Karns High School is a public high school in the Karns community of

Knox County, Tennessee Knox County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The population was 500,669 as of a 2023 estimate, making it the third-most populous county in Tennessee. Its county seat is Knoxville, which is the third-most populous city in Te ...

administered by the

Knox County Schools Knox County Schools is the school district that operates all public schools in Knox County, Tennessee. History Before the 1987–1988 school year, the city of Knoxville and Knox County operated separate school districts. In that year the tw ...

public school district. A growing population in western Knox County established in 1913; prior to this time, students were assigned to Central High School, located several miles away in nearby

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

. As of the 2008 academic year there were 2,578 enrolled students. Still to date that is the largest number of students enrolled at Karns High School since it was established in 1913. In 1913, the first Karns High School was erected. This building was named after Professor T.C. Karns, the first Superintendent of Public Instruction in Knox County. The high school had an enrollment of 75 students while the elementary school had 160 students. In 1938, a new Karns High School was built at the cost of $74,000. Its location was in the back of the parking lot where the current Karns Intermediate School is. The location chosen had previously been a Dutch cemetery but the bodies were exhumed to Cobb’s barn. In the cornerstone of the new high school, the student body roll of 1938, newspapers, and other information of interest were buried for future generations to look at. Things went well at this location until March 10, 1978, when the building became victim of arson. Due to the quick action of the volunteer fireman, the only losses were the study hall and the temporary loss of two classrooms. Then on March 15, 1978, 5 days after the first fire, Karns became a fiery blaze in the night. At 9:06 p.m., firemen were summoned but weren’t as lucky this time. This fire caused the loss of six classrooms, the study hall once again, the auditorium, cafeteria and many books and personal belongings in the lockers on the second and third floors.

Instructional program

*Karns High School is 1 of 16 Knox County schools. *Foreign languages offered at Karns are French,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, and Spanish. *Nearby, Byington is considered to be one of the top vocational and technical supplementarys in East Tennessee. Currently 9 of the 16 Knox county schools charter buses to Byington Vocational so that other students are presented with an opportunity to participate in this program. Options are being considered to introduce a new internship program in which student can obtain full-time jobs upon graduation. *The student to teacher ratio is 16:1. *The graduation rate is 92% which is above the state average of 84%. *The student body makeup is 52% female 48% male, and the total minority enrollment is 21%. *33% of the student body qualifies for low income aid. *2020 Enrollment: 1,483.

Extracurricular activities

Karns High School provides a number of extracurricular activities for its students.

Sports

The mascot for Karns High School is the

Beaver Beavers (genus ''Castor'') are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-large ...

. Karns High school rivals are Powell High School and

Hardin Valley Academy Hardin Valley Academy, located at 11345 Hardin Valley Road, is a Knox County high school that was founded in 2008. The school is split into four academies: Liberal Arts, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), Health Sciences, ...

. Championship history Sports offered include:

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

Cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense Physical exercise, physical activity. It can be performed to motivate s ...

, Cross Country, Dance,

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

, Majorettes,

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

Softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

, Swimming,

Tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

, Track,

Ultimate Frisbee Ultimate frisbee (officially simply called ultimate) is a non-contact team sport played with a disc flung by hand. Ultimate was developed in 1968 by Joel Silver, Buzzy Hellring, and Jonny Hines in Maplewood, New Jersey. Although ultimate rese ...

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

, and

Wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

Fine arts and literary clubs

Fine arts and literary clubs are:

Concert Band A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind instrument, woodwind, brass ...

Chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song), the part of a song that is repeated several times, usually after each verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in whic ...

Drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

(Musical Theatre),

Drumline Marching percussion instruments are percussion instruments (usually drums, such as snare, bass, and tenor drums) specially designed to be played while moving. This is achieved by attaching the drum(s) to a special harness (also called a carrier ...

, Ensemble,

Marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who play while marching. Historically they were used in armed forces and many marching bands remain military bands. Others are still associated with military units or emulate a military sty ...

Orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

, and

Yearbook A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a type of Annual publication, a book published annually. One use is to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school. The term also refers to a book of statistics or facts published annually ...

Staff.

Other clubs and teams

Other clubs and teams are:

AFJROTC Air Force Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (AFJROTC) is an elective class offered in many high schools across the United States. It is the junior division of a U.S. Air Force Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program composed of phys ...

, CDC & Peer Tutoring, Color Guard, DECA, Family Career Community Leaders of America (FCCLA),

Fellowship of Christian Athletes The Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) is an international nonprofit Christian sports ministry based in Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City. History FCA was founded in 1954 by Eastern Oklahoma State College, Eastern Oklahoma A&M basketball c ...

(FCA), Health Occupation Students of America (Hosa),

Key Club Key Club International, also called Key Club, is an international service organization for high school students. Key Club International is the high school branch of the Kiwanis International family, classified as a Service Leadership Program ...

, Marching Band,

Mu Alpha Theta Mu Alpha Theta () is an International mathematics honor society for high school and two-year college students. As of June 2015, it served over 108,000 student members in over 2,200 chapters in the United States and 20 foreign countries. Its main ...

, National Honors Society,

Student Government Association A students' union or student union, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, organization ...

(SGA),

Technology Student Association The Technology Student Association (TSA) is a national non-profit Career and technical student organization, career and technical student organization (CTSO) of over 300,000 middle and high school student members engaged in Science, technology, e ...

(TSA),

Young Life Young Life is a global Christian parachurch organization reaching out to middle school, high school, and college-aged young people based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Young Life's mission statement is "Introducing adolescents to Jesus Christ and ...

, Gender Sexuality Alliance (GSA), and Winter Guard

Notable alumni

DeSean Bishop DeSean Bishop (born October 15, 2004) is an American football running back for the Tennessee Volunteers. High school career Bishop played running back for Karns High School where he recorded 8,347 rushing yards and 102 rushing touchdowns. On ...

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Colleg ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

* Devin Harper,

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

player * Thomas Harper,

player * J. J. McCleskey,

player

Honors and awards

*Knoxville's Best Award *Knoxville's Best Teacher Award *PDK Principal of the Year – 2002 Diane Psihogios *PDK Assistant Principal of the Year – 2002 David Boggan *Leadership Education *Five 21st Century Classrooms *Optimist Club Sportsmanship Award *Graduating classes averaging over $1.99 million in scholarships *ACOM / Panasonic Cultural Exchange Program to Japan (Winners: Rosita Najmi, James Parnell, and Eric Levi Dixon) *UT Whittle Scholars *7 National Merit Finalists *Special Recognition Area 5 Special Olympics *United Way Award of Appreciation *1 Profile in Courage Essay Contest Honorable Mention

References

External links

Official WebsiteKarn's Chronicle
{{authority control Public high schools in Tennessee Schools in Knox County, Tennessee Educational institutions established in 1913 1913 establishments in Tennessee