.gif)
Oak Ridge High School (Oak Ridge, Tennessee)
Encyclopedia
Oak Ridge High School is the public high school
for Oak Ridge, Tennessee
, enrolling grades 9 through 12. It was established in 1943 to educate the children of Manhattan Project
workers. It currently has about 1500 students.
venue, Jack Armstrong Stadium and Blankenship Field, is adjacent to the original site of the school.
The schools' mascot and colors were selected in 1943 by Ben Martin, who was athletic director (1943-1971) and coached football (1943-1947), basketball (1943-1959), and track (1944-1965). As a graduate and former athlete at the University of Kentucky
, Martin adopted Kentucky's "Wildcats" as the ORHS mascot. He chose cardinal red and gray as the school colors to emulate the successful sports programs at Dobyns-Bennett High School in Kingsport, Tennessee
.
used in their design. Two circular buildings, designated "E" and "F", were added in 1963.
like other schools in the region. On September 6, 1955, it became the first high school in the southern United States
to integrate after the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education
decision. On that date, 42 African American
students attended the first day of school. The integration
of Oak Ridge High School was the result of a January 1955 directive by the Atomic Energy Commission. Oak Ridge's advisory town council had passed a resolution in December 1953 calling for school integration, leading to an unsuccessful attempt to recall
council chairman Waldo Cohn, and during the summer of 1955 some citizens had urged a school boycott
to protest integration, but the actual integration of the high school (which was photographed by Life
magazine) was uneventful.
In the first year of integration, two African American students became members of the ORHS basketball
team, but because segregation was still in force at all other Tennessee high schools, they were not permitted to participate in away game
s and the coach had to get permission from the opposing teams before they could participate in home game
s.
Designed by DLR Group
, the renovated Oak Ridge High School was featured in the December 2008 issue of School Planning & Design and recognized with a Citation Award from the American Association of School Administrators
, and a 2009 Learning by Design Citation of Excellence from the American School Board Journal. The Tennessee School Boards Association selected ORHS as the School of the Year for Excellence in Architectural Design; ORHS earned second place in the Renovation Division.
ed the student newspaper
, the Oak Leaf. The November issue originally contained an article with information on birth control
and another with photographs of students' tattoo
s. Though the paper had already been printed, Principal Ervin attempted to confiscate all 1800 copies. The newspaper's staff, with the help of the Student Press Law Center
, brought the controversy national attention. On April 10, 2006, the incident led to Oak Ridge High School receiving a Jefferson Muzzle Award, issued annually by the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression
to focus attention on free speech and First Amendment
violations in the United States. Also in April 2006, Ervin was released from her position as principal and notified that her contract would not be continued for the following school year. Administrators gave no reason for their decision not to renew Ervin's contract. She was temporarily replaced by vice-principal Chuck Carringer, who was appointed to the position on a permanent basis early in 2007.
team were theoretical national champions for 1958, when they averaged 43.8 points per game and allowed their opponents an average of 2.6 points. In the school's history, the team has won eight state championships.
Newsweek
ranked Oak Ridge High School 456th on its 2006 list of the United States' 1200 best public high schools.
In 2005, Oak Ridge sent a group of three seniors to the national finals of the Siemens Competition, where they finished fourth for their work in Natural language processing
. During the first week of December 2006, three seniors from ORHS presented their research on alternate fuel sources and won first place nationally. Scott Molony, Scott Horton, and Steven Arcangeli split a college scholarship worth $100,000.
In April 2006, another senior tied for first place in the Young Epidemiology Scholars Competition sponsored by the College Board
and another senior received a smaller scholarship in the same competition. Oak Ridge is also nationally known for its consistent performance in Science Olympiad
. Until recently, ORHS regularly sent a team to the nationals. Students from Oak Ridge also traditionally perform well on the American Math Competition exams.
In 2007 longtime ORHS math teacher Benita Albert was named to the USA Today
All-USA Teaching Team, along with 19 other outstanding teachers from around the United States. Earlier that year student Scott Molony was named as one of 20 USA Today student All-Stars.
The Oak Ridge High School orchestra has been led by Jenifer Van Tol for more than 25 years, and has excelled past any and all other orchestras in a pleathera of out-of-state competitions, almost always winning 1st, 2nd, and or/ various overalls. They have continued this trend, and plan to keep it.
The Oak Ridge high school band, which is directed by Thomas Wade, Chuck Yost, Jeff Kile and Dale Pendley, consists of two bands: symphonic and concert. They have won many prestigious awards at various band competitions throughout the southeastern United States.
In 2009, ROAR teacher Beth Estep won the Titans Teacher of the Year Award for her outstanding performance and care for her students graduation.
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....
for Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson and Roane counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of Knoxville. Oak Ridge's population was 27,387 at the 2000 census...
, enrolling grades 9 through 12. It was established in 1943 to educate the children of Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
workers. It currently has about 1500 students.
Founding and first location
Oak Ridge High School was established in 1943 by the U.S. Army to educate children of the workers building and operating Manhattan Project facilities in Oak Ridge. The original school building was in eastern Oak Ridge on the hill above the community's first commercial center at Jackson Square. The school's footballAmerican 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...
venue, Jack Armstrong Stadium and Blankenship Field, is adjacent to the original site of the school.
The schools' mascot and colors were selected in 1943 by Ben Martin, who was athletic director (1943-1971) and coached football (1943-1947), basketball (1943-1959), and track (1944-1965). As a graduate and former athlete at the University of Kentucky
University of Kentucky
The 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...
, Martin adopted Kentucky's "Wildcats" as the ORHS mascot. He chose cardinal red and gray as the school colors to emulate the successful sports programs at Dobyns-Bennett High School in Kingsport, Tennessee
Kingsport, Tennessee
Kingsport is a city located mainly in Sullivan County with some western portions in Hawkins County in the US state of Tennessee. The majority of the city lies in Sullivan County...
.
New campus
The high school moved to its current central location in Oak Ridge in 1951 after a new state-of-the-art campus was built under the auspices of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, which then operated Oak Ridge and its public schools. The new school, which had a capacity of about 1500 students and cost $2,980,000 to build, consisted of four buildings (designated "A", "B," "C", and "D") in two groups, connected by an enclosed glass corridor. The auditorium had a seating capacity of 1400 and was intended to serve the community as well as the school. The school attracted national media attention for its innovative features. A Nashville newspaper dubbed the new buildings “Classes in Glass” because of the unusually large amount of glassGlass
Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
used in their design. Two circular buildings, designated "E" and "F", were added in 1963.
Racial integration
In its early years, Oak Ridge High School was racially segregatedRacial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
like other schools in the region. On September 6, 1955, it became the first high school in the southern United States
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
to integrate after the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 , was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which...
decision. On that date, 42 African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
students attended the first day of school. The integration
Desegregation
Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups usually referring to races. This is most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in...
of Oak Ridge High School was the result of a January 1955 directive by the Atomic Energy Commission. Oak Ridge's advisory town council had passed a resolution in December 1953 calling for school integration, leading to an unsuccessful attempt to recall
Recall election
A recall election is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a direct vote before his or her term has ended...
council chairman Waldo Cohn, and during the summer of 1955 some citizens had urged a school boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
to protest integration, but the actual integration of the high school (which was photographed by Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
magazine) was uneventful.
In the first year of integration, two African American students became members of the ORHS 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...
team, but because segregation was still in force at all other Tennessee high schools, they were not permitted to participate in away game
Road (sports)
Road game , more commonly known as an away game, is a reference to all cities and stadia/arenas/fields/venues where an athletic team plays games for which it is not the host. Most professional teams represent cities or towns and amateur sports teams often represent academic institutions...
s and the coach had to get permission from the opposing teams before they could participate in home game
Home (sports)
In sports, home is a term referring to both the city and stadium, arena, or field where an athletic team plays games at their venue, whilst when the team plays elsewhere then they are considered the away team. The home term can refer to either the sponsoring institution or the place where it is...
s.
Grade level reorganization
Until 1995, the high school enrolled grades 10 to 12. Grade 9 was added in 1995 when Oak Ridge Schools reorganized grade levels.School reconstruction
Oak Ridge High School underwent extensive reconstruction, starting in 2005 and completed in 2008, to update its facilities, incorporate significant energy-conserving features, and construct newer, better equipped learning areas. The total cost of the school renovation was $61,000,000. http://www.educationdesignshowcase.com/view.esiml?pid=226Designed by DLR Group
DLR Group
DLR Group is an architectural design firm providing architecture, engineering, planning, and interior design to clients throughout the United States...
, the renovated Oak Ridge High School was featured in the December 2008 issue of School Planning & Design and recognized with a Citation Award from the American Association of School Administrators
American Association of School Administrators
The American Association of School Administrators , founded in 1865, is the professional organization for more than 14,000 educational leaders across the United States. AASA’s members are chief executive officers and senior-level administrators from school districts in every region of the country,...
, and a 2009 Learning by Design Citation of Excellence from the American School Board Journal. The Tennessee School Boards Association selected ORHS as the School of the Year for Excellence in Architectural Design; ORHS earned second place in the Renovation Division.
Oak Leaf controversy
Oak Ridge High School gained notoriety in November 2005 when principal Becky Ervin, then in her first year at the school, censorCensorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
ed the student newspaper
Student newspaper
A student newspaper is a newspaper run by students of a university, high school, middle school, or other school. These papers traditionally cover local and, primarily, school or university news....
, the Oak Leaf. The November issue originally contained an article with information on birth control
Birth control
Birth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...
and another with photographs of students' tattoo
Tattoo
A tattoo is made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. Tattoos on humans are a type of body modification, and tattoos on other animals are most commonly used for identification purposes...
s. Though the paper had already been printed, Principal Ervin attempted to confiscate all 1800 copies. The newspaper's staff, with the help of the Student Press Law Center
Student Press Law Center
The Student Press Law Center is a non-profit organization in the United States that aims at protecting the freedom of the press for student journalists, usually from high school and university student newspapers...
, brought the controversy national attention. On April 10, 2006, the incident led to Oak Ridge High School receiving a Jefferson Muzzle Award, issued annually by the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression
Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression
The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression is an independently funded organization associated with the University of Virginia and dedicated to the protection of freedom of speech. Founded in 1989 and headed by former UVA president Robert M...
to focus attention on free speech and First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
violations in the United States. Also in April 2006, Ervin was released from her position as principal and notified that her contract would not be continued for the following school year. Administrators gave no reason for their decision not to renew Ervin's contract. She was temporarily replaced by vice-principal Chuck Carringer, who was appointed to the position on a permanent basis early in 2007.
Notable honors
The Oak Ridge Wildcats footballAmerican 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 were theoretical national champions for 1958, when they averaged 43.8 points per game and allowed their opponents an average of 2.6 points. In the school's history, the team has won eight state championships.
Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
ranked Oak Ridge High School 456th on its 2006 list of the United States' 1200 best public high schools.
In 2005, Oak Ridge sent a group of three seniors to the national finals of the Siemens Competition, where they finished fourth for their work in Natural language processing
Natural language processing
Natural language processing is a field of computer science and linguistics concerned with the interactions between computers and human languages; it began as a branch of artificial intelligence....
. During the first week of December 2006, three seniors from ORHS presented their research on alternate fuel sources and won first place nationally. Scott Molony, Scott Horton, and Steven Arcangeli split a college scholarship worth $100,000.
In April 2006, another senior tied for first place in the Young Epidemiology Scholars Competition sponsored by the College Board
College Board
The College Board is a membership association in the United States that was formed in 1900 as the College Entrance Examination Board . It is composed of more than 5,900 schools, colleges, universities and other educational organizations. It sells standardized tests used by academically oriented...
and another senior received a smaller scholarship in the same competition. Oak Ridge is also nationally known for its consistent performance in Science Olympiad
Science Olympiad
Science Olympiad is an American elementary, middle, or high school team competition which tests knowledge of various science topics and engineering ability. Over 6,200 teams from 49 U.S. states compete each year. Most teams compete in three levels of competition: regionals, states, and nationals...
. Until recently, ORHS regularly sent a team to the nationals. Students from Oak Ridge also traditionally perform well on the American Math Competition exams.
In 2007 longtime ORHS math teacher Benita Albert was named to the USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
All-USA Teaching Team, along with 19 other outstanding teachers from around the United States. Earlier that year student Scott Molony was named as one of 20 USA Today student All-Stars.
The Oak Ridge High School orchestra has been led by Jenifer Van Tol for more than 25 years, and has excelled past any and all other orchestras in a pleathera of out-of-state competitions, almost always winning 1st, 2nd, and or/ various overalls. They have continued this trend, and plan to keep it.
The Oak Ridge high school band, which is directed by Thomas Wade, Chuck Yost, Jeff Kile and Dale Pendley, consists of two bands: symphonic and concert. They have won many prestigious awards at various band competitions throughout the southeastern United States.
In 2009, ROAR teacher Beth Estep won the Titans Teacher of the Year Award for her outstanding performance and care for her students graduation.
Principals
Oak Ridge High School principals through the school's history have been:- Charles Oliver, 1943–1945
- E.C. Cunningham, 1946–1947
- Donald Roe, 1948–1953
- Tom Dunigan, 1954–1971
- Jim Schott, 1972–1973
- Don Bordinger, 1974–1982
- William E. Hodgers, 1983–1994
- James F. Duncan, 1995–1999
- Kenneth E. Green, 2000–2005
- Becky W. Ervin, 2005–2006
- Chuck Carringer, 2006–2009
- Jody Goins, beginning 2009
Notable alumni
- Jennifer AzziJennifer AzziJennifer Lynn Azzi is the head coach of the women's basketball team at the University of San Francisco. Azzi is a former collegiate and professional basketball player.-College years:...
, former WNBAWomen's National Basketball AssociationThe Women's National Basketball Association is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. It currently is composed of twelve teams. The league was founded on April 24, 1996 as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association...
player and OlympicOlympic GamesThe Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
gold medalGold medalA gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...
ist, now women's basketball coach for the University of San Francisco DonsSan Francisco DonsThe San Francisco Dons is the nickname of the athletic teams at the University of San Francisco .-History:Athletics at USF dates back to its founding in 1855, when founder Anthony Maraschi, S.J. organized ball games as recreation for the first students... - General B.B. Bell, commander of the U.S. Armed ForcesMilitary of the United StatesThe United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
in South KoreaSouth KoreaThe Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south... - A. Keith BissellA. Keith BissellA. Keith Bissell is a Tennessee politician who served in the Tennessee House of Representatives and was the last chairman of the Tennessee Public Service Commission.- Early life and education :...
, member of the Tennessee House of RepresentativesTennessee House of RepresentativesThe Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.-Constitutional requirements:...
and chairman of the Tennessee Public Service CommissionTennessee Public Service CommissionThe Tennessee Public Service Commission, also called Tennessee Railroad and Public Utilities Commission, was a three-member elected body which regulated private utilities, trucking firms, and railroads within the state of Tennessee... - Mike CaldwellMike Caldwell (American football)Isaiah "Mike" Caldwell, Jr. is a former American football linebacker who played 11 seasons in the National Football League. He played college football at Middle Tennessee State University and was drafted in the third round of the 1993 NFL Draft...
, NFL player and coach - Nikki CaldwellNikki CaldwellNikki Caldwell is an American women's basketball coach, who was the head coach for UCLA Bruins women's basketball at the University of California, Los Angeles and is currently head coach for the Lady Tigers at Louisiana State University.-Early life:Caldwell is a native of Oak Ridge, Tennessee,...
, women's basketball head coach, formerly at UCLA, now at LSU - Charlie ErgenCharlie ErgenCharles William Ergen better known as Charlie Ergen is the former co-founder, and Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of the Dish Network, formerly known as the EchoStar Communications Corporation. He stepped down in May 2011.-Biography:...
, co-founder and CEO of EchoStar Communications CorporationDish NetworkDish Network Corporation is the second largest pay TV provider in the United States, providing direct broadcast satellite service—including satellite television, audio programming, and interactive television services—to 14.337 million commercial and residential customers in the United States. Dish... - Mindy GehrsMindy GehrsMelinda Anne "Mindy" Gehrs is a former All-American swimmer who was inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor in January 2009.-Youth in Oak Ridge, Tennessee:...
, All-American swimmer - Otis HowardOtis HowardOtis Howard is a former forward who played in the National Basketball Association. Howard was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in the fourth round of the 1978 NBA Draft and began that season as a member of the team...
, played basketball in the NBA - Joel Eissenberg, molecular cell biologist and associate dean of research at Saint Louis University School of Medicine
- Kai-Fu Lee, GoogleGoogleGoogle Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
executive - Doug MartinDoug Martin (football coach)Doug Martin is a former head football coach at Kent State University.In 2004, Martin succeeded Dean Pees as head coach of the Kent State Golden Flashes football team...
, head football coach, Kent State University - Jason McAddleyJason McAddleyJason Christopher McAddley is an American football wide receiver for the Las Vegas Locomotives of the United Football League. He played his high school football at Oak Ridge High School in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and went to the University of Alabama.He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the 5th...
, 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...
player - Randy McNallyRandy McNallyRandy McNally is a Tennessee politician and a Republican member of the Tennessee Senate representing the 5th district, which encompasses Anderson County, Loudon County, Monroe County, and part of Knox County. He is a resident of Oak Ridge....
, Tennessee State Senator - Edgar MeyerEdgar MeyerEdgar Meyer is a prominent contemporary bassist and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. Meyer has worked as a session musician in Nashville, part of various chamber groups, a composer, and an arranger...
, Grammy AwardGrammy AwardA Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-winning bassistBassistA bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments... - Sarah MonetteSarah MonetteSarah Monette is an American novelist and short story author writing mostly in the genres of fantasy and horror. She was born and raised in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and she began writing at the age of 12. In 2004 she earned a PhD in English literature, specializing in Renaissance Drama and writing her...
, fantasy author - Mitch RouseMitch RouseEdward Mitchell "Mitch" Rouse is an American film and television actor, director and screenwriter.Rouse was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, and raised in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where he played football at Oak Ridge High School. He attended the University of Tennessee before developing an interest in...
, actor, screenwriter, and director in TV and film - Scott StallingsScott StallingsScott Stallings is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour.-Amateur career:Stallings was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. He attended Oak Ridge High School in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and was an all-state golfer and a four-year member of the Dean's List...
, professional golfer on the PGA TourPGA TourThe PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...