Shawnee Mission South High School

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 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 Blue Ribbon School, 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 was that of the Center for International Studies. The Center for International Studies (CIS) provided intensive instruction in four languages: Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian. The program also provided students the opportunity to attend geopolitics classes rather than regular social studies courses. As of now, only Arabic is still taught at Shawnee Mission South, with Chinese being taught at Shawnee Mission East High School, Japanese at Shawnee Mission Northwest High School, and Russian at Shawnee Mission North High School. 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. 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

Non-athletic Programs

Debate

Two debaters, Brooklyn Hato and Mary "Clare" Bradley won the NCFL National Championship in 2022 and repeated as national champions When Madison Augustine and Jeremiah Rimpsom won in 2023. The debate team, once again Brooklyn and Clare also won the 2023 National Speech & Debate Tournament

Notable alumni

• Ethan Corson — member of the Kansas Senate representing the 7th district; director of Kansas Democratic Party; senior advisor to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker; and chief of staff of the International Trade Administration
• David Dastmalchian — actor
• Stephen Dolginoff — writer, composer
• Carl R. Gerlach — mayor of Overland Park, Kansas from 2005–2021
• Richard Gilliland — actor
• Gina Grad —voice actor, radio and podcast personality
• Neal Jeffrey — former Baylor and NFL quarterback
• Tom Kane — voice actor
• Steve Little — NFL football kicker and punter
• Mike Morin — MLB baseball player
• Rodney Peete — former USC and NFL quarterback; sports television broadcaster
• Rob Riggle — actor, comedian
• Vince Snowbarger — lawyer and politician
• Peter Spears — Academy Award-winning filmmaker and actor
• Carla Sunberg — president of Nazarene Theological Seminary, 1979
• Bobby Voelker — professional mixed martial artist, current UFC Welterweight
• Ge Wang — professor at Stanford University, author, entrepreneur If you add/edit this section, it is YOUR responsibility to ensure ALL of the following is met:

1. You MUST insert each person into the list, sorted/ordered by last name (surname) or class year.
2. Each person MUST meet the Wikipedia:Notability (people) guideline.
3. If a person has a Wikipedia article, then you MUST wikilink the persons name to the correct wikipedia article. Their wikipedia article MUST state the person attended or worked at the school.
4. If a person doesn't have a Wikipedia article, then you MUST add a citation reference (Wikipedia:Citing sources) to prove notability (Wikipedia:Notability (people)) and the reference MUST state the person attended or worked at the school (Wikipedia:Verifiability).
   • END OF INSTRUCTIONS *** --

References

References

1. [https://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:2099347 GNIS entry for Shawnee Mission South High School; USGS; November 16, 2006.]
2. [http://www.suny.edu/student/search_highschool/index.cfm High School CEEB Code Search]
3. "Shawnee Mission South High". National Center for Education Statistics.
4. "KSHSAA School Classification List".
5. "School Search - Shawnee Mission South HS". Kansas State High School Activities Association.
6. "My High School Journalism".
7. "Better Than Necessary: A Celebrational History of Shawnee Mission North High School".
8. (20 November 2017). "Half a century ago, The Who rocked SM South's gymnasium".
9. (7 July 2012). "17 November 1967: Overland Park, KS, Shawnee Mission South". The Who Concert Guide.
10. (2007). "1960's & 1970's Concerts in Kansas City". Winds of Change KC.
11. "Blue Ribbon Schools". Kansas Department of Education.
12. [https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1639492813/smsdorg/bgo7lpvn7c1kznx7necs/2022-2023HighSchoolProgramPlanningGuide.pdf Shawnee Mission School District High School Program Planning Guide 2022-2023]
13. "Shawnee Mission South High School".
14. "State Records & State Champions".
15. "State Records & State Champions".
16. (3 July 2023). "SM South debate wins largest national competition for the first time".
17. "Neal Jeffrey Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
18. (August 7, 2008). "Yoda he sounds like". [[Kansas City Star]].
19. (September 10, 1999). "Hog fans remember Little". [[Lubbock Avalanche-Journal]].
20. (September 7, 1999). "Former Arkanasa football star Steve Little dies at 43". [[Nevada Daily Mail]].
21. Dodd, Rustin. (June 11, 2009). "Royals focus on college talent in Draft". MLB.com.
22. Hudson, Maryann. (May 9, 1988). "Football or Baseball, the Choice Is Up to USC's Rodney Peete". [[Los Angeles Times]].
23. Gutierrez, Lisa. (February 1, 2013). "Rob Riggle is one of Hollywood's — and football's — funniest personalities". Kansas City Star.
24. "Snowbarger, Vincent K.".
25. (January 17, 2018). "Movie generating Oscar buzz was produced by Shawnee Mission South grad". [[The Kansas City Star]].
26. "Bobby Voelker UFC Bio".
27. "Ge Wang - Curriculum Vitae".