Permian High School is a public high school 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, mak ...

and is one of three high schools in the

Ector County Independent School District Ector County Independent School District (ECISD) is a public school district based in Odessa, Texas, United States. In addition to the majority of Odessa (the portions in Ector County), the district also serves the communities of West Odessa, ...

. It was the subject of the book '' Friday Night Lights'', which in turn inspired a movie and TV series of the same name.

History

Opened in 1959, Permian High is named for the Permian Basin, the geological formation that underlies Midland and Odessa. The name stems from the age of the rocks in the basin where the school is located, which are from the geological period that preceded the largest mass extinction in the history of life. The Permian Basin is the source of the large

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

and natural gas deposits that drive the region's economy. Permian High began adding freshmen to the campus during the 2015-2016 school year. This began creating more additions to the campus as well as a bigger influx of students.

Athletics

Football

High school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

has long been extremely popular in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. The story of Permian High School's 1988 Permian Panthers team and its run towards the state championship was the subject of the best-selling book '' Friday Night Lights'', published in 1990. A

movie A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

based on the book was made in 2004 and the NBC television network aired a

TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

loosely based on the school and book. Roy Williams, formerly of the

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 ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

, went to school at Permian and portrayed an assistant coach for Midland Lee in the movie. The team, whose rallying cry is "Mojo", won the Texas state championship in the 4A classification (the state's largest until 1980) in 1965 and 1972 and the 5A classification in 1980, 1984 (a co-championship with French High School, located in Beaumont, Texas the last time that a football co-championship was awarded by the UIL; it would later adopt NCAA overtime rules), 1989 and 1991. Permian was selected by National Sports News Service as the High School Football National co-champions in 1972 and 1989. * State Champs (4A, 1965, 1972) (5A, 1980, (1984 co Champs), 1989) (5A II, 1991) * Runner-Up (4A, 1968, 1970, 1975) (5A, 1985) (5A I, 1995) "Mojo" supposedly originated in 1967 when a group of Permian alumni met the team in Abilene Cooper for the game between the Panthers and Cougars. Legend has it that Permian's fans began chanting "Go Joe" for one of the Permian players. Other fans misheard this as "Mojo". Permian plays its home football games at

Ratliff Stadium Ratliff Stadium is a stadium in Odessa, Texas. It is primarily used for American football, and is the home field for the city's two public high schools, Odessa and Permian High Schools. The stadium opened in 1982 and holds 17, 931 people (ca ...

. Permian's arch rivals are the Odessa Bronchos and the

Midland Lee Rebels Legacy High School, formerly known as Robert E. Lee High School, is a public, co-educational secondary school in Midland, Texas. Legacy High School is a part of the Midland Independent School District. In October 2020, the Midland school board v ...

Coaching history

Activities

Satin Strings

Founded by Charles Nail and currently directed by Todd Berridge, a former pupil under Nail, Satin Strings is a strolling strings ensemble of the Permian High School Orchestra. The members of the group "stroll" (carry their instruments while performing), including the cellists but not the bass players. Satin Strings is regularly asked to play at major state and national functions. In 1994, Satin Strings played at the

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

celebrations in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

, France and this performance led to an invitation to play at the 1997 inauguration of US President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

. The ensemble played for the inauguration of the governor of Chihuahua, Mexico in 1998. The group also performed at the

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

and

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

inaugurations of President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

. Satin Strings and director Berridge are featured on the May 4, 2013 episode of the syndicated television series ''

Texas Country Reporter ''Texas Country Reporter'' is a weekly syndicated television program, hosted and produced by Bob Phillips and Kelli Phillips, which airs in all twenty-two Texas media markets, generally on weekends, and nationally on the satellite/cable channel ...

'', starring

Bob Phillips Robert Leon Phillips, known as Bob Phillips (born June 23, 1951), is an American television journalist best known for his long-running program ''Texas Country Reporter''. In 2005, Phillips was inducted into the Silver Circle of the Lone Star Ch ...

Orchestra

The Permian Orchestra was founded in 1959 with the opening of Permian High School. Under the baton of J.R. McEntyre, the program quickly gained a reputation for excellence that has endured for half a century. The Symphony Orchestra has received consecutive sweepstakes at UIL Concert and Sightreading Contest for 41 years. The Chamber String Orchestra (Satin Strings) has received sweepstakes at UIL Concert and Sightreading contest for 25 years, every year since the founding of it. The Symphony, Philharmonic and Chamber String Orchestras have each achieved individual success at festivals across the nation. The groups have been named "Best in Class" and "Outstanding Orchestra" at competitions in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. The Permian Symphony Orchestra has been selected as the TMEA State Honor Orchestra twice, once in 1980 and again in 1984. The orchestra program has only had five directors in its history: J.R. McEntrye (1959–72), Charles Nail (1972–88), Kathy Fishburn (1988–99), David Golden (1999–2008), and Todd Berridge (2008–present).

Alumni

Raymond Benson Raymond Benson (born September 6, 1955) is an American author best known for being the author of the James Bond novels from 1997 to 2003. Benson was born in Midland, Texas and graduated from Permian High School in Odessa in 1973. In primary scho ...

– Thriller novelist and author of the official

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

novels from 1997 to 2003. *

Jim J. Bullock James Jackson Bullock (born February 9, 1955) is an American actor and comedian of stage, television, and motion pictures. He starred in the sitcom ''Too Close for Comfort''. Early life Bullock was born in Casper, Wyoming, and raised in Odessa, ...

– Stage, television and film actor.
/ref> *

Bront Bird Bront Bird (born March 17, 1989) is a former American football linebacker. He was signed by the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted free agent in 2011. He played college football at Texas Tech Red Raiders football, Texas Tech. He played high schoo ...

–

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

for the

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 ...

. * Stoney Case – Former

and

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

. *

Mike Conaway Kenneth Michael Conaway (born June 11, 1948) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for from 2005 to 2021. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district Conaway represented is located in West Texas and includes Midland ...

–

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

member from

Texas's 11th congressional district Texas's 11th congressional district of the United States House of Representatives is in the midwestern portion of the state of Texas, stretching from the Permian Basin through the Hill Country to the outer fringes of the Dallas–Fort Worth met ...

. * Britt Hager – Former

. *

Daniel Ray Herrera Daniel Ray Herrera (born October 21, 1984) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers and New York Mets. Herrera became well known among baseball fan ...

–

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 In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

, most recently played 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 ...

. *

Lloyd Hill Lloyd Hill is an ice-covered hill rising to 335 m in the southwest of Dryanovo Heights, Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The hill surmounts Teteven Glacier to the north and Murgash Glacier to the southeast. The n ...

- Former

and

wide receiver. * Kimberly Kay Smith – Actress and model. *

Toby Stevenson Toby "Crash" Stevenson (born November 19, 1976 in Odessa, Texas) is an Olympic class pole vaulter from the United States. He is known for being the only pole vaulter in the international elite to wear a helmet during jumps. Biography While atte ...

(Class of 1995) –

Pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

er,

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Silver medalist. * Roy Williams – Former

wide receiver for the

, and

. * Kelly Wilson –

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 sea ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

currently playing for

Philadelphia Independence The Philadelphia Independence was an American professional soccer club that was based in the Philadelphia suburb of Chester, Pennsylvania. The team joined Women's Professional Soccer as an expansion team in 2010 and played its home games at West ...

and member of the

United States women's national soccer team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's Association football, soccer. The team is the most successful in international women's soccer, winning four FIFA Women's World Cup, Wom ...

. *

Robert Rummel-Hudson ''Schuyler's Monster: A Father's Journey with His Wordless Daughter'' is a book by Robert Rummel-Hudson. Rummel-Hudson began writing online in 1995 and also writes a parenting blog called Fighting Monsters with Rubber Swords; both book and blog c ...

– Author of '' Schuyler's Monster''. *

Daryl Hunt Daryl Lynn Hunt (November 3, 1956 – July 9, 2010) was a professional American football player, a linebacker for six seasons for the Houston Oilers appearing in 78 career regular season games after being selected by Houston during the 6th roun ...

– Played football for the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...

and was an All-American at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

. *

John Barton Davis John Barton Davis (July 13, 1883 – October 7, 1946) was a Negro leagues pitcher for several years before the founding of the first Negro National League. A 1907 St. Paul newspaper paper noted that Davis and fellow St. Paul Colored Gophers ...

-Played football for

Angelo State University Angelo State University is a public university in San Angelo, Texas. It was founded in 1928 as San Angelo College. It gained university status and awarded its first baccalaureate degrees in 1967 and graduate degrees in 1969, the same year it too ...

-All Conference 1975 All-State 1971 Permian’s MVP 1971

Bibliography

* *

References

External links

Permian High School website

Permian High School alumni website

Odessa Permian Sports News

Football Booster Club website

Volleyball Booster Club website

Permian High School Marching Band website

Permian High School Orchestra and Satin Strings website

provided by TexasBob.com {{authority control Educational institutions established in 1959 Schools in Ector County, Texas Public high schools in Texas 1959 establishments in Texas