Karns’ Very Own Superman

By Harrison Garrett, Alizabeth Hutchison, Mekenzie Kuhn, & Kylee Scarbrough

The R.T. Everette Sports Complex, September 2019

It’s a crisp fall night in the middle of October as you head into the football stadium at Karns High School when you look up and see “R.T. Everette” plastered on the side of the stadium. As students we had always wondered who R.T. Everette was and what he had done to deserve his name on the side of the announcer’s booth. After asking around, we quickly found out that he left a larger-than-life impression on the Karns community. 

Principal, father, teacher, husband, and all star athlete, Tommy Everette was an all around “Superman”. He started his journey attending Gibbs High School where he excelled in basketball as a 6’8’’ center, and was able to receive a scholarship to Carson Newman University to play the sport he loved. While at Carson Newman he was on the “Team of the Century” and was considered an All-American. Once his time at Carson Newman was over, he was offered a position on an NBA team, but declined it to focus on a career in education. After deciding to stay in the Gibbs community he took on a job at the high school due to his love for math and his desire to coach. Following his passion for education, he was asked to be the first ever principal intern by Carter High School. Everette then eagerly accepted a position as Gibbs High School’s principal. Fortunately for the Karns community, Mr. Everette took over as the principal of Karns High School in 1980 when the school was rebuilt in a new location, the same grounds it stands on today. His time spent in our closely knit town left such an impact that since the year 2000, his name has sat proudly on the sports complex at the high school. 

From the early 1980s until his retirement in 2000, Tommy Everette worked tirelessly to make Karns High School into a better, more advanced, and happier place for students and staff. He started the first block schedule in Knox County as well as the first Freshman Academy, and he was the man to bring computers into Karns High, ensuring that the school was rather advanced for its time. Speaking with Mr. Everette’s wife, Carolyn Everette, made it clear just how much he cared about Karns as we learned that he not only spent plenty of extra time at the school, but he even took out a personal loan at one point to fund a project for the school. Mrs. Everette said that only his family truly knew the full extent of how hard he worked to improve Karns High School, especially with the sports complex. She informed us that he loved sports and just wanted students to be able to have the same experience that he had during his high school years because it is what allowed him to get his college education. Karns High was his “home away from home” as his wife called it; he loved the kids and the time that he spent there. After getting over the initial intimidation the students felt due to Mr. Everette’s size, the feeling was mutual. Mr. Bradley Corum, the current principal of Karns High School, who taught under Mr. Everette at KHS, commented on his intimidating size saying, “He was the only person I’ve ever seen in a school, that if he opened your door, he had to lower his head to walk in and he took the entire door frame.”

To Corum, Mr. Everette was a family friend, a boss, and a role model. Mr. Corum says he had “known Mr. Everette all my life” and in the spring of  1997 he hired Mr. Corum as a long-term substitute. The next fall Mr. Corum was hired as a social studies teacher at Karns High and eventually made his way to principal of Karns High after working at several other Knox County Schools. One thing Mr.Corum says he models after Mr. Everette is that, “Whatever decision you make, you make a decision for what is best for the most… The most may not always include you, but the decision has to be made what is best for the most.” Another maxim Corum learned from Everette was, “Never let an F be the first time a parent has ever heard from you.” He explains that the parents want to hear positive feedback about their children, not just complaints. Mr.Corum elaborated Mr. Everette’s view on professionalism by saying, “I will never forget he told another employee one time, ‘How do you expect me to take you seriously when all you do is wear blue jeans everyday.’” Mr. Corum remarks, “He wasn’t talking to me but it sure left an impression on me, note to self, I’m not wearing blue jeans.” As Mr. Corum says, Mr. Everette was one of those people that one always wants to emulate. 

Among others who were hired by Mr. Everette was Coach Phillip Beeler, a social studies teacher at Karns High School, who tells us that Mr. Everette was an astounding principal who held the interests of his teachers and students close to heart and that “Karns grew tremendously under his leadership.” Coach Beeler informed us that Mr. Everette introduced the use of computers in the school by approaching Knox County with, “If you’ll buy half, I’ll buy the other half,” further proving his dedication to education. When asked why he thinks the sports complex at the school was named after Mr. Everette, Mr. Beeler replied, “He cared about the community and the students. He was definitely a people person… He was a super man.” Coach Beeler added to this saying Mr. Everette “had a servant heart.” It is obvious that Mr. Beeler and all who knew him admired Mr. Everette tremendously. Lee Henson, the current basketball coach and a previous student under Mr. Everette, said that although he was a stern man and “…all it took was one time and you wouldn’t want to mess around again,” he was also considerate and understanding. Overall, Mr. Everette was a tender-hearted, selfless, “super man” who had an extremely positive effect on the Karns community and Karns High School during his years as a principal.

The memory of Mr. Everette still lives on in many ways around the Karns community; From the way Karns High School is taught, to the school vision statement, “Be responsible, be respectful, and be receptive,” to the Karns High School Sports Complex, our community and school is filled with people who preserve Mr. Everette’s astounding impact. Every time the Karns community fills the stadium to watch the Beavers play under the brilliant stadium lights, R.T. Everette’s legacy lives on forever.