Murray High School (Kentucky)
Encyclopedia
History
The school currently lies on the corner of Sycamore Street and Doran Road, but was previously located on the corner of 8th and Main Streets where it had been from 1872 to 1971. The first school was erected by the community, and it was considered the finest high schoolHigh 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....
in the Jackson Purchase
Jackson Purchase
The Jackson Purchase is a region in the state of Kentucky bounded by the Mississippi River to the west, the Ohio River to the north, and Tennessee River to the east. Although technically part of Kentucky at its statehood in 1792, the land did not come under definitive U.S. control until 1818, when...
. Until 1953, the Murray Middle School building housed all the students in the Murray district, grades 1-12. Murray State University
Murray State University
Murray State University, located in the city of Murray, Kentucky, is a four-year public university with approximately 10,400 students. The school is Kentucky’s only public university to be listed in the U.S.News & World Report regional university top tier for the past 20 consecutive years...
's first classes met on the first floor in the 1920s, and Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
's first Head Start was organized in the building in the 1960s.
Murray High School ranked number 6 overall in ACT scores in the State of Kentucky in 2009.
Clubs and organizations
Murray High's chess team has had recent success, claiming the state championship in four out of five years from 2004 to 2008.- Academic Team
- BETA Club
- Big Brother Big Sister
- Black & Gold
- Black History Club
- Chess Team
- Choir
- Dawg Pound
- FBLA
- FCA
- FCCLA
- French Club
- History Club
- HOSA
- Japanese Club
- Key Club
- Latin Club
- Leadership Tomorrow
- Marching Band
- Skate Club
- Skills USA
- Spanish Club
- Speech Team
- Step Team
- Student Council
- Tiger Bank
- Tiger TV
- Y-Club
- Yearbook
Athletics
Murray High Football is well-known across Kentucky to be one of the best in Class AA. Murray High School has had an undefeated regular season in both 2009 and 2010. The irony is that in both seasons, the Tigers were defeated in the third round of playoffs when an opposing team scored with less than thirty seconds left in the game.Band is another prestigious program at MHS. In the past three years, the band has performed at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and at the Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas. The Murray Tiger Band was BOA Grand National Champions in 1977, and have consistently qualified for KMEA SMBC Finals since 2005, and placed 3rd in Class A in the 2010 season. The Murray High band is under the direction of Tim Zeiss and Beth Stribling. The Murray High Tiger Marching Band 2011 show is titled "The REMedy". The have been the "Best in the West" or West Regional Marching Band Champions 7 years in a row.
- Archery
- Band
- Baseball
- Basketball
- Cheerleading
- Cross Country
- Dance
- Football
- Golf
- Marching Band
- Soccer
- Softball
- Swimming
- Tennis
- Track and Field
- Volleyball-Ladies
Notable Alumni
- Gordon CooperGordon CooperLeroy Gordon Cooper, Jr. , also known as Gordon Cooper, was an American aeronautical engineer, test pilot and NASA astronaut. Cooper was one of the seven original astronauts in Project Mercury, the first manned space effort by the United States...
(March 6, 1927 – October 4, 2004, aged 77), Mercury-Atlas 9Mercury-Atlas 9Mercury-Atlas 9 was the final manned space mission of the U.S. Mercury program, launched on May 15, 1963 from Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The spacecraft, named Faith 7, completed 22 Earth orbits before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, piloted by astronaut Gordon Cooper, then...
astronautAstronautAn astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
. He was the sixth AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to be launched into spaceOuter spaceOuter space is the void that exists between celestial bodies, including the Earth. It is not completely empty, but consists of a hard vacuum containing a low density of particles: predominantly a plasma of hydrogen and helium, as well as electromagnetic radiation, magnetic fields, and neutrinos....
. - Mel PurcellMel PurcellMel Purcell is a former World No. 17 tennis player in the ATP tennis rankings. He is the head coach of the Murray State University men's tennis team...
(July 18, 1959- age 52), a former World No. 17 tennisTennisTennis 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...
player in the ATPAssociation of Tennis ProfessionalsThe Association of Tennis Professionals or ATP was formed in 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to protect the interests of male professional tennis players. Since 1990, the association has organized the worldwide tennis tour for men and linked the title of the tour with the...
tennis rankings. Purcell's finest moment was when he reached the quarterfinals of WimbledonThe Championships, WimbledonThe Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...
in 1983. - Molly SimsMolly SimsMolly Sims is an American model and actress. Sims is known for her appearances in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues and her role as Delinda Deline in the NBC drama Las Vegas. She is also an ambassador for Operation Smile...
(May 25, 1973- age 38), an AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
modelModel (person)A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
and actress. Sims is best known for her appearances in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit IssuesSports Illustrated Swimsuit IssueThe Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue is published annually by Sports Illustrated. It features fashion models wearing swimwear in exotic locales. According to some, the magazine is the arbiter of supermodel succession. In addition, the issue is a media nexus that in 2005 carried in advertising....
and her role as Delinda Deline in the NBCNBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
drama Las VegasLas Vegas (TV series)Las Vegas was an American television series broadcast by NBC from September 22, 2003 to February 15, 2008. The show focuses on a team of people working at the ficticional Montecito Resort & Casino dealing with issues that arise within the working environment, ranging from valet parking and...
. She is also an ambassador for Operation SmileOperation SmileOperation Smile is a not-for-profit medical service organization based in Norfolk, Virginia , founded in 1982. A secular NGO, the children's medical charity provides cleft lip and palate repair surgeries to children worldwide, assists countries in reaching self-sufficiency with these surgeries, and...
. - Tim MasthayTim MasthayTimothy James Masthay is an American football punter for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League. He was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2009, but released before the first 2009 pre-season game. He played college football at Kentucky.-Early years:Tim...
(March 16, 1987- age 24), a punter for the Green Bay PackersGreen Bay PackersThe Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
of the National Football LeagueNational Football LeagueThe 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...
. He played college footballCollege footballCollege football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
at the University of KentuckyUniversity of KentuckyThe University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...
. Masthay went to the Super Bowl (against the Pittsburgh Steelers) and emerged a Super Bowl Champion with the Green Bay Packers Feb. 6, 2011. Being the first Super Bowl champion from Murray High School.
Historical Timeline
- 1872: Community leaders raise money to build the Murray Male and Female Institute, recognized as "the finest school in the Jackson Purchase"
- 1900: The Institute catches fire (in "some unaccountable way," according to a contemporary account) and burns to the ground. The new "Murray Graded School Building" is built with state funds. It houses grades 1-12 in the Murray Independent School District. However, this second school building catches fire in 1919 during the Christmas break and also burns to the ground. It is believed that the fire was caused by students smoking and gambling in the boiler room.
- 1922: A new three-story schoolhouse is completed. It includes an auditorium, a large library, and several classrooms.
- 1930: The west wing, with several classrooms, a gymnasium and locker rooms, a home economics lab, and an unfinished third floor, is added onto the building.
- 1939: Ty Holland Stadium is built by Roosevelt's Civilian Conservation Corps and named for the Murray City School's highly respected teacher and coach.
- 1953: With the construction of Austin Elementary (named for A.B. Austin, long-time member of the Murray Board of Education), the Murray school building becomes Murray High School.
- 1958: The "Band and Manual Arts" building is added onto the Murray High campus to house band, music, and industrial arts.
- 1971: The new Murray High School is built on Doran Road, and the school system is reorganized to include four years of elementary school, five years of middle school, and four years of high school.