Northeast Jones High School (NEJ) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

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

Jones County, Mississippi Jones County is in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 67,246. Its county seats are Laurel and Ellisville. Jones County is part of the Laurel micropolitan area. History Less ...

, United States, near the city of

Laurel Laurel may refer to: Plants * Lauraceae, the laurel family * Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel People * Laurel (given name), people with the given name * Laurel (surname), people with the surname * Laurel (mus ...

. Northeast Jones serves students in grades 7 through 12 and is one of three traditional high schools in the Jones County School District.

History

As part of a wider Jones County School District consolidation, Northeast Jones High School opened in 1965 as the product of three local high schools. After school integration in the United States, a black student was hanged in a bathroom and suffered non-fatal injuries. After a couple more years, black NEJ students rioted in 1972, drawing the National Guard to the school.

Athletics

Northeast Jones athletic teams are nicknamed the Tigers and compete in

Mississippi High School Activities Association The Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) is the official sanctioning body of all public and some private junior high and high school academic and athletic competitions in the state of Mississippi. It is a non-profit organizatio ...

4A Region 5. The football team won the 1996 MSHSAA Class 4A championship.

Performing arts

NEJ fields two competitive

show choirs A show choir (originally known as a "swing choir") is a musical ensemble that combines choral singing with choreographed dance, often with an overarching theme. It is most relevant in the Midwestern United States and was popularized by the America ...

: the high school mixed-gender "Gold Horizons" and middle school mixed-gender "Tiger Vibe. The performing arts program also hosts an annual competition.

Notable alumni

Marsha Blackburn Mary Marsha Blackburn (née Wedgeworth; born June 6, 1952) is an American politician and businesswoman serving as the senior United States senator from Tennessee, a seat she has held since 2019. She is a member of the Republican Party. Blackbur ...

, politician *

Shad White Shadrack Tucker White (born September 22, 1985) is an American politician and Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) serving as the 42nd State Auditor of Mississippi. He previously served as Director of the Mississippi Justice Institute. A Republican, ...

, politician *Kenny Payne, American professional

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 ...

coach and former player ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenny_Payne) *

References

{{authority control Public high schools in Mississippi Schools in Jones County, Mississippi 1965 establishments in Mississippi Educational institutions established in 1965