# Ruston High School

Ruston High School is a four-year public high school located in the Lincoln Parish School District of Ruston, Louisiana, United States. Founded in 1921 and the current High School built in 1939 located near Louisiana Tech Campus.
Founded in 1921, Ruston High has been a cornerstone for the community in many ways having notable alumni graduate from its towering walls. The current building the School is in was built in 1939 and funded by the PWA after the old high school was deemed too small for the growing number of students.

## 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.
The mascot is the Bearcat, with the school colors being red, white, and gray. Black students were first admitted in 1970. Ruston High School also serves as a memorial to the survivors of the Gulf War.

## Ideals

At Ruston High School the main goal is to equip, prepare, and determine students to flourish and be and individual. The mission statement is: Rigor, Relevance, Relationships. In conjunction with Louisiana Tech University, Ruston High offers many dual enrollment college credit classes and courses. By doing so we ensure that students are aware of the modern world and how to problem solve in their own right, communicate, and make viable career decisions.

## Academics

Ruston High School offers a wide variety of intricate and important classes and courses. Ruston High has an Ag department, Radio Station, Media classes, Math department, Yearbook Staff, Photography, Talented Art Program, Health Department, Science Department, Social Studies and Civics Department, Foreign Languages Department, English Department, and many more electives and courses.

## Alma Mater

Firmly Founded, Alma Mater
Mother True is she,
Here beneath her towering columns, pledge we loyalty
Ruston High, Oh, Ruston High,
We will e'er be true
Sing her praises,
Speed them Onward, to the World Proclaim
We will always love and cherish
Ruston High Schools Name!
-RHS student body 1952-

## Athletics

Ruston High athletics competes in the LHSAA. The Bearcats compete in the highest classification in Louisiana (5A) and participates in District 2-5A.
The RHS Bearcats play in the Hoss Garrett Stadium, across Bearcat Drive from Ruston High School.

### Championships

Football championships
* (1) National Championship: 1990
* (9) State Championships: 1925, 1941, 1947, 1951, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1990, 2023
* (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). He led his alma mater to a 131–27 (.829) record and four state championships in 1982, 1986, 1988, and 1990. His 1990 team also won a national championship. As a player, he was on the 1947 state championship football team. 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. He also coached at the college level at Northeastern Louisiana University from 1974 to 1976. In 2001, he was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.
    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.

## Radio

* Ruston High School is one of only two high schools in the state of Louisiana that offers a radio program that allows students to go live on air and broadcast to the Ruston area. It teaches students to be self sufficient and think for themselves to faithfully execute their job everyday in the studio.

## 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
* Ruston High School Auditorium c.1950s 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
* Ruston High School 1965Michael 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)Ruston High School Front view c.1969
* 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.