Overton High School (Memphis, Tennessee)

Watkins Overton High School
Location
Memphis, Tennessee
USA
Coordinates 35°05′01″N 89°54′16″W / 35.08361°N 89.90452°W / 35.08361; -89.90452Coordinates: 35°05′01″N 89°54′16″W / 35.08361°N 89.90452°W / 35.08361; -89.90452
Information
Type Public secondary Creative and Performing Arts
Motto "Producing stars, in the classroom and on the stage."
Established 1959
School district Shelby County Schools
Principal Greg Billings
Grades 9–12
Enrollment 1,486
Campus Urban
Color(s) Blue and Gray
Mascot Wolverines
Website www.overtonhs.net

Watkins Overton High School is a secondary school for the Creative and Performing Arts located in Memphis, Tennessee.

The school, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Shelby County Schools district.

The School was named in honor of Memphis mayor S. Watkins Overton.

Athletics

Overton offers a variety of athletic clubs to both boys and girls.

Boys

Basketball, Baseball, Bowling, Cross Country, Football, Golf, Soccer, Tennis, and Track.

Lately Overton's Track team has produced the top runners in the state.

Overtons's Baseball team has always been considered as one of the best in Memphis and Shelby County. Several athletes are now playing college ball.

Girls

Basketball,volleyball, Bowling, Cheerleading, Cross Country, Golf, Pom Pom, Soccer, Softball, Tennis, and Track.

Over the past few years Overton has produced some of the best athletes in the county. Those athletes include: Marcus Moody (University of Memphis),Derrick Townsel (Murray State University), Derrick Warren, Britton Wakefield (Faulkner University), D'Cory Owens (Tougaloo College), Sergio Kerusch (Western Kentuck University)and Roland Brooks.

Fine arts

Overton was declared a performing arts high school in 1976. The late Dr. Lulah M. Hedgeman was selected as choir director in 1976 and within five years, grew the program from 25 students to a choir of 150 students. The choir, under Dr. Hedgeman performed a full concert in 1988 at Carnegie Hall in New York City. The choirs were invited to Nice, France four times as guests of the city. Dr. Hedgeman was honored by the Walt Disney company in 1990 in their first production of The Salute to the American Teacher Awards. The Overton Choirs program, under the direction of Dr. Hedgeman were ranked number in the state of Tennessee for 21 consecutive years until Dr. Hedgeman's death in December 1997. The Vocal Music Department at Overton is still ranked the number 1 performing arts high school choir in the city of Memphis as of April 2016. The Watkins Overton band program consistently wins top honors and awards. The band is the 2008 Division AAA Champions of the University of Memphis Bandmasters Championship and the 2008 Smoky Mountains Invitational Champions.

Other aspects of the CAPA program include Creative Writing, choirs, orchestra, jazz ensembles, drama, dance, and visual arts. Students must audition to qualify for CAPA programs.

Creative Writing, run by Shannon Marszalek, frequently hosts Poetry Slams for anyone who is interested in writing of any and all sorts. The Poetry Out Loud competition was held on Saturday, February 4, 2012. Many of the Scholastic Gold Keys come from both the Creative Writing Department and the Art Department.

Notable alumni

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