Paris Woodhull unveils cheerful new mural that celebrates UT at Central High

Central High School unveiled a new muralin celebration of its "flagship" status with the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. The mural, designed and painted by Fulton High School graduate Paris Woodhull, is her third installation in Knox County Schools, all to honor UT's Flagship Scholarship progr

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Central High School unveiled a new muralin celebration of its "flagship" status with the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

The mural, designed and painted by Fulton High School graduate Paris Woodhull, is her third installation in Knox County Schools, all to honor UT's Flagship Scholarship program. Austin-East Magnet High and Fulton High are the other two flagship schools in KCS.

"It represents collaboration with flagship high schools that get the scholarship and to encourage their students to want the scholarship and to be a Tennessee Volunteer," Woodhull said Sept. 4 following the unveiling.

UT welcomed Central into its scholarship program in 2020, which covers an admitted student’s tuition and mandatory fees for up to eight semesters. Students

also have their UT application fee waived.

Woodhull was a recipient of the scholarship herself. She graduated from UT in 2017 and has given back to her hometown and alma mater ever since. She said the mural was a "double full circle moment" for her, all these years later.

"What an opportunity it is for our students to leave us and go to a wonderful university, and then enter their adult lives basically debt-free from college," Central High Principal Danielle Rutig said.

Central is one of 52 high schools in Tennessee designated a flagship high school. Qualifying students in these schools are automatically given the scholarship upon applying to UT.

Flagship high schools in Tennessee

Antioch High
Austin-East Magnet High
Bledsoe County High
Bolivar Central High
Booker T. Washington High
Brainerd High
Carver High
Cane Ridge High
Central High (Knoxville)
Central High (Memphis)
Clay County High
Cocke County High
Cosby High
East High
East Ridge High
Fairley High
Fayette Ware Comprehensive High
Fulton High
Glencliff Comp High
Grundy County High
Hamilton High
Hancock County High
Howard School of Academics Technology
Invictus Academy at Airways
Kenwood High
Kingsbury Middle/ High School
Kirby High School
Lake County High School
Manassas High School
Maplewood Comp High School
Melrose High School
Middleton High School
Mitchell Middle/High School
Northeast High School
Oakhaven Middle/ High School
Oneida High School
Overton High School
Pearl Cohn Magnet High School
Perry County High School
Raleigh Egypt High School
Riverside Academy
Scott High School
Sheffield High School
Southwind High School
Stratford STEM Magnet High School
Trezevant High School
Tyner Academy
West Creek High School
Westwood Middle/ High School
Whitehaven High School
Whites Creek Comp High School
Wooddale High School

Caitlyn Meisner is the K-12 education reporter for Knox News. Email tips and story ideas to caitlyn.meisner@knoxnews.com.

From left, Central High School Executive Principal Danielle Rutig, artist Paris Woodhull, and Vice Provost for Enrollment Management Kari Alldredge, pose for a photo at the unveiling of a mural celebrating University of Tennessee Flagship high schools, at Central High School, in North Knoxville, Sept. 4, 2026.