The first Green & Gold Day was held on May 5, 1972! The celebration, put on by the Parents’ Council, became an annual tradition and has been held every year since, now called the Fall Festival.
Category: Firsts
Bob Satterfield, Jo Ellen Stewart, Nancy Teague, Susan Aldridge, Ava Brewer, Beth Garriss, Joyce Lawrence, John Bingaman, Brian Jeffreys Jr., Judy Geiger, and Jane Brabham were the school’s first teachers joining Ted Welles (Head of School).
In the Fall of 1971, it is believed that David Howard ’76 was the first Bengal to get on the scoreboard, recording a goal against Forsyth Country Day School.
Coach Lenwood Edwards joined the faculty midway through the first year and was the school’s first athletic director and coach of most sports. Edwards was also the first president of the Piedmont Athletic Conference of Independent Schools (PACIS) and was instrumental in allying Forsyth Country Day School, Durham Academy, Carlisle School, Kernersville Wesleyan, Westchester Academy and North State Academy of Hickory (since closed), in athletic competition.
The October 8 edition of the Bengal Lancer described the process by which the mascot was chosen. A committee that included John Jester, Coach Edwards, Headmaster Welles and students, had decided on an animal (although some favored Blue Devils and one parent was reported to have suggested the Lafayette Escadrilles). Welles had hoped to use an animal native to North Carolina, but Billy Cone’s suggestion of the Tiger led the committee to choose the Bengal, for whom we cheer today!
Our school seal has evolved over the years since we first adopted it in 1970, but the “flame” element has remained constant. The torch embodies the intentional way in which our students are prepared at Greensboro Day School. The seal was designed by Ann Clark ’76 and Ann Dortch ’76.
January 4, 1971: The first building constructed opened and welcomed students to the official campus of Greensboro Day School. This building is still in use and is now the Kirby Administrative Building.
On December 8, 1970, the Parents’ Council was formed. The first President of the Parents’ Council was Emma Poindexter. The objects of the Parents’ Council shall be to cooperate with the Head of School, the faculty, and the Board of Trustees of Greensboro Day School by assisting in the promotion of excellence of facilities and atmosphere for education, by providing aid and service to the school’s activities, by promoting an esprit de corps among parents of students and by communicating the aims, services and needs of the school to the citizens of Greensboro. (As written in the By-Laws of the Parents’ Council, dated 1971.)
The first student newspaper was titled Green & Gold Gazette. Its first publication was released on December 4, 1970. In 1973, the publication’s name changed to The Spectator, and its first edition released on November 29, 1973. At some point, it was also known as the Bengal Lancer.
September 14, 1970: 95 students were present on the opening day of school, which took place at Temple Emanuel.