Raytown South High School

Raytown South Senior High School
Location
8211 Sterling
Raytown, MO 64138
Coordinates 38°58′23″N 94°26′58″W / 38.97312°N 94.44953°WCoordinates: 38°58′23″N 94°26′58″W / 38.97312°N 94.44953°W
Information
Type Public
Established 1961
School district Raytown C-2 School District
Principal Dr. Kevin Overfelt
Faculty Lori Flaherty (activities)
Dr. Earl Donalson
Enrollment 1,404
Color(s)          Red and White
Mascot Cardinals
Information (816) 268-7330
Website Raytown South H.S.


Aerial view of Raytown South High School

Raytown South Senior High School is a high school located in Raytown, Missouri. The school was established in 1961, and graduated its first class of seniors in 1964. The enrollment at South peaked in the late 1970s, when it had the largest public school enrollment in the state of Missouri. As Raytown became less of a "destination-suburb" in the 1990s, the enrollment fell drastically. It is thought that the class of 1998, amassing 247 students, was the smallest graduating class ever.

Academics

Speech/Debate

The forensics program has had several national champions in various styles of debate. In 2008 Teonna Wesley placed Fourth in the nation for Poetry Reading. In 2006, Victor "Coy" Carter and Tyson Sprick were state champions in Duet Acting, becoming Coach Kelli Morrill's first state champs in Missouri. And also that same year, Coy Carter took Fifth in the nation for poetry reading. That year the squad set a school record, qualifying six students to the national tournament in Dallas, Texas. In 2007, the squad broke that record, sending 10 to nationals in Wichita, Kansas. In 2012, the Debate and Forensics team tied the record, sending 10 students to Nationals in Indianapolis. The squad set a school record - Joseph Summers and Joseph Bennett took second in Public Forum Debate, Garrett Poorman placed seventh in Lincoln Douglas debate, Michael Daniels and Daniel Worthington top 30 in Public Forum, and Ethan Wilkins taking second in the nation in Expository Speaking. Raytown South also was named a School of Excellence at the tournament. In 2015 their speech and debate team won conference.[1]

Choir

From 1984-2001, under the direction of Mary Bodney, the choir program saw several dozen student attain All-State status. The choir program was widely recognized in Kansas City, performing at various places such as Crown Center, Arrowhead Stadium and Royals Stadium. Every May, thousands came to an annual variety show called Southern Comfort. In November 2005, under the direction of Dustin Cates, Cardinal Chorale traveled to New York City and sang at Carnegie Hall, along with several other show choirs from across the country. Stacy Schumacher, who graduated from Raytown South in 1997, headed the choir for 2 years. Sending students to State solo and small ensemble was a forte. Brandon Bowman lead the choir for a transitional year to the now deeply rooted Brooke Little who has been with the cardinals for two years.

Journalism

The Raytown South school newspaper, Southern Exposure has seen several of its former editors go on to be collegiate newspaper editors.

Athletics

Boys Basketball

From the inception of the school until March 2006, the program was under the direction of the legendary Bud Lathrop. His career record was 955-300, going 924-267 at South. As of his retirement, Lathrop was ranked No. 7 all-time in high school career coaching victories in the United States.

Lathrop's teams won Missouri State Titles in:

He also went to the Final Four six other times in 1974, 1975, 1985, 1992, 1993, 2003.

He advanced to the state playoffs 23 times, and won 35 conference championships. Lathrop is a member of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

254 of Lathrop's former players went on to play college basketball at various levels.

Notable alumni

References

  1. ↑ http://www.raytownschools.org/News/Pages/SouthSpeechandDebateteamsnabconferencetitle.aspx

External links