T. L. Hanna High School
T. L. Hanna High School is located at 2600 Highway 81 North, outside the city limits of Anderson, South Carolina, United States. It is one of two high schools in Anderson School District Five and has a population of nearly 2,100 students. On July 1, 2015, Shawn Tobin was appointed as principal taking the place of long time principal Sheila Hilton, who retired. In 2019, Tobin retired to be replaced by T.L. Hanna graduate, Walter Mayfield. In 1999, the school was named "Palmetto's Finest" by the South Carolina Department of Education. In 2000, it was named a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education.
History
Before T.L. Hanna High School, there was a Boys High School and a Girls High School. In 1951, Girl's High School changed its name to T.L. Hanna High School after its first principal Thomas Lucas Hanna. In 1961, the school moved to a new site on Marchbanks Avenue, the current site of McCants Middle School, and became co-ed in 1962.Prior to 1971, T.L. Hanna was Anderson School District 5's all-white high school ; in 1971, the district finally integrated after the Supreme Court's 1954 ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. During the first year of integration, each grade's student government had two co-presidents, two co-vice presidents, etc., one white and one black.
In 1992, the school moved to its current location on Highway 81. In 1996, McDuffie High School closed as an independent vocational/non-college preparatory high school and became the Hanna-Westside Extension Campus, a change which increased and substantially diversified T.L. Hanna's student population. It has been an International Baccalaureate school since 2010.
T.L. Hanna recently expanded by adding a freshman academy, math hall, new auxiliary gym, and new sports area.
Athletics
State championships
- Basketball – Boys: 1960, 1966, 1967
- Basketball – Girls: 1981
- Cross Country – Boys: 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984
- Cross Country – Girls: 1993, 1994
- Golf – Boys: 1974, 1983, 1993, 1994, 2023, 2024, 2025
- Golf - Girls: 2024, 2025
- Soccer – Boys: 1980, 1996
- Soccer – Girls: 2012
- Tennis – Boys: 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 2021
- Tennis – Girls: 1987, 2013,
- Track – Boys: 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1969, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1992, 1993
- Track – Girls: 1993, 1994
Notable alumni
- Chadwick Boseman, actor, writer, and director, Marshall, 42, Get On Up, Draft Day, Captain America: Civil War, Black Panther
- Martavis Bryant, wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL
- Preston Jones, football player
- James "Radio" Kennedy inspired the feature film, Radio. Cuba Gooding Jr. portrayed Kennedy in the film. A large statue of "Radio" is located on the school grounds today.
- Nicki Carlson-Lee champion karate point-fighter and member of the 2000 Olympic taekwondo team.
- Zacch Pickens, defensive tackle for the Kansas City Chiefs
- James Michael Tyler, actor who played Gunther on the sitcom Friends
- Dave Shirley - Professional Slam Dancer