A - G Gets New Principal

BY: Ashley Dews

LITTLEFIELD  —  Just as the wind blows into new seasons, principals as well as other staff members from all over Pitt County are being transferred into new school settings.

On Monday night, June 21, The Pitt County School Board approved five Principal transfers. The Ayden-Grifton and Winterville areas will be getting three new principals. 

William (Bill) Preston Frazier will be leaving E.B. Aycock Middle School and transferring to Ayden-Grifton High School.  Frazier received his Master of Arts in Education from East Carolina University in 1993. Since then he has been the Assistant Principal for J. H. Rose High School and Principal for E.B. Aycock Middle School.  Frazier said he expressed an interest for wanting a high school position to Dr. Michael Priddy, Superintendent of Pitt County Schools and soon his interest became his destiny.  As his final days come to a close his goal is to leave Aycock in good shape.  Frazier says he has had a very supportive staff over the last seven years but he is excited about the change and the new challenges he might face.  His first goal for Ayden-Grifton is to get to know the people in the school and community and develop a relationship with them. His motto is “if every  decision you make is best for the kids you can’t go wrong.  I work for Pitt County Schools [and] I want to help kids.”   Next week Frazier will be in an intensive training program, Advancement Via Independent Determination (AVID) that helps develop children into striving for higher education.

By July 1 he will be reporting to work a little further out of Greenville, at a location a  little different from middle school, but at a school he is excited to see great things from. Bill Frazier has a wife of 25 years along with two children. He enjoys fishing, golf, watching sports, and stain glass.  His family are members at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church. He resides in Greenville.

Another transfer is that of Walter B. Harris who was the Assistant Principal at North Pitt High School and now will be moving to Grifton School.  His first teaching assignment was Conway Elementary in North Hampton County in 1977. Since then he has been a 5th grade teacher at HB Sugg, and the Assistant Principals at Welcome, Chicod Elementary, D.H. Conley and North Pitt. North Pitt is almost like home considering he was also a graduate of North Pitt. Harris says, “I look forward to it [Grifton]. I heard it’s a good school.” In 1984 Harris received his Masters in Education from ECU. He says he has worked with a very supportive staff at North Pitt and is ready to start learning more about his new school. Last year he applied and was accepted into a Leadership Academy. He is now ready to work with other staff members at Grifton and says, “I want to make it better wherever I can.”  Walter Harris has two twin boys. He likes cars, reading, and writing children’s books.  He lives in Greenville.

John R. Coleman has been the Principal at South Greenville for the last six years but this fall he will be the new face around A.G. Cox Middle School’s campus. Principal Coleman has been around in lots of different states and schools before finally deciding that the Pitt County area was right for him. He taught 7th/8th grade Science at Franklin Middle School in Metuschen, New Jersey and the also taught 5th/6th grade Science at Gulliver Academy in Coral Gables, Florida. In 1985 he became a Physical Science/Biology Teacher at E.B. Aycock before deciding to attend East Carolina University for his Master of Arts in Education Administration in 1989. Since then Coleman has been Assistant Principal of E.B. Aycock and C.M. Eppes before becoming Principal of Grifton and then South Greenville Elementary in 1998. Considering most of his career was middle school he is ready to get back home to the comfortable middle school environment that he knows so well. Coleman thinks that A.G. Cox is doing very well and even though he says “change is inevitable” he does not see any major changes that need to be made at A.G. Cox. For him the size from South Greenville to A.G. Cox is going to be the biggest change but as a Principal he says “you wear a lot of different hats.” Principal Coleman thinks that A.G. Cox is going to be a great opportunity. He has four kids and resides in Greenville.

Other changes that can be seen this year in the Pitt County area are as follows:

-Charlie Langley (A.G. Cox) will become the new Principal at C.M. Eppes.

-Delilah Jackson (Grifton) will be joining E.B. Aycock as their new Principal. 

-Wanda Kendrick will assist John Coleman as the Assistant Principal of A.G. Cox.

-Jeff Theus will join South Central as an Assistant Principal. 

-Tiffany Benfield will take John Coleman’s place as Principal of South Greenville. 

-Ferdonia Brown will be the new Assistant Principal at Ayden Middle.

-Jennifer Koepnick Poplin will be the new Assistant Principal at Ayden Elementary. 

Big changes seem to be occurring around the Pitt County School System, not only in the administrative positions but with new teachers assuming positions as well.

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