Wichita South High School

History

South first opened its doors in 1959. South's floor plan was modeled exactly after the Southeast's floor plan for their original building on Edgemoor. When South opened, their sports teams were known as the Colonels. In the 1970s, the Wichita School board requested that South change their mascot name. The name Titans was chosen by students and the original Titan logo, which is still used by the school to this day, was drawn by a student. In the late 1970s, a $2 million football stadium was built. In 1985, South High athletic director C. Elmer Carpenter died and the football stadium was named in his honor. Also, in the 1980s, Sims Elementary, which was situated just a few hundred feet from the eastern end of the school, closed. South began using the old elementary school for the language arts department.

The school went up to 2004 without any major changes. In 2003, the school board approved a construction project to connect the main building of South to the "Sim Building" (as students and faculty called it), the project also added two new hallways and 20 new classrooms. The project began in early 2004 and was finally completed a year later in 2005. Also added to the school, from the same bond issue, was a baseball field that opened for play in 2007.

In 2008, another bond issue was passed by the Wichita School Board to create "equal athletic facility opportunities" for all Wichita high schools. South's share of the bond issue was $10 million, which was used to put a new floor on the gym, buy new equipment for the school's weight room, improvements to the school's tennis court, and renovations to Carpenter Stadium including putting in Fieldturf on the field and new goalposts, as well as resurfacing the track.

On October 24, 2011, the Wichita School Board approved a $14.2 million bond issue to build a new 2,400-seat gym, a new practice room for the wrestling team, a walking track, and new locker rooms, as well as a new swimming pool, music suite, new pottery studio, art space, digital photography classrooms, a culinary arts room and a room devoted to its new fire science program that started in the 2011–2012 school year.

Student demographics

Wichita South's 2008–2009 enrollment was 1,617 students. The demographic breakdown of the population is as follows: 55.6% of students are white, 19.6% are African-American, 13.9% are Hispanic, 2.7% are Asian, 4.1% are American Indian, and 4.2% are multi-ethnic. As of 2008, 59% of South's students, due to a low-income family, qualified for reduced lunches. The student-teacher ratio is 22:1. South teachers had an average of 7 years of teaching experience . Additionally, south high employed 114 certified classroom teachers, 61 of whom hold master's degrees. The drop-out rate in 2007 was 7%, compared to a district average of 4%. The graduation rate for 2007 was 67.7%, compared to a district average of 76.4%.

Athletics

South is a member of the Kansas State High School Activities Association and offers a variety of sports programs. Athletic teams compete in the 6A division and the Greater Wichita Athletic League and are known as the Titans. Throughout its history, South has won 26 state championships. The schools most successful sports are its boys and girls basketball teams and its now defunct girls' gymnastics team. South's sports rival is Wichita West.

Facilities

State championships

*Sport discontinued

Notable alumni

• Robert Courtney, former pharmacist who is in prison for diluting cancer drugs
• Tim Elliott, UFC fighter
• Ted Gilmore, college football coach at Michigan State University
• Davontae Harris, NFL cornerback that is a free agent
• Skinny Hightower, jazz pianist
• Don Johnson, actor
• Allen Lyday, former defensive back for the Houston Oilers
• Lawrence Pete, former defensive tackle for the Detroit Lions
• Vicki Schmidt, politician, Kansas Insurance Commissioner.
• Jamall Walker, basketball coach at Grand Canyon University
• Kyle Wilson NFL and CFL linebacker for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
• Steve Woodberry, scout for the Minnesota Timberwolves
  • INSTRUCTIONS FOR NOTABLE ALUMNI/FACULTY SECTIONS IN SCHOOL ARTICLES *** 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:2497463 GNIS entry] for South High School; [[USGS]]; October 24, 2008.
2. "Wichita Public Schools / Homepage".
3. SUNY. "High School CEEB Code Search - SUNY".
4. "South High". National Center for Education Statistics.
5. "KSHSAA School Classification List".
6. "School Search – Wichita-South HS". Kansas State High School Activities Association.
7. "2018-2019 Classifications and Enrollments".
8. "BOE approves $14.2 million bond project for South High". Kansas.com.
9. "South High facts". High Schools.com.
10. "South High Student Agenda".
11. "State Records & State Champions".
12. (September 25, 2001). "Robert R. Courtney: From quiet kid to wealthy pharmacist to indicted defendant". [[Tribune News Service]].
13. "Wichitan Tim Elliott gets his shot in UFC title fight".
14. "Wisconsin hiring ex-Raiders receivers coach Ted Gilmore to same position".
15. "Davontae Harris defies injury to become NFL Draft prospect".
16. "Chart-topping musician relocates to Wichita". The McClatchy Company.
17. "Stars from the Sunflower State".
18. "Allen Lyday NFL Stats". Database Football.
19. "Lawrence Pete Profile". Databasefootball.com.
20. "2022 General Election Bios".
21. Eisenbath, Mike. (November 23, 1995). "Meet the Billikens". St Louis Post-Dispatch.
22. "Former Wichita South standout Kyle Wilson gets NFL shot with Philadelphia Eagles".
23. "Steve Woodberry Bio".