West Craven High School is a secondary school located in

Vanceboro, North Carolina Vanceboro is a town in Craven County, North Carolina, United States. Its population was 1,005 at the 2010 Census. Originally called Swift Creek, residents renamed the town for Zebulon B. Vance after he visited there during his 1876 campaign for go ...

. Established in 1971, the school serves approximately 1100 students in grades 9–12.

History

The school was opened in 1971, with the first graduating class graduating in the spring of 1976. The school was built in the exact same style as inter county rival Havelock High School as Havelock was to have been originally named East Craven High School.

Extracurricular activities

West Craven's athletic teams, known as the Eagles, compete in the

North Carolina High School Athletic Association The North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) is the governing organization of high school athletics in North Carolina, United States. The association maintains the official rule books and governs the officiating standards across ...

(NCHSAA) 2A classification, and in the Coastal Conference. Teams are fielded in baseball, basketball, cheerleading, cross country, football, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, volleyball, and wrestling. The Eagles have developed a longtime rivalry with

New Bern High School New Bern High School is a high school in New Bern, North Carolina, USA, whose students come from the New Bern, Trent Woods, Brices Creek and James City area. It is located in Craven County. The student population is approximately 1,700, and there ...

, a 4-A high school located just 12 miles away from WCHS. The Eagles biggest rival, however, would be conference and cross county foe,

Havelock High School Havelock High School is a public high school located in Havelock, North Carolina, founded in 1956. Havelock is one of three high schools operated by the Craven County School District. The original campus is now the site of Havelock Middle School ...

. The Eagles play their home football games in the on-campus stadium named for longtime head coach Clay Jordan. Clay Jordan Stadium was named so in 2008, Jordan's final season with the Eagles. The basketball court was also named after an important coach of the Eagles basketball team. In 2010, the gymnasium's court was named Lorenzo Jones Court, after the winningest men's basketball coach in WCHS history. The Baseball field is also named for an influential figure in WCHS sports, Don Hughes. Don Hughes played football at East Carolina University and returned to West Craven to teach physical education while helping coach football and baseball. His most influential work for the Eagles, however, came as principal of the school.

Notable alumni

* Shawn Armstrong, former

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher * Jesse Campbell, former NFL safety *

Justin Hardy Justin Hardy (born December 18, 1991) is a gridiron football wide receiver for the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL Draft. He played college footba ...

, former NFL wide receiver *

Roland Hooks Roland L. Hooks (born January 2, 1953 in Brooklyn, New York) is a former American football running back in the NFL who played for the Buffalo Bills. He played college football at North Carolina State University. Early years Hooks attended Fa ...

, former NFL running back *

George Koonce George Koonce (born October 15, 1968) is an American athlete and athletic director. A former linebacker in the National Football League (NFL), he served as the athletic director at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee between 2009 and 2010. Pl ...

, former NFL linebacker, Super Bowl XXXI with the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

Beth Wood Beth A. Wood (born April 22, 1954) is an American politician and accountant serving as the Auditor of North Carolina since 2009. A Democrat, she is the first woman to hold the office. Born in New Bern, she initially worked as a dental hygienist b ...

, 17th

Auditor of North Carolina The State Auditor of North Carolina is a statewide elected office in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The state auditor is a constitutional officer responsible for overseeing and reviewing the financial accounts of all state government agencie ...

, first female state auditor * Anthony Wright, former NFL quarterback

References

External links

West Craven Athletics

West Craven Band
Educational institutions established in 1971 Public high schools in North Carolina Schools in Craven County, North Carolina {{NorthCarolina-school-stub