West Central Area School District
Encyclopedia
The West Central Area School District (#2342) is located in the west central part of Minnesota
. It consists of the towns of Kensington
, Hoffman
, Barrett
, Elbow Lake
, and Wendell
. There are also students from Herman
, Donnelly
, Ashby
, Evansville
, Fergus Falls
, Nashua
, and Campbell
.
The district has two elementary schools consisting of grades K-4. WCA South is located in Kensington, and WCA North is located in Elbow Lake. The secondary school is located in Barrett. Grades 5-12 attend here. The secondary school has a football field, two baseball fields, two softball fields, four tennis courts, a 499 capacity auditorium, and a 1700 capacity gymnasium. The building occupies 63 acres (254,952.2 m²). It is 130000 square feet (12,077.4 m²) with a capacity for 600 students. The building is heated by a geothermal heat system. There are 288 wells, each 200 ft (61 m) deep using over 21 miles (33.8 km) of pipe. A heat pump, controlled by a computer system, heats or cools each classroom. The system has a backup generator. The mechanical room includes a 400 gallon hot water storage tank
.
The West Central Area mascot is a Knight
. The Knights have a football
team, volleyball
team, girls tennis
team, boys and girls basketball
, wrestling
, baseball
, softball
, boys and girls golf
, boys and girls track and field
, and cheerleading
for football and basketball. The Knight's organizations include: speech, Future Farmers of America, mock trial
, choir
, band
, Knowledge Bowl
, one act play
, student counsel, and musicals. West Central Area is a member of the Minnesota State High School League
.
school district due to declining enrollment. However, consolidation had started long before that. Wendell, Elbow Lake, Barrett, Hoffman and Kensington all used to be their own districts, but kept consolidating with each other until they all finally became one, large district. Declining enrollment continues to be the districts largest problem today. Class sizes in the high school are down to around 58 people per class.
where they won section runners-up honors.
The boys and girls basketball teams have also had successful programs. The boys program is consistently competitive having had ten winning seasons in the past 15 years. The girls program is also very successful having had 11 winning seasons in the past 15 years and had the girls Class AA state player of the year Megan Ronhovde in 2003 who went on to play at Division I Iowa State.
West Central Area has also had success in wrestling since it formed in 1993. The team wrestled their way to state runners up in 1996. The team has had five 150 win wrestlers and has sent 24 to state. The team merged with Ashby public school's wrestling program in 2002 because neither team could find someone to wrestle at every weight.
Special Olympics
at West Central Area are taken very seriously. WCA has sent many students to the state meet in Swimming, Skiing, and Basketball.
1999
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. It consists of the towns of Kensington
Kensington, Minnesota
Kensington is a city in Douglas County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 292 at the 2010 census. The city is notable in Minnesota history for being the place where the famous, if questionable, Kensington Runestone was first displayed. The stone tablet may indicate that Scandinavians...
, Hoffman
Hoffman, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 672 people, 274 households, and 164 families residing in the city. The population density was 319.9 people per square mile . There were 307 housing units at an average density of 146.2 per square mile . The racial makeup of the city was 98.36% White, 0.45%...
, Barrett
Barrett, Minnesota
Barrett is a city in Grant County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 415 at the 2010 census. Troy Johnson is the mayor.-Geography:...
, Elbow Lake
Elbow Lake, Grant County, Minnesota
Elbow Lake is a city in, and the county seat of, Grant County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,176 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...
, and Wendell
Wendell, Minnesota
Wendell is a city in Grant County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 167 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....
. There are also students from Herman
Herman, Minnesota
Herman is a city in Grant County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 437 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....
, Donnelly
Donnelly, Minnesota
Donnelly is a city in Stevens County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 241 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water....
, Ashby
Ashby, Minnesota
Ashby is a city in Grant County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 446 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water....
, Evansville
Evansville, Minnesota
Evansville is a city in Douglas County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 612 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, of it is land and 1.43% is water.-Demographics:...
, Fergus Falls
Fergus Falls, Minnesota
Fergus Falls is a city in and the county seat of Otter Tail County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 13,138 at the 2010 census.-Today:...
, Nashua
Nashua, Minnesota
Nashua is a city in Wilkin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 68 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Wahpeton, ND–MN Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, and Campbell
Campbell, Minnesota
Campbell is a city in Wilkin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 158 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Wahpeton, ND–MN Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
.
The district has two elementary schools consisting of grades K-4. WCA South is located in Kensington, and WCA North is located in Elbow Lake. The secondary school is located in Barrett. Grades 5-12 attend here. The secondary school has a football field, two baseball fields, two softball fields, four tennis courts, a 499 capacity auditorium, and a 1700 capacity gymnasium. The building occupies 63 acres (254,952.2 m²). It is 130000 square feet (12,077.4 m²) with a capacity for 600 students. The building is heated by a geothermal heat system. There are 288 wells, each 200 ft (61 m) deep using over 21 miles (33.8 km) of pipe. A heat pump, controlled by a computer system, heats or cools each classroom. The system has a backup generator. The mechanical room includes a 400 gallon hot water storage tank
Hot water storage tank
A hot water storage tank is a water tank, that is used for storing hot water for space heating or domestic use. A heavily insulated tank can retain heat for days....
.
The West Central Area mascot is a Knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
. The Knights have a football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
team, volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
team, girls tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
team, boys and girls basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, wrestling
Scholastic wrestling
Scholastic wrestling, sometimes known in the United States as Folkstyle wrestling, is a style of amateur wrestling practised at the high school and middle school levels in the United States. This wrestling style is essentially Collegiate wrestling with some slight modifications. It is currently...
, baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
, boys and girls golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, boys and girls track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
, and cheerleading
Cheerleading
Cheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...
for football and basketball. The Knight's organizations include: speech, Future Farmers of America, mock trial
Mock trial
A Mock Trial is an act or imitation trial. It is similar to a moot court, but mock trials simulate lower-court trials, while moot court simulates appellate court hearings. Attorneys preparing for a real trial might use a mock trial consisting of volunteers as role players to test theories or...
, choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
, band
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
, Knowledge Bowl
Knowledge Bowl
Knowledge Bowl is an interdisciplinary academic competition involving teams of four to six students trying to answer questions in a written round and several oral rounds. No team is eliminated in this event, and every team participates in every round...
, one act play
One act play
A one-act play is a play that has only one act, as distinct from plays that occur over several acts. One-act plays may consist of one or more scenes. In recent years the 10-minute play known as "flash drama" has emerged as a popular sub-genre of the one-act play, especially in writing competitions...
, student counsel, and musicals. West Central Area is a member of the Minnesota State High School League
Minnesota State High School League
The Minnesota State High School League is a voluntary, non-profit association for the support and governance of interscholastic activities at high schools in Minnesota, United States. The association supports interscholastic athletics and fine arts programs for member schools...
.
History
The West Central Area school district was created in 1993 when the West Central school district of Wendell, Elbow Lake, and Barrett, joined with the Hoffman-KensingtonHoffman-Kensington High School
Hoffman-Kensington High School was located in Hoffman, MN and included the towns of Hoffman and Kensington. The two towns joined schools due to declining enrollment in 1979. Their mascot was the Patriot and their colors were red and blue. In 1980, H-K won the Minnesota State 9-Man Football...
school district due to declining enrollment. However, consolidation had started long before that. Wendell, Elbow Lake, Barrett, Hoffman and Kensington all used to be their own districts, but kept consolidating with each other until they all finally became one, large district. Declining enrollment continues to be the districts largest problem today. Class sizes in the high school are down to around 58 people per class.
Accomplishments In the Arts
West Central Area has an accomplished choir program. The school's choir has made a reputation for itself in recent years under the direction of Bryan Poyzer. Many of WCA's students have been chosen for Regional & State Honor Choirs. A number of WCA graduates have gone on to excel in college choirs and music programs. It's a' cappella choir strives to sing category I music and has received a superior rating every year since 2002. The school has also produced several stage productions and currently has a women's show choir (The Knightengales) that tours regularly.Athletic Accomplishments
As of the 2006 season, the football teams had an overall record of 93 wins to 49 losses. They have not had a losing record since 2001 when they went 3-6. They have been to the playoffs every year except 1997. The Knights went to the state playoffs in 1995 and again in 1999 where they were the state runners-up. The most recent successful playoff action occurred in 2005 when the Knights made it to the FargodomeFargodome
The Fargodome is an indoor stadium, located in Fargo, North Dakota. It opened in 1992 and holds over 19,000 people for football games and over 25,000, for full arena concerts....
where they won section runners-up honors.
The boys and girls basketball teams have also had successful programs. The boys program is consistently competitive having had ten winning seasons in the past 15 years. The girls program is also very successful having had 11 winning seasons in the past 15 years and had the girls Class AA state player of the year Megan Ronhovde in 2003 who went on to play at Division I Iowa State.
West Central Area has also had success in wrestling since it formed in 1993. The team wrestled their way to state runners up in 1996. The team has had five 150 win wrestlers and has sent 24 to state. The team merged with Ashby public school's wrestling program in 2002 because neither team could find someone to wrestle at every weight.
Special Olympics
Special Olympics
Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and competitions to more than 3.1 million athletes in 175 countries....
at West Central Area are taken very seriously. WCA has sent many students to the state meet in Swimming, Skiing, and Basketball.
1999
- State Runner-up (Football)