Wilkes Central High School
Encyclopedia
Wilkes Central High School is a public high school
(grades 9-12) located in Moravian Falls
, North Carolina
. It is a part of the Wilkes County School System. The school's enrollment is typically around 1,000 students. The school's district includes the towns of Wilkesboro
and North Wilkesboro
as well as the southern regions of Wilkes County
. The current principal is Michelle Shepard. Wilkes Central has the largest enrollment of Wilkes County's five public high schools.
in Wilkesboro, the county seat. In 1981 the school moved to a new campus in the community of Moravian Falls
, located just south of Wilkesboro in the foothills of the Brushy Mountains
. In 1964 Wilkes Central became the first high school in Wilkes County to be racially integrated; that year Wilkes County's all-black high school (called Lincoln Heights) closed and its students began attending Wilkes Central.
The school offers career prep classes and college prep classes. It offers Honors mathematics
, English, and science
courses. Wilkes Central also offers Advanced Placement courses in subjects such as History, Calculus
and English. The language department offers courses in Spanish
, Latin
, and French
. Wilkes Central is fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
, also known as SACS.
. Wilkes Central is a member of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association
and is classified as a 2A school. The school is a member of the Mountain Valley Athletic Conference, which includes 1A and 2A schools from Wilkes County and neighboring counties in North Carolina. The school's colors are forest green and gold
.
Recent athletic achievements since 2000 include conference championships in football
, men's soccer, women's tennis, women's cross country, men's cross country, women's basketball
, men's tennis, women's soccer, and men's swimming.
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
(grades 9-12) located in Moravian Falls
Moravian Falls, North Carolina
Moravian Falls is a census-designated place in Wilkes County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,440 as of the 2000 census.-Geography:...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. It is a part of the Wilkes County School System. The school's enrollment is typically around 1,000 students. The school's district includes the towns of Wilkesboro
Wilkesboro, North Carolina
Wilkesboro is a town in and the county seat of Wilkes County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 3,159 at the 2000 census, and it is the second largest municipality in the county. The 2010 Census listed the town's population at 3,044. The town is located along the south bank of the...
and North Wilkesboro
North Wilkesboro, North Carolina
North Wilkesboro is a town in Wilkes County, North Carolina, United States. The population was approximately 4,116 at the 2000 census and is now 4,245 as of the 2010 census. North Wilkesboro is the birthplace and original home of Lowe's Home Improvement, which continues to have a major presence in...
as well as the southern regions of Wilkes County
Wilkes County, North Carolina
Wilkes County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The 2000 U.S. Census listed the county's population at 65,632; the 2010 U.S. Census listed the population at 69,340...
. The current principal is Michelle Shepard. Wilkes Central has the largest enrollment of Wilkes County's five public high schools.
History
Wilkes Central High School was formed in 1953 from a merger of Wilkesboro High School and North Wilkesboro High School. The school's first campus was located on the banks of the Yadkin RiverYadkin River
The Yadkin River is one of the longest rivers in North Carolina, flowing . It rises in the northwestern portion of the state near the Blue Ridge Parkway's Thunder Hill Overlook. Several parts of the river are impounded by dams for water, power, and flood control. The river becomes the Pee Dee...
in Wilkesboro, the county seat. In 1981 the school moved to a new campus in the community of Moravian Falls
Moravian Falls
Moravian Falls is a waterfall in Wilkes County, North Carolina.-Geology:The waterfall is located on Moravian Creek, where it flows over a large bedrock to a lower plunge pool.-Natural history:...
, located just south of Wilkesboro in the foothills of the Brushy Mountains
Brushy Mountains (North Carolina)
The Brushy Mountains are a mountain range located in northwestern North Carolina. They are an isolated "spur" of the much larger Blue Ridge Mountains, separated from them by the Yadkin River valley...
. In 1964 Wilkes Central became the first high school in Wilkes County to be racially integrated; that year Wilkes County's all-black high school (called Lincoln Heights) closed and its students began attending Wilkes Central.
Academics
A normal school day consists of four 100-minute blocks with four 25 minute lunch periods in between the third and fourth block.The school offers career prep classes and college prep classes. It offers Honors mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, English, and science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
courses. Wilkes Central also offers Advanced Placement courses in subjects such as History, Calculus
Calculus
Calculus is a branch of mathematics focused on limits, functions, derivatives, integrals, and infinite series. This subject constitutes a major part of modern mathematics education. It has two major branches, differential calculus and integral calculus, which are related by the fundamental theorem...
and English. The language department offers courses in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
. Wilkes Central is fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools is one of the six regional accreditation organizations recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation...
, also known as SACS.
Athletics
Wilkes Central's sports mascot is the EagleEagle
Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...
. Wilkes Central is a member of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association
North Carolina High School Athletic Association
The North Carolina High School Athletic Association is the governing organization of high school athletics in North Carolina, United States. The association maintains the official rule books and governs the officiating standards across the state....
and is classified as a 2A school. The school is a member of the Mountain Valley Athletic Conference, which includes 1A and 2A schools from Wilkes County and neighboring counties in North Carolina. The school's colors are forest green and gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
.
State Champions
- 2A Women's TennisTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
Team State Champions (2002) - 2A Men's Soccer State Champions (2005)
- Many Individual Men and Women Cross Country and Track and FieldTrack and fieldTrack and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
State Champions
Recent athletic achievements since 2000 include conference championships in football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, men's soccer, women's tennis, women's cross country, men's cross country, women's basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, men's tennis, women's soccer, and men's swimming.
Notable alumni
- John SwoffordJohn SwoffordJohn Swofford is currently the Commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference He was born on December 6, 1948 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. While at Wilkes Central High School, he played as quarterback for the Wilkes Central Eagles football team...
, (born 1948), former Athletic DirectorAthletic directorAn athletic director is an administrator at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic programs...
of the University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillThe University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
; since 1997 the Commissioner of the Atlantic Coast ConferenceAtlantic Coast ConferenceThe Atlantic Coast Conference is a collegiate athletic league in the United States. Founded in 1953 in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC sanctions competition in twenty-five sports in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association for its twelve member universities...
(ACC), one of the premiere college sports conferences in the nation. - William Oliver Swofford, (1945–2000), pop singer known as "Oliver", recorded two hit singles in 1969; "Good Morning Starshine" reached #3 on the billboard hit list, while "Jean" reached #2. "Good Morning Starshine" was featured in the Broadway musical Hair, while "Jean" was the theme song for the Oscar-winning film The Prime of Miss Jean BrodieThe Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (film)The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is a 1969 drama film, based on the novel of the same name by Muriel Spark.The novel was turned into a play by Jay Presson Allen, which opened on Broadway in 1968, with Zoe Caldwell in the title role, a performance for which she won a Tony Award...
. He was the older brother of John Swofford. - Deneen Graham, (born 1964), the first black woman to be crowned Miss North CarolinaMiss North CarolinaThe Miss North Carolina competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of North Carolina in the Miss America pageant. The competition has been held in Raleigh every year since 1978. Prior to that, it was held in various locales including Charlotte, Greensboro, Burlington,...
(in 1983). - Zach GalifianakisZach GalifianakisZachary Knight "Zach" Galifianakis is an American stand-up comedian and actor known for his numerous film and television appearances including his own Comedy Central Presents special...
, (born 1969), a popular stand-up comedianComedianA comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
and actor who has made frequent appearances on television programs such as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel LiveJimmy Kimmel LiveJimmy Kimmel Live! is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and broadcast on ABC.The nightly hour-long show made its debut on January 26, 2003, following Super Bowl XXXVII. Jimmy Kimmel Live! is produced by Jackhole Productions in association with ABC Studios...
, and the Comedy CentralComedy CentralComedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
network. He co-stars in the 2009 film The HangoverThe Hangover (film)The Hangover is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Todd Phillips and written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha and Jeffrey Tambor...
. - Larry Stone (born 1970), Executive Producer and Gameday Host, Tennessee TitansTennessee TitansThe Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team began play in 1960 as a charter...
Radio Network - Larry D. Stone (born 1951), Former CEO of Lowe's Companies.