Shawnee Mission School District - Shawnee Mission West High School

Shawnee Mission West High School

Shawnee Mission West's mascot is the Viking and the official school colors are black and gold. West opened its doors in 1962; since then, it has been remodeled several times. Additions have also been made to the school, the most famous of which is "the bridge," an actual bridge between halves of the school that later had classrooms added beneath it. The current principal of Shawnee Mission West is Dr. Charles McLean. As of 2006, its population is 2,042.It's located in Overland Park at 85th Street and Antioch Road. The former principal, Dr. Karl Krawitz was the NEA III District Educator of the Year for 2004-2005. SM West is home to both an award-winning school newspaper, the EPIC, and yearbook, SAGA. The Epic was ranked the 5th best Newsmagazine in the country by the Scholastic Press Association in 2010. SM West has twice (1986 and 2007) placed second at the National Forensic League tournament for policy debate. SM West has a student body population that is 10% African American, which is the highest African American population of any Shawnee Mission high school. Statistically, SM West is the most ethnically diverse high school in the district. SM West draws its student population from both Overland Park, Lenexa, and from small parts of Shawnee.

Read more about this topic:  Shawnee Mission School District

Famous quotes containing the words mission, west, high and/or school:

    “I am succeeding quite well in my work and the future looks well. What special mission is God preparing me for? Cutting off all earthly ties and isolating me as it were.”
    —Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards (1842–1911)

    “Personality is the most important thing to an actress’s success.”
    —Mae West (1892–1980)

    “Men are in the main alike, but they were made several in order that they might be various. If a low use is to be served, one man will do nearly quite as well as another; if a high one, individual excellence is to be regarded.”
    —Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    “While most of today’s jobs do not require great intelligence, they do require greater frustration tolerance, personal discipline, organization, management, and interpersonal skills than were required two decades and more ago. These are precisely the skills that many of the young people who are staying in school today, as opposed to two decades ago, lack.”
    —James P. Comer (20th century)