John Motley Morehead High School

John Motley Morehead High School is a four-year public high school located in Eden, North Carolina, United States. Morehead High School is part of the Rockingham County Schools school district.

John Motley Morehead High School
Location
134 N. Pierce Street, Eden, NC 27288 Eden, North Carolina United States
Information
Type	Public high school secondary school
Motto	Panther Pride
Established	1952 (73 years ago) (1952)
Status	Open
School district	Rockingham County Schools
CEEB code	343715
Principal	Jason Tuggle
Faculty	79
Teaching staff	50.67 (FTE)[1]
Grades	9–12
Gender	Co-Educational
Enrollment	828 (2023–2024)[1]
Student to teacher ratio	16.34[1]
Campus	Suburban
Color(s)	Black, white, and red
Athletics conference	North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA)
Sports	baseball, basketball, cheerleading, cross country, football, golf, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, volleyball, wrestling
Mascot	Panther
Nickname	Panthers
Rival	Rockingham County High School, Reidsville High School
Feeder schools	James E. Holmes Middle School
Website	www.moreheadhigh.org

History

The school opened in 1952, as Tri-City High School, to serve the then-separate communities of Eden – Leaksville, Spray, and Draper. The school gained its current name in 1958 in honor of John Motley Morehead III (1870–1965), who donated to a number of projects for the school. Among these projects were Carillon Bells and a football stadium and fieldhouse.^[2][3] Four building projects expanded the high school: a classroom and auditorium building in 1960, a library in 1968, a gymnasium in 1981, and the cafeteria and science building in 1991. Students from the former historically African American high school Douglass high school, were integrated into Morehead's student body in the fall of 1966. The industrial education center was housed on the school's campus through 1966. It became a countywide setting for vocational training. Later, it was removed and re-established at Rockingham Community College located in Wentworth, North Carolina.

36.50518°N 79.73601°W / 36.50518; -79.73601

Demographics

As of August 2016, 53% of students are White, 22% of students are African American, and 25% of students are of other ethnicities.

Curriculum

Morehead provides students a variety of subjects and courses to take for either a standard or advanced diploma such as Math, science, Social Studies, English, and also Foreign language classes, Theater Arts etc.

Programs

MHS also runs an Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) program for students who may join the army instead of attending a College or four-year institution. Other programs include career and technical Education, career and college promise program. Morehead also has a Health Science Program

Athletics

MHS is a part of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) and competes in the 3A Mid-State Conference. Morehead's biggest rivals are Reidsville High School and Rockingham County High School.

"Fall Sports": Cross country, Football, Volleyball, Girls Golf

"Winter Sports ": Boys JV Basketball, Boys Varsity Basketball, Girls JV Basketball, Girls Varsity Basketball, Wrestling, co-ed Swimming, co-ed Indoor Track

"Spring Sports": Boys JV Baseball, Boys Varsity Baseball, Girls JV Softball, Girls Varsity Softball, Boys Golf, co-ed Outdoor Track

Wrestling Team

The Morehead Panthers wrestling team won the NCHSAA 3A dual team state championship in 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2014, and 2016.^[4] They were the NCHSAA 3A state tournament team champions in 1998, 1999, 2006, 2014, and 2015.^[5]

Super 32 Challenge

In the mid-1990s, Morehead High School started a pre-season tournament to help raise money for their wrestling program. In 2000, the "Super 32 Challenge" name was added, with tournament growth starting to build from that point. The "Super 32" represented the name of the North Carolina high school wrestler rankings. In 2001, Great Bridge High School in Chesapeake, Virginia, entered the tournament, with their nationally ranked wrestlers further helping spur tournament growth.^[6]

A pre-season wrestling tournament that started in Morehead High School's gymnasium, soon grew to have over 1,000+ wrestlers entering the tournament, and by 2005, had moved to the Greensboro Coliseum.^[7] The tournament now has over 2,000+ wrestlers each season in the high school division alone, and is known as one of the toughest high school wrestling tournaments in the country.^[8][9]

Notable alumni

• Norwood Creek, director, producer, and editor of film and television
• Antico Dalton, former NFL linebacker and defensive lineman^[10]
• Takayo Siddle, college basketball head coach^[11]