Big Spring High School is a public high school located in

Big Spring, Texas Big Spring is a city in and the county seat of Howard County, Texas, United States, at the crossroads of U.S. Highway 87 and Interstate 20. With a population of 27,282 as of the 2010 census, it is the largest city between Midland to the west, A ...

and classified as a 4A Division I school by the

University Interscholastic League The University Interscholastic League (UIL) is an organization that creates rules for and administers almost all athletic, musical, and academic contests for public primary and secondary schools in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the largest organi ...

(UIL). It is part of the Big Spring Independent School District located in north central Howard County. The high school building was dedicated on March 23, 1952. The dedication address was given by J.W. Edgar, State Commissioner of Education. This was the first new high school built in 35 years, and the third in the districts history. In 2015, the school was rated " Met Standard" by the

Texas Education Agency The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is the branch of the government of Texas responsible for public education in Texas in the United States.

UIL Academic Events

The Big Spring Steers compete in the following UIL Academic Events - Events below have both team and individual components unless specifically noted otherwise. Sanctioned high school academic events are: *Accounting *Calculator Applications *Computer Applications (individual competition only) *Computer Science *Congressional Debate *Current Issues and Events *Literary Criticism *Mathematics *Number Sense *Ready Writing (individual competition only) *Science *Social Studies *Spelling and Vocabulary *

Speech Speech is a human vocal communication using language. Each language uses Phonetics, phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words (that is, all English words sound different from all French words, even if ...

(an award is given to the top overall school in speech events; the award does not qualify students for advancement) ** Cross-Examination Team Debate (team competition only) ** Lincoln-Douglas Debate (individual competition only) **

Extemporaneous Speaking Extemporaneous Speaking (Extemp, or EXT) is a speech delivery style/speaking style, and a term that identifies a specific forensic competition. The competition is a speech event based on research and original analysis, done with a limited-prepar ...

(individual competition only) ** Poetry Interpretation (individual competition only) ** Prose Interpretation (individual competition only) **Congressional Debate *

Journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

(an award is given to the top overall school in journalism events; the award does not qualify students for advancement) **

Editorial Writing The Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Journalism. It has been awarded since 1917 for distinguished editorial writing, the test of excellence being clearness of style, ...

(individual competition only) **

Feature Writing A feature story is a piece of non-fiction writing about news. A feature story is a type of soft news. The main sub-types are the ''news feature'' and the ''human-interest story''. A feature story is distinguished from other types of non-news ...

(individual competition only) **Headline Writing (individual competition only) **

News Writing News style, journalistic style, or news-writing style is the prose style used for news reporting in media such as newspapers, radio and television. News writing attempts to answer all the basic questions about any particular event—who, what, wh ...

(individual competition only) *

one act play A one-act play is a play that has only one act, as distinct from plays that occur over several acts. One-act plays may consist of one or more scenes. The 20-40 minute play has emerged as a popular subgenre of the one-act play, especially in writi ...

(team competition plus individual awards that do not lead to advancement)

UIL Academic State Meet

State Titles

''Individual'' *Congressional Debate **2016 (4A) *Editorial Writing **1990(4A) *Feature Writing **2008(4A) *Lincoln-Douglas Debate **2005(4A), 2011(3A), 2015(4A), 2016(4A) *News Writing **1990, 2009(4A) *Number Sense **2009(4A) *Persuasive Speaking **2011(3A) *Prose Interpretation **1978(4A), 1979(4A) *Spelling **1977(4A), 2001(4A) *Typing **1948(2A) ''Team'' *Journalism **2004(4A), 2009(4A) *Speech **2016 (4A)

Other State Placings

Athletics

The Big Spring Steers compete in these sports - Cross Country, Volleyball, Football, Basketball, Powerlifting, Swimming, Golf, Tennis, Track, Softball & Baseball The school competes in class 4A in all sports except for swimming and diving which competes in class 5A

State Titles

''Team'' *Boys Cross Country - **2006(4A) ''Individual'' *Boys Triple Jump - **2010(4A) *Girls Long Jump - **2011(3A) *Boys 800 Meter - **2016 (4A) *Boys 800 Meter - **2017 (4A) *Girls Triple Jump - **2017 (4A)

State Finalists

*Football - **1953(3A) *Baseball - **1994(4A)

State Semi-Finalists

*Volleyball - **2013 (3A)

Other State Placings

*2011 Girls Track 2nd Place team **2011(3A) **2nd Place Girls Long Jump **2nd Place Boys Long Jump **2nd Place Girls 400 Relay **2nd Place Girls 800 Relay **3rd Place Triple Jump **2012(3A) **9th Place Boys Powerlifting SHW **2017 (4A) **2nd Place Boys 1600 Relay **4th Place Boys 400 Meter **5th Place Boys 300 Hurdles **6th Place Boys 400 Relay **6th Place Boys 800 Relay **4th Place Girls 400 Meter **4th Place Girls Discus

Notable alumni

Larry Arnhart Larry Arnhart (born January 13, 1949) is a Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. He lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Arnhart has been described as one of the most promi ...

- writer and scholar, graduated from Big Spring High School in 1967. *

Dan Birdwell Dan Birdwell (October 14, 1940 – February 14, 1978) was an American college and professional football player. A defensive lineman, he played collegiately for the University of Houston and professionally for the Oakland Raiders of the American ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

for the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

Ken Coffey Kenneth Eugene Coffey (born November 7, 1960) is a former professional American football defensive back who played safety for five seasons for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League. He played college football at Southwest Texas ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

for the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

Olie Cordill Olie James Cordill (April 28, 1916November 14, 1988) was a professional American football halfback in the National Football League. A 1st round selection (5th overall pick) in the 1940 NFL Draft out of Rice University, Cordill played for the Cl ...

- halfback for the

Cleveland Rams The Cleveland Rams were a professional American football team that played in Cleveland from 1936 to 1945. The Rams competed in the second American Football League (AFL) for the 1936 season and the National Football League (NFL) from 1937 to 194 ...

* Jim Evans - wide receiver for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

* Bob Flowers -

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

Bubba Franks Daniel Lamont "Bubba" Franks (born January 6, 1978) is a former American football tight end who played nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Miami. He was drafted by the Green Bay ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

; although born in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, was raised and played

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

in Big Spring. * Tony Franklin -

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

; barefoot kicker set 18 NCAA records playing at Texas A&M, He led the NFL in scoring (140 points) and field goals made (32) in 1986 and was selected to represent the AFC in the Pro Bowl. Played in

Super Bowl XV Super Bowl XV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...

and

Super Bowl XX Super Bowl XX was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...

Charley Johnson Charley Lane Johnson (born November 22, 1938) is a former American football quarterback and retired professor of chemical engineering. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 years with three teams: the St. Louis Cardinals, Housto ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

Cliff Patton John Clifton "Cliff" Patton (July 29, 1923 – November 9, 2002) was a professional American football player who played guard for six seasons for the Philadelphia Eagles and the Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

for the

* Stephan Pyles - Chef and restaurateur. Owner of Stephan Pyles, Samar, and Stampede 66 in Dallas. * J. T. Smith — wide receiver for the St. Louis and Phoenix Cardinals, Washington Redskins and Kansas City Chiefs. Played 13 years in the NFL, then coached the San Angelo indoor team. Played at North Texas State after finishing at Big Spring High School. He was inducted to the Big Spring Hall of Fame and in 2002. JT was named to the AFC Pro Bowl team in 1980 and the NFC Pro Bowl team in 1988. He also led the NFL in total punt returns in 1979 & 1980. *

Ryan Tannehill Ryan Timothy Tannehill III (born July 27, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Texas A&M, where he was a wide receiver until his junior year, an ...

for the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

Charlie West Charlie West (born August 31, 1946, in Big Spring, Texas) is a former safety who played for three National Football League teams. He played in Super Bowl IV as a member of the Minnesota Vikings. He also still holds the University of Texas El ...

for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

References

External links

Big Spring ISD
{{authority control Public high schools in Texas Schools in Howard County, Texas 1952 establishments in Texas Educational institutions established in 1952