North Forsyth High School is located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Winston-Salem is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, with a 2010 population of 229,617. Winston-Salem is the county seat and largest city of Forsyth County and the fourth-largest city in the state. Winston-Salem is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and is home to...

, US. There are about 1,300 students http://web2k.wsfcs.k12.nc.us/nforsyth in grades 9 through 12. The motto of the school is "learning together, now and forever". The mascot is a Viking

Viking

The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...

. The school colors are Crimson, White, & Columbia Blue.

Academics

North Forsyth prides itself on academics and extracurricular successes. North Forsyth offers a wide range of courses, taught by top notch faculty. North Forsyth offers Honors, Seminar, and Advanced Placement courses. In April 2007, North Forsyth went through an extensive re-accredation process and was re-accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). North Forsyth was also one of the four high schools in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School system to meet, at a rate of 100%, the yearly AYP (Average Yearly Progress) for the 2006-2007 school year. Former principal Ron Jessup, announced his retirement in March 2009. Jessup took over as principal in November 1996. His last day as principal was June 30, 2009. The new principal, David C. Burleson, will serve as only the fifth in the history of the school. Mr. Burleson, close to completing a doctorate in education, is the former superintendent of Burke County Schools. He acquired the position of principal after his superintendent's contract was terminated by a Burke County Board of Education, chaired by Tracy Norman (a highly controversial move - See "The Burleson Story"). In early June 2010, David Burleson was elevated to Assistant Superintendent for High Schools in WSFCS. Rodney Bass, former social studies teacher and assistant coach was then named North Forsyth's 6th principal. Bass has served as assistant principal at Parkland High School, East Forsyth High School and most recently, Atkins High School. Prior to serving at Atkins, Bass was the principal at North Rowan High School in Spencer, N.C. for six years.

Athletics/extracurricular activities

North Forsyth offers its students many opportunities to succeed extracurricularly. North has many Clubs ranging from the Drama Club to the Outdoors Club. North Forsyth boasts a successful visual and performing arts program, concert band, jazz program and marching band, concert choirs, and is home to a branch of the Air Force JROTC.
The Vikings also have a strong, successful record in the athletic arena. North Forsyth competed for nearly 20 years in the Metro 4A Conference. (Football, Volleyball, Cross Country, Tennis, Golf, Soccer, Indoor Track & Field, Swimming, Wrestling, Outdoor Track & Field, Baseball, Softball, Cheerleading, and the Valkyrie Dance Team). The Vikings 29 sports teams began competition in the Central Piedmont 4A Athletic Conference at the beginning of the 2007-2008 academic year. North Forsyth began competing as a member of the Mid-Piedmont 3A conference at the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year. Since joining the Mid Piedmont 3A conference, North Forsyth has won two titles in boys basketball, two in boys swimming and one in girls swimming.

North Forsyth has won four state championships in team sports.

Football (1971)

Girl's Indoor Track & Field (1994)

Girl's Outdoor Track & Field (1994)

Girl's Indoor Track & Field (1995)

North Forsyth has also won two N.C. Regional Championships
Girl's Soccer (1991)

Girl's Basketball (1997)

North Forsyth's All-Americans

Brian Howard

Brian Howard

Brian Christian de Claiborne Howard was an English poet, whose work belied a spectacularly precocious start in life; in the end he became more of a journalist, writing for the New Statesman....

, Basketball, 1985

Bobby Mack, Cross Country (9th), 2003

Jeremy Helsabeck, Bobby Mack, Eric Mack, Clay Ragan, 4x800, mile (5th), 2002

D.J. Mitchell, Baseball, 2003

Dustin Ackley

Dustin Ackley

Dustin Michael Ackley is an American professional baseball second baseman with the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball. Ackley was drafted and selected second overall by the Mariners in the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft. He is a natural outfielder, though he played first base his junior...

, Baseball, 2005

Wes Hobson, Baseball, 2005

Addison Johnson, Baseball, 2005

North Forsyth's Individual State Champions

Greg Burke, Track & Field, Shot Put, 1969 & 1970

Teretha Coe, Track & Field, Triple Jump, 1980

John Evans, Track & Field, 800 Meters

Adam Johnson, Swimming, 200m Individual Medley, 1997

Vida Jones, Track & Field, 60 Yard Dash, 1991

Charles Mack, Track & Field, High Jump, 1981

Jerry Mason, Wrestling, 112 lbs., 1970 & 1971

Danny Spence, Wrestling, 126 lbs., 1971

Marcus Sutton, Track & Field, Triple Jump, 1988

Lee Tuttle, Cross Country, Individual Medalist, 1986

Bobby Mack, Indoor and Outdoor Track, 2001, 2002

Eric Mack, Indoor Track, 1,000 meters (2:34), 2004

North Forsyth Athletic Hall of Fame Members

Walt Baxley, Basketball

Scott Brent, Head Cross Country/Track & Field Coach

Gray Cartwright, Head Boy's Basketball Coach, Athletic Director

Marcia Christensen, Girl's Soccer

Germane Crowell

Germane Crowell

Germane L. Crowell is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League. He played five seasons for the Detroit Lions from 1998-2002. He is the older brother of Buffalo Bills linebacker Angelo Crowell....

, Football

Jeff Denny, Basketball

Mike Drum, Basketball

Jeremy Edwards, Wrestling

Julian Gibson, Principal

Jimmy Guill, Basketball

Tina Heafner, Head Girl's Cross Country/Track & Field Coach

Brian Howard

Brian Howard

Brian Christian de Claiborne Howard was an English poet, whose work belied a spectacularly precocious start in life; in the end he became more of a journalist, writing for the New Statesman....

, Basketball

Tobe Jackson, Basketball

Adam Johnson, Swimming

Denny Key, Basketball

Rob Kapprodt, Boy's Soccer

Ron King, Basketball

Joe Mickle, Wrestling

Darrell Nicholson, Football

Colon Nifong, Head Football Coach/Athletic Director

Molly Page, Girl's Soccer & Cheerleading

Ken Parks, Football

Olon Shuler, Head Boy's Basketball Coach

Davina Simmons, Girl's Basketball

Claude Smalls, Football

Bernard Williams, Football

1971 NCHSAA State 4A Championship Football Team

North Forsyth has an impressive record in many sports, especially baseball and basketball. North Forsyth won 6 consecutive Metro 4A Conference Regular Season Baseball Championships from 2000-2005. The 2005 team was ranked in the top 15 teams in the United States and was ranked number 1 in the state of North Carolina during the regular season for much of the year, finishing the regular season undefeated. In basketball, North Forsyth has produced many Conference and Tournament Championships. North Forsyth has won the most Frank Spencer National Holiday Classic Tournament Championships (6). The Tournament is the County-wide event that occurs every winter.

In February 2008, North Forsyth was awarded the right to host the 2008 Western Regional Men's Basketball Tournaments by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA). The tournament drew nearly 10,000 visitors to the North Forsyth campus on Mar. 4-8, 2008.

On June 17, 2011, North Forsyth Alumnus Dustin Ackley made his Major League Baseball debut with the Seattle Mariners. In his first major league at-bat, Ackley lined a single up the middle.

Principals

North Forsyth has been under the direction of only six principals since the school opened in 1963. Julian Gibson was the founding principal. Upon Gibson's retirement in the mid 1980s, Ben Warren served as principal. Kaye Shutt then acted as principal until the fall of 1996. Ron Jessup served as principal from Nov. 1996 until June 30, 2009. David C. Burleson was approved by the WS/FCS Board of Education on July 9, 2009 to be the fifth principal in the long history of the school. Burleson served as principal for one year before being promoted to Assistant Superintendent for High Schools. Rodney Bass, a former social studies teacher and coach, was named North Forsyth's sixth principal in early June 2010.

Rivals

North Forsyth enjoys fierce rivalries with several schools. Nearby Mt. Tabor High School as served as the chief rivalry for a majority of the past 25 years. The Vikings also carry a spirited rivalry with Carver High School. The rivalry with R.J. Reynolds is the longest-running rivalry in Forsyth County. Many graduates from both schools in the 1960s and 1970s still have animosity towards the opposing schools. With the opening of Reagan High School in 2005, North Forsyth has gained another rivalry that has divided the community, and in some cases, neighborhoods. The newly formed rivalry between North Forsyth and Reagan has developed into one of the highly anticipated in the county.

Rivalry Games

The Battle for the Page Cup

In 2005, North Forsyth and Mt. Tabor started battling for the Page Cup. The nearly 4 feet (1.2 m) trophy was donated by North Forsyth alumnus Bill Page, former owner of Page's Gifts & Awards in Winston-Salem. The trophy features base plates with the year and victor's name. The trophy goes to the yearly winner of the Vikings vs. Spartans football matchup. Mt. Tabor won the inaugural "Cup Game".


Sept. 2, 2005 at Mt. Tabor- Mt. Tabor def. North Forsyth, 47-12

Sept. 1, 2006 at North Forsyth- North Forsyth def. Mt. Tabor, 29-7

Oct. 19, 2007 at North Forsyth- Mt. Tabor def. North Forsyth, 28-24

Oct. 24, 2008 at Mt. Tabor- Mt. Tabor def. North Forsyth, 46-16

Sept. 18, 2009 at North Forsyth- Mt. Tabor def. North Forsyth, 34-7

Sept. 17, 2010 at Mt. Tabor- Mt. Tabor def. North Forsyth, 28-10

Sept. 23, 2011 at Mt. Tabor- Mt. Tabor def. North Forsyth, 43-12


The Hammer Bowl

Beginning in 2010, Reagan and North Forsyth began play for "The Hammer". The second travelling trophy in which North Forsyth competes is a standard 10 lb. sledge hammer. The hammer goes to the annual winner of the North Forsyth-Reagan football game, which has been renamed "The Hammer Bowl". Each team's colors and logo's are on opposite sides of the hammer. Reagan's side features their gothic R logo painted in black on a silver background, outlined in teal. North Forsyth's side features the Georgian block NF logo painted in Columbia blue and outlined in white. The logo is painted on a Crimson background.


The winner of the game gets to paint the year of the win on their side of the handle. The winning school will also display the hammer until the two teams meet in football again, including any potential playoff games.


Hammer Bowl 1- at Reagan- Reagan def. North Forsyth, 49-21

Hammer Bowl 2- at North Forsyth- North Forsyth def. Reagan, 29-13

Social media

North Forsyth publicizes it's events using Facebook

Facebook

Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...

 and Twitter

Twitter

Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...

, while its Sports & Entertainment Marketing classes manage a YouTube

YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

channel for the school and its athletic program.

External links

• Website