History

• The school was built in 1973 and opened in 1974 with the first graduating class in 1978. Since then, the school has experienced tremendous growth requiring several major additions and renovations to the campus.
• In the early 1980s, a dedicated band room was added.
• In 1987, a classroom wing was added with new classrooms and offices, including a journalism lab, video production lab and a new choir room.
• In 1990, a new auditorium was constructed, along with the library and cafeteria enlarged.
• An F2 tornado struck here on Highway 261 causing numerous damage to business buildings in 1994.
• In 1999, the cafeteria's kitchen and serving area were remodeled, six new class rooms were built, a second gymnasium was built, and the main gymnasium including the surrounding locker rooms, offices and classrooms were remodeled.
• In 2000, Bearden Stadium, where the football, soccer, and track teams compete has been remodeled and enlarged twice to add additional seating. A training facility was built. Bobby Hayes Field, where the baseball and softball teams compete, has also undergone major renovations with the addition of new lights and press box. During the fall, a baseball training center was built. To ease traffic problems the school built new parking lots to add more student parking.
• In 2008, the field inside Bearden Stadium was turned into a turf field and named Bobby Hayes Field, after Mayor Bobby Hayes, who gave the school enough money to make the field.

Organizations and clubs

• Baseball - The Pelham High School Varsity Baseball team won the 2004 AHSAA State championship.
• DECA- led by Dan Woodham. In 2010 Josh Wheeler and Jacob Richardson placed 3rd in the Alabama DECA state finals.
• Scholars' Bowl
  Quizbowl
  Quiz bowl is a family of games of questions and answers on all topics of human knowledge that is commonly played by students enrolled in high school or college, although some participants begin in middle or even elementary school...
  
  - The Pelham High School varsity scholars' bowl team won the Shelby County championship title in 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2009. In 2007, the junior varsity team placed first in the Shelby County tournament.
• Boys' Basketball - The Pelham High School boys' Varsity team is on the rise under new coach Joel Floyd (Former golf coach, true player's coach). The Panthers are led by seniors Graham Reilly, Tanner Rice, Jordan Brooks, Cameron Slane, Tony Williams, and Lamar Dukes. Recently, the Panthers' student section has seen a rapid growth in attendance. Led by students Braxton Holley, Jackson Bradford, Eric Wallace, beating the Panthers in their own gym has become a difficult task. Pelham beat Thompson for the first time this decade during the 2009 season. Following their home victory on January 19, the Panthers finished off the season sweep of the Warriors.
• Boys' tennis - The Pelham High School tennis team placed in the top 5 of the 6A AHSAA state tournament six consecutive years, in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. The team placed fourth in the 2011 season. During this time, PHS athletes won two individual state titles. John Flaniken won the no. 2 singles position in 2006, and Flaniken paired with Jim Flaniken to win the no. 1 doubles position in 2009.
• Debate - Pelham recently resurrected their debate team. In 2006, Pelham had public forum teams place first, fifth, and sixth at Vestavia Hills High School
  Vestavia Hills High School
  Vestavia Hills High School , founded in 1970, is a public high school in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham. Part of the Vestavia Hills School System, the high school is known for the success of its band, math, debate, "We the People" Team, Economics Challenge Team, American football,...
  
  's Novice Tournament. Pelham also had public forum teams finish as finalists and semi finalists in the 2007 Alabama state debate tournament. Pelham's Public Forum team of Brandon Grimes and Loren Willis qualified for the National Forensic League
  National Forensic League
  The National Forensic League is a non-partisan, non-profit educational honor society established to encourage and motivate American high school students to participate in and become proficient in the forensic arts: debate, public speaking and interpretation. NFL is the America's oldest and largest...
  
  's high school national tournament in 2007. Also produced current University of Alabama debate team member Jacob Forehand who was the 7th best speaker nationally in 2009 in Parliamentary Debate.
• Band - directed by Jeff Burnside, The Tower of Power Marching Band had a Jazz field show, entitled "Jazz with Pizazz," in the 2007 season. They won the Best Low Brass and Best High Brass Awards at the Lake Martin Invitational in Alexander City, Alabama
  Alexander City, Alabama
  Alexander City is the principal city of the Alexander City Micropolitan Statistical Area, a micropolitan area that covers Coosa and Tallapoosa counties and had a combined population of 53,677 at the 2000 census....
  
  . They also won most entertaining band. PHS Bands have earned over 500 superior ratings, including over 75 champion, grand champion, sweepstakes, and best in class awards. The Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, and two jazz bands combine to stage numerous performances throughout the year. The jazz bands add their “Evening of Jazz,” a dance traditionally held in early spring. Equally as important to the band program is the visual ensemble, which consists of the color guard, dance team, and majorettes. In addition to performing with the marching band, the visual ensemble participates in over 30 competitions and performances each year, including several performances for charitable organizations in the community. All of these groups combine to form the 205-member “Tower of Power” Marching Band.
• Pantherettes (Dance Team) - The Pantherettes are a distinguished dance team in Alabama. In the past seven years the team has won six state titles and three national championships. The Pantherettes perform at halftime with the Tower of Power Marching Band during the football season. The team is sponsored by Laura Cochran and currently has eleven members.
• Pacesetter (Newspaper) - The Pacesetter newspaper is published monthly.
• Theatre- The Theatre Department has received the Critics Choice Award at the Alabama State Thespian Festival for 4 years. They also received the third place award for the Ensemble category at the State Trumbauer Theatre Festival in the year 2008. They have also been invited to perform at the International Thespian Festival in Lincoln Nebraska in their one act division for two years in a row. The theatre teacher is Jamie Stephenson. Every year, the theatre puts on fall and spring shows, in addition to a spring musical. The theatre department has an honors organization, Thespians, and a general support club, Drama Club. Thespians and Drama Club members alike support the theatre arts while managing to give back to local charities, such as Oak Mountain Missions, who they select as the recipient of their annual Trick or Treat so Kids Can Eat.
• Boys' Golf - Coached by Phillip Lawson, they are led by John Menke, Bobby Hulsey and Justin Nolen.

• Choir - directed by Lynne Jebeles- The Pelham High School Chamber/Show Choir's 2009-2010 theme for their show was a celebration of the music of Michael Jackson. They won first place for vocals and second place for overall performance in the festival division at the Capital City Classic in Montgomery January 2010. The Pelham Chamber/Show choir along with the PHS Singers and other choirs continually win superior ratings at the district and state level. In 2011, they once again claimed second place at the Capital City Classic. The theme was Old Time Rock and Roll.

Notable alumni

• Deidre Downs
  Deidre Downs
  Deidre Downs is a beauty pageant contestant and winner of Miss America 2005. She is from Birmingham, Alabama. As part of her year of service as Miss America, she campaigned for Curing Childhood Cancer. For her talent, she sang a rendition of the ballad "I'm Afraid This Must Be Love"...
  
   - Miss America
  Miss America
  The Miss America pageant is a long-standing competition which awards scholarships to young women from the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands...
  
   in 2005. She graduated from Pelham High School in 1998.
• Dabo Swinney
  Dabo Swinney
  William Christopher "Dabo" Swinney is the head coach of the Clemson University Tigers football team; he was previously assistant head coach and wide receivers coach.-Playing career:...
  
   - Former University of Alabama
  University of Alabama
  The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
  
   receiver and currently the Head Coach and Receivers Coach at Clemson University
  Clemson University
  Clemson University is an American public, coeducational, land-grant, sea-grant, research university located in Clemson, South Carolina, United States....
  
  
• Andrew Davis - Current Troy University
  Troy University
  Troy University is a public university that is located in Troy, Alabama, United States. It was originally founded in 1887 as Troy Normal School. Its main campus enrollment is 7,194 students. The total enrollment of all Troy University campuses is 29,689...
  
   wide-receiver
• Liz Cochran - Miss Alabama in 2009
• Tyler Watts- Former University of Alabama
  University of Alabama
  The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
  
   Quarterback.
• Montez Billings
  Montez Billings
  Montez Billings is an American football Wide Receiver who is currently a free agent. Billings has been a member of the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League. He was signed as a free agent by the Saints. He played college football at Auburn University...
  
   - Former Auburn University and current Wide Receiver for The Buffalo Bills
  Buffalo Bills
  The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
  
  
• Jake Holland - Starting linebacker for Auburn University
• Michael Proctor - Former University of Alabama
  University of Alabama
  The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
  
  Placekicker

External links

• Pelham High School Homepage