- Murray High School (Kentucky)
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Murray High School Address 501 Doran Road
Murray, Kentucky, 42071
United StatesInformation Type Public Established 1872 School district Murray Independent School District Superintendent Bob Rogers Principal Teresa Speed Vice principal David Fields Faculty 43 Grades 9 to 12 Enrollment 460[1] (2009–10) Campus Small city Color(s) Old Gold and Black [2] Slogan Pride, Tradition, Excellence Athletics 14 varsity teams Athletics conference KHSAA Nickname Tigers and Lady Tigers[2] Website www.murray.kyschools.us/mhs/home.asp Murray High School is a public high school located in Murray, Kentucky
Contents
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 school in the Jackson Purchase. Until 1953, the Murray Middle School building housed all the students in the Murray district, grades 1-12. Murray State University's first classes met on the first floor in the 1920s, and Kentucky'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.
Extracurricular activities
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.[3]
- 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 in New York City 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 Cooper (March 6, 1927 – October 4, 2004, aged 77), Mercury-Atlas 9 astronaut. He was the sixth American to be launched into space.
- Mel Purcell (July 18, 1959- age 52), a former World No. 17 tennis player in the ATP tennis rankings. Purcell's finest moment was when he reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 1983.
- Molly Sims (May 25, 1973- age 38), an American model and actress. Sims is best 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.
- Tim Masthay (March 16, 1987- age 24), a punter for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League. He played college football at the University of 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.
References
- ^ "2009–2010 Audited School Enrollments (in alphabetic order)" (PDF). Kentucky High School Athletic Association. 2010-01-14. http://www.khsaa.org/reports/enrollments/20092010schoolenrollmenttotalsbyalpha.pdf. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
- ^ a b "Murray High School High School Directory Entry - (# 197)". Directory of Member Schools. Kentucky High School Athletic Association. 2009-09-01. http://www.khsaa.org/directory/index.php?school_id=197. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
- ^ "Kentucky Chess Association Blue Book". http://kcachess.webs.com/2010-2011_Blue_Book.doc. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
External links
Categories:- Educational institutions established in 1872
- Public high schools in Kentucky
- Civilian Conservation Corps in Kentucky
- Schools in Calloway County, Kentucky
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