Stevens High School (South Dakota)

Stevens High School is one of two public high schools in Rapid City, South Dakota. The school opened after Thanksgiving in 1969 and has an enrollment of approximately 1700 students. Renowned for excellence in academics, performing arts, and athletics, the school is situated in the foothills of South Dakota's beautiful Black Hills on the city's western outskirts. The school colors are blue and silver, and the school teams and organizations are known as the "Raiders", after the highly original mascot known as "The Raider Guy".

The campus includes an 800 seat theater with state of the art computerized lighting and sound equipment, and a college-class gym complex with multiple basketball courts, dedicated wrestling and weight-training facilities . The Carroll Heier Gymnasium seating 5,000+ spectators has hosted a national ESPN broadcast, as well as speakers such as George McGovern and Mrs. Richard Nixon. Stevens is among a handful of high schools anywhere possessing a large concert organ, a three manual 88 stop instrument in the Milo Winter Fine Arts Auditorium.

Stevens has had 8 students named as U.S. Presidential Scholars since 1970, a virtually unprecedented achievement for a comprehensive public school.

The marching and concert bands are renowned for their excellence, and received the John Philip Sousa Foundation's Sudler Flag of Honor, an international award recognizing high school concert bands of outstanding musical excellence, in 1985. The "Raider Fight Song", written by internationally famous band composer Paul Yoder, was premiered by the Rapid City High School Band at nearby Mount Rushmore prior to the schools opening with the composer in attendance. The band has performed concerts in several European countries, as well as at the Rose Parade in Pasedena and at Mile High Stadium for the Denver Broncos.

The 120 member Stevens Symphonic Orchestra, one of the nation's premier high school orchestras, has dominated the South Dakota All-State Orchestra Competition for 30 years, placing a record 53 members in the 2001 All-State Orchestra. The Stevens Chamber Orchestra won the Gold Medal at the prestigious Young Manhattan Music Festival in 1985, receiving a standing ovation from judge Samuel Adler of the Eastman School of Music. The orchestra's repertoire regularly includes works by symphonic masters such as Beethoven, Tschaikowsky, Brahms, Kalinnikov, etc. In May 2007, the "Jay Sharp Memorial Concert Organ" of 100 digital ranks was dedicated in a performance of Saint Saens "Organ Symphony #3" featuring organist Justin Matters.

The athletic teams at Stevens have combined for more state titles than any other South Dakota High School. Stevens is nearing the 100 state title mark.

In a 2006 Sports Illustrated article, Stevens was identified as the #1 athletic high school in the state of South Dakota. In this same article, Stevens was picked as the 41st best school nationally for activities among thousands of eligible schools.

The girls' track team has won every state title since 1996. (12th in 2007)

Notable alumni

• Randy Lewis-Olympic Gold Medalist-Wrestling 1984
• Bill Rounds-Boston Symphony/Pops Cellist
• Becky Hammon - WNBA All-Star
• Mark Ellis - Major League Baseball player for the Oakland Athletics, former Florida Gator
• Eric Piatkowski - NBA Basketball player
• Catherine Bach - Actress
• Dave Collins - MLB Player from 1975 -1990
• Kata Kärkkäinen - Finnish author, artist and columnist, and Playboy Magazine's Playmate of the Month in December 1988 (attended Stevens High School as a foreign exchange student)

External links

• http://rcas.org