South Lenoir High School

Infobox Secondary school
name = South Lenoir High School

motto =
established =
type = Public
principal = Jay P. Thomas
city = Deep Run
state = North Carolina flagicon|North Carolina
country = United States flagicon|United States 28525
enrollment =
grades = 9–12
address = 3355 Old Highway 11
faculty =
district = Lenoir County Public Schools
campus =
colors = Sky Blue & White
athletics = NCHSAA 2A
mascot = Blue Devil
yearbook = Brimstone
newspaper =
website = [http://www.lenoir.k12.nc.us/slhs/ South Lenoir High School's Website]

South Lenoir is located in Deep Run, NC. It is part of the Lenoir County Public School system. Its current principal is Jay Thomas.

History

In 1926 the Deep Run School was built for grades 1-12. The spirit colors were red and white. The mascot was the state bird the cardinal. [http://www.lenoir.k12.nc.us/slhs/_borders/Oldslhs.gif] The school was later renamed the "Rebels" before changing their nickname to the "Blue Devils" after the integration of white and black students.

Jay Thomas is only the fourth principal in the 80 plus years of the school. A.R. Munn served from 1926 until the 1976. He was followed by Thomas Salter who was the schools principal until 1999. From 1999 until 2005 Emmitt R. "Bobby" Davis was the principal. Starting with the 2005-2006 school year Thomas became the first man not from the "local community" to serve as South Lenoir's principal.

Athletics

South Lenoir has been nicknamed the Blue Devils since integration in 1967. With a population of 874 students South Lenoir is a part of the 2A classification of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association. [http://www.nchsaa.org/pdf/5465B.pdf] Additionally, they are a member of the East Central 2A conference.

Natural rivalries have been fueled between South Lenoir and North Lenoir, cross-town rivals. Recently, Kinston High School and South Lenoir have begun athletic competition after several decades of hiatus. South Lenoir also shares a natural rivalry with East Duplin High School. Located in Beaulaville, the two schools common boundaries in Pink Hill often cause discrepancies amongst the citizens on which schools to send their children to.

South Lenoir has never won a state championship in any sport. The school traditionally fields a competitive cross country and baseball team. The Blue Devils have also found success in women's sports although never winning a state championship. The Lady Devils Softball team has improved. Since 2004 Jimmy Smith (athletic director of South Lenoir) has led the basketball team to the post season. In the fourth round of the 2004 NCHSAA playoffs they were forced to overtime against North Lenoir, but failed to win. Also, the football team has shown promise in the past two seasons, making the playoffs twice. The Blue Devils had only made the state playoffs once before 2005, in 1985.

The student basketball fans are named the Munn Maniacs. They received the name after the school's first principal, and namesake of the gymnasium, A.R. Munn. The Golf team has made it to the regional match for three years in a row.

Yearbook

South Lenoir's Yearbook is known as the Brimstone. It is made by the students of the school's yearlong Yearbook course.

Clubs and Extracurricular Activities

South Lenoir has several extracurricular activities that students are urged to participate in, these include the following:

* Drama Club which has recently joined the International Thespian society,
* Spanish Club
* Quizbowl/Academic Bowl: Academic club involving the learning of trivia concerning many subjects, including: literature, fine art, history, and science among other things. Recently placed second in the Neuse Regional Public Library Quiz Bowl XXX, being beaten only by Arendell Parrott Academy. [ [http://www.kinston.com/news/quiz_44163___article.html/questions_bowl.html Quiz Bowl XXX] ]
* Model United Nations
* The GREEN: An environmental club devoted to making the school beautiful and creating an environmental awareness. Club activities include the REDucated (AIDS awareness) t-shirt event, landscaping around school, adopting a highway, and instituting a recycling center within the school. [ [http://www.kinston.com/news/club_43776___article.html/school_world.html Environmental club starts at South Lenoir High School] ]
* Student Council Association(SCA)
* Future Farmers of America(FFA)
* Chorus Club which has grown tremendously over the years

References