Hawthorne High School is a public

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 ...

located in

Hawthorne, California Hawthorne is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California. It is part of a seventeen-city region commonly called the South Bay. As of the 2020 US census, Hawthorne had a population of 88,0 ...

, within the

Centinela Valley Union High School District Centinela Valley Union High School District, (CVUHSD) is a public union high school district located in southern California that serves about 6,800 students in grades 9–12 from Lawndale, Hawthorne, Lennox, Del Aire, and El Camino Village. ...

. It opened in 1951 with 9th and 10th grades. The first graduating senior class was that of 1954. It is most notable for its association with

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

, whose original members

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word me ...

Carl Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community * Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of te ...

, and

Dennis Wilson Dennis Carl Wilson (December 4, 1944 – December 28, 1983) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He is best remembered as their drummer and as the middle brother of bandmates Brian and Carl Wilson. ...

, and

Al Jardine Alan Charles Jardine (born September 3, 1942) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He is best known as the band's rhythm guitarist and for occasionally singing lead vocals on singles such as "Help Me, Rho ...

attended the school. Coincidentally, Olivia Trinidad Arias, who later became Olivia Harrison (

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

’s wife), also attended; she graduated in 1965. Hawthorne High School is a cross-town rival with

Leuzinger High School Leuzinger High School is a public high school (9th through 12th grades) in Lawndale, California, United States. It opened on January 27, 1931, with an enrollment of 268. It was named after Adolph Leuzinger in recognition of his 25 years of servic ...

Notable alumni

Athletes

Ron Mix Ronald Jack Mix (born March 10, 1938) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle. He is a member of the American Football League (AFL) All-Time Team, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 19 ...

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

and NFL Hall Of Famer * Scott Laidlaw, running back, Stanford,

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

* Mike Scott, pitcher

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

(1986 Cy Young Award Winner) *

Curtis Conway Curtis Lamont Conway Sr (born January 13, 1971) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the first round of the 1993 NFL Draft out of the University of Southern Ca ...

, wide receiver,

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

, San Diego Chargers * Michael Marsh, 1992 Olympic gold medalist, 200 Meters, 4 x 100 Meter relay; U.S. High School National Record holder in 4 X 400 Meter Relay (3:07:40) on April 6, 1985 *

Henry Thomas Henry Jackson Thomas Jr. (born September 9, 1971) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor and had a lead role in the film '' E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (1982), for which he won a Young Artist Award and received Golden Globe ...

youth record sprinter; U.S. High School National Record holder in 4 X 400 Meter Relay (3:07:40) on April 6, 1985 * Mark Lee, 70s relief pitcher for the San Diego Padres Major League team *

Cameron Stephenson Cameron John-Ngaue Stephenson (born 18 June 1983) is a former American football guard. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Rutgers. Stephenson has also been a member ...

, offensive lineman 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 ...

Carl Boenish Carl Ronald Boenish ( ; April 3, 1941 – July 7, 1984), considered the father of modern BASE jumping, was an American freefall cinematographer, who in 1978 filmed the first jumps from El Capitan using ram-air parachutes. Biography Boenish repeat ...

, US Parachuting Association Achievement award winner *

Adimchinobi Echemandu Adimchinobe Echemandu (born November 21, 1981) is a former Nigerian-American running back of American football. He was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the seventh round of the 2004 NFL Draft. He played college football at California. Early ye ...

, running back for the Oakland Raiders *

April Jace April Jace (born April Denise Laune; May 6, 1974 – May 19, 2014) was an American masters track and field athlete who ran in sprinting competitions. She was the 2011 world champion in the women's over-35 4 × 100 meters relay. Early life Apri ...

, former wife of Michael Jace * Treamelle Taylor, Canadian Football League player *

Mike Colbern Michael Malloy Colbern (April 19, 1955 – March 8, 2019) was an American professional baseball catcher who played in the Major Leagues for the Chicago White Sox in the 1978 and 1979 seasons. Career Colbern was born in Santa Monica, California ...

, catcher

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

Musical artists

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...

Carl Wilson Carl Dean Wilson (December 21, 1946 – February 6, 1998) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He was their lead guitarist, the youngest sibling of bandmates Brian and Dennis, and the group's ''de ...

David Marks David Lee Marks (born August 22, 1948) is an American guitarist who is best known for being an early member of the Beach Boys. While growing up in Hawthorne, California, Marks was a neighborhood friend of the original band members and was a freq ...

Emitt Rhodes Emitt Lynn Rhodes (February 25, 1950 – July 19, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and recording engineer. At 14 years, Rhodes began his career in musical ensembles the Palace Guard as the group's drummer before jo ...

multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter * John Dust - rapper known as

Pigeon John John Kenneth Dust (born John Kenneth Dunkin: November 30, 1972), better known by the stage name Pigeon John, is an American rapper based in Los Angeles, California. He is a former member of L.A. Symphony. Early life Pigeon John claims that his ...

Chris Montez Chris Montez (born Ezekiel Christopher Montañez on January 17, 1943) is an American guitarist and vocalist, whose stylistic approach has ranged from rock & roll to pop standards and Latin music. His rock sound is exemplified in songs such as hi ...

Jeff McDonald Jeff McDonald (born 1963 in Hawthorne, California) is an American singer and guitarist best known for being a co-founder of alternative rock band Redd Kross with his younger brother, Steven Shane McDonald. In the early 2000s, he played in Ze ...

and brother Steve McDonald founding members of

Redd Kross Redd Kross is an American rock band from Hawthorne, California, who had their roots in 1978 in a punk rock band called the Tourists, which was started by brothers Jeff and Steve McDonald while Steve was still in middle school. With the additio ...

Greg Hetson Greg Hetson (born June 29, 1961) is an American guitarist. He was born in Brooklyn, New York and has lived in the Los Angeles area since he was 2 years old. Active since 1979, Hetson is best known as the guitarist for the influential hardcore pu ...

of Circle Jerks / Bad Religion * Tyler Okonma - rapper and musician known as

Tyler, the Creator Tyler Gregory Okonma (born March 6, 1991), known professionally as Tyler, the Creator, is an American rapper and record producer. He is one of the founding members of the music collective Odd Future. Okonma self-released his debut mixtape Bast ...

* Casey Jones - rapper and songwriter known as

Casey Veggies Casey Joseph Jones (born July 18, 1993), better known by his stage name Casey Veggies, is an American rapper and songwriter from Los Angeles, California. Since 2007, he has released five independent mixtapes under LA clothing and management comp ...

* Omar Banos - singer-songwriter known as Cuco

Other

Olivia Harrison Olivia Trinidad Harrison (née Arias; born May 18, 1948) is an American author and film producer, and the widow of English musician George Harrison of the Beatles. She first worked in the music industry in Los Angeles, for A&M Records, where s ...

née Olivia Trinidad Arias - widow of Beatle George Harrison (Class of 1965) * Ted Coombs - World record breaking roller skater (Class of 1972)

On-campus violence

The school has dealt with issues of race- related as well as gang-related fighting on campus in the past. In March 2007, gang-related fighting during lunchtime resulted in police officers from several law enforcement agencies entering the school with riot helmets and pepper spray. The school was subsequently shut down for the remainder of the day. Other gang-related issues continue to plague the school with sporadic on-campus fighting more recently.

References

External links

Official Website

Cougartown (Alumni site)
{{authority control High schools in Los Angeles County, California Public high schools in California Hawthorne, California 1951 establishments in California