By Sonia Fuller
The Maynard Jackson High School (MJHS) Athletic Boosters Club hosted Jaguar families, future Jags, and the community to celebrate the long-awaited addition of a field house to its school campus. The celebration and ribbon-cutting took place on Friday, March 10 preceding the varsity girls; and boys; soccer matches against Midtown High School.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony included MJHS Principal Adam Danser, MJHS Athletic Director Reggie Curry, Atlanta Public School Board of Education District One member Katie Howard, who is also a Grant Park resident and MJHS mom of two scholar athletes, and past and present members of the MJHS Athletic Boosters Club.
“I am excited about the completion of the Maynard Jackson field house as it will be a great and much-needed amenity for our students and all those participating in outdoor athletic activities at MJHS,” said Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education Member, Katie Howard. “It’s truly awesome to see our E-SPLOST dollars serve our growing athletic programs and I deeply appreciate all those in the community for continuing to advocate and provide support for this addition.”
Atlanta Public Schools (APS) committed in its 2016 spending plan to build field houses at all of the district’s high schools that did not have one. In 2018, a group of Maynard Jackson High School parents and Boosters Club subcommittee members, including Doug Woods (committee chair), Lisa Roberson, Carrie Teegardin, Richard Quartarone, and Suzanne Mitchell, began working together and in coordination with members of the other schools and APS to ensure that each of the schools’ needs were being met in the field houses planning process.
The first two field houses were built in 2019 with Douglass High School receiving one and the other being shared by Coretta Scott King Young Women’s Leadership Academy and The B.E.S.T. Academy, an all-boys school. Carver and South Atlanta high schools received their field houses in 2021. Finally, Maynard Jackson, Mays, Therrell and Washington high schools’ field houses were completed in October of 2022. All of the field houses share roughly the same footprint including much-needed restrooms near sports fields, storage space, and a concessions area.
Funding for all of the building projects, as well as other district renovations and improvements, was covered through a six-year, one-cent education special purpose local option sales tax (E-SPLOST) voters approved in May of 2016.
“We are thrilled to finally have the field house – an important community and APS investment — in operation for our scholar athletes, our fans, and visiting schools,” said Therman McDaniel, 2021–23 president of the MJHS Athletic Booster Club and parent of a former MJHS student. “The field house is an important step in helping our sports teams raise much needed funds through concessions and improving spectator experience.”
Maynard Jackson High School has more than 20 sports teams with more than 300 student-athletes participating in a sport each year. The MJHS Athletic Boosters Club is a group of parents and community members who support the teams and student athletes by raising funds and helping pay for items, such as lights for the tennis courts, that are not covered by APS so Maynard Jackson student-athletes have what they need to be competitive.
Decades of research supports that strong community involvement in neighborhood schools positively influences the academic and overall well-being of the youth that attend them. MJHS welcomes our community at all of our events, including our award-winning theatre productions, band concerts and our sporting events. Visit http://MaynardJacksonAthletics.com for upcoming sports events and https://mjhssportsboosters.com to learn more about the MJHS Athletic Boosters Club.
