J.M. Tate High School is a public

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

Cantonment, Florida Cantonment is an unincorporated community in Escambia County, Florida, United States. It is located north of Pensacola, south of Molino, and centered around Highway 29, and extends to the Perdido River to the west, and the Escambia River to t ...

, United States. The school is part of the

Escambia County School District Escambia County Public Schools (ECPS), officially the Escambia County School District (ECSD), is the organization responsible for the administration of public schools in all of Escambia County, Florida, in the United States. The district current ...

History

Tate High School was founded in 1878 by James Madison Tate Sr., a

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in an job, occupation or Craft, field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in the military, armed forces. A topic o ...

, minister and former

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

. The school was originally called Roberts High School and was one of the first high schools established in Escambia County. The original school building was one room with a sawdust floor; students sat on wooden benches. Initially, Tate taught all of the grades himself. Tate taught at Roberts High until 1913, when he retired. In 1917, the James Madison Tate Sr. Agricultural School was completed. The school was a two-story brick building with eight classrooms. Establishment of the agricultural school advanced the agricultural programs already in place at the original Roberts High. In 1927, O.A. Strange became principal of Tate High School. During his 24-year tenure as head of the school, 10 buildings were added to the campus and the school transformed from a small rural school to a modern high school.

Student organizations and athletics

During the early days of Tate High, there was no football equipment, so the school's main sports were basketball and baseball. Tate's baseball team has won seven state championships since 1960. One of the school's most accomplished baseball players,

Don Sutton Donald Howard Sutton (April 2, 1945 – January 19, 2021) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Sutton won a total of 324 games, pitched 58 s ...

, went on to major league fame with the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

. The football team won the 4A state championship in 1980 under coach Carl Madison. The Tate softball team won the Florida Class 7A state championship in 2015 led by pitcher Tori Perkins. In 2024, the varsity cheer squad won the FHSAA state championships. Tate's marching band, the Showband of the South, won the first official

Bands of America Bands of America (BOA) is a music education advocacy organization and promoter of high school marching band competitions in the United States. Established in 1975 as Marching Bands of America (MBA), founder Larry McCormick's goal was to provide e ...

Grand National Championship, in 1980. The J.M. Tate Showband of the South has achieved straight superior ratings in their Marching Performance Assessments for 52 years, as of 2024. Tate is also known for its

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 ...

which has competed in annual world championship competitions in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

. The school's

colorguard In Military, military organizations, a colour guard (or color guard) is a detachment of soldiers assigned to the protection of Colours, standards and guidons, regimental colours and the national flag. This duty is highly prestigious, and the mil ...

is known as the "Tate Chaparrals." In 1989, the colorguard competed in the WGI Scholastic World Class Competition, winning first place. The Tate High School

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chapter was founded in 1929. Agricultural education continues to remain a focal point of the school, and is widely considered to be one of the highest performing FFA chapters in the

Florida Panhandle The Florida panhandle (also known as West Florida and Northwest Florida) is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida. It is a Salient (geography), salient roughly long, bordered by Alabama on the west and north, Georgia (U.S. state ...

Notable alumni

Jay Bell Jay Stuart Bell (born December 11, 1965) is an American former Major League Baseball shortstop and former manager of the Rocket City Trash Pandas of the Southern League. He played for the Cleveland Indians (1986–1988), Pittsburgh Pirates (19 ...

– Class of 1984, Major League Baseball player, 2-time All-Star,

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champion * Steve Campbell - College and high school football coach *

Brannon Condren Brannon Condren (born August 19, 1983) is a former American football Safety (American football position), safety. He was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the fourth round of the 2007 NFL draft. He played college football for Troy Trojans foo ...

- Football

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

for

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

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Qudarius Ford Qudarius Jaquinn Ford (born February 7, 1992) is an American former professional football defensive back. He played college football at South Alabama where he was on the team from 2010 to 2015. Ford signed with the Toronto Argonauts on April 2 ...

– Professional football

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

(

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

) *

Travis Fryman David Travis Fryman (born March 25, 1969) is an American former professional baseball third baseman who played in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians from 1990 to 2002. He is currently a hitting instructor for the C ...

– Class of 1987, Major League Baseball player (

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

), 5-time All-Star *

Graham Gano Graham Clark Gano (; born April 9, 1987) is a Scottish–American professional football placekicker for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida State Seminoles and was signed by the B ...

– Class of 2005, Kicker for NFL's

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Martin Holley Martin David Holley (born December 31, 1954) is an American Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Memphis from 2016 to 2018, when he was removed by Pope Francis for alleged mismanagement. Holley previously served as an auxiliary bishop for t ...

–

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

* Scotti Madison – Professional baseball player (

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

) * Sam McCorkle – College and high school football coach *

Stover McIlwain Stover William McIlwain (September 22, 1939 – January 15, 1966), nicknamed "Smokey", was an American professional baseball player. A right-handed pitcher, he appeared in two games for the 1957– 58 Chicago White Sox, making his Major League ...

– Professional baseball player (

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) *

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– Politician, highest total votes ever attained by a Libertarian political candidate *

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–

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...

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–

Fred Robbins Fred Robbins (born March 25, 1977) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons football, Wa ...

– Class of 1995. NFL player, Super Bowl champion in 2007 (

) * Brad Salmon – Professional baseball player (

) *

– Class of 1963. Major League Baseball pitcher (

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) and

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r. *

Craig Waters Craig Waters (born in 1956) is a former public information officer who served as communications director for the Florida Supreme Court in Tallahassee from June 1, 1996, to February 28, 2022. In 1994, then-Chief Justice Gerald Kogan appointed W ...

– Class of 1974. Communications Director for

Florida Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Florida is the state supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of Florida. It consists of seven justices—one of whom serves as Chief Justice. Six members are chosen from six districts around the state to foster geog ...

References

External links

Official WebsiteOfficial Football Quarterback Club Website
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1917 Escambia County School District High schools in Escambia County, Florida Public high schools in Florida 1917 establishments in Florida