fully accredited public high school located in Pittsburg,

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

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, serving students in grades 9-12. The school is part of

Pittsburg USD 250 Pittsburg USD 250 is a public unified school district headquartered in Pittsburg, Kansas, United States. The district includes the communities of Pittsburg, Opolis, and nearby rural areas. Schools The school district operates the following sc ...

public school district, is one of the schools in Pittsburg and is the largest high school in southeast Kansas. The school colors are purple and white and the school mascot is the Dragon.

History

Pittsburg High School was established in 1887, making it one of the oldest high schools in the state of Kansas. Pittsburg High 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 offers a variety of sports programs. Athletic teams compete in the 5A division and are known as the "Dragons". On March 6, 2017, the school district hired Amy Robertson as Pittsburg High School's principal. In preparing a feature introducing Robertson to the school community, the staff of the student newspaper were unable to find evidence that Robertson's university, Corllins University, was accredited. The student newspaper published an article questioning Robertson's credentials on March 31, 2017; on April 4, 2017, Robertson resigned.

Extracurricular activities

Non-athletic programs

Student newspaper

''The Booster Redux'' made national news in April 2017 after student editors published an investigative story on the qualifications of a newly hired principal. The principal resigned shortly thereafter.

Scholars Bowl

Pittsburg High School has won two state scholars bowl championships, in 2006 and 2007.

Chess

Pittsburg High School has also produced a state champion in chess two times.

Forensics

Theatre

In 2010, Pittsburg High School's fall play, ''

Crimes of the Heart ''Crimes of the Heart'' is a play by American playwright Beth Henley. It is set in Hazlehurst, Mississippi in the mid-20th century. The play won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play. In 1986, the p ...

'', tied for first place in a statewide theatre competition. The show was performed at the Kansas State Thespian Conference in January 2011. In 2018, their musical "Urinetown" was performed at both the Kansas State Thespian Festival in January 2018 and the International Thespian Festival in June 2018. In 2020, Pittsburg High School's Musical Repertory Theatre musical "Pippin", performed at the Kansas State Thespian Festival in January of 2020. In October of 2021, Pittsburg High School was honored with the "Best Performing Arts High School in Kansas" award by the KSHSAA. This award was given based on excellence in theatre, drama, debate, vocal music, instrumental music, and technical direction. Pittsburg High is widely acclaimed across the state of Kansas for its excellence in theatre and performing arts, with various awards and honors received in past years.

Athletics

Pittsburg High School offers many different sports and extracurricular programs for its students. Some of the programs include: football, basketball (men's and women's), volleyball, soccer, softball, baseball, wrestling, dance team, and cheer-leading. The Purple Dragons are classified as a 5A school according to the

. Additionally, the Purple Dragons have won multiple district and state championships in both athletic and non-athletic programs.

Track and Field

Track and Field was established at Pittsburg High shortly after the school was founded. Throughout the years, many students have won individual state titles and have set numerous school records.

Wrestling

Wrestling is a sport offered at Pittsburg High. In 2007, Tyler Koehn won the state title in the 152 lb division. Beau Bennett won the Class 5A state championship at 285 pounds in 2009. Broc Bennett won the 4A 285 pound state title in 2011.

State Championships

National awards

* National Champions, 2000

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Great Moonbuggy Race The NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge, prior to 2014 referred to as the Great Moonbuggy Race, is an annual competition for high school and college students to design, build, and race human-powered, collapsible vehicles over simulated lunar/Mar ...

, High School Division NASA Press Release; 2000
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Notable alumni

Brad Franchione Bradley Todd Franchione (born c. 1974) is a former American football coach. He won two NJCAA National Football Championships as the head coach at Blinn College. He is the son of retired football coach Dennis Franchione. Early life Franchione is ...

(1992), college football coach *

Hugh Gillin Hugh Clair Gillin Jr. (July 14, 1925 – May 4, 2004) was an American film and television actor. Gillin was born in Galesburg, Illinois. He was best known for playing Sheriff John Hunt in '' Psycho II'' and '' III''. Gillin has appeared in a to ...

(1943), actor * Dylan Meier (2002), former

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

quarterback *

Kerry Meier Kerry Meier (born November 12, 1986) is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the fifth round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football at the Univ ...

(2005), former

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wide receiver for the

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, former quarterback/slotback for the

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* Shad Meier (1996), retired NFL tight end who played for the

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and

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Russ Pennell Russell Edwin Pennell (born November 28, 1960) is an American basketball coach, who was last the head coach for the University of Central Arkansas. Pennell was born in Pittsburg, Kansas and graduated from Pittsburg High School. He played colle ...

(1979), head men's basketball coach at

Grand Canyon University Grand Canyon University (GCU) is a private for-profit Christian university in Phoenix, Arizona. Based on student enrollment, Grand Canyon University was the largest Christian university in the world in 2018, with 20,000 attending students on ...

Bill Russell William Felton Russell (February 12, 1934 – July 31, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who played as a center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. A five-time NBA Most V ...

(1966), former shortstop, coach, and manager for the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

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Gary Zukav Gary Zukav (born October 17, 1942) is an American spiritual teacher and the author of four consecutive New York Times Best Sellers. Beginning in 1998, he appeared more than 30 times on ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' to discuss transformation in hum ...

(1960),

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

bestselling author and frequent guest on

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Gallery

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