Eastern High School (Louisville, Kentucky)

Eastern High school
Location
Louisville , Kentucky United States
Information
Type	Public Secondary Magnet
Established	1950
School district	Jefferson County Public Schools
Principal	James A. Sexton
Grades	9–12
Number of students	~2,000
Campus	Suburban
Color(s)	Blue and White
Mascot	Eagle
Rivals	Ballard High School
Newspaper	The Eastern Eagle
Students per Teacher	20:1
Website	Eastern High School

Founded in 1950, Louisville Eastern High School is located off Shelbyville Road in Middletown, Kentucky. With an enrollment of over 2,000 students, this school has been the pilot for education partnerships with companies such as IBM, Dell and Microsoft.

Academics

Eastern was recently (in 2005) chosen by Newsweek as the #300 School in America by virtue of its high rates of AP tests taken. (In 2006 it dropped to #706.) This is remarkable because, unlike Louisville's other two entries, duPont Manual HS at 225 (#134 in 2006) and Male HS at 700+ (#576 in 2006), Eastern is not a magnet school. While it does have a large technology program, it is fueled by regular students from all over the county.

Eastern's principal, James A. Sexton, has been the center of many controversies involving students and parents. In 2002, he refused to allow an Eastern High School student, who won a major award from a well-known Japanese company, to give a piano tour of Japan. Sexton claimed the student should not go on such a tour because he would be counted absent and therefore the amount of money Sexton and Eastern would take in from the state would be lowered. Sexton caused a censorship contoversy in March 2007 when he ordered that Advanced Placement English classes at the school stop using the Toni Morrison novel "Beloved" (see below). Sexton's tenure has also seen the school's athletic complex named for Sexton. Many parents at Eastern have complained about Sexton's antics such as this through the years.

Athletics

Eastern offers varsity and Jr. varsity teams in baseball, basketball, cheerleading, chess, cross country, dance, field hockey, football, golf, lacrosse, rifle, softball, soccer, swimming, track and field, tennis, volleyball and wrestling. Within the past decade Eastern has won state championships in girls' track as well as boys' basketball and soccer. The James A. Sexton athletic complex, which includes a football, baseball, softball, soccer, and field hockey field, as well as tennis courts, is regarded as the best in the city of Louisville.

The boys basketball team was the state runner up in 1957, losing the championship game to Lexington Lafayette 55-52. In 1997 Eastern's boys basketball team won the state championship and finished the season with a 35-2 record. In 2003 and in 2006 the boys basketball team won the LIT (Louisville Invitational Tournament).

The girls track team has won 9 state championships (most recently in 2006) and has been the state runner up 6 times. The boys track team won the state championship in 1990 and has been the state runner up 5 times.

The boys soccer team won the state championship in 1996.

Eastern has won several state tennis championships and won the 1955 state golf championship.

Eastern has won the state chess titles three times, the last coming in 1989.

Eastern's wrestling team has been the state runner up twice, in 1979 and 1993.

Eastern's fight song lyrics: (to the tune of the University of Kentucky fight song, "On, On, U of K")

On, on Eastern High,
For you its do or die!
Hold that ball and hit that line,
Every Eagle star will shine!
We'll fight, fight, fight
For the blue and white
As we roll to that goal varsity!
We will kick, pass and run
'Til the battle is won
And we bring home the victory!

Football

The Eastern Eagles football team represents Eastern High School in the Kentucky High School Athletic Association. They play their home games at Eagle Field in Middletown, Kentucky. Ken Whalen is the current head coach of the Eagles.

Famous alumni

• Ned Beatty, Class of 1955, actor
• Stan Curtis, Class of 1967, founder of the Kentucky Harvest charity
• Quentin Dastugue, Class of 1973, elected to the Louisiana legislature at age 23, serving for 16 years; Republican nominee for Governor of Louisiana in 1995
• Hugh Durham, Class of 1955, former head basketball coach at the University of Georgia
• Tom Easterly, Class of 1958, member of the Kentucky Senate 1974-1982, Florida House of Representatives 1988-1990, and Democratic nominee, Kentucky's 6th congressional district in 1978
• Ashley Eicher, Miss Tennessee 2004
• Carroll Hubbard, Class of 1955, former member of the United States House of Representatives
• Don Janzen, Class of 1954, author
• Ronald Keith Gaddie, Class of 1984, author & broadcaster
• Mike McCoy, Class of 1970, a football player for the Houston Oilers
• Rajon Rondo, Class of 2004, basketball player for the University of Kentucky and Boston Celtics; first round NBA draft pick, 2006
• Felton Spencer, Class of 1986, former NBA basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Utah Jazz, Orlando Magic and San Antonio Spurs; 6th overall pick in the 1990 NBA draft
• William S. Wallace, Class of 1965, a four-star general in the United States Army who commanded all U.S. forces during the 2003 invasion of Iraq
• Todd Wellemeyer, major league baseball player
• Jerrod Hayden, Class of 1997, All American in football (1997), attended the University of Tennessee on a football scholarship

History

The school opened in 1950 on its present site in Middletown, Kentucky. The library was later added to the front of the school, giving the building a layout in the shape of the letter "E". The school has been part of the Jefferson County school system since before the county system aborted the old Louisville city school system. The school was co-ed from its start and was integrated long before busing was ordered in Jefferson County.

Court-ordered busing began in Louisville and Jefferson County schools in 1975. As the 1975 school year began, 900 National Guard troops were sent to Jefferson County schools by Governor of Kentucky Julian Carroll at the request of Louisville mayor Harvey I. Sloane and Jefferson County judge-executive Todd Hollenbach. Several anti-busing riots occurred elsewhere in Jefferson County. Eastern saw some protests against busing but was relatively tranquil because the school was already desegregated.

Censorship controversy

In March 2007 Eastern's principal, James Sexton, ordered that Advanced Placement English classes at the school stop using the Toni Morrison novel "Beloved", and instead read "The Scarlet Letter" or the "Heart of Darkness". Students, parents and others in the community were angered by the unilateral decision. On March 28 WHAS 11 News has a short blurb about the controversy.

Many parents with children who have attended Eastern High School have asked that Sexton resign or be forced to retire.

External links

• Eastern High School website