Shawnee Mission South High School is a high school located in Overland Park, Kansas, United States, serving students in grades 9-12. The school is one of several public high schools located within Shawnee Mission and operated by

Shawnee Mission USD 512 Shawnee Mission USD 512 is a public unified school district headquartered in Shawnee Mission, Kansas, United States. As of 2018, the district comprises five high schools, five middle schools, 34 elementary schools, and six instructional cente ...

school district. The school colors are green and gold and the school mascot is the Raider. The average annual enrollment is approximately 1,600 students. The school newspaper is called ''The Patriot''.

History

Shawnee Mission South High School was established in 1966. The school's mascot was chosen by the first graduating class of 1967. The Raider was chosen as a mascot because of the popular band Paul Revere & the Raiders. Throughout its history, Shawnee Mission South has hosted several prominent concerts. The Who played a concert with The Buckinghams at Shawnee Mission South on November 17, 1967. The concert was performed in the gymnasium that currently still stands. The Byrds appeared in concert in the school's gymnasium in March 1969. The Amboy Dukes performed in a "senior class only" concert, in the football stadium, May, 1971. Brewer & Shipley performed in the cafeteria in 1976. In 1983, Shawnee Mission South was named a

Blue Ribbon School The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...

, the highest honor an American school can achieve. In 1997, the school was named a Blue Ribbon School for the second time in the school's history.

Academics

Shawnee Mission South High School is a two-time

, occurring in 1983 and 1997. Beginning in the 2007–2008 school year, the Shawnee Mission School District adopted a new program, Project Lead the Way, as the district's signature engineering program, offered at Shawnee Mission South High School. The classes for Lead the Way include Introduction to Engineering Design, Principles of Engineering, Digital Electronics, Aerospace Engineering, and Engineering Design and Development. Another program unique to Shawnee Mission South is that of the Center for International Studies. The Center for International Studies (CIS) provides intensive instruction in four languages: Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian. The program also provides students the opportunity to attend geopolitics classes rather than regular social studies courses. In 2005, South's Science Olympiad team made district news by winning the state of Kansas competition and advancing to the national level. As of January 22, 2012, the Shawnee Mission South Academic Decathlon team has won the Kansas State Academic Decathlon Competition and advanced to nationals for fifteen years in a row.

Extracurricular activities

The Raiders compete in the Sunflower League and are classified as a 6A school (despite the drop in enrollment), the largest classification in Kansas according to 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, ...

. Throughout its history, Shawnee Mission South has won several state championships in various sports. Many graduates have gone on to participate in collegiate athletics.

Athletics

State championships

Notable alumni

* David Dastmalchian, actor *

Stephen Dolginoff Stephen Dolginoff is an American playwright and composer. His most notable work is ''Thrill Me'', the musical version of the true story of Leopold and Loeb, which opened Off-Broadway at the York Theatre in 2005, featuring Dolginoff himself as Na ...

, writer, composer * Richard Gilliland, actor * Gina Grad, voice actor, radio and podcast personality *

Neal Jeffrey James Neal Jeffrey Jr. (born July 23, 1953) is a former American football quarterback. He played for the San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end o ...

, former Baylor and

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 ...

quarterback * Tom Kane, voice actor * Steve Little, NFL football kicker and punter * Mike Morin, MLB baseball player * Rodney Peete, former

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

and

quarterback; sports television broadcaster *

Rob Riggle Robert A. Riggle Jr. (born April 21, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, and former United States Marine Officer. He is known for his work as a correspondent on Comedy Central's ''The Daily Show'' from 2006 to 2008; as a cast member on ''Satu ...

, actor, comedian *

Vince Snowbarger Vincent K. Snowbarger (born September 16, 1949) is an American lawyer and politician from Kansas. He is a former Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the United States House of Representatives. Early life Vincent K. Snowbarger ...

, lawyer and politician *

Peter Spears Peter Spears (born November 29, 1965) is an American actor and filmmaker. He was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and raised in Overland Park, Kansas. Spears is best known for winning an Oscar for producing ''Nomadland'' at the 93rd Academy Awards ...

, Academy Award-winning filmmaker and actor *

Carla Sunberg Carla D. Sunberg (born July 1, 1961) is an American ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene, administrator, academic, author, speaker and former missionary and registered nurse, who is the 2nd woman elected as a General Superintendent in th ...

, 10th President of Nazarene Theological Seminary, 1979 * Bobby Voelker, professional mixed martial artist, current UFC Welterweight

References

External links

* {{Authority control Education in Overland Park, Kansas Schools in Johnson County, Kansas Public high schools in Kansas Educational institutions established in 1966 1966 establishments in Kansas