Jackson High School is a public high school located near downtown

Jackson, Michigan Jackson is the only city and county seat of Jackson County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 33,534, down from 36,316 at the 2000 census. Located along Interstate 94 and U.S. Route 127, it is approxi ...

. The school was created in 1908 with the merger of Jackson's West Side and East Side High Schools and moved to its present location in 1927. The school's mascot is the

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

. The athletic teams compete as members of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

as of 2018. It is a part of the

Jackson Public Schools The Jackson Public School District (JPSD) or Jackson Public Schools (JPS) is a public school district serving the majority of Jackson, the state capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. Established in 1888, it is the second lar ...

. Jackson High School, alongside its normal curriculum, has a dual enrollment program where students can take courses at the local community college,

Jackson College Jackson College is a public college in Jackson County, Michigan. Originally established as Jackson Junior College in 1928, Jackson County electors voted to reincorporate the institution as a community college district under the "Public Act 188 ...

Administration

The administration of Jackson High School consist of four principals - one for each grade level - who are responsible for the day-to-day running of the school, along with supervising events, and implementing curriculum. The building principal, also known as the Principal for Instruction and principal for the 12th grade, is currently Barbara Baird-Pauli.

Demographics

The demographic breakdown of the 1,279 students enrolled for the school year 2014-15 was: *Male - 49.8% *Female - 50.2% *Native American/Alaskan - 0.2% *Asian/Pacific islander - 1.6% *Black - 37.3% *Hispanic - 5.2% *White - 53.1% *Multiracial - 2.6% Additionally, 56.9% of the students were eligible for free or reduced lunch.

Academics

In their junior year, students are required by

to take the MME and the ACT. As of 2013, Jackson High has three hundred and eighty seven students in seventeen sections of AP classes covering: *AP English Literature *AP Calculus *AP Statistics *AP Biology *AP Chemistry *AP Physics C: Mechanics *AP U.S. Government & Politics *AP U.S. History *AP Psychology *AP Microeconomics *AP Macroeconomics *AP French Language *AP Spanish Language *AP World History *AP Human Geography

The building

Originally built in 1927, the three-story tall building stands thirty three meters, or one hundred and nine feet tall. After Jackson High School received a $27 million renovation (one that also restored the building after many years of neglect due to budget constraints), a science wing was built. A highlight of this building is Britton Hall, commonly referred to as the Shakespeare Room, that is patterned after an old English hall in Stratford, England.

Extracurricular Activities

Fine and performing arts

Band

JHS has four concert bands as well as an orchestra. The Cadet band is composed of freshmen; varsity, varsity wind ensemble, and symphony band are sophomores through seniors. In addition to the four concert bands Jackson High has two after school jazz bands and a marching band. The marching band has performed at the

Outback Bowl The ReliaQuest Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, usually on New Year's Day. The event has been formerly called the Hall of Fame Bowl from 1986 to 1995 and the Outback Bowl from 1996 to ...

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

Choir

The Jackson High vocal music program currently consists of two choirs, Varsity Voices and Euphony Choir. In addition, there is an extracurricular choral group known as The Black History Tour Group. They have sung at presidential inaugurations twice, in 2001 and 2009 and have appeared at White House functions three times, in 1998, 2004 and 2007.

Dramatics

Jackson High School offers a class in theater. The drama club puts on two to three performances per year. After-school programs are also available, including Improv and other theater productions.

Visual Arts

The visual arts classes at Jackson High vary from general art classes to Sculpture, Drawing and AP Studio Art.

Athletics

Sports offered for both boys and girls are:

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...

, cross country,

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

, and

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

. In addition Jackson High also offers boys'

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

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 ...

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

, and

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

, and girls'

cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

, and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

Athletic facilities

Jackson High School's gymnasium is an over two thousand seat facility that holds home basketball games, along with MHSAA playoff games. The gymnasium has three full basketball courts, volleyball courts, and a three lane one hundred and sixty meter indoor track. Withington Community Stadium and Dungy Field are home to the Jackson High School football and track and field teams, as well as the Lumen Christi High School football team. On October 24, 2008, Dungy Field was dedicated to the entire Dungy Family, most notably

Tony Dungy Anthony Kevin Dungy ( ; born October 6, 1955) is an American former football safety and coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts. Dungy's teams be ...

. The track at Withington Community Stadium and Dungy Field has a nine lane four hundred meter surface made of a combination of rubber and polyurethane. Withington Stadium holds ten thousand people, and hosts MHSAA football playoffs, along with the Midwest Meet of Champions. The soccer teams play at Justin Mehall Memorial Field. Jackson High School also has two different tennis facilities, the six court complex is at Jackson High School, and the new ten court Dennis Kiley Tennis Complex is located at the Middle School at Parkside, but is utilized by Jackson High School. Jackson High also has a six lane twenty five yard length pool, a fitness center, and a second gymnasium.

Notable alumni

* Antonio Bass – former

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

football player * Dan Coats – Former U.S. Senator from Indiana and

President Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

Director of National Intelligence The director of national intelligence (DNI) is a senior, cabinet-level United States government official, required by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 to serve as executive head of the United States Intelligence Commu ...

. *

John A. Holm John Alexander Holm (May 16, 1943 – December 28, 2015) was an American academic. He was Chair of English Linguistics and History of Civilizations at the University of Coimbra, Portugal. Holm was born in Jackson, Michigan, and graduated from ...

– linguist * Fred Janke – University of Michigan football player and Mayor of Jackson * Steven Kampfer –

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

hockey player for the

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...

Vivian Kellogg Vivian Caroline Kellogg ��Kelly″(November 6, 1922 – December 13, 2013) was an American baseball player who played first base from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She batted and threw right-handed. Kellogg ...

– American baseball player * Clarence Love – Former NFL defensive back *

Jack Paar Jack Harold Paar (May 1, 1918 – January 27, 2004) was an American talk show host, author, radio and television comedian, and film actor. He was the second host of ''The Tonight Show'' from 1957 to 1962. ''Time'' magazine's obituary of Paar repo ...

– Host of ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...

'' (dropped out in 10th grade) * James Stanley - former American Football Player and current Defensive Backs Coach for the Hamilton Ti-Cats of the Canadian Football League (CFL) *

Tyler Thomas Tyler Thomas (born September 28, 1990) is an American football running back for the Cedar Rapids Titans of the Indoor Football League (IFL). He played college football at Bacone College and attended Jackson High School in Jackson, Michigan. He ha ...

– gridiron football player *

Alfred Worden Alfred Merrill Worden (February 7, 1932 – March 18, 2020) was an American test pilot, engineer and NASA astronaut who was the command module pilot for the Apollo 15 lunar mission in 1971. One of only 24 people to have flown to the ...

– NASA Astronaut who visited the Moon

References

External links

Jackson High School Website
{{authority control Public high schools in Michigan Jackson, Michigan Educational institutions established in 1927 Schools in Jackson County, Michigan 1927 establishments in Michigan