Mulberry High School (Mulberry, Florida)
| Mulberry High School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
|
One Panther Place (Northeast Fourth Circle) Mulberry, FL 33860 Mulberry, Florida United States | |
| Coordinates | 27°53′49″N 81°58′19″W / 27.89694°N 81.97194°WCoordinates: 27°53′49″N 81°58′19″W / 27.89694°N 81.97194°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Public |
| Motto | Where today meets tomorrow's goals |
| Established | 1914 |
| School district | Polk County Public Schools |
| Principal | Michael Young |
| Enrollment | 1131 [1] |
| Number of students | 9th through 12th grades |
| Color(s) |
grey royal blue white |
| Mascot | Panther |
| Information | +1-863-701-1104 |
| Website | schools.polk-fl.net/MHS/ |
Mulberry High School (also referred to as Mulberry Senior High School) is a four-year public high school located in Mulberry, Florida, serving the city and surrounding areas. Its enrollment is 1131 students.[1]
History
Mulberry's then-only public school began high school classes in 1907. In 1914, a separate high school was constructed; it was a two-story brick building with six classrooms and an auditorium, costing approximately $12,500.[2]
In 1921, the first edition of the MHS yearbook was published, titled The Mulberry Tree in honor of the city's famed mulberry tree.
In 1922, land was donated for the construction of a new high school, on the east side of what is now Northeast First Avenue; construction was completed in 1924. Also in 1924, MHS began inter-school football play.
During the Great Depression, many schools cut their terms or lost their accreditation, and the state of Florida ran out of money, but MHS was able to stay open thanks to taxes paid by area phosphate firms.[2]
In 1955, the current school was constructed on 65 acres (260,000 m2) of land given by Virginia-Carolina Chemical Corporation and International Minerals and Chemical Corporation;[3] the old high school was converted to an elementary school, Purcell.[4]
Notable alumni
- John Vincent Atanasoff (1903–1995), 1920 graduate:[5] Inventor of the electronic digital computer. Graduated after two years;[6] in 1985, the school's computer center was named for him.[7]
- Dedrick Dodge (b. 1965): safety in the National Football League from 1991-1998.[8]
- Danny Ferguson, 1993 graduate:[9] 2014 Fort Hood shooting victim
- Kenny Howes (b. 1970): musician[10]
- Bob Murphy (b. 1943), 1962 graduate:[11] Professional golfer and sportscaster.
- J. T. Ready (1973–2012), 1992 graduate:[12] Notable neo-Nazi.
References
- 1 2 Polk County Public School District web site
- 1 2 Fisher, James Arthur Fisher (1974). "The History of Mulberry and Frontier Florida: A Model for the Teaching of Local History". Xerox University Microfilms.
- ↑ Huddle, James A. (1970). Controlled Modular Scheduling with Complete Flexibility. Bartow, Florida: Polk County Schools.
- ↑ Purcell Elementary School. "School Improvement Plan" (PDF). Retrieved 2006-09-07.
- ↑ School Board of Polk County, Florida, Department of Community Relations. "1985 Polk County Schools Hall of Fame Inductees". Retrieved 2006-08-10.
- ↑ Scalable Computing Laboratory (Iowa State University and United States Department of Energy). "Biographies". Retrieved 2006-08-10.
- ↑ "The Way It Was". The Ledger. 2005-10-15. Retrieved 2006-09-07.
- ↑ Dedrick Dodge, database Football. Accessed December 8, 2007.
- ↑ Ellis, Ralph (2014-04-04). "Three soldiers slain at Fort Hood identified". CNN.com. Retrieved 2014-04-04.
- ↑ Valerino, Lorraine (1986-05-18). "Bubba Smith roasted and toasted". Lakeland Ledger. Google News. Retrieved 2014-04-04.
- ↑ "Polk Celebrities". The Ledger. 2006-03-20. Retrieved 2006-08-10.
- ↑ Elvia Malagon (May 8, 2012). "Man in Arizona Slayings Was Violent Polk Teen". The Ledger. Retrieved November 12, 2012.
External links
- Official site
- MHS–related news at The Ledger newspaper (Lakeland, Florida)
- Football History