Ruston High School

Ruston High School
Ruston High School
	Front entrance to Ruston High School in 2010.
Address
	900 Bearcat Drive; Ruston, Louisiana 71270, Louisiana; United States
Information
Type	4-year, Public high school
Established	1921 building built 1939
School board	Lincoln Parish School Board
Director	Athletic Director, Jerrod Baugh
Principal	Daniel Gressett
Staff	99.97 (FTE)
Student to teacher ratio	12.77
Classes offered	Traditional, Project Based Learning
Color(s)	Red, white and grey
Athletics	Baseball, Basketball, Cross Country, Football, Golf, Powerlifting, Soccer, Softball, Swimming, Tennis, Track & Field, Volleyball
Athletics conference	LHSAA District 2-5A
Mascot	Bearcats
Rivals	Neville High School ; West Monroe High School ; Ouachita Parish High School
Website	RustonHigh.LincolnSchools.org
	Ruston High School
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	900 Bearcat Drive, Ruston, Louisiana
Coordinates	32°32′05″N92°39′01″W / 32.5348°N 92.65022°W
Area	7 acres (2.8 ha)
Built	1939
Built by	Caldwell Brothers & Hart
Architect	J.W. Smith & Associates
Architectural style	Art Deco
NRHP reference No.	92001335
Added to NRHP	October 8, 1992

Last updated January 23, 2025

Ruston High School is a four-year public high school located in the Lincoln Parish School District of Ruston, Louisiana, United States.

Background

The 7 acres (2.8 ha) campus of Ruston High School consists of two buildings, which were added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 8, 1992.^[2]^[3]^[4]

The mascot is the Bearcat, with the school colors being red, white, and gray.^{[ citation needed ]} Black students were first admitted in 1970.^{[ citation needed ]} Ruston High School also serves as a memorial to the survivors of the Gulf War.^[5]

Athletics

Ruston High athletics competes in the LHSAA. The Bearcats compete in the highest classification in Louisiana (5A) and participates in District 2-5A.

Championships

Football championships

(1) National Championship: 1990^[6]
(9) State Championships: 1925, 1941, 1947, 1951, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1990, 2023^[7]
(5) State Runner-Up: 1944, 1984, 1998, 2022, 2024

Coaches

Jimmy Childress - LHSAA Hall of Fame Head Coach, Jimmy Childress (1932-2015), was head coach at Ruston High School for eleven seasons (1979 to 1990).^[8] He led his alma mater to a 131–27 (.829) record and four state championships in 1982, 1986, 1988, and 1990.^[8] His 1990 team also won a national championship.^[8] As a player, he was on the 1947 state championship football team.^[8] He was an assistant football coach at Neville High School in Monroe from 1958 to 1972 helping the school to win four state championships and was later head coach at Carroll High School in Monroe in 1973 and at the private Cedar Creek School in Ruston from 1976 to 1978.^[8] He also coached at the college level at Northeastern Louisiana University from 1974 to 1976.^[8] In 2001, he was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.^[8]

Childress played football and received his undergraduate degree at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, then known as Northeast Louisiana State College, and obtained his graduate degree at Louisiana Tech University.^[9]

Notable alumni

Leon Barmore -- Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters basketball coach 1977–2002.
Kentrell Brice (class of 2013) -- NFL player
Wayne Cage, Former MLB player (Cleveland Indians)
Martie Cordaro (class of 1991) -- (born April 8, 1973 in Ruston, La.) attended Louisiana Tech University. He is current President and minority owner Omaha Storm Chasers, Minor League Baseball Triple-A Kansas City Royals and Union Omaha USL League One pro soccer. Cordaro was the 2013 MiLB Baseball America executive of the year.
Fred Dean—inductee into the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame, played for Louisiana Tech, San Diego Chargers, and San Francisco 49ers
Andy Hamilton, NFL player
Bert Jones -- NFL Quarterback, nicknamed "the Ruston Rifle", played for LSU earning Heisman Trophy contention and All-America honors for his 1972 season and inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2016. He was the 1973 NFL 2nd overall draft pick by the Baltimore Colts and later played for the Los Angeles Rams
Rob Shadoin (Class of 1971) -- member of the Louisiana House of Representatives for District 10 in Lincoln and Union parishes since 2012
Michael Brooks (Class of 1982) (born October 2, 1964, in Ruston, Louisiana) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League. He played for Ruston High School, college ball at Louisiana State University (LSU), then professionally with the Denver Broncos, the New York Giants, and the Detroit Lions.
Kyle Williams (Class of 2002) (born June 10, 1983, in Ruston, Louisiana) is a retired American football defensive tackle of the Buffalo Bills in the National Football League. He was drafted in the fifth-round of the 2006 NFL Draft and played his entire 13-year career with the Bills. He is currently the Defensive Coordinator for the Bearcats.
Jack Ramsaur II (attended in the 1970s) Maj. Gen. Jack W. Ramsaur II is the mobilization assistant to the Commander, Headquarters Air Education and Training Command, Randolph Air Force Base, Texas.
Jeff Mangum (Class of 1989) Born October 24, 1970. Musician best known for being the lyricist, vocalist and guitarist of the band Neutral Milk Hotel, as well as being one of the cofounders of The Elephant 6 Recording Company.
Robert Schneider (Class of 1989) Born March 9, 1971. Musician and record producer best known as the leader of pop band The Apples in stereo, as well as being one of the cofounders of The Elephant 6 Recording Company.
George Stone, Former MLB player (Atlanta Braves, New York Mets)
Will Cullen Hart (Class of 1990) Born May 29, 1971. Musician best known as a leader of psychedelic-pop band The Olivia Tremor Control, as well as being one of the cofounders of The Elephant 6 Recording Company.
Rodney Young (Class of 1991), Played college football at LSU, played 4 year of NFL football (New York Giants).
Mike Green (Class of 1996), (born December 6, 1976, in Ruston, Louisiana) is a retired American football safety and cornerback for the NFL. He played football at Ruston High School and Northwestern State. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears as the last player drafted in the 2000 NFL draft making him that year's "Mr. Irrelevant". He later played for the Seattle Seahawks and the Washington Redskins.
Isaiah Buggs (Class of 2015) Ranked by Rivals as 2017 #1 Juco player in the nation. Starting Defensive End at the University of Alabama and a 2018 College Football Playoff National Champion. He is currently an American football defensive tackle for the Detroit Lions in the National Football League. He was drafted in the sixth-round of the 2019 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Scotty Thurman (Class of 2013) an American former professional basketball player and current head coach at Little Rock Parkview.
Kenny Wright played football at Ruston High School, Northwestern State University, University of Arkansas, and was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in 1999. He is currently the Defensive Backs Coach for the Bearcats.

Related Research Articles

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References

1 2
1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
↑ "Ruston High School" (PDF). State of Louisiana's Division of Historic Preservation. Retrieved August 9, 2018. with four photos and two maps
↑ National Register Staff (June 1992). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Ruston High School". National Park Service . Retrieved August 9, 2018. With 14 photos from 1992.
↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20230130092347/http://rustonhighalumni.org/schoolhistory.html. Archived from the original on January 30, 2023.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)"History of Ruston High School." Ruston High School Alumni.
↑ Boatright, T. Scott (September 16, 2021). "Undefeated 1990 Bearcats to be honored during RHS Homecoming festivities". Lincoln Parish Journal. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
↑ Dietrich, Aaron; Murray, Megan; Fairbairn, Brendon (December 10, 2023). "Ruston wins first state championship since 1990". KNOE. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Former Ruston High football coach Jimmy 'Chick' Childress dies". nola.com. August 4, 2015. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
↑ "Jimmy "chick" Childress". The Monroe News-Star. Retrieved July 14, 2015.

External links

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[NCES-1] 1 2

[nris-2] 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. November 2, 2013.

[ladoc-3] "Ruston High School" (PDF). State of Louisiana's Division of Historic Preservation. Retrieved August 9, 2018. with four photos and two maps

[nrhpdoc-4] National Register Staff (June 1992). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Ruston High School". National Park Service . Retrieved August 9, 2018. With 14 photos from 1992.

[5] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20230130092347/http://rustonhighalumni.org/schoolhistory.html. Archived from the original on January 30, 2023.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)"History of Ruston High School." Ruston High School Alumni.

[6] Boatright, T. Scott (September 16, 2021). "Undefeated 1990 Bearcats to be honored during RHS Homecoming festivities". Lincoln Parish Journal. Retrieved January 16, 2025.

[7] Dietrich, Aaron; Murray, Megan; Fairbairn, Brendon (December 10, 2023). "Ruston wins first state championship since 1990". KNOE. Retrieved January 16, 2025.

[nola.com-8] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Former Ruston High football coach Jimmy 'Chick' Childress dies". nola.com. August 4, 2015. Retrieved October 3, 2022.

[9] "Jimmy "chick" Childress". The Monroe News-Star. Retrieved July 14, 2015.

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v t e U.S. National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana
Lists by parish	Acadia Allen Ascension Assumption Avoyelles Beauregard Bienville Bossier Caddo Calcasieu Caldwell Cameron Catahoula Claiborne Concordia DeSoto East Baton Rouge East Carroll East Feliciana Evangeline Franklin Grant Iberia Iberville Jackson Jefferson Jefferson Davis La Salle Lafayette Lafourche Lincoln Livingston Madison Morehouse Natchitoches Orleans Ouachita Plaquemines Pointe Coupee Rapides Red River Richland Sabine St. Bernard St. Charles St. Helena St. James St. John the Baptist St. Landry St. Martin St. Mary St. Tammany Tangipahoa Tensas Terrebonne Union Vermilion Vernon Washington Webster West Baton Rouge West Carroll West Feliciana Winn
Other lists	National Historic Landmarks Bridges and Tunnels
Keeper of the Register History of the National Register of Historic Places Property types Historic district Contributing property

v t e Municipalities and communities of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States
Parish seat: Ruston
Cities	Grambling Ruston
Towns	Dubach Vienna
Villages	Choudrant Downsville‡ Simsboro
Unincorporated communities	Antioch Barnet Springs Corinth Hico Oak Grove Pleasant Hill
Footnotes	‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent parish or parishes
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