Enid High School

History

EHS began as a tent school shortly after the land run in 1893, operating out of various locations throughout Enid including an opera house and a Baptist church. Between 1906 and 1912, classes took place in the "old" Lincoln school, now long-demolished, at 600 North Independence. By February 1912, the high school's current building was constructed. It was accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools in 1911, and holds the distinction of being the second high school in Oklahoma to be accredited by the organization. Enid High operated as a segregated school district from 1896 to 1959 with black children attending Booker T. Washington, Douglass and George Washington Carver Schools.

In 1943, a fire broke out, damaging the building. From 1943 to 1948, classes were held at Emerson and Longfellow Junior High Schools, displacing the seventh graders, who remained at their respective elementary schools. The school finished restoration in 1948, added a gym in 1950, an auditorium in 1953, a music building in 1991, and a large food court in 2005 to accommodate a new closed campus policy. During these times several new class rooms were also added. The building did not have air conditioning until a bond was passed in 1997.

Demographics

In 2017, 200 of the students were Marshallese. By 2014 the school had a student club where Marshallese students taught the overall student population about their culture. Circa 2014 a multicultural choir was formed.

Athletics and clubs

Enid High School has several sports programs including American football, baseball, basketball, bowling, cheerleading, cross country, golf, marching band, track and field, tennis, soccer, softball, swimming, volleyball, show choir, and wrestling.

The basketball, wrestling, and volleyball programs were played in the historic Mark Price Arena until March 23, 2008, when the athletic director, Bill Mayberry, made the decision to move the home games and events to the athletic village on the Northern Oklahoma College campus, due to the deteriorating condition of the arena. The Plainsmen American football and soccer programs play in one of the oldest stadiums in the state, D. Bruce Selby Stadium.

Awards

The Plainsmen American football team has won six state championships (in 1919, 1942, 1964, 1965, 1966 and 1983) and was runner-up in 2006.

Enid High School is known for its "Big Blue Band", which has placed in the finals for the Oklahoma Bandmaster's Competition every year from 1981 to 2009 and has consistently won superior ratings since 2014.

Enid High School's Political Science/Constitution Team has won state competitions and made it to national competitions in 18 out of 19 years.

Notable alumni

Bess Truitt 1901 - Oklahoma Poet Laureate

Marquis James 1909 – Pulitzer Prize–winning author

Vida Chenoweth 1947 – classical marimba player, linguist

Owen K. Garriott 1948 – astronaut

Don Haskins 1948 – Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Oklahoma State player. Coach of 1966 NCAA Champion Texas Western (later UTEP), which was basis of the best-selling book and movie Glory Road, assistant coach for USA Basketball in the 1968 and 1972 Olympics

Leona Mitchell 1949 - world-renowned opera singer

Jim Sheets 1949 – Arkansas politician; Kiwanis International figure

J. Quinn Brisben 1952 - 1992 Socialist party presidential candidate, poet

Karen Dalton - 1955 - Folk singer

Jimmy O'Neill - 1957 - Host of Shindig!

Louis Jenkins - 1960 - American prose poet

Harry Jones 1963 – former football player for Philadelphia Eagles (1967–1971)

Harold Hamm 1964 – billionaire oil and gas developer

Jim Riley 1965 – former defensive end for the Oklahoma Sooners and Miami Dolphins (1967–1972)

Ken Mendenhall 1966 – former NFL player Baltimore Colts (1971–1981)