Established in 1986, the annual award for excellence in teaching is given to a faculty member in honor of our former headmaster who served GDS from 1977-1986. Dr. Hendrix is the father of Kellie Hendrix Medford ’82, Erin Hendrix Shackelford ’83, and Max Hendrix ’88. The first teacher to receive this award was Lower School Science Specialist, Mr. Bill O’Connor.
Author: Courtney Sparrow
The first athletics team to win back-to-back state championships was the volleyball team, which did so in 1983 and 1984. David Bowman and Martha Knox coached the teams.
Greensboro Day School’s chapter of Cum Laude, one of only five in North Carolina at the time, was a particularly significant achievement in the development of our school. The Cum Laude Society is formed on the basis of high academic excellence and community service. On June 7, 1984, the first inductees were Ellen Brown ’85, Sylvia Diaz ’85, Kit Fisher ’85 and Georges Saab ’85.
The spring of 1984 saw a significant event in the life of the school: the establishment of the Honor Code. Impetus for the Honor Code came from Upper School students who, working with National Honor Society sponsor Kathy Davis researched and formulated a code that would set guidelines for conduct and form the basis for the atmosphere of mutual trust and respect that characterizes the school. Importantly, the Honor Code was not to be a “single sanction” code, like those found in some colleges, but rather one that would provide students with the chance to learn and grow as members of the school community. Kimberly Bates ’84 was central to the development of the Honor Code. The signing of the Honor Code is a tradition that is carried on to the present day.
In 1981, Head of School Jim Hendrix proposed a program that would combine “mountain culture and outdoor skills.” The Junior Backpacking Trip to Pisgah National Forest was created and quickly became a favorite activity of many faculty and students. Pop Hollandsworth, former head of N.C. Outward Bound and then the Outdoor Education coordinator, assisted Dr. Hendrix in developing routes and oversaw the rock climbing component. This week of experiential learning has become an important part of the Greensboro Day School culture. The class of ’83 was the first class to venture on this trip, doing so as juniors in the spring of 1982.
The school’s first international exchange student was Jonas von Hedenberg from Sweden, who spent the 1980-81 school year on the American Scandinavian Student Exchange Program (ASSE). One of the first GDS students to venture abroad for a summer homestay was Virginia Harris ’83 in Ecuador.
9 Greensboro Day seniors have accepted the Morehead-Cain Scholarship. One of the country’s most prestigious and selective merit scholarships, the award covers all costs to attend UNC-Chapel Hill. Rennie Faulkner was the school’s first in 1981. Greensboro Day School has had three Morehead-Cain Scholars since 2015, including Pearce Landry ’17.
The first senior class to host a Senior Dress-Up Day was the class of 1981. This tradition has carried on to the present day and is one of the seniors’ favorite activities.
The first Alumni Reunion, attended by 115 graduates, was artfully planned by Sally Gorrell ’75 and held at Blandwood in December of 1980.
The strings program, instituted in 1980 by Pat Williams, was the first of its kind in the area. The program grew by size and quality over the years and by 1994, it had 62 students from all divisions participating in various strings groups.