Plymouth Canton Educational Park

The original Salem High School (and later Plymouth High School)

The original Plymouth High School was built in the early 20th century on the northwest corner of Main Street and Church Street, opposite from present-day City Hall in present-day downtown Plymouth, Michigan. The district deemed the facility to be outdated by the 1960s for high school use. The facility was closed as a high school after the 1969-70 school year and used exclusively for 9th grade in 1970-71 and 1971-72.

When the first new high school opened in the present-day Plymouth-Canton Educational Park, the original Plymouth High School was converted into a middle school, dubbed Central Middle School (in conjunction with the previously constructed East and West Middle Schools). Central Middle School remains a landmark in down town and closed after the 2014-15 school year. When Plymouth opened it only let in Freshmen, and the next year Freshmen and Sophomores, etc.

Originally planned to simply remain Plymouth High School, the school's name was changed to Plymouth-Salem High School after Canton opened. Although the school district serves much of rural Salem Township, Salem residents were not necessarily exclusive to Plymouth-Salem.

Plymouth High's colors of red, white, and blue, were split up, with Plymouth-Salem retaining blue and white, and the eventual Canton High School teams taking the red with white. Plymouth-Salem retained their "Rocks" mascot; supposedly named for the large unmovable boulder that sits outside the school. It is tradition for students to spray paint this rock for school events and to celebrate important sports victories. The rock was moved during the renovations in 2008.

Salem is divided into two main sections, North and South. The North side contains the swimming pool and the Gloria Logan Auditorium, and a two-level gymnasium on the south side, divided by a wide central hallway leading to the east entrance of the school. A staircase leads to the second-floor corridor near the entrance to the auditorium. The west side contains three floors of classrooms, as well as the cafeteria on the southeast side of the first floor. Administrative offices are located on the northeast side of the first two floors. The center of the second floor is dominated by the school library, and also features the studio for radio station WSDP. Stairwells on the north and south sides, referred to as the North Tower and South Tower, respectively, provide access to all three floors, and an elevator provides access for students unable to use the stairs.

One of the more distinctive features of the school building was its large ramp at the North Mall, which provided direct access to the second floor of classrooms. What made this ramp unusual were the three steps placed at the bottom of the ramp, purposely making vehicle access impractical. The ramp was demolished in the early 1990s, and the North Mall was revamped to provide a more appealing façade, while the South Mall was eliminated in favor of an expanded cafeteria. The school underwent renovations from 2006 to 2008, and went through renovations for more office space in 2011.

In 2002, with the opening of the new Plymouth High School as part of the PCEP, "Plymouth" was dropped from Salem and Canton's name. Individually the high schools are known as Salem High School, Canton High School and Plymouth High School.

In addition to the formal online school resources, the school's parents, coaches and boosters proudly and voluntarily contribute content related to their group and team activities at [1].

Plymouth High School

Opened in August 2002, and constructed southwest of Salem High School, the new Plymouth High School was designed by the architecture firm French Associates. The students selected to be Plymouth High's first senior class, the Class of 2006, were polled during their 6th grade year to come up with the school's colors and mascot. Their selection, the Predators (after the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League), was met with opposition from some parents who associated it with sexual predators. As a result, the school decided to use the generic "Wildcats" nickname, while still using the saber-toothed tiger logo of the Nashville Predators. Plymouth's school colors were to be purple and white (a combination of the red and blue of Salem and Canton), but were changed to black and silver.

Campus

The campus is 305 acres (1.2 km²), although much of this is athletic fields. Students may have classes in all four academic buildings, even though each student is assigned to one "home school" from which he or she is to graduate from and play sports for. Students are permitted 10 minutes passing time to walk among their classes. There has been criticism that it is unsafe for students to walk though several inches of snow, but the superintendent still gives snow days as rarely as possible. State Law, however, does require that passage between buildings be halted in the event of lightning, though this has happened only twice since the beginning of the 2008-09 school year. One advantage to the 3-in-1 idea is reduced cost: there is only one auto shop (at Canton), one culinary arts facility (at Salem), two darkrooms for photography (one at Salem, one at Canton), one varsity football field (at Canton), two swimming pools (at Salem & Canton), two soccer and football fields (at Canton and Plymouth), one Robotics Shop (At Canton), one orchestra complex (at Canton), and one band complex (at Plymouth).

For most of its history, the campus has contained Canton High School and Salem High School, with a great rivalry built between the two neighbors. For many years the campus operated under block scheduling, seen as an innovative way to allow for longer periods of uninterrupted teaching time. After many years, The Park resorted back to a traditional schedule with 6 classes per day and 2 semesters of classes per year. Currently, The Park is considered a "Closed Campus," meaning no student may leave during the school day without a pass from the office.

Prior to the summer of 2006, the Cady family barn was also a part of the campus. It has since been moved to the Canton Township Cherry Hill village area next to a historic home. Included on the campus grounds is also a small strip of forest that backs a nearby neighborhood. Various trails are scattered throughout the wooded area. An Artesian well can be found in the wooded area, and is visited by earth science and ecology classes yearly. A creek that is part of the Rouge River watershed runs through the campus, separating Canton High School and Phase III, which are to the north of the creek; Plymouth High School is located to the south. Environmental science classes held at the park regularly take water samples to monitor water quality from this creek.

Also, P-CEP has very nice puddles. In fact, so nice, students have nicknamed one of them "Lake P-CEP".

Students and faculty

The Park currently has over 6,400 students. And over 300 staff and faculty members

Extracurricular activities

The Park has over 130 active sports teams and over 95 active clubs and organizations, including a radio station, Marching Band, and FIRST Robotics Team. All three Science Olympiad teams qualified for the state level competition in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2010. Also, Plymouth's 2007 Novice and 2009 Varsity Quiz Bowl teams won the championship in the tri-county area.

There are many clubs dedicated to different languages and cultures, and lifestyles such as the African American Student Association, Spanish and Latino Students' Association (SALSA), Asian Pacific American Club (APAC), The Chinese Club, Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), Polish American Club, Indian-American Student Association (IASA), French Club, Muslim Student Association (MSA), Middle Eastern Student Association, Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA), Secular Student Alliance, and the Diversity Council. An annual Celebration of Diversity (COD) is held by some cultural clubs for support and recognition.

PCEP's radio station, WSDP 88.1FM The Escape, has won numerous awards, including the Michigan Association of Broadcaster's annual 'Station of the Year' prize, which it has won nearly every year in the past decade. The station was started in 1972 at 89.3FM. Bonny Dore, Mary Phyl Godfroy, John Seidelman and Jeff Cardinal were the first faculty advisors. Multiple radio air talents, program directors and even station managers started their careers at WSDP.

The Park also has a Debate Club, a Model United Nations Club, a three Mock Trial teams, a FIRST Robotics Team [2], a Distributive Education Clubs of American chapter, Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) chapter, and an Investment Club, among other clubs geared towards educational incentives. The Park's National Honor Society and Robotics Team have been recognized by the American Cancer Society for their efforts in supporting and running the community fundraising walk for cancer cures, Relay for Life.

In particular, the DECA organization [3] is popular among the marketing students at the Park. DECA prepares students to become leaders in their fields, whether it be marketing, finance, hospitality or management in high schools and colleges all over the world. The DECA organization brings together students from all three schools at PCEP and their chapter made it all the way to nationals in 07-08, 08-09, and 10-11.

Performing arts

The theatrical side of the performing arts program at the park consists of two groups: The Park Players, based at Salem High School, and The Second Stage Players, based at Canton High School. Any student who attends PCEP can audition for shows produced by either group.

The performing arts program began with the formation of what is now the Park Players in 1970 by Gloria Logan, a drama teacher at Salem. The first three productions were staged at Central Middle School. The first production staged in Salem Auditorium was Fiddler on the Roof in 1971; as a tradition, a revival of Fiddler has been staged on the 10th and 20th anniversary years of the auditorium (1981 and 1991), while the most recent revival was staged in 2000, the 30th anniversary of the Parkstage two fully produced, faculty-directed In the 09-10 school year, Second Stage Players produced two mainstage productions, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" in the fall, and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) in the spring.

The Park Players have staged over 85 productions, including Neil Simon's "Proposals", "Footloose (musical)," "Hello, Dolly!," "Jekyll and Hyde," and "Smokey Joe's Cafe". During the 2009-2010 school year, the Park Players celebrated their 14th anniversary. They performed three stage productions: Noises Off as their fall play, Sweet Charity as their spring musical, and Check Please/Check Please: Take Two as an in-between production.

The Park also has a Spoken Word Club, an Improv Club and a Puppetry Club.

Marching band

The Plymouth-Canton Marching Band (PCMB) is under the direction of Director, Mr. Jonathan Thomann and has placed no lower than 15th place in the country at the Bands of America Grand National Championships every year since 1988. They have won the Grand National Championship there three times; 1990, 1991 and 1999. The group has won the Michigan Competing Band Association Flight or Division I title 23 times as well as 14 times in a row from 1994 to 2007. There are also various academic bands and two orchestras as classes to be taken during the regular school day. In April 2007, PCEP's Open Class Winter Guard placed 4th at the Winter Guard International World Championships in Dayton, OH. The marching band appeared in the 1973 Rose Bowl Parade as well as a nationally broadcast Battle of The Bands Show, hosted by Jerry Lewis, prior to the parade. In 2011, PCMB marched in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. In addition, in 2015, they marched in the Rose Bowl Parade.

Orchestra

There are two orchestra classes. The lower orchestra is called Concert Orchestra, while the upper one is called Symphony Orchestra. Placement into either of these is determined by audition. Symphony Orchestra typically plays AA-rated musical pieces, often playing pieces with members of the Wind Ensemble. They have been ranked as one of the best performing high school symphony orchestras in the state, consistently earning a Division I rating at District Orchestra Festival. Both high school orchestras often perform for community events, and volunteers from orchestra classes and Wind Ensemble play in the orchestra pit for the musicals. There is also a middle school orchestra program which meets in the high school during first hour in the high school schedule. All orchestra classes are directed by Catherine DePentu. In April 2009 the orchestras performed together at the Duxbury High School Performing Arts Center in Massachusetts winning second place at the festivals of music.

Choirs

There are seven choir classes at PCEP. The entry-level choir for ninth-grade girls, Park Singers, is the starting choir for most students. The starting place for all guys is Parks Men. One step above Park Singers for girls is Allegro!. The only mixed choir class, Allegro! performs easy to moderately challenging selections. After Allegro!, the next highest choir for girls is Dulcissima. Dulcissima is a group of roughly 65 select female voices who perform moderate to challenging pieces for competitions, earning high marks. The highest choir for girls is the Madrigal Singers. The Madrigals perform extremely challenging selections, and have earned highest honors at state and national competitions. Equal with the Madrigals is the male select choir, Chamber Choir, which has also earned highest honors at state and national competitions. Although Chambers and Madrigals have separate classes, the two choirs rehearse together after school every week, and practice pieces that they do together. This combined choir is called the Festival Singers and is nicknamed by its members "Chambrigals". The Festival Singers travel around throughout the school year and perform for various competitions and community events. And the newest choir, Encore, which is composed of show tunes and choreography, made by the students. The seven, award-winning choirs have a total of about 300 members (and growing), and are directed by Jennifer Neumann and co-directed by Valerie Said.

Clubs that also have to do with choir are four after school a cappella groups; Aria, Timbrewolves, Punkappella, and Conamore.

Athletics

Note: This is not an exhaustive list.

SALEM HIGH SCHOOL (formerly Plymouth-Salem High School)

Lightning Robotics FIRST Robotics team number 862. This team competes at the district, state, and world levels. They have won several district competitions and recently won 1st place at the Bedford District event and also placed rank 17th at the World Championship and was also ranked 3rd at the World Championship in 2013, you can get more information at their website.

The "Rocks" −Men's Cross Country- Coached by Steve Aspinall

Women's Cross Country- Coached by Dave Gerlach, assistant coached by two SHS XC alumni Laura Friedman (Frieds) and Adrianna Beltran

Boys Soccer Salem boys soccer won its only State Championship in 1995 by beating Portage Northern H.S. 1-0 in the finals and finishing the season 23-3-3. They have also appeared in the Finals and finished Runner-Up in 1989 losing 1-0 over Troy Athens, 1992 losing 2-1 (OT) to Warren DeLaSalle, 1997 losing 2-1 over Rochester Adams, 1999 losing 2-1 over Troy Athens & 2002 losing 1-0 to Rochester.

Boys Track & Field In 1981 Bob Pittaway won the state championship in discus with the distance of 173-9.

Boys Lacrosse All three of the park teams have lacrosse teams. Salem is currently the park champs.

Girls Soccer Salem's girls soccer team won its only State Championship in 1987 by beating Livonia Churchill 2-1 in the finals. They also appeared in the Finals and finished Runner-Up in 1995 losing 4-2 to Birmingham Seaholm.

Girls Track & Field In 1992 Tonya Wheeler won the state championship in the 400m with a time of 59.10. In 1993 The girls placed 2nd in states behind Detroit Cass Tech. In 1993 Latonya Wheeler won the state championship in the 400m with a time of 58.01. In 1999 Tiffany Grubaugh won the discus championship with a distance of 134-7. In 2000 she also won the state championship in shot put with a distance of 41-11.5.

Gymnastics The Gymnastics team lost to Muskegon Mona Shores High School in the 1991 and 1992 state championships before defeating them from the state title in 1993.

Boys Bowling The boys bowling team won the state championship in 2013 against Saginaw Heritage.

Wrestling In 1982 & 1983 John Beaudoin won the state championship at 138 lbs. In 1986 Dave "Dumbass" Dameron won the state championship at 126 lbs, after his successful gender reassignment surgery. In 1992 Dan Bonnett won the state championship at 125 lbs. In 1998 Charlie Hamblin was runner up in the state championship at 275 lbs losing to Casey Rogowski 10-2. In 2000 Ronald Thompson was runner up in the state championship at 119 lbs losing to Dan Jilg 4-2. In 2003 Ryan Stump was runner up in the state championship at 103 lbs losing to Anthony Biondo 9-0. In 2003 Mike Goethe won the state championship at 130 lbs beating out Wissam Majed 7-5. In 2006 Jeremy Henderson won the state championship at 189 lbs beating out Richard Kirksey 12-0.

Football Salem remains the only school out of the three to win a State Football Championship, doing so in 1974.

Baseball They won the state baseball championship against Bay City 5-3 in 1975 and against Rochester 4-1 in 1991.

Boys Swimming & Diving Ron Finley won the 100m back stroke in 1977 with a time of 54.15. In 1990 Ron Orris won the 100m butterfly with a time of 49.78 and the 200m Individual Medley with a time of 1:50.97. In 1994 Fred Locke won the 50m freestyle with a time of :21.18. In 2001 Mike Johnson, Aaron Shelton, Ben Dzialo and Eric Lynn won the 200m and the 400m Freestyle with times of 1:25.90 and 3:09.79. In 2002 Eric Lynn won the 200m Individual Medley with a time of 1:52.67. In 2011 Adam Seroka won the 500m Freestyle with a time of 4:32.90.

Boys Golf The Salem boys golf team won the state title in 1973 beating out Bay City Central.

Girls Tennis In 1982 Chris Gilles won No. 2 Singles with scores of 6-4 and 6-4. In 1985 Wendy Gilles won No. 1 Singles with scores of 6-2, 5-7 and 6-2.

CANTON HIGH SCHOOL (formerly Plymouth-Canton High School) The "Chiefs"

Baseball Made it to the state finals in 1982, losing to Midland 5-4.

Boys Swimming & Diving In 1979 Paul Petersen won the 100m breaststroke and the 100m butterfly with times of 59.40 and 52.39 respectively. In 1986 Andy Flower won the diving championship with a score of 466:30. In 2011 Victor Zhang won the 100m Backstroke with a time of 51.55.

Boys Bowling The boys bowling team placed second in the state in 2012 finishing behind Macomb Dakota.

Football In recent years, Canton High School's football team has finished high in regional rankings. On November 12, 2005, Canton won its first-ever regional title by defeating Detroit King. They made an appearance in the state finals against Rockford High but lost 31-21. They made it back to regionals in 2006, before losing in the semi-finals.

Boys Soccer Canton's boys soccer team won the Division 1 State championship in 2011 winning 1-0 over Grand Haven. They were led by Coach George Tomasso- who won the Class A state championship in soccer for Canton in 1994 winning 1-0 in overtime against Warren DeLaSalle. In 2014, The Canton Chiefs won the Division 1 State Championship 1-0 over Rochester Adams. In 2015, the Chiefs made it to the Division 1 State Finals, but were thwarted by Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central in their bid for back to back championships.

Boys Track & Field In 2007 Eric Thornton won the High jump state championship with a height of 6-7.

Girls Track & Field In 1987 & 1988 Angie Miller won states in the high jump, jumping to a height of 5-5.

Girls Swimming & Diving In 2007 Allison Schmitt won the state championship for the 200m freestyle and the 500m freestyle posting times of 1:46.25 and 4:47.46 respectively. She also won both these events in 2006 posting times of 1:47.54 and 4:50.79.

Girls Soccer Canton's girls soccer team, under former coach Don Smith, won the state championship in 1988 winning 2-1 in overtime against Livonia Churchill, 1996 winning 2-0 over Troy, and 2001 winning 3-1 over Troy. In 2001 the Chiefs were led by four time all-state and three time Parade All-American Anne Morrell. Morrell went on to play at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her number 7 is the only number to have been retired in Canton High School history. The girls team was also runner up under Don Smith in 1992 losing 1-0 to Rochester Adams, 1993 losing 2-0 to Troy Athens and 2000 losing 4-1 to Tory Athens.

Girls Basketball 2014 State Finalists

Wrestling In 2007 Corey Phillips won the State Championship at 140 lbs beating out John Johnson 4-3. In 2012 Brent Winekoff was runner up in the 152 lbs State Championship meet losing to Deshawn Nelson 7-6. In 2011 Anthony Abro won the State Championship at 189 lbs beating out Miles Trealout 3-1. In 2012 Alec Pantaleo won the State Championship at 135 lbs beating out Malik Amine 9-6. In 2012 Ben Griffin was runner up in the 122 lbs state championship meet losing to Mitch Rogaliner 9-5.

Softball The softball team was runner-up in the 1992 state championship game losing to Jenison 1-0 in 9 innings. The Chiefs won five straight District Titles from 03-07, while winning the Regional Title in 2004. The 2005 team finished with a school record (most wins) of 36-2 which included a division, conference, and district championship, two tournament championships, and 11 school records, including best start to a season, when they started 30-0. Senior pitcher Molly Conlon pitched a perfect game in a 9-0 win against their longtime rivals the Salem Rocks.

Gymnastics The Canton Gymnastics team was state runner up in 1996, 2010, 2011, 2012 ad 2013. They were beat out by Grand Ledge all four years from 2010-2013, they lost to Holland in 1996. However, a TEAM STATE CHAMPIONSHIP was won in 2014 beating out Grand Ledge. Additionally, Canton is now the home of over a half a dozen individual D1 and D2 STATE CHAMPIONS.

PLYMOUTH HIGH SCHOOL (opened Fall 2002) The "Wildcats"

Volleyball The volleyball team was first Plymouth High School team to win a division championship.

Girls Golf In 2012 Kelsey Murphy won the girls individual state championship with a score of 73-75-148. The Plymouth's girls team also brought home the team championship as well beating out Farmington Hills Mercy.

Boys Golf The boys golf team also made its first appearance at the state tournament in 2010 with an all state 8th-place finish. The Wildcats also made a return to the state championship in the following season and topped their finish the previous year with a 7th-place finish.

Football The Wildcats made the playoffs 2010 beating out Canton, Detroit Catholic Central, and Rockford on their way to the Division 1 State Final where they lost to Lake Orion 21-13. In 2011 Plymouth were the KLAA Kensington Conference Champions and finished their best regular season record in school history.

Girls Soccer The 2010 Girls Soccer team won their first Regional title in 2010. They went on to beat Portage Central in the state semi-finals, earning the right to play in their first State Finals game losing 2-1 in overtime on a penalty kick to Novi High School.

Girls Swimming & Diving In 2012 Sarah Dombkowski won the state championship in the 500m freestyle with a time of 4:55.82.

PLYMOUTH-CANTON-SALEM UNIFIED TEAMS

PCEP Dance Team PCEP's co-ed varsity dance team (est. 2010) has had very successful seasons, winning at least top three in every competition they have participated in; including a first place at the Chippewa Valley High School Dance Invitational in 2011. In 2013, a junior varsity team was added. The teams consist of experienced and dedicated dancers from all three schools, all four grades, and many different dance studios. Tryouts are held in the summer. The team participates in two competitions a year and also perform for a variety of school events.

PCS Girls Ice Hockey The Plymouth-Canton-Salem Penguins girls ice hockey team won the 2006 and 2007 State Championships.

PCEP Figure Skating In the 2014-15 season, they came in 3rd in district competitions, and went on to tie for 4th place in the statewide competition, just 2 points behind the 3rd place team.

Curriculum

PCEP, with its large size, offers a wide range of classes. Students have the opportunity to run a restaurant (the Rock Cafe in Salem), work in a preschool, produce a news program that airs during school three times a week, work in an auto shop, be involved in either of the two theatre groups, and work in one of the Park's three school stores. The Park offers numerous band, orchestra, and choir courses, ranging from beginners to pre-professional. Within each of the schools is a writing center, and a math lab, which offers free tutoring service for students' writing, and additional help for students' math respectively. The Park even goes one step further to offer a cornucopia of alternative education courses to younger students looking for guidance and the older students who are willing and able to help.

School Stores

One of the great opportunities offered, as mentioned above, is the opportunity to work in one of the three school stores. The Rock Shop at Salem, the Den at Plymouth, and the Chief Connection at Canton. Working in the school store was considered an Advanced Marketing class and was designed to train students in managing a working retail store in a real setting. Teamwork is also emphasized a great deal and an integral part of doing well in the course. The stores sell items such as fresh pretzels and cookies, sweatpants and shirts, and seasonal items that vary from store to store.

Alternative Education

Younger students who need help with school or guidance have the option of attending one of the following courses (as well as older students who are accepted into certain classes to help tutor/mentor): Student Service Center, Journey Program, Female Topics, Academic Support Center, and Mentor and Mediating. In particular, Mentor and Mediating is a course specified for seniors who want to help younger students with schoolwork and peer mediation among other things. These students are chosen on their academic success based on factors such as grades, attendance, behavior and recommendations.

Kiddie Kampus

This course allows students to work in a preschool setting with children 3 to 5 years of age.

The Rock Café

As previously mentioned, students at PCEP have the unique opportunity to take a course in which they operate The Rock Café, a restaurant located inside Salem High School and open to the public. This gives students real-world experience in business, marketing, nutrition, customer service, as well as cooking. The 2-hour long block course, known as Hospitality and Culinary Arts: Restaurant Operation, trains students on the job for careers in the restaurant, food service, and hospitality business using the nationally recognized Pro-Start Certification Curriculum.

"Academies" at The Park

PCEP has three different academies. They are International Academy, Arts Academy, and STEM Academy.

International Academy

International Academy leads you down a pathway that prepares you for International Baccalaureate Diploma. In freshman and sophomore year, it is regular classes, with English and history classes being all International Academy students. In junior and senior year, students must take 6 International Baccalaureate classes. This "academy" is located in Plymouth High School.

STEM Academy

STEM Academy is notably different from International Academy in that there are two different pathways and that the student only has to take one class each year for the program. The two pathways are Engineering and Biomedical and they teach the student about all the different things that are in those fields. Both of these pathways end with a capstone class

Arts Academy

This academy is very art-focused and ends with a capstone class.

Notable alumni