Park Center Senior High School

Park Center Senior High School is a three year public high school located in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota on 7300 Brooklyn Blvd. The principal is Kelli Parpart and the assistant principals are Heather Miller-Cink, Astein Osei.

chool Overview

Park Center Senior High School is one of four public high schools in the Osseo Area School District 279. In August 2007 Park Center became an official International Baccalaureate (IB) School. This designation as an IB World school means Park Center has joined its partner, North View Junior High as one of only 5 MYP programmes in the state of Minnesota. It is currently offering the Middle Years Programme(MYP) to tenth grade students. Plans are underway to add the Diploma Programme. With North View, Park Center is a magnet program open to any student in the Northwest Suburban Integration School District (NWSISD.)

The NWSISD [http://www.nws.k12.mn.us/Main/mainPages/Nav-frames.html] is a consortium of seven districts in the northwest suburban area of Minneapolis which has been formed to promote integration and eliminate racial isolation of students in these districts. By creating magnet schools in IB, Math & science, and in the arts the NWSISD has begun to bring students of diverse backgrounds together in programs based on academic excellence.

Park Center has a population of 1560, which is the second largest high school population in the Osseo School district. The student body consists of 1% Native Americans, 6% hispanics, 24% Asians, 34% blacks, and 35% whites. It is the most ethnically diverse high school in the Osseo School district. Park Center, like most high schools in the Osseo School District, has a vast array of extracurricular activities and sports teams. Park Center Senior High's mascot is a pirate and the school's sports teams are known as the Pirates. The school's colors are green and gold.

Marching Band

The Park Center Marching Band is currently directed by John Olson and performs at a high level year-to-year. They were awarded Grand Champion at the Vikingland Band Festival, in 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2007, and 2008.

Shows performed by the band in recent years have been: Inside Out! (2008), King Kong (2007), Quidam (2006), & Riverdance (2005).

2007 Season

On Saturday May 26th, 2007, they took first place at the Mason City Iowa Parade. Also on the same day Park Center's Drum Line won the Drum Line competition in Mason City. This marked the beginning of a great season to come. The band completed the 2007 season by capturing the title of grand champion at the Vikingland Band Festival on June 24th, 2007. The 2007 season also marks the first time Park Center has been undefeated in all the parades they competed in. In the history of Minnesota marching only five other bands have been able to accomplish this title.

2008 Season

The 2008 marching season was another great year for the Park Center Marching Pirates. They performed music by Ron Nelson: Rocky Point Holiday and Sonoran Desert Holiday. These scores were put into a show called "Inside Out!". This year's show incorporated the use of large frames to frame the band and guard. They added the finishing touch to make the show truly, "Inside Out". They were grand champion at a total of eight parades, including the grand champion of the coveted Vikingland Band Festival. This year marks the last year under the direction of John Olson. The band took a trip to the nations capitol (Washington D.C.), and to New York City. Their last performance was in the National Independence Day Parade in D.C.

ports Teams and Rivalries

Park Center's traditional intradistrict rivals are Osseo Senior High School (the two teams compete for the OssPar trophy in football) and Maple Grove Senior High School (the two teams compete for the Thunder Bolt trophy in football). Park Center's other notable local rival is Champlin Park High School.

Notable Alumni

Tim Laudner -Former Minnesota Twins Catcher. Won the World Series with the Minnesota Twins in 1987, and was named to the All Star Team in 1988 where he hit a double in his only at bat. While he was at Park Center he played football and baseball, and lead the Pirates to the state tournament (3rd place).

Pat Neshek-Professional Baseball Player For The Minnesota Twins

Krissy Wendell (Pohl) - Women's Hockey Olympic Silver Medalist (Salt Lake City), Two time NCAA Champion University of Minnesota (2004 and 2005)

Tim Jackman - New York Islanders

Park Center's School Song

COME ON LET'S CHEER OUR TEAM TO VICTORY,

FIGHT FOR THE GREEN AND GOLD!

LOYAL, MIGHTY FANS ARE WE,

OUR TEAM IS BRAVE AND BOLD!

FIGHT! FIGHT!

WE ARE THE PARK CENTER PIRATES

WE ALWAYS HOLD OUR COLORS HIGH!

COME ON! LET'S GO TEAM! FIGHT TEAM, FIGHT!

FOR WE ARE OUT TO WIN TONIGHT!

P-A-R-K C-E-N-T-E-R

External links

* [http://www.district279.org/sec/pcsh/ Park Center Senior High's Official Website]