Jonesboro-Hodge High School

Coordinates: 32°14′50″N 92°43′08″W / 32.2471°N 92.7188°W / 32.2471; -92.7188

Jonesboro-Hodge High School in Jonesboro

Jonesboro-Hodge High School is a high school located in North Central Louisiana. It is located in Jonesboro in Jackson Parish, Louisiana. The school mascot is the Tiger, named after LSU. The colors are scarlet and royal blue. The school, a part of the Jackson Parish School Board, serves the Town of Jonesboro and the Village of Hodge.

History

The first school house in Jonesboro, comprising 11 grades, was located at the corner of 3rd and Cooper. The brick building completed in 1913 was destroyed by fire in 1925. The new J-HHS building was constructed during the most economically depressed era of American History. The architectural beauty of the structure soon came to symbolize Jonesboro-Hodge High School.

The school named its football stadium "Caldwell Peacock" in honor of two people:

Neil Caldwell
JHS Athletic Director & Head Football Coach 1927-28 to 1932-33
1929 State Championship Runners-Up
1930 State Champions Class B

He joined the U.S. Army Air Corps shortly after his 1933 year at JHS and was stationed at Brooks Field in San Antonio, TX. On a flight to Barksdale and Natchitoches, Cadet Caldwell and his co-pilot were both killed when the plane crashed in a rain storm near Danville on Sept. 3, 1934. The flight mechanic escaped with serious cuts. He is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Ruston, LA.

Gordon Peacock, a J-HHS student and member of the Tiger football team, was injured during a practice in 1934. With pains in his chest and a fever, he was sent to Dr. McDonald whose only recourse was to put him to bed in the hotel since there was no hospital in Jonesboro.

He was released, but developed double pneumonia and was transferred to the Ruston hospital. His father, Rev. W. D. Peacock, was out of town and could not be reached. The Jackson Parish Sheriff’s Department provided the assistance in order to get Rev. Peacock to Ruston, but Gordon Peacock died. In his memoirs, Rev. Peacock writes that just before Gordon died, he told his mother, Mrs. Annie Peacock, that everything was all right with him spiritually.

Coach Patterson was with Gordon when he died. His comment was, “If there is a heaven, he is in it. He had such talent and had to go so young.” The athletic association took care of all the medical and funeral expenses.

Gordon, through classroom lecture, was credited with the converting of seventeen of his classmates who asked forgiveness for their sins. Shortly after Gordon’s death, a classmate stopped Rev. Peacock and said, “He was a boy that could not be enticed to do wrong; he was a high-tone Christian.”^[1]

Faculty

The school faculty is made up of approximately 38 teachers who instruct in a wide array of disciplines. Courses include: Agricultural Science, Auto Mechanics, Nursing, Mathematics, Science, English, Spanish, Computer Science, Publications, Health & Physical Education, Social Studies, Gifted Music, and Choir.

School uniforms

The students are not required to wear school uniforms.^[2]

Athletics

Jonesboro-Hodge High School has a wide array of sports, including football, baseball, softball, basketball, track, golf, and dance (Tiger Paw Dance Line). The school's football team won state championships in 1930, 1945, 1987, 1988, 1989.^[3] It is a Class 2A member of the LHSAA and competes in District 2.^[4]

Notable alumni

• Rodney Alexander, Class of 1964, U.S. Representative
• Marty Booker, Class of 1994, NFL football player^[5]
• Bobby Culpepper, Class of 1959, Jonesboro lawyer and Democratic politician^[6]
• Randy Ewing, Class of 1962, former Louisiana State Senate President
• John Garlington, Class of 1964, NFL football player^[7]
• Randy Moffett, Dr. Randy Moffett, Class of 1965, President of the University of Louisiana System

Notable faculty

• Don Shows, former state championship football coach

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jonesboro-Hodge High School.

• Jonesboro-Hodge High School