Wyandotte High School is a fully accredited public high school located in
Kansas City, Kansas
Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...
, United States. It serves students in grades 9 to 12 and operated by the
Kansas City USD 500
Kansas City USD 500, also known as Kansas City Kansas Public Schools, is a public unified school district headquartered in Kansas City, Kansas, United States. As of 2021, it has approximately 23,690 students enrolled in the district in grades P ...
school district. The building itself is a historic and notable public building, which was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1986. The school principal is Mary Stewart. The mascot is the Bulldog and the school colors are red and white.
History
On March 28, 1985, the school building was designated as a
Kansas City, Kansas
Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...
Historic Landmark
A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been rec ...
. It was registered in ''Historic Kansas Places'' on November 23, 1985, and placed in the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
on April 30, 1986.
Stephen King's ''Sometimes They Come Back'' was filmed at Wyandotte.
Extracurricular activities
The Bulldogs are classified as a 6A school, 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, ...
. Wyandotte and
J. C. Harmon High School are the only 6A schools in
Kansas City USD 500
Kansas City USD 500, also known as Kansas City Kansas Public Schools, is a public unified school district headquartered in Kansas City, Kansas, United States. As of 2021, it has approximately 23,690 students enrolled in the district in grades P ...
school district, and as such often finds themselves in postseason competition with schools from Lawrence, Olathe, Overland Park (Blue Valley School District) and Shawnee Mission. Throughout its history, Wyandotte has won over fifty state championships in various sports. Many 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.
Athletics
Basketball
The Bulldogs are known nationwide for winning 20 state titles in basketball including a 1923 undefeated national championship season in which the Bulldogs beat Rockford, Illinois, by a score of 43–21.
One of the nation's most successful high school basketball coaches,
Walter Shublom
Walter R. Shublom was a former high school, junior college and college basketball coach, and minor league baseball player. He was inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame in 1982.
Early life and playing career
After graduating from S ...
led Wyandotte High School of Kansas City, Kansas to 10 state championships and three second-place finishes in his 14 seasons there from 1955 to 1969.
Shublom posted a 296–26 record (.919 winning percentage) at Wyandotte, with his 1957 and 1965 teams finishing unbeaten and another five teams finishing with just one loss.
He and Wyandotte High School share a spot in the
Basketball Hall of Fame
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...
in
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...
, where they fall under the heading of high school dynasty. For ten straight seasons, from 1956 to 1965, Shublom's Bulldogs played in the state championship game. In seven of those years they were successful, including five straight years, 1957–1961. The basketball team also won a state championship in basketball in 1998.
Football
In November 2006, the football team made a playoff appearance for the first time since 1987, but suffered a loss to
St. Thomas Aquinas High School. Wyandotte's football teams have won the state championship six times, occurring in 1921 (9–0), 1923, 1932 (8-0-1 season), 1933 (9-0 co-champions), 1942 (10-0 season), and 1952 (9-0 season).
State championships
* State football championships are not recognized by the KSHSAA prior to 1969. 1969 was the first year that the KSHSAA sponsored the football state championships. Adding the six state football titles would bring Wyandotte's total to 59.
Wyandotte Pup
In the early 1930s, students built a two-seat monoplane aircraft designed by Noel Hockaday. It was called the Wyandotte Pup. The design rights were bought by the Porterfield Aircraft Corporation and the aircraft entered production as the
Porterfield Flyabout.
Notable alumni
*
Boots Adams
Kenneth Stanley "Boots" Adams (August 31, 1899 – March 30, 1975) was an American business executive, University of Kansas booster, and civic philanthropist of Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Adams began his career with the Phillips Petroleum Company i ...
, former president of
Phillips Petroleum Company
Phillips Petroleum Company was an American oil company incorporated in 1917 that expanded into petroleum refining, marketing and transportation, natural gas gathering and the chemicals sectors. It was Phillips Petroleum that first found oil in the ...
*
Virginia Aderholdt, cryptanalyst and Japanese translator at
Arlington Hall
Arlington Hall (also called Arlington Hall Station) is a historic building in Arlington, Virginia, originally a girls' school and later the headquarters of the United States Army's Signal Intelligence Service (SIS) cryptography effort during Worl ...
, who decrypted the intercepted Japanese surrender message, August 14, 1945.
*
Lucius Allen
Lucius Oliver Allen, Jr. (born September 26, 1947) is an American former professional basketball player. He is one of only a select few players to have won at least one state championship, collegiate national championship, and NBA championship. ...
, former
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
&
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
player, third pick of
1969 NBA draft
The 1969 NBA draft was the 23rd annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 7 and May 7, 1969, before the 1969–70 season. In this draft, fourteen NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college bas ...
*
Edward Asner
Eddie Asner (; November 15, 1929 – August 29, 2021) was an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild. He is best remembered for portraying Lou Grant during the 1970s and early 1980s, on both ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' an ...
, actor, ''
Elf
An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes "ligh ...
'', ''
Up'', ''
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977. Moor ...
'', ''
Lou Grant
Lou Grant is a fictional character played by Ed Asner in two television series produced by MTM Enterprises for CBS. The first was ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), a half-hour light-hearted situation comedy in which the character ...
'', won seven
Primetime Emmy Awards
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...
, most of any male actor in history
*
Lyron Cobbins, former
NFL and
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 23 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...
All-American linebacker
*
Larry Comley
Lawrence Robert Comley (August 17, 1939 – January 21, 2006) was an American professional basketball player.[NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...]
professional basketball player
*
Lucien Conein
Lucien Emile "Lou" Conein (29 November 1919 – 3 June 1998)Barnes, Bart"Lucien E. Conein Dies at 79: Fabled Agent for OSS and CIA" ''The Washington Post'', June 6, 1998. p. B6. was a French-American citizen, noted U.S. Army officer and OSS/CIA o ...
, intelligence officer for the
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
*
Larry Drew
Larry Donnell Drew (born April 2, 1958) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who serves as assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Drew was named to the Kansas Sports ...
, former head coach of the
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...
; former
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
player for multiple teams after playing in college for
Missouri Tigers
The Missouri Tigers intercollegiate athletics programs represent the University of Missouri, located in Columbia. The name comes from a band of armed Union Home Guards called the Fighting Tigers of Columbia who, in 1864, protected Columbia fro ...
*
Nolen Ellison,
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...
basketball star and pioneering community college educator
*
Ray Evans
Raymond Bernard Evans (February 4, 1915 – February 15, 2007) was an American songwriter. He was a partner in a composing and song-writing duo with Jay Livingston, known for the songs they composed for films. Evans wrote the lyrics and Living ...
, former
NFL player
*
Reggie Jones, former
NFL player and NCAA track & Field relay champion
*
Steve Renko
Steve Renko, Jr. (born December 10, 1944) is a former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played for the Montreal Expos (1969–1976), Chicago Cubs (1976–1977), Chicago White Sox (1977), Oakland Athletics (1978), Boston Red S ...
, former
MLB
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
player (
Montreal Expos
The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...
,
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
,
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
,
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...
,
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
,
California Angels
The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...
,
Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...
)
*
Pierre Russell, former
Kansas Jayhawks
The Kansas Jayhawks, commonly referred to as simply KU or Kansas, are the athletic teams that represent the University of Kansas. KU is one of three schools in the state of Kansas that participate in NCAA Division I. The Jayhawks are also a mem ...
and professional basketball player
*
Skip Thomas
Alonzo "Skip" Thomas (February 7, 1950 – July 24, 2011), nicknamed "Dr. Death", was an American football cornerback who played in the National Football League (NFL).
College career
Thomas was awarded a scholarship to play football at Arizona W ...
, former
NFL cornerback for
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...
after playing in college for
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 ...
*
Spencer Thomas, former
NFL player
*
Calvin Thompson
Calvin Thompson (born June 27, 1964) is an American basketball coach and a member of the University of Kansas' 1986 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, 1986 Final Four team. He holds Kansas' record for most consecutive free throws made a ...
, former
Kansas Jayhawks
The Kansas Jayhawks, commonly referred to as simply KU or Kansas, are the athletic teams that represent the University of Kansas. KU is one of three schools in the state of Kansas that participate in NCAA Division I. The Jayhawks are also a mem ...
and professional basketball player
*
Dee Wallace
Deanna Wallace (née Bowers; born December 14, 1948), also known as Dee Wallace Stone, is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Mary Taylor, the mother in the 1982 blockbuster film ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial''. She is ...
, actress, ''
E.T.
''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (or simply ''E.T.'') is a 1982 American science fiction film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Melissa Mathison. It tells the story of Elliott, a boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, dub ...
'', ''
The Howling
''The Howling'' is a 1977 horror novel by Gary Brandner. It was the inspiration for the movie ''The Howling'' (1981), although the plot of the movie was only vaguely similar to that of the book.
Brandner published two sequels to the novel, '' T ...
'', ''
Cujo
''Cujo'' () is a 1981 psychological horror novel by American writer Stephen King about a rabid Saint Bernard. The novel won the British Fantasy Award in 1982 and was made into a film in 1983.
Background
Cujo's name was based on the alias of Wi ...
''
*
Cheryl Womack, entrepreneur
See also
*
List of high schools in Kansas
This is a list of high schools in the state of Kansas.
Allen County
* Humboldt High School, Humboldt, USD 258
*Iola High School, Iola, USD 257
* Marmaton Valley High School, Moran, USD 256
Anderson County
* Anderson County Jr/Sr High Schoo ...
*
List of unified school districts in Kansas
This is a list of unified school districts (USD) in the state of Kansas. It is grouped by county, based on the headquarters location of each school district.
Allen County
* Humboldt USD 258
* Iola USD 257
* Marmaton Valley USD 256
Ande ...
;Other high schools in Kansas City USD 500 school district
*
J. C. Harmon High School in Kansas City
*
F. L. Schlagle High School in Kansas City
*
Washington High School in Kansas City
*
Sumner Academy of Arts and Science
Sumner Academy of Arts and Science is a nationally ranked magnet school in Kansas City, Kansas which prepares students for high-level academic and creative pursuits. Named for abolitionist Charles Sumner, it started in 1905 during a period of ra ...
in Kansas City
References
External links
Official School Website
{{Authority control
Public high schools in Kansas
School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Kansas
Buildings and structures in Kansas City, Kansas
Schools in Wyandotte County, Kansas
Education in Kansas City, Kansas
National Register of Historic Places in Kansas City, Kansas
Art Deco architecture in Kansas
1886 establishments in Kansas