Odessa High School (OHS) 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

Odessa, Texas Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small section of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 114,428 at the 2020 census, ma ...

, United States. It is one of three high schools in the Ector County Independent School District. The full name of the school is Odessa Senior High School. This name was originally to differentiate it from Odessa Junior High School (now known as David Crockett Middle School). Normally, the school is commonly referred to as Odessa High or just OHS. In 2011, the school was rated "Academically Acceptable" 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.

. On April 17, 2014 Odessa High School was named an AVID National Demonstration School. The student body of Odessa High School is composed of freshmen (grade 9) through seniors (grade 12). Freshmen are allowed to compete in varsity athletics with upper grades in all sports. However, this mainly happens in such sports as cross country, swimming, golf, gymnastics, tennis, volleyball, softball and baseball. To date, only two freshmen has competed on the varsity football team.

Athletics

The Odessa Bronchos compete in the following sports: Cross country,

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 Sum ...

, football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

powerlifting Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effo ...

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 ...

, soccer,

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

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 ...

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,

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

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 t ...

State titles

*Baseball **1950(All) *Football **1946(2A) *Boys Track **1950(2A), 1951(2A), 1952(2A), 1992(5A) Odessa Blackshear - State Runners-up: Basketball - 1953(PVIL-3A), 1954(PVIL-3A), 1955(PVIL-3A)

AVID program

The AVID program at OHS is a college preparation course for students. This program was recognized as a National Demonstration School as of April 17, 2014. The AVID committee decided unanimously on this decision. OHS is now a highly ranked AVID school. AVID has an on campus site team along with the AVID faculty. * AVID Coordinator- Rita Woodall * AVID Teacher/Asst. Coordinator - Naomi Fuentes * AVID Teacher - Tracey Borchardt * AVID Teacher - Kerina Joy

Mascot

The mascot for Odessa High School is the Odessa Bronchos, with all female teams referred to as "Lady Bronchos." This unique spelling of "Broncho" has resulted in Odessa High being the only high school in Texas with this particular mascot. The original mascot for the team was the Yellowjackets and the team colors were purple and gold. In 1929, the student body voted 113-0 to change to the "Bronchos". The Bronchos colors were changed to scarlet and white.

Band

The Odessa High School band has the longest consecutive streak of first division rating in marching contests in the State of Texas, going back 82 years. The band has also been invited to various music festival and contests across the nation. In March 2007, the band was invited to play their marching season selections "Letters from the Front" at the

National World War II Memorial The World War II Memorial is a national memorial in the United States dedicated to Americans who served in the armed forces and as civilians during World War II. It is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The memorial consists ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

In 2004, The Odessa High School Band combined with the band from

Permian High School Permian High School is a public high school located in Odessa, Texas and is one of three high schools in the Ector County Independent School District. It was the subject of the book '' Friday Night Lights'', which in turn inspired a movie and T ...

in Odessa to form one of the largest bands ever to march in the

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 ...

in Pasadena, California (over 500 members). The OHS Band was started in 1932 under the direction of G. Ward Moody. Directors Robert L. Maddox and Bill Dean have been the longest tenured directors of the band with 13 years and 22 years respectively. As of July 2018, John Mayo is the director of the band. The Instrumental Music Building at OHS is named in honor of Maddox and the main band hall is named in honor of Dean. From 1981 through 2006, the band has had at least one member make the Texas All State Band each year. In the 1998-99 school year, eight members were accorded All State honors. Band members also consistently do well at UIL Solo and Ensemble contest.

Culture

Odessa High School students reported ghost sightings and paranormal phenomena at the school for decades, up to 2006, centering around Betty Williams, who was killed during the " Kiss and Kill" homicide in 1961. Mack Herring, her killer, was ruled not guilty by grounds of temporary insanity by a Texas jury as she had asked Herring to kill her. Odessa High's administration applied paint to the school auditorium's windows to counter the ghost story culture. In 2019 CBS 7 Odessa stated "Many believe her ghost still haunts the halls of Odessa High School to this day."

Notable alumni

* Gene Babb, linebacker and fullback for

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

and

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 divi ...

* Marcus Cannon, offensive tackle for TCU and New England Patriots *

Hayden Fry John Hayden Fry (February 28, 1929 – December 17, 2019) was an American college football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Southern Methodist University (SMU) from 1962 to 1972, North Texas State University—now known ...

, former head football coach,

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , ...

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School, ...

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...

* Larry Gatlin, Steve Gatlin, and Rudy Gatlin —

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

-winning country artists * Ronnie Goodwin, football player,

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the ...

and

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 play ...

1963-68 * Bradley Marquez, Texas Tech football player and minor league baseball outfielder for the New York Mets, professional football player for Los Angeles Rams *

Nolan McCarty Nolan Matthew McCarty (born December 10, 1967 in Odessa, Texas) is an American political scientist specializing in U.S. politics, democratic political institutions, and political methodology. He has made notable contributions to the study of partis ...

, class of 1986, Chair Department of Politics,

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

* Derrick Shepard, wide receiver for

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

and

*Jack Ward, class of 1966, bareback riding champion with two World Championships (1977 and 1978); inducted into Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame on January 13, 2011 in Fort Worth *

Stephnie Weir Stephnie Carmel Weir (born November 28, 1967) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She is best known for being a main cast member and writer on the Fox sketch comedy television series '' Mad TV'' from 2000 to 2005, for which she got two ...

, actress, ''

Mad TV ''Mad TV'' (stylized as ''MADtv'') is an American sketch comedy television series originally inspired by '' Mad'' magazine. In its initial run, it aired on Fox from 1995 to 2009. After a one-off reunion show in 2015 to celebrate the twentie ...

'' * George E. "Buddy" West (1936–2008), Odessa's representative to

Texas Legislature The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful ar ...

, 1993-2008 * Alfred M. Wilson, USMC, class of 1967— posthumous

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valo ...

KIA Kia Corporation, commonly known as Kia (, ; formerly known as Kyungsung Precision Industry and Kia Motors Corporation), is a South Korean multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It is South Korea's second lar ...

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

* Richard Wortham, college baseball star at

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

and former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher

References

External links

The Real Story About ElizabethOdessa High School websiteOHS BandOdessa High FootballOdessa High School Alumni website
- TexasBob.com

{{authority control Schools in Ector County, Texas Odessa, Texas Public high schools in Texas 1909 establishments in Texas