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South Garland High School
Address
600 Colonel Drive Garland , Dallas County , Texas 75043-2302
Coordinates	32°52′18″N 96°37′06″W / 32.8717°N 96.6184°W / 32.8717; -96.6184Coordinates: 32°52′18″N 96°37′06″W / 32.8717°N 96.6184°W / 32.8717; -96.6184
Information
School type	Public High school
Motto	"A Tradition in Excellence"
Established	1964
School district	Garland Independent School District
Principal	Steven Ewing[1]
Grades	9–12
Enrollment	2,267 (2016)
Language	English
Color(s)
Mascot	The Colonel
Website	South Garland High School Website

South Garland High School (SGHS) is a secondary school located in Garland, Texas. The school is part of the Garland Independent School District. The mascot for SGHS is the "Southern Colonel," and the school colors are red and Columbia blue.
In 2009, the school was rated "academically acceptable" by the Texas Education Agency.^[2]

History

South Garland High School opened in 1964. It was the second public high school to open in Garland.^[3]

Controversy

In 1991 a black activist named Melvin "A'Vant" Thomas picketed the school since it had a flag resembling the battle flag of the Confederate States of America; for a period of almost two years he had written numerous letters to the GISD school board asking them to remove the mural.^[4]

Until the early 1990s, a Confederate flag was the predominant image in the school shield.
A group of students voted against changing the school flag in August 1988 with African American resident M.T. A'Vant (formerly Melvin Thomas), protested.
^[5]
A'Vant ended his protests in April 1991.^[6]

A group of South Garland High School parents developed a multiracial committee that same year to discuss the symbols and traditions they considered offensive that continued to be used by the school, including its fight song. The group met about 12 times before making a proposal to the school board in the summer of 1991. The group reached a compromise with the board members on only two items.^[6]

The Garland independent school Board voted 6 to 1 at its August 1, 1991, meeting, to discontinue use of the altered Confederate flag as the school flag and to also change the color of the mascot's uniform from gray to blue and red. The sole dissenting vote was cast by Randy Clark, who maintained that he was voting as his constituents had advised him. The president of the local chapter of the NAACP said the issue would not be over unless all symbolism referring to the Confederacy, including the fight song and a plantation mural, were removed.^[6]

At the start of the 1991–92 school year, a contest was held to replace the flag. The crossed sword design, created by junior Sean Wood was chosen by the student body to replace the rebel flag.^[7]

The sign outside South Garland High School was later changed to reflect the changes in the school flag and mascot.

In 2015 the GISD school board agreed to remove symbolism reminiscent of the Confederacy.^[8]

Sports

South Garland High School has had a strong history of sports, especially in its football team. South offers the following sports to its students: Baseball, Basketball, Football, Golf, Gymnastics, Power Lifting, Soccer, Softball, Tennis, Track/Cross Country, and Volleyball. South belongs to the UIL Class 5A for the 2013–2014 school year, and will be put into UIL Class 5A Region 2 District 12 for the 2014–2015 school year, the only school in the Garland Independent School District to not be moved into UIL Class 6A for the 2014–2015 school year.

The Colonels have been in the state football playoffs 16 times, in 1970, 1973, 1990, 1991, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012.^[9] The team made it to the playoffs for an eighth consecutive year in 2010.
^[10][11] Among the notable athletes who are South Garland alumni is Jerry Sanders.^[12]

The Lady Colonels Varsity Volleyball team were in the Playoffs back in 2001–2003 and 2009.

The Boys Soccer Team made the playoffs the last 4 years (2011–2012) under Coach Bueno and (2012–2015) under Coach Falloure.

Lisa McCorstin, who excelled in track in the 1970s, was inducted into the district's sports hall of fame.^[13]

Notable alumni

This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability or notability policies. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they are notable AND alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations. (February 2017)

• 
  Mike Hambrick (1967) – Television and radio news anchor, reporter and correspondent; worked on network television stations such as WJLA-TV in Washington, DC, WRC-TV in Washington, DC, KTVT-TV in Dallas, KTAR-TV (now KPNX) in Phoenix, WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and WBAL-TV in Baltimore in 1975.^[14] Hambrick was also a news anchor for WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh where he also served as managing editor. Currently a newscaster for The Howard Stern Show^{[citation needed]}
  


• 
  Gary Nicholson (singer) (1968) – Grammy-winning country singer-songwriter and record producer^{[citation needed]}
  


• 
  Ron Woodroof (1968) – Formed underground Dallas Buyers Club for importing desperately needed AIDS medications; a motion picture depicting his efforts was released in 2013^{[citation needed]}
  


• John Washington (1971) – Defensive back for the NFL Los Angeles Rams in 1975, and in 1976–1977 for the Canadian Football League's Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Calgary Stampeders^{[citation needed]}
  


• 
  Alfreda Bikowsky (1983) – Embattled Central Intelligence Agency officer who headed the Bin Laden Issue Station and reportedly tied to torture activities^{[citation needed]}
  


• 
  Denard Walker (1991) – Cornerback for Tennessee Titans, Denver Broncos, Minnesota Vikings and Oakland Raiders^{[citation needed]}
  


• 
  Quincy Morgan (1996) – Wide receiver for the Blinn College, Kansas State Wildcats football, Denver Broncos, Dallas Cowboys, Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers^{[citation needed]}
  


• 
  Erin McCarley (1997) – Published alternative music singer-songwriter, based in Nashville, Tennessee^{[citation needed]}
  


• 
  Jason Thompson (2000) – College and professional soccer player for Eastern Illinois University, D.C. United and the Dallas Burn, and a member of the US Men's National Soccer Team pool^{[citation needed]}
  


• Nate Draughon (2002) – Cornerback for UTEP, Montreal Alouettes, Austin Wranglers, New Orleans Saints, Arizona Cardinals^{[citation needed]}
  


• 
  Terrel Harris (2005) – Shooting guard for the Miami Heat
  


• 
  Nick Florence (2007) - Quarterback for the Baylor University football team, 2009-2012


• 
  Naser Jason Abdo (2008)^[15] – Former United States Army Private First Class, went AWOL and was convicted of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, currently serving a life sentence at supermax facility ADX Florence
  


• 
  Mac Percival (faculty) – NFL placekicker for the Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys, 1967–74. Faculty member 1965–67^{[citation needed]}
  

See also

• List of high schools in Texas

References

External links

• South Garland High School


• 
  South Garland High School (Archive)


• TEA Accountability Ratings


• South Garland Colonels High School Football