Oak Ridge High School (Oak Ridge, Tennessee)
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Oak Ridge High School is the public high school for Oak Ridge, Tennessee. It was established in 1943 to educate the children of Manhattan Project workers. It currently has about 1500 students. Since 1995, it has educated students in grades 9 through 12.
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| Established | 1943 |
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| Type | Public secondary |
| Principal | Chuck Carringer |
| Students | 1,500 |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Location | Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA |
| Mascot | Wildcats |
| Newspaper | 'The Oak Leaf' |
| Website | orhs.ortn.edu |
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[edit] School construction
Oak Ridge High School underwent extensive reconstruction, completed in 2008, to update its facilities, incorporate significant energy-conserving features, and construct newer, better equipped learning areas.
The newly remodeled Oak Ridge High School project, which was featured in the December 2008 issue of School Planning & Design, was 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.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]
[edit] Notable honors
The Oak Ridge Wildcats football team were mythical national champions for 1958, and have won eight state championships.
Newsweek ranked Oak Ridge High School 456th on its 2006 list of the United States' 1200 best public high schools.[1]
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[2] 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.[3]
In April, 2006, another senior tied for first place in the Young Epidemiology Scholars Competition[4] sponsored by the College Board, and still another received a smaller scholarship.[5] 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[6].
Recently, 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 nation[7]. This followed the aforementioned Scott Molony's naming as one of 20 student All-Stars earlier this year[8].
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.[citation needed]
[edit] Oak Leaf controversy
Oak Ridge High School gained notoriety in November 2005 when school principal Becky Ervin censored the school's student newspaper, the Oak Leaf. The November issue originally contained an article with information on birth control and another with photographs of students' tattoos. 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. [9]
On April 10, 2006, Oak Ridge High School became one of the recipients of the 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.[10]
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. No reason was given by administrators for their failure to renew Ervin's contract.[11] She was temporarily replaced with the vice-principal, Chuck Carringer, who was appointed to the position on a permanent basis early in 2007.
[edit] Notable alumni
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- Jennifer Azzi, former WNBA player and Olympic gold medalist
- General B.B. Bell, commander of the U.S. Armed Forces in South Korea
- Nikki Caldwell, head coach for women's basketball at UCLA[12]
- Charlie Ergen, co-founder and CEO of EchoStar Communications Corporation
- Kai-Fu Lee, Google executive
- Doug Martin, head football coach, Kent State University[13][14]
- Jason McAddley, National Football League player
- Randy McNally, Tennessee State Senator
- Edgar Meyer, Grammy Award-winning bassist
- Sarah Monette, fantasy author
[edit] References
- ^ The 1,200 Top U.S. Schools - Newsweek America's Best High Schools - MSNBC.com
- ^ Siemens Foundation
- ^ It all adds up for ORHS - again, by Bob Fowler, Knoxville News Sentinel, October 31, 2006
- ^ 2005-2006 National First Place Winners
- ^ 2005-06 Regional Finalists
- ^ MAA American Mathematics Competitions - AMC
- ^ All-USA teachers strive to give students confidence, chances - USATODAY.com
- ^ Passion fuels seniors' ability to achieve - USATODAY.com
- ^ Sex Ed Becomes a Lesson in Press Freedom By Andrew Chang and Charlotte Sector, ABC News, Nov. 29, 2005
- ^ The Thomas Jefferson Center For the Protection of Free Expression » Muzzle Archive 2006
- ^ ORHS principal reassigned, The Oak Ridger, April 20, 2006
- ^ Nikki Caldwell accepts UCLA head coaching job
- ^ Mike Blackerby, Martin faces alma mater; Ex-Oak Ridge QB takes Kent to Kentucky in upset bid, Knoxville News Sentinel, September 6, 2007
- ^ Mike Blackerby, Doug Martin, a coach on the rise, Oak Ridge Sports website, August 5, 2006
