McDowell High School is a public high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

 located in Millcreek Township, Pennsylvania

Millcreek Township, Pennsylvania

Millcreek Township is the name of some places in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania:*Millcreek Township, Clarion County, Pennsylvania*Millcreek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania*Millcreek Township, Lebanon County, PennsylvaniaSee also:...

 a suburb of Erie

Erie, Pennsylvania

Erie is a city located in northwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. Named for the lake and the Native American tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth-largest city , with a population of 102,000...

. It is the only high school in the Millcreek Township School District

Millcreek Township School District

Millcreek Township School District is a school district serving Millcreek Township, a suburb of Erie, Pennsylvania. The total enrollment is 7,464 students.The District was the pilot district in the Start S.M.A.R.T...

. The current principal is Timothy Rankin. The school's mascot

Mascot

The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...

 is the Trojan

Troy

Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...

. Its biggest rival in athletics is Cathedral Prep

Cathedral Preparatory School

Cathedral Preparatory School is an all-male college prep school in Erie, Pennsylvania run by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie and was established in 1921 by Archbishop John Mark Gannon. The school boasts a 97%-100% college acceptance rate among graduating classes...

.

Academic teams

McDowell High School is home to a variety of interesting and challenging student activities. One of these is the nationally recognized Speech & Debate team. McDowell had a national champion at the 2006 National Catholic Forensic League Grand National Tournament in Chicago, IL. Orator Samantha Moore was the first national champion from Erie since 1982. Since that National Championship, members of the team have won dozens and dozens of district championships and has captured 5 State Championships in both Speech and Debate events. In 2007, Sarah Granahan, a junior was crowned State Champion in Informative Speaking. The following year, 2008, junior Lindsay Young won the State Championship in Impromptu Speaking, finishing 1st in a field of over seventy competitors. In Debate, the team won back to back Public Forum State Championships in 2010 and 2011. The 2010 State Champions, Marcus Daum and Dan Stone, defeated Bellwood-Antis in a 4-1 decision. In 2011, McDowell won Public Forum again, this time the senior team of Helene Caniac and Brian Murray defeated Pittsburgh Central Catholic in the State Championship Final on a narrow 3-2 Decision. McDowell became the first team to win back to back titles in Public Forum Debate. Also in 2011, the Parliamentary Debate Team of Lee Besner, Mark DiPlacido, and Nick Bozich defeated Shadyside Academy of Pittsburgh for the State Championship. With the strength of those performances and many other great performances from team members, McDowell was named the Overall Team State Champions for 2011. McDowell is only one of two teams in the entire state of Pennsylvania to win both a Team State Championship and and to have an Individual National Champion. McDowell also is home to a successful USAD/ASL Team, who are the defending Large School State Champions. The team has produced countless Champions in the various disciplines of Academic Decathlon. The "McDowell Marching Trojans" marching band placed first in LMBA circuit in both 2008 and 2009.

There are approximately 2,500 students attending McDowell High School. The McDowell campus includes two buildings: McDowell Intermediate accommodating students in grades 9 and 10, and McDowell Senior accommodating grades 11 and 12. Students travel between facilities on the campus when attending classes. McDowell athletics are varied and Trojan teams are perennial participants in the Pennsylvania state playoffs in many sports.

Notable alumni

• Marc Brown
  Marc Brown (author)
  Marc Tolon Brown is an American writer of children's books. He writes as well as illustrates his Arthur books, and is best known for that series and its spin-offs. He currently lives in Hingham, Massachusetts. The names of his two sons, Tolon Adam and Tucker Eliot, have been hidden in all of the...
  
  , author of the Arthur
  Arthur (TV series)
  Arthur is an American/Canadian animated educational television series for children, created by Cookie Jar Group and WGBH for the Public Broadcasting Service...
  
  television show
• Brian Stablein
  Brian Stablein
  Brian Patrick Stablein is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League.-Early years:...
  
  , former NFL
  National Football League
  The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
  
   receiver (Indianapolis Colts
  Indianapolis Colts
  The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....
  
   and Detroit Lions
  Detroit Lions
  The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
  
  )
• Pat Monahan, lead singer of Train
  Train (band)
  Train is an American pop rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1994. The band currently comprises a core trio of Patrick Monahan , Jimmy Stafford and Scott Underwood ....
  
  
• Chris Vrenna, musician (Tweaker, Nine Inch Nails
  Nine Inch Nails
  Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
  
  , Marilyn Manson
  Marilyn Manson
  Marilyn Manson may refer to:* Marilyn Manson , an American rock musician* Marilyn Manson , the American rock band led by the singer of the same name...
  
  )
• David Greenberger
  David Greenberger
  David Greenberger is an American artist, writer and radio commentator best known for his Duplex Planet series of zines, comic books, CDs, and spoken word performances and radio plays...
  
  , artist
• Kevin John, celebrity sports artist