Triton Senior High School
| Triton High School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
|
Dodge Center, Minnesota USA | |
| Information | |
| Type | High School, grades 9 - 12 |
| Established | 1990 |
| School district | Dodge Center, West Concord and Claremont |
| Color(s) | Maroon and Grey |
| Mascot | Cobra |
| Yearbook | Tradition |
Triton High School is a public school in Dodge Center, Minnesota.
Triton's mascot is the Cobra and colors are maroon and gray. The Cobra mascot and school colors were created when Dodge Center and Claremont High Schools partnered for basketball, baseball and softball during the 1989-1990 school year. Colors were created by combining both schools' main colors: green (Dodge Center), and orange (Claremont), which resulted in maroon; then secondary colors: white (Dodge Center) with black (Claremont) – resulting in gray. Mascot of a Cobra was created by collaboration of two (co). When these two towns created a new high school along with a third town, West Concord, in 1990, the students in all three towns voted to name the school "Triton" and keep the Cobra mascot and colors of maroon and gray. Other options for school names were Tritown, West Dodgemont High School, Dodge Westmont, Dodge County West and Tri-Community High School.
History
Triton Senior High was established in 1990 when the communities of Dodge Center, West Concord and Claremont, combined to create one high school and junior high school. The newly created high school was housed in the former Dodge Center High School building and the junior high school was housed in the former West Concord High School building. Each town continued to operate separate elementary schools. The first Triton High School seniors graduated in 1991.
A bond referendum was passed in 1996 to build an addition to the high school building in Dodge Center, adding Triton Primary School and additional high school space, which opened in the fall of 1998.[1] Later, Triton relocated its junior high (middle school) from West Concord to Dodge Center and officially opened in the fall of 2009. Additional space was added and renovations were made in 2012 as the Triton community continued to grow.
Senior Seminar
Triton offers many successful programs. For example, Senior Seminar is a class taken in the final semester of high school. The class reinforces seniors' life skills, such as financial planning and job interviewing techniques. This class must be passed in order for students to graduate. Through this class, students also complete a project wherein students must write a paper, complete a project, then present their findings to a board of faculty and community members.[2]
Unique upper-level electives
Pre-Calculus is a class designed to challenge the upper grade levels at Triton. Throughout these two semesters, the class will cover functions and their inverses. It also teaches how they are used.
World Cultures is a course offered that helps students understand what culture is and the role culture plays in human history.
Theater Arts is a one-semester English elective where students study some of the classics of theatre. In the course students also learn the basics of play production and acting.
Music and Issues studies the history of music.
Applied Science is a science elective designed around Science Olympiad. Students participate in competition and contests designed around different concepts. Started in 2009, the Physics/Chemistry teacher wanted to provide a different approach to science education, while at the same time provide "strength training" for the Science Olympiad team.
Physics is a science elective that helps students understand the world, and necessary for anyone that would like to pursue a future in science. This elective covers forces, motion, and energy.
Welding 2 is a class that uses TIG to weld stainless steel and aluminum, and is helpful in preparing students for future careers.
Accounting is a class that teaches students how businesses handle transactions and money.
Athletics
The Triton athletic fields are named for former Dodge Center High School football coach, Wally Hitt.
The Triton Cobras, coached by Don Henderson, won the Minnesota State Football championship in 1994 (B Division), 2000 (AA Division) and in 2006 (AA Division). In 2006, Triton's football team won every game in the AA Division. The 2006 Cobras hold a Minnesota State High School League Prep Bowl record for both the highest scoring team in a championship game (70 points), as well as total scoring game for both teams (91 points). Two members of the 1994 state championship team also hold individual Minnesota State High School League Prep Bowl records: Kirk Midthun ('96) for most touchdown passes (6) and Judge Gisslen ('95) for most touchdown receptions (4 – record since tied). Kirk Midthun was the AP Minnesota Player of the Year in 1994 and 1995 (a co-winner with Tim Rosga of Cretin Derham Hall).[3]
- Triton Football has the state record of most points scored in a season; in 2006, they averaged 51.3 points a game.[4]
- The boys' basketball team has managed various tournament wins over the years. They were Section Runner-Ups in 2008 and 2AA Champions for the first time in school history in 2009.[5]
- The girls' basketball team won the conference championship in 1991-92.
- The girls' softball team won the conference championship in 1991-92.[6]
- The Triton wrestling team has had 22 wrestlers go to the state wrestling tournament.[7]
- Triton track has sent 42 athletes in 15 different events to the state meet.
- Triton has offered boys' golf since 1991 and girls' golf since 1993. Triton’s had three people go on to state.[8]
- Triton has offered dance line as a girls' winter sport since 2008.
Arts and organizations
In co-curricular areas, Triton High School has a successful and comprehensive theater program under the direction of Mr. John Schreiber, offering a fall high school play, a one-act competition play and a spring musical. For the fall play, Triton has produced American classics such as Arsenic and Old Lace, Pulitzer-prize winners such as Skin of Our Teeth and newer classics such as The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged). Since 1993, Triton's one-act has been named a "starring production" every year in the conference's annual one-act festival, has advanced to section finals in the Minnesota State High School League's one-act competition, and has performed in the state festival twice. Musicals have also run the range from Oklahoma, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat to Man of La Mancha.[9]
The Triton High School band is an outstanding program. On average there are 80 high school students who participate in band. There are 15 instruments that are routinely played in this band. There are two different level bands for the high school students, symphonic band and concert band. Besides these two bands, Triton also has a jazz band and a pep band. Triton High School choir also excels under the direction of Mr. Craig Anderson.
The 2003-2004 school year was the 1st year for Link Crew. Link Crew is a program to help freshmen and new students with their transition to high school. Link Crew is made up of about 20 juniors and seniors who are leaders in the school. These student leaders host events all year with the freshmen to improve school spirit.
Math League is a fun competition where students go to other schools to compete with math questions. The math topics are algebra, geometry, trigonometry, algebra 2, and pre-calc.
E.A.R.T.H. stands for Environmental Awareness and Responsibility at Triton High. In E.A.R.T.H., students organize all the recycling at Triton, adopt highways, do special things for Earth during Earth week, sponsor cell phone drives and clean up the football stands after home games.
BPA: Business Professionals of America began in 2009 and became a new addition to Triton High School. BPA helps with practical skills related to business. Students in BPA compete in 60 different events.
There are many FFA (National FFA Organization) contests, ranging from animal judging to crop judging to mechanics. The FFA grows a garden in West Concord in order to sell the produce. They also show animals in the county fairs and the Minnesota State Fair.
Knowledge Bowl is actually a series of interdisciplinary contests where students compete in written and oral rounds by answering questions to all areas of learning. Questions test students' recall, problem solving, and critical thinking skills.