Austin High School (El Paso, Texas)
Encyclopedia
Stephen F. Austin High School is a secondary school
in El Paso
, Texas
, opened in 1930. It is part of the El Paso Independent School District
. The school's mascot is a Golden Panther named "Henry." The school was designed by Texas contractor and architect Robert E. McKee. When the local school district ran out of money during the construction, McKee donated the remainder owed. Consequently, the school's football stadium is named in McKee's honor. The R.E. McKee Construction Company built the school and used a classic Spanish architecture. The structure is surmounted by a 103-foot tower. The classrooms had marble floors and the hallways are floored with terrazzo.
, faces a large, white, block "A" letter painted on the mountain. AHS students traditionally "light" the "A" on every Friday night a home football game is played at R.E. McKee Stadium. The "A" lit by placing small cans, full of kerosene and sawdust, around the "A" and lighting them before kickoff. The burning "A" is visible from the home bleachers and AHS supporters chant "Hey, Hey, Look at the A" to signify its lighting.
In 1998, Mr. Gary Mowad, a special agent for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
and former Austin teacher, approached the Austin High School about donating a stuffed panther to display on campus. Elroy was hunted illegally, in Colorado
by a hunter who unlawfully used a spotlight in pursuit of the panther. Consequently, Elroy was seized by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the hunter was sentenced to four years of prison time.
At the conclusion of the litigation in September 2002, the Panther was transported to El Paso and donated to the school through the Austin High School Alumni Association presented this spectacular animal to Austin High School. On January 7, 2004, the Panther was placed in the lobby where it can be viewed today.
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
in El Paso
El Paso
El Paso, a city in the U.S. state of Texas, on the border with Mexico.El Paso may also refer to:-Geography:Colombia:* El Paso, CesarSpain:*El Paso, Santa Cruz de TenerifeUnited States:...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, opened in 1930. It is part of the El Paso Independent School District
El Paso Independent School District
The El Paso Independent School District is one of several public school districts serving El Paso, Texas . Originally organized in 1883, it is currently the largest district in the Texas Education Agency's Educational Service Center Region 19, as well as the largest district within the city of...
. The school's mascot is a Golden Panther named "Henry." The school was designed by Texas contractor and architect Robert E. McKee. When the local school district ran out of money during the construction, McKee donated the remainder owed. Consequently, the school's football stadium is named in McKee's honor. The R.E. McKee Construction Company built the school and used a classic Spanish architecture. The structure is surmounted by a 103-foot tower. The classrooms had marble floors and the hallways are floored with terrazzo.
The "A"
The school, located minutes from the Franklin MountainsFranklin Mountains (Texas)
The Franklin Mountains of Texas are a small range that extend from El Paso, Texas north into New Mexico. The Franklins were formed due to crustal extension related to the Cenozoic Rio Grande rift...
, faces a large, white, block "A" letter painted on the mountain. AHS students traditionally "light" the "A" on every Friday night a home football game is played at R.E. McKee Stadium. The "A" lit by placing small cans, full of kerosene and sawdust, around the "A" and lighting them before kickoff. The burning "A" is visible from the home bleachers and AHS supporters chant "Hey, Hey, Look at the A" to signify its lighting.
"Elroy"
The school has an actual, stuffed Golden Panther in the main lobby. The Panther is named "Elroy," after Austin High English and Creative Writing teacher and author Elroy Bode. Bode is a famed West Texas author and has published several books, including Home Country: An Elroy Bode Reader, Commonplace Mysteries, and This Favored Place: The Texas Hill Country.In 1998, Mr. Gary Mowad, a special agent for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
United States Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats...
and former Austin teacher, approached the Austin High School about donating a stuffed panther to display on campus. Elroy was hunted illegally, in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
by a hunter who unlawfully used a spotlight in pursuit of the panther. Consequently, Elroy was seized by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the hunter was sentenced to four years of prison time.
At the conclusion of the litigation in September 2002, the Panther was transported to El Paso and donated to the school through the Austin High School Alumni Association presented this spectacular animal to Austin High School. On January 7, 2004, the Panther was placed in the lobby where it can be viewed today.
Notable alumni
- SSG James R. Patton, class of 2004, of the US Army's 3d Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, who died on 18 April 2010 during his seventh deployment as a Ranger. Staff Sgt. Patton was killed in a helicopter crash on one of the most significant missions since the beginning of the Iraq War.
- Dr. Dan Acosta, Jr., first Hispanic Dean of the University of CincinnatiUniversity of CincinnatiThe University of Cincinnati is a comprehensive public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a part of the University System of Ohio....
's James L. Winkle College of PharmacyUniversity of Cincinnati Academic Health CenterThe University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center is a healthcare center in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a major source of education, medical care, and research in Greater Cincinnati and has a distinguished reputation for training prominent health care professionals and providing leading-edge research...
. - Col.Colonel (United States)In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...
Heidi V. Brown, took command of the 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade July 12 at Fort BlissFort BlissFort Bliss is a United States Army post in the U.S. states of New Mexico and Texas. With an area of about , it is the Army's second-largest installation behind the adjacent White Sands Missile Range. It is FORSCOM's largest installation, and has the Army's largest Maneuver Area behind the...
, becoming the first woman to take the reins of an ADA brigade. Brown was also the first woman from El Paso, Texas, to graduate from West Point and the first woman to command a Patriot air defense battalion. - Rufus BrownRufus BrownRufus Brown is a professional American football wide receiver/defensive back for the Arizona Rattlers in the Arena Football League....
, class of 1999, played professional footballAmerican footballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
for the Washington RedskinsWashington RedskinsThe Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
after playing at Florida State UniversityFlorida State UniversityThe Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
under Bobby BowdenBobby BowdenRobert Cleckler "Bobby" Bowden is a retired college football coach. He coached the Florida State Seminoles football team from the 1976 to 2009 seasons...
. - Ronald D. ColemanRonald D. ColemanRonald D'Emory Coleman is an American politician and a former member of the United States House of Representatives from Texas. He was elected as a Democrat to the 98th United States Congress and to the six succeeding Congresses. He served from January 3, 1983 until January 3, 1997...
, DemocratDemocratic Party (United States)The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
elected to the 98th United States Congress98th United States CongressThe Ninety-eighth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1983 to January 3, 1985, during the third and...
and served six terms in office before electing not to run for re-election to the 105th United States Congress105th United States CongressThe One Hundred Fifth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1997 to January 3, 1999, during the fifth and...
. - Peggy Elliot Goldwyn, television writer credited with writing episodes of 19 sitcoms during the 1960s and 1970s. Goldwyn wrote episodes of Happy DaysHappy DaysHappy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in mid-1950s to mid-1960s America....
, The Odd CoupleThe Odd CoupleThe Odd Couple is a 1965 Broadway play by Neil Simon, followed by a successful film and television series, as well as other derivative works and spin offs, many featuring one or more of the same actors. The plot concerns two mismatched roommates, one neat and uptight, the other more easygoing and...
, and The Doris Day ShowThe Doris Day ShowThe Doris Day Show is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS network from September 1968 until September 1973. In addition to showcasing Doris Day, the show is remembered for its many abrupt format changes over the course of its five-year run...
, among others. - Tom MooreTom Moore (cartoonist)Tom Moore is a cartoonist, known for being the talent behind the Archie Comic Book series from 1953 through 1988. Moore was also an illustrator for Snuffy Smith, Underdog and Mighty Mouse. Moore worked with other Archie creators George Gladir, Orlando Busino, Sy Reit, and Frank Doyle.Moore is a...
, cartoonistCartoonistA cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
of the Archie Comic BooksArchie ComicsArchie Comics is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the Village of Mamaroneck, Town of Mamaroneck, New York, known for its many series featuring the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and Jughead Jones. The characters were created by...
, also graduated from Austin High in 1946. Moore was also a cartoonist for Underdog and Mighty MouseMighty MouseMighty Mouse is an animated superhero mouse character created by the Terrytoons studio for 20th Century Fox.-History:The character was created by story man Izzy Klein as a super-powered housefly named Superfly. Studio head Paul Terry changed the character into a cartoon mouse instead...
. - Sandra Day O'ConnorSandra Day O'ConnorSandra Day O'Connor is an American jurist who was the first female member of the Supreme Court of the United States. She served as an Associate Justice from 1981 until her retirement from the Court in 2006. O'Connor was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981...
, Supreme Court Justice, graduated 6th in her class in 1946 and attended her 50th reunion. The school honored O'Connor by naming a magnet schoolMagnet schoolIn education in the United States, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. "Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities as school zones that feed into certain schools.There are magnet schools at the...
located on the Austin campus the Sandra Day O'Connor Criminal Justice/Public Service Academy, in her honor. - Jimmy Ortega, Hollywood stuntmanStuntmanA stuntman or stunt performer is someone who performs dangerous stunts.Stuntman may also refer to:*The Stunt Man, a 1980 film starring Peter O'Toole*Stuntman , a 2002 video game**Stuntman: Ignition, its sequel...
who has appeared as a stuntman in over 120 motion pictures including; Lakeview TerraceLakeview TerraceLakeview Terrace is a 2008 American thriller film directed by Neil LaBute, co-produced by Will Smith, written by David Loughery and Howard Korder, and starring Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington. Jackson plays a racist LAPD sergeant who terrorizes his new next-door neighbors...
, G-ForceG-forceThe g-force associated with an object is its acceleration relative to free-fall. This acceleration experienced by an object is due to the vector sum of non-gravitational forces acting on an object free to move. The accelerations that are not produced by gravity are termed proper accelerations, and...
, Ocean's 13, Mr. & Mrs. SmithMr. & Mrs. Smith (2005 film)Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a 2005 American romantic comedy action film directed by Doug Liman and written by Simon Kinberg. The original music score was composed by John Powell...
, and Spider-Man 2Spider-Man 2Spider-Man 2 is a 2004 American superhero film directed by Sam Raimi, written by Alvin Sargent and developed by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and Michael Chabon. It is the second film in the Spider-Man film franchise based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man...
. Ortega has also appeared, as an actor, in several films and television shows. - Togo Railey and David Palacio, members of the 1965-66 Texas Western Miners men's basketball team that won the NCAA Championship1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball TournamentThe 1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 22 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 7, 1966, and ended with the championship game on March 19 in College Park, Maryland...
against the University of KentuckyUniversity of KentuckyThe University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...
. The story behind the team inspired the 2006 motion picture Glory RoadGlory RoadGlory Road is a fantasy novel by Robert A. Heinlein, originally serialized in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and published in hardcover later the same year...
which starred actor Josh LucasJosh LucasJosh Lucas is an American actor. He has appeared in many films, including Glory Road, A Beautiful Mind, and Poseidon.-Early life:...
as Texas Western, and subsequently UTEP, head coach Don HaskinsDon HaskinsDonald Lee Haskins, nicknamed "The Bear" , was an American collegiate basketball coach and player. He played for three years under legendary coach Henry Iba at Oklahoma A&M...
. - Kenny Thomas, NBANational Basketball AssociationThe National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
player and All-American basketball player at the University of New MexicoUniversity of New MexicoThe University of New Mexico at Albuquerque is a public research university located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. It is the state's flagship research institution...
. Thomas attended Austin High for three years before transferring and graduating from high school in Albuquerque, New MexicoNew MexicoNew Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
. Thomas was the 22nd overall pick in the 1999 NBA Draft1999 NBA DraftThe 1999 NBA Draft was held on June 30, 1999 at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C. It was the first draft in which four players from the same college were picked in the first round, with Elton Brand , Trajan Langdon , Corey Maggette and William Avery being selected out of Duke University...
and was selected by the Houston RocketsHouston RocketsThe Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before being...
.