Hoover High School (Alabama)

:"This school takes its name from the city, which was named after founder William Hoover and not the former U.S. president."

Hoover High School is a public high school in Hoover, Alabama, USA, serving grades 9-12. It was built as a replacement W. A. Berry High School. It is currently one of the two International Baccalaureate schools in the Greater Birmingham Area. Hoover High has an enrollment of some 2400 students. The current principal is Mr. Don Hulin.Outside of Alabama, Hoover High School is best known as the school featured in the MTV show "Two-A-Days."

Notable alumni

Notable alumni from W. A. Berry High School include:
* Murry Bartow, basketball coach at East Tennessee State University and formerly at the University of Alabama at Birmingham
* Jeff Brantley, baseball pitcher, former ESPN baseball analyst, current Cincinnati Reds analyst
* Heather Whitestone, 1995 "Miss America"
* Stan White, Auburn University quarterback
* Mike Kolen, Miami Dolphins linebacker

Notable alumni from Hoover High School include:
* Adam Brown, 10-time Alabama State Table Tennis Champion (5 Singles Titles, 3 Doubles Titles, and 2 Juniors Titles)
* Taylor Hicks, 2006 "American Idol" winner
* Chad Jackson, former New England Patriots wide receiver
* John Parker Wilson, football player and quarterback at the University of Alabama
* Ross Wilson, Alex Binder, Dwarn "Repete" Smith, Cornelius Williams, Kristin Boyle, Mark McCarty, Charlie Zorn, Brandon and Byron Clear, Michael DeJohn, Kristen Padalino, Brittany Benton and Max Lerner, featured on MTV's "Two-A-Days."
* Sidney Spencer, Forward for the 2006-07 NCAA champion Lady Volunteers of the University of Tennessee, drafted in the 2007 WNBA draft by the Los Angeles Sparks
* Will Pearson, founder and publisher of Mental Floss magazine.
* Ankur Poseria, Olympic Swimmer who represented India at 2008 Summer Olympics.
* Justin Anthony Barkley, 1998 Valedictorian who gained quasi-celebrity status when he scored a perfect 36 on the ACT examination and then attended Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is now a prominent attorney in Birmingham.

Academics

Hoover High was home to ten National Merit Semi-Finalists in 2006 [ [http://www.hoovergazette.com/story_detail.php?419 "Ten Hoover High students named National Merit Semifinalists "] ] , and fifteen in 2007 [ [http://www.al.com/birminghamnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/community/1190190675285890.xml&coll=2&thispage=1 "Hoover High Boasts 15 Merit semifinalists" THE BIRMINGHAM NEWS SEPT 12., 2007] ] . Hoover High had 57 seniors who have scored a 30 or higher on the ACT, not including the October 27, 2007 test date. In addition to its International Baccalaureate program and strong pre-college curriculum, Hoover High features four specialized academies in engineering, law, finance, and information technology. The academies offer a specialized set of electives to complement the precollege curriculum and to prepare students for collegiate work in the selected fields. The Engineering Academy competes in the BEST Robotics competition every year, and recently have moved on to the Regional competition, South's BEST, held in Auburn on December 7 and 8. Hoover High also fields highly successful Math and Academic Quiz Bowl Teams.

Theatre

Hoover High School's drama program was started by Sandra L. Taylor, who retired in 2005. The school's on-campus theater is named in her honor. The program is now headed by Nancy Malone, Hoover competes annually at Alabama's Walter J. Trumbauer Drama Festival. In 2006 the one-act play "World Without Memory", directed by Chris Strickland, was named the runner-up in state competition and was given a special invitation to the International Thespian Festival in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Athletics

Hoover High School plays in the Class 6A of the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA), and are known as the Buccaneers or more commonly, the Bucs. In football, it has been nationally ranked by "USA Today" and has won the state championship in five of the last seven years, including four in a row from 2002-2005, under the direction of head coach Rush Propst. Before the start of the 2006 season, Hoover was ranked #1 in the nation by "USA Today" and "Sports Illustrated," a ranking it maintained until being defeated 28-14 by #6 ranked John Curtis Christian High School of River Ridge, Louisiana on ESPNU High School Showcase September 29. The team had won four consecutive state championships before losing to Prattville in the 2006 championship game.

The Bucs won the 2008 Clas 6A baseball championship, defeating nationally-ranked Opelika in two games after losing the first game in nine innings in the best-of-three series. The title was Hoover's first state championship in 27 years; the last was when the school was still known as W.A. Berry High.

Hoover, the second-largest school in Alabama (by student population) and largest by square footage,Fact|date=June 2007 has won over 40 state championships in 20 sports in the last 10 years. Overall, Hoover has made an appearance in 22 state championship playoffs.

The 2005 football team is featured on the MTV show "Two-A-Days." Season two for the "Two-A-Days" show, showcasing the 2006 football team, was filmed at the school as well and began its run in late January 2007.

Controversy

Hoover High School became embroiled in controversy in the summer of 2007 over allegations that grades for certain athletes were changed to make them eligible for college sports under National Collegiate Athletic Association regulations. The charges center around players on the football team. [cite news|url=http://www.al.com/birminghamnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/sports/1184921232314530.xml&coll=2|title=Pointer outlines investigation of school athletics|publisher="The Birmingham News"|last=Stock|first=Erin|date=July 20, 2007] Rush Propst, the Bucs' head coach (who was the target of charges about indiscretions in his personal life), denied any wrongdoing, as did then-principal Richard Bishop. Hoover Superintendent Andy Craig appointed retired federal prosecutor Sam Pointer to investigate the charges. The report was released on October 12, 2007, and found that grades had been changed for two athletes, along with various other issues. (The report can be seen on [http://www.hoover.k12.al.us the school website] .)

On July 25, 2007, the Hoover School Board voted to not renew Bishop's contract after one year of service. The action was based largely on a less-than-satisfactory performance assessment by a former assistant superintendent. Dr. Ken Jarnagin was named the interim principal; he started the previous month as the school system's chief academic officer. [cite news|url=http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2007/07/hoover_school_board_dismisses.html|title=Hoover school board dismisses Hoover High principal|publisher="The Birmingham News" (al.com)|last=Stock|first=Erin and Jon Solomon|date=July 25, 2007]

Hoover High School again came under public scrutiny in October 2007 after reports that a player, Tristan Purifoy, failed to properly transfer from Hanceville High School. The AHSAA investigation resulted in the forfeiture of all games in which Purifoy played, reducing the team record from 6-1 to 2-5 at the time. [cite news|url=http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2007/10/hoover_wins_forfeited_heat_on.html|title=Hoover wins forfeited; heat on Propst grows|publisher="The Birmingham News" (al.com)|last=Solomon|first=Jon|coauthors=and Erin Stock|date=October 24, 2007] [cite news|url=http://www.al.com/sports/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/sports/1192695715114490.xml&coll=2|title=AHSAA Probes Player's Status|publisher="The Birmingham News" (al.com)|last=Steinbauer|first=Peter|date=October 18, 2007] The Bucs still qualified for the post-season playoffs, however.

The state director of K-12 accreditation for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools announced his concern with the leadership at Hoover High. SACS asked for and received an outline of the changes necessary to fix the problems in order for the school to retain its accreditation. [cite news|url=http://www.al.com/birminghamnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/1193386985208010.xml&coll=2|title=SACS has concerns about Hoover High|publisher="The Birmingham News" (al.com)|last=Stock|first=Erin|date=October 26,2007]

On October 30, 2007, Propst announced his resignation before a special called meeting of the Hoover Board of Education. Propst continued to serve as head coach for as long as the team survived in the 2007 playoffs, and was then transferred to an administrative position through August 31, 2008, after which he will leave the Hoover system.

On December 20, 2007, Josh Niblett, the former head coach at Oxford High School, was hired to replace Propst. At Oxford, Niblett was known for his passion for football, his high expectations for players on and off the field, and his deeply-rooted religious and moral convictions. (In January 2008, Niblett was replaced at Oxford by John Grass, who coached Hoover's cross-town rival Spain Park High School to the 2007 state championship game and was formerly offensive cordinator at Hoover under Propst.)

ee also

*List of International Baccalaureate Schools

References

External links

* [http://www2.hoover.k12.al.us/schools/hhs/Pages/default.aspx Hoover High School Homepage]
* [http://www.hooverfootball.net Hoover Bucs Football web site]