South Panola School District

The South Panola School District is a public school district based in Batesville, Mississippi (USA).

In addition to Batesville, the district also serves the village of Pope, the town of Courtland, and the Panola County portion of Crowder as well as rural areas in southern Panola County.

chools

*South Panola High School
*Batesville Junior High School
*Batesville Middle School
*Batesville Intermediate School
*Batesville Elementary School
*Pope School

Demographics

2006–07 school year

There were a total of 4,671 students enrolled in the South Panola School District during the 2006-2007 school year. The gender makeup of the district was 49% female and 51% male. The racial makeup of the district was 56.13% African American, 42.71% White, 1.03% Hispanic, and 0.13% Asian.cite web | url = http://orsap.mde.k12.ms.us:8080/MAARS/indexProcessor.jsp | title = Mississippi Assessment and Accountability Reporting System | publisher = Office of Research and Statistics, Mississippi Department of Education] 61.8% of the district's students were eligible to receive free lunch. [cite web | url = http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/Account/2008Report/DEMO0607.xls | title = 2006-07 State, District, and School Enrollment by Race/Gender with Poverty Data | format = XLS | publisher = Mississippi Department of Education | date = 2008-01-16 | accessdate = 2008-05-19]

Previous school years

Not surprisingly, South Panola's football program has produced an impressive lineage of college and professional football players. Among the most well-known are former teammates on South Panola's first championship team in 1993 and at the University of Alabama, Linebacker Dwayne Rudd, a former member of the NFL's Cleveland Browns and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Cornerback Deshea Townsend of the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers. Derek Pegues, who was a two-time First Team All-State honoree (by the Jackson Clarion-Ledger) as South Panola's Quarterback from 2003–2004 is currently a starting Defensive Back for Mississippi State University of the Southeastern Conference; he was an All-SEC selection in 2007 (Second-Team defense). Several of Pegues' teammates are also competing in the SEC, including Demario Bobo (DB, Sr., Mississippi State), brothers Peria and John Jerry (DL & OL, Jr. & So., respectively, Ole Miss), Jamarca Sanford (DB, Jr., Ole Miss), Chris Strong (LB, Fr., Ole Miss) and Jeramie Griffin (RB, Fr., Alabama). Former Ole Miss standouts such as LB Eddie Strong and DB Toward Sanford also attended SP. Currently, several of the Tigers' players are major college football prospects, including cousins (RB) Darius and (CB) Bud Barksdale, who have committed to play for the University of Mississippi Rebels in 2008.

The South Panola High School Varsity Cheerleaders were ranked sixth in the nation in the Super Varsity division at the 2007 UCA Nationals in Orlando, Florida. South Panola Junior High School Cheerleaders were ranked fifth in the nation in the large division at the 2007 UCA Nationals in Orlando, Florida.

More recently, the girl's fastpitch softball team won the 2006–2007 state championship by defeating Oak Grove in a 2/3 set. This marked the first time the South Panola softball team won the state championship. The Lady Tigers repeated as state fast-pitch softball champions in 2008. Star pitcher, Whitney Kihnl, was named the state's Miss Softball both years by The Clarion Ledger.

Batesville Junior High's seventh and eighth football teams were undefeated for the 2006–2007 school year.

ee also

*List of school districts in Mississippi

References

External links

* [http://www.southpanola.k12.ms.us/ South Panola School District]
* Panola Remembers: A History of Panola Education by Prof. Carl Edwin Lindgren, 1996. Morris Publishing Co. The book is also on-line at [http://www.iapsr.org/iaphs/panola/ Panola Remembers: A History of Panola Education]