Papillion-La Vista South High School

Papillion-La Vista South High School
Location
Papillion, Nebraska, USA
Information
Type	Public high school
Established	2003
School district	Papillion-La Vista Public Schools
Principal	Dr. Enid Schonewise
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	1,519 (2009-10)
Campus	Suburb
Color(s)	Blue, Black & Silver
Mascot	Titans
Website	www.plshs.esu3.org

Papillion-La Vista South High School (commonly referred to as Papio South, PLSHS, or PLS) is a high school in Papillion, Nebraska. It is one of two high schools in the Papillion-La Vista Public School District. The school's principal is Dr. Enid Schonewise, a former All-American volleyball player at the University of Nebraska.

History

Papillion-La Vista South High School opened in the fall of 2003. The school was created due of the rise in population in and around the city of Papillion. Before South was built, the only high school in Papillion was Papillion La Vista Senior High School; at the time (due to over population) only grades 10-12 attended Papillion Senior High. The 9th grade students attended classes at either Papillion Junior High or La Vista Junior High. With the creation of PLS, 9th graders began attending the high school.

Mascot

In 2001 (when the class of 2007 was in 6th grade) the Papillion School District invited all 6th - 8th grade students to send in ideas for a nickname and color scheme for the new high school (PLS). After five mascots were chosen by the School District, the 6th-8th graders were allowed to cast ballots and vote for one of the five finalists. The nickname "Titans" won by a landslide, due in large part to the then-popularity of the movie Remember The Titans. The students also voted for the new school's black, blue and silver color scheme.

In 2007, the Papillion-LaVista school board voted on a new mascot for PLS. The name was chosen to be the "Fightin' Titan."

Education

According to an August 18, 2004 report published in the Omaha World Herald, PLS had one of the ten highest average ACT scores out of the Omaha Metro Area and the Lincoln, NE area.

In 2007, Senior Zach Norwood attained the school's first perfect score on the exam. In 2010, Juniors Zach Foster and Garin Newcomb repeated the feat.

Papillion South offers: French, German, and Spanish as secondary languages that students may take along with many other challenging courses.

Activities

Papillion-La Vista South is home to many clubs, sports, and activities. Some of the clubs PLS offers are: DECA, FBLA, Leo Club , National Honors Society, NJROTC, Skills USA, Future Educators Association, ProStart Culinary Arts, cheerleading, marching band, Student Council, foreign language clubs (associated with the secondary languages students can take), Key Club, Step Team choir and three show choirs.

Among Papillion South's choral clubs is their varsity show choir, Titanium. Titanium is a competitive show choir that has competed throughout the region and have received many awards. In past seasons they won the competition in the Winter Park Ski Festival for two years in a row, as did their concert choir in 2005.

Athletics

PLS offers the following sports: baseball, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls cross country, football, boys and girls golf, boys and girls Association Football, softball, boys and girls swimming (the swimming team is composed of both PLSHS and Papillion-La Vista High School students), boys and girls track and field, boys and girls tennis, volleyball, and wrestling. All sports (as well as activities such as Forensics and Drama) are sponsored by the NSAA. Other sports are offered as club sports to PLS students that are not officially sponsored by PLS. Some of these sports are trap, lacrosse, rugby union, and hockey. All of these sports (excluding trap) are offered in conjunction with Papillion-La Vista High School.

In 2005 the Titan softball team became the first sports team in school history to qualify for the state tournament. They went on to finish 3rd that year which was matched in 2008 as their best finish. The Titans have made a run at state every year since 2005, since that year they have remained in the top ten and earned a reputation as a perennial powerhouse throughout the state.

In the fall of 2005, John DeVose claimed the school's first individual state title, winning the tennis #1 singles state tournament. Ross Friehe won #2 singles claiming a sweep in #1 and #2 singles for the Titans in 2005. In 2007 DeVose would claim runner-up.

The rugby team is one of the elite programs in the Great Plains Rugby league (Nebraska and South Dakota). In 2006 the team finished third in the league and in 2007 they finished fourth in the GPRL. The team's best achievement came in 2006, when they won the gold medal at the Cornhusker State Games. In 2007 the team was invited to compete in the United States National Tournament in Dallas, Texas (they had to decline their invitation due to financial concerns).

South's volleyball team made a Cinderella run through the 2008 state tournament. They started as the #7 seed and faced off against #2 Grand Island Senior High (The Islanders came in to the game with a 31-1 record). The Titans upset Grand Island in four games. The following day the Titans faced #3 Omaha Marian (33-6). The Titans seemed to be out of magic when they lost the first two games, but they rallied to win games three and four. In game five the Titans were down 13-9 and seemed to be out again, but they scored the next six points to win the match. With the win the Titans volleyball team became the first team at PLS to play in a state championship game (with an exception of the American Legion baseball team, which is not officially school sponsored). The Titans lost in the state title game, but the state title run marked the beginning of the Lady Titans' volleyball dynasty. In 2009, The Titans finished second at state for a second straight year. They were expected to remain a powerhouse for the next few years on the shoulders of the Rolfzen Twins and Kelly Hunter. The twins and Hunter (who were freshman on the 2008 team) have already committed to the University of Nebraska. They are considered three of the best young players in America, and the two twins are member of the USA youth national team. The trio has also led a Nebraska U-16 All-Star team to a national championship. In 2010 Joined by Cal recruit Lillian Schonewise the Titans volleyball team won the Class A title and went 41-0, the first undefeated season since 1972. They were ranked #1 for the entire season and after capturing the State Championship by defeating Marian they were named ESPNRise.com National Champions.

The Titan baseball team is a perennial power-house that has been ranked in the top five in the state since 2005. In 2006 the baseball team became the first Titan baseball squad to qualify for state. In 2008 they were ranked number two all season and again made it to the State tournament. And in 2009 the club spent the entire season ranked first, second and third before a 1-2 performance at State. The Titan's American Legion team was the 2008 state runners-up, they traveled to Oklahoma and competed in the American Legion Regional Tournament. After ranking among the best in the state for a few years the Titans made a jump to the elite in 2010, Sweeping through Metro's, District's, NSAA State and then the American Legion State Championship. The team's NSAA State Championship was the first ever team title in school history. Their Legion State Championship has earned them a trip to Dallas to play in the American Legion Regional. The teams combined spring and summer record was a astounding 59-19, the equivalent of a major league team winning 123 games (the MLB record is 116 wins). In 2011 the Titans repeated their dominance on the diamond, winning the 2011 state championship for back-to-back titles. The Titans did it in historic fashion. They lost their first game of the double-elimination tournament and came through the losers-bracket to beat Millard West in the championship game. It was the first time a Class A team has lost their first round game and went on to win the championship.

The boys basketball team has had moderate successful since the 2008 season. The season was a success as the Titans defeated several perennial power houses. The 2008 season saw the Titans ranked as high as fourth and fall one win short of the state tournament. Senior Kendall Wehrle became the first Titan to be elected to the Omaha World Herald's All-State team (he was also elected All-State in Baseball). The Titan's continued their success over the Monarchs in 2010 by beating their rivals for the fifth time in the last 6 tries. Despite being one of the better teams in the state, the basketball team has never made it to the state tournament, almost becoming notorious for coming up short in districts.

The Titan football team earned its first winning season in 2007 going 5-4 and just missing the playoffs. The Titans beat crosstown rival Papillion-La Vista 42-24 for the first time in 2007 setting the tone for future battles (PLS won again in 2008, in overtime). The Titans have spent time in the top ten several times since the 2007 season. Also in 2007, four-year starting QB Anthony Dunn eclipsed the State completion record against Millard South High School, going 33-52 for 384 yards in the contest. Dunn (who started four of South's first five years) set a very high bar for all of Papillion South's passing records as well as the State completion record with 319. The final game of the season was one to remember as the Titans defeated the eventual state champions, Omaha Central High School in dominating fashion 44-21. In 2008, the Titan football team rode the state's leading rusher, Michael Burrus (Class A All-State), to their first visit to the state playoffs. The 5-5 Titans matched the '07 Titans for most regular season wins. The season saw the Titans defeat the Monarchs for the second straight season in dramatic fashion. They also upset (then #4) Millard North High School 21-17 in one of the biggest wins in school history. PLS was ranked as high as #5 in the Lincoln Journal Star midway through the season along with being ranked in the Omaha World Herald.

"The Black Hole"

"The Black Hole" is the nickname of the Papillion South student section. The students stay involved during all basketball and football games, cheering throughout the game. The students have a reputation for being very creative. While playing the Benson Bunnies the students dressed as rabbit hunters. Against the Papillion Monarchs, the students dressed as characters from the movie Braveheart. "The Black Hole" is also known for doing "the roller coaster" [1], a different take of "the wave", and overall being obnoxious during home football games.

Television

• South offers a journalism program that produces an award winning news show and newspaper throughout the school year. "Titan View" can be seen on a local television network and "The Torch" is distributed approximately once each month.

• Each school year, beginning with the 2007-08 school year, Papillion South is featured on WOWT's High School Cribs. [2]

External links

• Papillion-La Vista South High School