John Overton High School (commonly Overton, John Overton, Johnny O or JOHS) 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
Oak Hill, Tennessee
Oak Hill is a city in Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County, Tennessee. The population was 4,529 at the 2010 census. The Tennessee Governor's Mansion is located in the city. Although the city is administered under the Metropolitan Government ...
.
[ ]
Compare to the address
"4820 Franklin Rd Nashville TN 37220" It is named after prominent Judge
John Overton John Overton may refer to:
People
*John Overton (printseller) (1640–1713), seller of prints and maps who succeeded Peter Stent
*John Overton (priest) (1763–1838), English clergyman
*John Overton (judge) (1766–1833), judge at the Superior Cour ...
(1766–1833), advisor to President Andrew Jackson. The school opened in September 1958 and was renovated and expanded in 1995. The school most recently underwent a US$30,000,000.00 renovation, approved for FY 2015–2016, which strategically expanded school classrooms and other spaces. The school has won 14 state championships.
Academics and demographics
The school has a graduation rate of 82%, slightly above the national average.
Overton is a school of expanding academic courses. Numerous honors and
Advanced Placement
Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...
(AP) courses are offered at Overton. Recent AP class offerings were available in
Calculus (AB),
Biology
Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...
,
Art History
Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...
,
Music Theory
Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...
,
English Language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...
,
English Literature
English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...
,
World History
World history may refer to:
* Human history, the history of human beings
* History of Earth, the history of planet Earth
* World history (field), a field of historical study that takes a global perspective
* ''World History'' (album), a 1998 albu ...
,
US History
The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Numerous indigenous cultures formed, and many saw transformations in the 16th century away from more densely ...
,
European History
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD 500), the Middle Ages (AD 500 to AD 1500), and the modern era (since AD 1500).
The first early ...
,
US Government
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...
, and
Macroeconomics
Macroeconomics (from the Greek prefix ''makro-'' meaning "large" + ''economics'') is a branch of economics dealing with performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as a whole.
For example, using interest rates, taxes, and ...
.
According to ''
U.S. News & World Report'', in 2014 the school possessed a 20:1 student teacher ratio with 1,868 students and 92 teachers. Sixty-three percent of students were classified as "minority" and sixty-five percent were considered "economically disadvantaged". It is the most diverse high school in the state. Many students are of
Kurdish
Kurdish may refer to:
*Kurds or Kurdish people
*Kurdish languages
*Kurdish alphabets
*Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes:
**Southern Kurdistan
**Eastern Kurdistan
**Northern Kurdistan
**Western Kurdistan
See also
* Kurd (dis ...
descent, with a proposal in 2019 about adding
Kurdish
Kurdish may refer to:
*Kurds or Kurdish people
*Kurdish languages
*Kurdish alphabets
*Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes:
**Southern Kurdistan
**Eastern Kurdistan
**Northern Kurdistan
**Western Kurdistan
See also
* Kurd (dis ...
language classes.
Fifty-one percent of students were considered proficient in English and thirty percent proficient in algebra. These numbers are compared with the district average of fifty-six percent and forty-five percent, respectively.
Extracurricular activities
Overton has a number of athletic programs. Currently, there is a
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 ...
, boys' and girls'
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
cross country,
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 ...
,
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 ...
, boys' and girls'
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
, 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 ...
team.
The clubs and organizations offered consist of
band
Band or BAND may refer to:
Places
*Bánd, a village in Hungary
*Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran
* Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania
*Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...
,
Beta Club
The National Beta Club (often called "Beta Club" or simply "Beta") is an organization for 4th through 12th grade students in the United States. Its purpose is "to promote the ideals of academic achievement, character, leadership and service among ...
,
Business Professionals of America
Business Professionals of America (BPA) is a career and technical student organization that is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.
Officers
Every Business Professionals of America chapter has presiding officers for the national organization, state ...
,
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 ...
,
choir
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...
,
drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
,
FCCLA
Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA, formerly known as Future Homemakers of America) is a nonprofit national career and technical student organization for young men and women in Family and Consumer Sciences education in public ...
(Family, Career & Community Leaders of America),
Fellowship of Christian Athletes
The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) is an international non-profit Christian sports ministry founded in 1954 and based in Kansas City, Missouri. It has staff offices located throughout the United States and abroad.
History
FCA was found ...
,
forensics
Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and crimina ...
(speech and debate),
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
, Interact Club,
National Honor Society
The National Honor Society (NHS) is a nationwide organization for high school students in the United States and outlying territories, which consists of many chapters in high schools. Selection is based on four criteria: scholarship (academic achi ...
, ''The Overtour'' (
yearbook
A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a type of a book published annually. One use is to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school. The term also refers to a book of statistics or facts published annually. A yearbook often ...
), ''The Orbit'' (newspaper),
orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...
,
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
,
Student Council
A student council (also known as a student union, associated student body or student parliament) is an administrative organization of students in different educational institutes ranging from elementary schools to universities and research or ...
, Students Taking a Right Stand (STARS), ''The VEX Robotics Team'' (
VEX Robotics Competition
VEX Robotics is a robotics program for elementary through university students, and a subset of Innovation First International. The VEX Robotics competitions and programs are managed by the Robotics Education and Competition Foundation (RECF). In ...
), and
TSA (Technology Student Association).
Band
Overton is well known in the state for its marching band. The band won the Tennessee Governor's Cup six times, in 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1992, and 2008.
At the annual Contest of Champions competition in
Murfreesboro
Murfreesboro is a city in and county seat of Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 152,769 according to the 2020 census, up from 108,755 residents certified in 2010. Murfreesboro is located in the Nashville metropol ...
, the band had been a finalist for 26 consecutive years (1981–2006). In addition, they have made numerous appearances in the finals of various
Bands of America
Bands of America (BOA) is a music education advocacy organization and promoter of high school marching band competitions in the United States, such as the annual Grand National Championships. Established in 1975 as Marching Bands of America (MBA), ...
Regional competitions. The band has also performed in the
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade in New York City presented by the U.S.-based department store chain Macy's. The Parade first took place in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States with ...
(1990),
Tournament of Roses Parade
A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:
# One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...
(1987), Fiesta Bowl Parade (1984 and 1992), and was selected to commemorate the 60th and 65th anniversaries of the
Bombing of Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Haw ...
, Hawaii in 2001 and 2006. The school has three
WGI world championships, beginning when the
Winter Guard
Winter guard (sometimes spelled "winterguard") is an indoor color guard sport and performance art derived from military ceremonies. Modern winter guard is a competitive, performance-based activity which incorporates choreographed staging, dance, a ...
won the 1994 Scholastic A World Champions and 1995 Scholastic Open World Champions while the
Winter Drumline
An indoor percussion ensemble or indoor drumline is type of Marching arts, marching ensemble consisting of the Marching percussion, battery and front ensemble instruments. It differs itself from a traditional percussion ensemble by not only on mus ...
won the 1996 Scholastic Marching Percussion AA World Championship.
Overton was honored by the
Grammy Foundation as a ''1999 Grammy Signature School Gold'' school.
Overton was awarded the
John Philip Sousa Foundation
The John Philip Sousa Foundation is a non-profit foundation dedicated to the promotion of band music internationally. The foundation administers a number of projects and awards supporting high quality band performance, conducting, and composition ...
Sudler Shield for outstanding marching band twice.
Orchestra
John Overton also had its share of talent in the Orchestra as well. Keller Phillips made the All-State Orchestra in 2011, making him the first orchestra student to do so in years.
Wrestling
During the 1995–1998 time frame, the Bobcat wrestlers won the State's Traditional State Tournament twice (1996 and 1997) and finished in the top six twice (sixth in 1995 and second in 1998). Moreover, the wrestling team won the Tennessee state Dual Title in 1997 with an undefeated dual record of 29–0. They finished in the top four in each of those years in the dual tournament having placed fourth in 1995, third in 1996, champion in 1997, and third in 1998. The team coached by Ralph Gabriel was also ranked in the top 14 in the USA TODAY poll. Coach Gabriel was USA Southeast Region Coach of the Year and a finalist for National Coach of the Year in 1997
During this time, the Overton wrestlers had many individual state champions and All-Americans such as
University of Nebraska
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...
recruit, Charles McTorry, Eric and Derrick Jordan,
Sacred Heart University
Sacred Heart University (SHU) is a private, Catholic university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded in 1963 by the Most Reverend Walter W. Curtis, Bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Sacred Heart was the first Catholic un ...
's Head Coach Casey Brewster, Timothy Drinkwine, Robby Lee, William Hadden, and others. Many of these Overton graduates have gone on to pursue collegiate wrestling and coaching.
Throughout the last fifteen years, the wrestling team has been coached by Ralph Gabriel, who has taken the team to many national tournaments such as the US Open in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, the Virginia Duals in Hampton Virginia, the Tournament of Champions in Reno, Nevada. Other tournaments attended were in New Orleans, Central Square, New York, Herndon, Virginia; and Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Football
The football team won the Tennessee state championship in 1981 with a record of 14–0, under the leadership of Coach Nick Coutras. The stadium, visible from Interstate 65, is named after Coach Coutras, who had a 145–36 record in his sixteen years at Overton. The most recent success was in 2003 when the football team advanced to the quarterfinals of the state playoffs before losing to nearby rival and eventual champion
Hillsboro High School.
Baseball
Bobcat Baseball has one of the state's longest winning streaks at 40 baseball games, which was en route to a Tennessee state finals game in which they lost to
Houston High School out of Memphis in 2005.
The baseball team has experienced greater success, having won the Tennessee State Baseball Championship game in 1971 and 1988.
The Goodpasture vs. Overton game from 1998 holds the state's record for longest game in terms of innings, at 15.
Basketball
The basketball team experienced their greatest success in the 1990s with players such as
Georgia State University
Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the ...
recruit Chris Gentry,
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...
recruit and starting point guard Brandon Wharton,
University of Maryland
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
recruit Brian Watkins and other players recruited by local colleges and universities. The Basketball team finished 2nd in the state tournament in 1994 losing to state powerhouse,
Science Hill High School.
Tennis
The 2012 Tennis team placed 1st in singles tennis district.
Notable players
Ruth Tan, Melissa McKinney, and Benjamin Demonbreun.
The 2013 Boys' Tennis team placed 1st in Districts.
The 2014 Boys' Tennis team placed 1st in Districts.
The 2015 Girls' Tennis Team placed 1st in Districts.
Notable Players
Benjamin Demonbreun, Connor Ulrey, Neal Phillips, Onyedika Molokwu, Roland Phan, Aemron Yosuf, Kendrick Kronthal, Amos Tan, Ruth Tan, and Melissa McKinney.
Other activities
State championships have been won in several other sports. The boys' golf team won the state championship in 1977. The girls' track and field team won the championship in 1985 and hold records as 400 meter relay champions for 1981, 1985, 1988 and winner of the 1600 meter relay in 1991. The boys' track and field team won the championship in 1990 and hold records as mile relay champions in 1975 and winner of the 400 meter relay in 1982.
In forensics, the school won the Senator Karl E. Mundt Congress Trophy in the 1977
NFL National Tournament.
Notable alumni
Mookie Betts
Markus Lynn "Mookie" Betts (born October 7, 1992) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Boston Red Sox. In 2018, while with the Red Sox, he became ...
, baseball player from class of 2011. He was taken in the fifth round of the
2011 draft by the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
and listed in 2014 among the top prospects in baseball by Baseball America and MLB.com. In 2018, he became the only player in
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...
history to win the World Series, a Gold Glove award, a Silver Slugger award, and the MVP in the same season.
L.A. Woodard - baseball player from the Class of 2015. Played two years for Middle Tennessee State University. Drafted by the New York Mets as a shortstop in 2018 in the 16th round with the 470th selection.
Chris DuBois
Charles Christopher DuBois is a songwriter and music publisher based out of Nashville, Tennessee. DuBois began his music career as ASCAP Nashville Director of Membership in 1993. He left ASCAP in 1999 to form Sea Gayle Music with business partne ...
- Songwriter, Producer
Ugo Amadi
Ugochukwu Amadi (born May 16, 1997) is an American football free safety for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Oregon and was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the fourth round of the 201 ...
- Football Player
Pam Tillis
Pamela Yvonne Tillis (born July 24, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She is the daughter of country music singer Mel Tillis and ex-wife of songwriter Bob DiPiero. Tillis recorded unsuccessful ...
- Singer, Songwriter
Natalie Hemby - Songwriter
Christy Wright - Author / Speaker
Sam Ewing, baseball player from class of 1966. He played for the
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 ...
(1973, 1976),
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...
(1977–1978), and the Japanese
Nippon-Ham Fighters
The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaidō. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the majority of their home games at ES CON Field Hokkaido. The Fighters also host a s ...
(1979). Awarded a baseball scholarship to the University of Tennessee Volunteers (fall 1967 thru spring 1970), Sam batted .411 for his career and .464 his junior year, holding the #2 all time Southeastern Conference batting average.
Jeff Gooch
Jeffrey Lance Gooch (born October 31, 1974) is a linebacker who played for 10 seasons for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Detroit Lions in the National Football League.
Gooch played at John Overton High School in Nashville, Tennessee and finished h ...
, football player from class of 1992. He was a linebacker for the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...
(1996–2001, 2004–2005) and
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...
(2002–2003). He was inducted into the Austin Peay Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002.
Charles Holliday, Jr., football captain from class of 1966. He is former chairman and CEO of
DuPont
DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...
. He was inducted into the Metro Nashville Public Schools Hall of Fame in 2006.
John Mitchell, baseball player from class of 1983. He pitched for the
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 ...
(1986–1989) and
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...
(1990). He was inducted into the Metro Nashville Public Schools Sports Hall of Fame in 2008.
Sandra Lipman is a community leader and volunteer. She is an alumnus of Leadership Nashville Class of 2013 and was founder and owner of Mind Your Own Business, a creative marketing services provider. In 2014, she was inducted into the NPEF Public Schools Hall of Fame.
Mary Carol Humphreys Friddell is the president and owner of nursing assistant training school NATS, Inc., and a 30-year MNPS teacher who taught in seven schools across the city, including Eakin, Bordeaux, Julia Green and Cockrill. She was inducted into the NPEF Public Schools Hall of Fame in 2015.
References
External links
Official School SiteOverton Band
{{DEFAULTSORT:Overton, John High School
Public high schools in Tennessee
Schools in Nashville, Tennessee
Educational institutions established in 1958
1958 establishments in Tennessee