William Amos Hough, Jr., in 1966, during his tenure as principal of North Mecklenburg High School.

Vote honors the longtime principal who led integration efforts and was known as ‘Mr. North Meck’

By LAURIE DENNIS
DavidsonNews.net

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education voted Tuesday night to name the new high school on Bailey Road in Cornelius after a well-known principal from years past, W.A. Hough Jr.

For those who knew Mr. Hough, principal of North Mecklenburg High School in Huntersville from 1955 to 1974, the vote has deep and emotional significance. Mr. Hough, who died in 1998, is remembered as “Mr. North Meck,” a man devoted to his students and known for his fairness. He also shepherded an anxious and fearful student body through racial integration during the contentious 1960s, meeting behind the scenes with parents, pastors, politicians and whoever else it took to keep the school running smoothly.

“The name is pretty much a history lesson in itself as relates to race relations in this area,” said Garfield Carr, a former Davidson Town Commissioner who served on the committee that recommended the Hough name.

Davidson Mayor John Woods, a 1967 North Meck graduate, said: “This is a decision that honors the history of our community and honors a man who had a tremendous impact on generations of students.” Mayor Woods spent much of the past year lobbying to get the new high school named after Mr. Hough.
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Rhonda Lennon, speaking at a candidate forum in Davidson.

Updated Wednesday, 12:30 p.m.

Rhonda Lennon of Huntersville is the new District 1 representative on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board.

“I’m so excited,” she told DavidsonNews.net Wednesday morning, after staying up until 2 a.m. to follow election results and then getting back up at 6 a.m. to pack her kids off to school.

Lennon gathered just under half the votes in the three-way race to represent northern Mecklenburg County on the school board.  She called her 49.81 percent win “close enough” to her goal of 50 percent.  She defeated Robin Bradford, who came in second with 30.7 percent of the vote, and Gail Summerskill, who was a distant third, for the seat held by Larry Gauvreau, who did not seek re-election.  Ms. Lennon won 19 of the 29 precincts in District 1, including both in Davidson.

Ms. Lennon said she received a congratulatory call from Davidson Mayor John Woods, and also had a post-election phone conversation with Ms. Bradford, who was the top vote-getter in 10 precincts, all at the edges of the city of Charlotte.  Read the full story

Board vote expected in November on a name for the new school

Terri Cockerham stands in front of the architectural drawings of the new high school under construction on Bailey Road. Dr. Cockerham is the school's principal

Terri Cockerham works in an office surrounded by architectural drawings, photos and work folders devoted to the new public high school under construction on Bailey Road.  She makes weekly trips by the construction site.  She meets with all sorts of people who are involved with the project. But she has no students around her.

“There are no kids in the halls,” she noted with dismay about her temporary office space at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) North Area Learning Community building in Huntersville.  “There is no night stuff to attend – no athletic events, no plays.  That’s an unusual experience for me.”

Dr. Cockerham is principal for the new Bailey Road high school, which is scheduled to open for the 2010-11 school year. She’ll be at Davidson Town Hall Monday for a meet-and-greet with the community. Read the full story

Terri Cockerham

Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools has named a veteran leader as principal of the new Bailey Road High School in Cornelius. Dr. Terri Cockerham starts her job on July 1. The new school is under construction and will open for the 2010-11 school year, serving students from Davidson and elsewhere in north Mecklenburg, most of whom previously were in the North Mecklenburg and Hopewell High zones.

Dr. Cockerham has been principal at Providence High School in Charlotte since 2005 and has worked for CMS since 1983.

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