Parsons Senior High School

Parsons Senior High School

"Victor The Viking"
Address
3030 Morton Avenue [1]
Parsons, Kansas 67357
United States
Coordinates 37°19′58″N 95°16′57″W / 37.332905°N 95.282427°W / 37.332905; -95.282427Coordinates: 37°19′58″N 95°16′57″W / 37.332905°N 95.282427°W / 37.332905; -95.282427
Information
School type Public, High School
School board Board Website
School district USD 503 [2]
Superintendent Shelly Martin
CEEB Code 172343 [3]
Principal Matt Rogers
Grades 9 to 12
Gender coed
Schedule 7:55am to 3:15pm
Campus type Urban
Color(s)      Blue
     Gold
Athletics conference Southeast Kansas League
Mascot Viking
Rival Labette County High School
Website School Website

Parsons Senior High School is a public secondary school in Parsons, Kansas, USA operated by Unified School District 503, and serves students of grades 9 to 12. It is the sole high school in the school district.

The school colors are blue and gold and the school mascot is "Victor the Viking". It is a member of the Kansas State High School Activities Association and offers a variety of sports programs. Athletic teams compete in the 4A division. Extracurricular activities are also offered in the form of performing arts, school publications, and clubs.

History

In 1882, some of the first high school classes offered in Parsons were conducted at McKinley School (now closed). The first Parsons High School building was constructed in 1893 and cost $30,000. It was located at Twenty-Sixth and Main Street. It served the city in its original capacity for a little over 30 years. When the high school/junior college building was constructed on Main Street in the late 1920s, the old high school would become West Junior High School. By the 1950s, voters agreed that a new high school should begin construction. By the late 50's, the current Parsons High School building was completed. In 2009, a major renovation project went underway for Parsons High School and was fully completed before the fall semester began. It gave Parsons High School the modern look that can be observed today.

Academics

Parsons Senior High School has a 93% graduation rate.[4] In addition to this, 77% of graduates continue to post-secondary education.[4] PHS offers outstanding general education classes as well as exceptional CTE programs such as Automotive Technology, Graphic Design, Health Science, Welding and more.

Extracurricular activities

The Vikings compete in the Southeast Kansas League and are classified as a 4A school. Throughout its history, Parsons has won several state championships in various sports.

Athletics

Tennis

Parsons Senior High School is well-noted for its excellence in a variety of sports, especially in boys' and girls' tennis. The boys' team has won four state championships in tennis, while the girls' teams has won five.

State Championships

State Championships[5]
Season Sport Number of Championships Year
Fall Tennis, Girls 5 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2005
Winter Basketball, Boys 3 1973, 1975, 1987
Spring Tennis, Boys 4 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
Golf, Boys 5 1970, 1971 (2-Man), 1994, 1995, 2000
Track & Field, Boys 1 1991
Total 18

Parsons Senior High School offers the following sports:

Fall

  • Football
  • Volleyball
  • Boys Cross-Country
  • Girls Cross-Country
  • Girls Golf
  • Girls Tennis
  • Cheerleading
  • Dance Squad
  • Marching Band

Winter

  • Boys Basketball
  • Girls Basketball
  • Boys Swimming/Diving
  • Wrestling
  • Winter Percussion
  • Winter Cheerleading

Spring

  • Baseball
  • Boys Golf
  • Boys Tennis
  • Girls Soccer
  • Girls Swimming/Diving
  • Softball
  • Boys Track and Field
  • Girls Track and Field

Debate and Forensics

Parsons High School is also well-noted for its excellence in debate and forensics, having won several individual and team state championships in both debate and forensics. Parsons was the first school to win the 4-speaker and 2-speaker state debate championships in the same year, doing so in 1993, the first year that the 2-speaker championships existed. In 1990, PHS became the only school ever to have two students (Ajit Pai and Michael Monninger) in the top four National Forensic League (NFL) point leaders in the same year. For several years, PHS also led the nation in most NFL All-Americans produced, and had more students amongst the all-time NFL point leaders than any other school from Kansas.[6] Between 1985 and 2016 Parsons has been represented at the National Speech and Debate Tournament 29 out of those 32 years. In 2012, Steven Wood, the former debate and forensics coach at Parsons High School was inducted into the National Forensic League Hall of Fame, which is the highest honor for a high school speech and debate coach.[7]

Notable alumni

References

  1. GNIS for Parsons High School; USGS; July 1, 1984.
  2. USD 503
  3. High School CEEB Code Search
  4. 1 2 "Parsons Senior High School" (English). Retrieved 2010-03-25.
  5. "State Records & State Champions" (English). Retrieved 2010-02-05.
  6. "NFL's All Time Point Leaders" (PDF). Rostrum. 1995.
  7. "National Forensic League Hall of Fame". 2012.
  8. McMillen, Margot Ford; Roberson, Heather (2002). Called to courage four women in Missouri history. Columbia: University of Missouri Press. pp. 100–126. ISBN 9780826263643.
  9. "Shaun Hill" (English). Retrieved 2008-07-31.

External links

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