Permian High School | |
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Address | |
1800 E. 42nd Street Odessa, Texas 79762-5800 United States |
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Information | |
Type | Public |
Established | 1959 |
School district | Ector County Independent School District |
Principal | Robert Gex |
Grades | 9-12 |
Enrollment | 3654 (2013) |
Color(s) | Black and White |
Athletics conference | UIL Class 6A |
Mascot | Panther |
Nickname | MOJO |
Rival | Odessa High School Midland Lee High School |
Website | Permian High School |
Permian High School is a public high school located in Odessa, Texas and is one of three high schools in the Ector County Independent School District. It was the subject of the book Friday Night Lights which in turn inspired a movie and TV series of the same name.
Opened in 1959, Permian High is named for the Permian Basin, the geological formation which underlies Midland and Odessa. The name stems from the age of the rocks in the basin where the school is located, which are from the geological period that preceded the largest mass extinction in the history of life. The Permian Basin is the source of the large oil and natural gas deposits that drive the region's economy. Permian High began adding freshmen to the campus during the 2015-2016 school year. This began creating more additions to the campus as well as a bigger influx of students.
High school football has long been extremely popular in Texas. The story of Permian High School's 1988 Permian Panthers team and its run towards the state championship was the subject of the best-selling book Friday Night Lights, published in 1990. A movie based on the book was made in 2004 and the NBC television network airs a TV series loosely based on the school and book. Roy Williams, formerly of the Detroit Lions, Dallas Cowboys, and Chicago Bears, went to school at Permian and portrayed an assistant coach for Midland Lee in the movie.
The team, whose rallying cry is "Mojo", won the Texas state championship in the 4A classification (the state's largest until 1980) in 1965 and 1972 and the 5A classification in 1980, 1984 (a co-championship with French High School, located in Beaumont, Texas the last time that a football co-championship was awarded by the UIL; it would later adopt NCAA overtime rules), 1989 and 1991. Permian was selected by National Sports News Service as the High School Football National co-Champions in 1972 and 1989.