Volume 77 No. 1
Grimsley High School
801 Westover Terrace
Greensboro, NC 27408
Friday, September 29, 2000
New administrator takes his place among Whirlies
By Kate Boylan
Reporter
He can be found walking through
the 13 buildings on campus. He is
6’3. Usually clothed in a shirt and
tie. Who is he? He is Mr.Odom, our
new assistant principal.
Mr. Odom was bom and raised in
Hickory, North Carolina. He at
tended Livingston College in
Asheville, North Carolina for his un
dergraduate degree where he played
football all four years and was cap
tain of the football team his senior
year. He then attended graduate
school at Iowa State in Ames Iowa.
One of his fondest memories of Iowa
State, “is the porkchops. They are
like steak,” he said.
Mr. Odom has spent 19 years in
the education field, during which he
has been a teacher and a principal at
many different schools. Before com
ing to Grimsley, Mr. Odom previ
ously worked at Smith High School
for three years. High Point Central
for one year, and taught m
Lynchburg, Virginia for fourteen
years. Although Mr. Odom enjoys
living here, he has fond memories
“We need to have
more student sup
port for the athletic
teams; students still
need to have
school and team
spirit no matter
what.”
-Mr, Odom
of living in Lynchburg, where he
lived not far from one of Thomas
Jefferson’s summer homes. Mr.
Odom now lives in Jamestown with
his wife Valusha, and their two chil
dren, George Allen and Valusha
Ashley.
In his brief time at Grimsley, Mr.
Odom has made many friends and
made it a goal to get to know the
student body. Mr. Odom said that
Grimsley “as a school speaks for it
self’ and that he is impressed with
the student body’s respect for the
faculty and the school, the faculty,
the school program, and Ms.
Teague.
When Mr. Odom is not working in
his office or walking the halls, he is
usually at football games or other
school athletic events. “We need to
have more student support for the
athletic teams; students still need to
have school and team spirit no mat
ter what,” he said. Mr. Odom would
like to bring more school spirit and
school pride to Grimsley because he
believes school spirit illustrates
school pride.
The 6’3" man walking the halls
is not an undercover agent; he is
our new assistant principal Mr.
Odom.
Bruner photo
Mr. Odom, the new assistant principal, brings fresh ideas and energy
to the 2000/2001 Grimsley administration staff.
Kernodle Middle: New school on the horizon
By Dir k Lankford
Reporter
140,000 square feet and 18
million dollars later. Guilford
County opens a new chapter in
better learning.
The new institution is
Kernodle Middle School. This is
Guilford County’s 97"' school and
the only new county school
opening this fall.
The school shares a relation
ship with certain members of our
own school. It was named after
John Kernodle Sr., who is the late
lather of a fellow Whirlie, John
Kernodle Jr. Also, the principal
of (his new school, Mr. Steve
Teague, is the husband of our
own Mrs. Teague.
The Guilford County Commis
sioners spared no expense in the
creation of this new middle
school, spending 18 million dol
lars, clearing out 39 acres of land
and taking 15 months to build. “1
think anytime there is need for a
new lacility, it is always worth it
to the taxpayers, even if they
don’t have children," said John
Kernodle Jr., a senior.
However, the honor of hav
ing a school named after his
father may come off as some
what bittersweet to Kernodle,
Jr., having lost his dad in a car
accident five years ago. “1 was
impressed with the amount of
work put into the school. It was
very admirable, just like the
work of my father,” said
Kernodle, Jr.
The school has a staff of 72;
55 of those are teachers. These
teachers instruct a student
body of an estimated 820 stu
dents. However, the school has
a capacity to hold 875 students.
The location when planning
for the new school was difficult
to acquire. First, Horse Pen
Creek Road was suggested, but
then rejected because of the
noise given off by the nearby
airport. Second, Fleming Road
was suggested, but ruled out
because the City Council would
have to condemn the land of an
elderly woman in order to make
room for the school.
Finally, it was decided that
Guilford County Commission
ers would sell 39 acres along
Horse Pen Creek Road to the
school board, therefore moving
the school away from the road
and the airport noise. The
school’s official address is 3600
Drawbridge Parkway.
“I was impressed
with the amount of
work put into the
school. It was very
admirable, just like
the work of my fa
ther.”
-John Kernodle
Jr., senior
The school is up and opera
tional and in the long run, all
the time and money put into
Kernodle Middle School will
pay off for a greater good.
*
—
Guilford Counn' Schools photo
Jonh Kernodle III stands beside a portrait of his late father, John
Kerdnodle 11 at the dedication of Kernodle Middle School.
Freshmen Hazing Drug use spreads
In the name of school From weed to Ritalin,
spirit, how far is too drugs are every-
far? where in teen life.
page 6
pages 8-9
Whirlie Football
Players anticipate the
2000 Page/Grimsley
game.
page 15
News 1
Editorial 4
Features 8
Sports 14