Edwin C. Jones return
to Kinston, North Carolina to serve as Principal at Rochelle Middle
School. Jones considers this as an opportunity for him to share his
experiences with the parents, students, staff and community that
deserve the best opportunities available for the students Rochelle
was the school that Edwin never had the opportunity to attend because
the building was being completed the year he graduated from high
school. He is very excited about working with an enthusiastic,
committed staff that has the interest of the students as the first
priority of “Improving the Delivery of Instruction.”
Jones is a 1963
graduate from Adkin High School in Kinston, North Carolina. In high
school, Jones was named to Coach Bill Grice’s “All Time Great”
Football Team. Edwin was also the recipient of the Danforth, I Dare
You Award.
He chose to follow
his mother, brother and cousin to North Carolina Central University
where he majored in Physical Education and minored in Biology. Edwin
graduated from North Carolina College (NCCU) May 28, 1967, with a
Bachelor of Science. During Jones’ freshman year North Carolina
College won the CIAA Championship. As a result, he was a member of
the 1963 CIAA Football Championship Team that was inducted into the
NCCU Athletic Hall of Fame on October 221, 2005. After winning the CJ
Ingram Award for the senior football player with the highest academic
average and being named first team All CIAA as an offensive guard in
1966, Jones chose to become a member of the workforce in the
Washington, DC Public Schools. His initial goal was to stay in
Washington, DC one year and return to North Carolina to pursue an
advanced degree.
The opportunities
were very plentiful in the DC Public Schools and Edwin remained there
for 36 years, where he received his Master of Arts from University of
Maryland, College Park, Maryland. While in the DC Public Schools he
coached an elementary school track team to the city championship, an
elementary football team to the runner-up football championship, as
well as assisted with the Anacostia High School football teams to a
Division I playoff game and won Division I championship.
After 7 years in
Elementary Physical Education, Jones moved to Eastern Senior High
School as a Physical Education teacher, where he was assistant
football coach, swimming team coach, tennis coach and strength and
conditioning coach. During his tenure at Eastern, his football teams
won two back to back city championships in 1977 and 1978. As offensive
coordinator and line coach, his athletes soared to become productive
citizens in the community. Two athletes from those winning teams led
by Head Coach Willie Stewart became professional football players.
They played with the Los Angeles Rams (Michael Wilcher) and the
Cincinnati Bengals (Michael Martin).
From early in Jones’
career he had always had an interest in strength and conditioning. He
reflects back to his best high school and college years of athletics
were when he was actively involved in a structured strength and
conditioning program. He started the strength and conditioning
program at Anacostia High School under the leadership of Head Coach
Wyman Colona and at Eastern High School under the direction of Head
Coaches Earnest Johnson and Willie Stewart. All programs led to high
athletic productivity of the athletes. He also developed and
implemented strength and conditioning programs at Roosevelt High
School and Federal City College (University of District of Columbia).
After spending four
years in Elementary Physical Education from 1981 – 1985, Jones had the
opportunity to return to Eastern Senior High School under the school
leadership of Principal Ralph H. Neal. There he developed a summer
fitness program “Total Fitness Enrichment,” that provided
reinforcement for academics, athletic fitness and dropout prevention.
This program was also the seed that founded the Z-1000 Substance Abuse
Program that expanded the “Total Fitness Program,” to include the
Super Leaders concept under the tutelage of Executive Director of
Super Leaders Brig Owens, former Washington Redskins and NFL Great.
Edwin joined the
National Strength and Conditioning Association in 1984, became the
first state director for the District of Columbia and became very
instrumental of the expansion of strength and conditioning within DC
Public Schools. In 1988, Edwin received the Morris and Gwendolyn
Cafrtiz Foundation Award that allowed him to study “The Science of
Strength and Conditioning in Bulgaria and the USSR.” As a part of a
24 member delegation, Jones and the other members of the delegation
became very instrumental in strength and conditioning in their parts
of the country.
Upon returning to the
United States from the study tour, Edwin received the opportunity to
become assistant principal at Eastern Senior High School. There he
was able to impact the lives of more students with his Z-1000 program,
Super Leaders program and Comprehensive DC Public Schools Wellness
Program. His programs and other programs in the school gained
national recognition in 1994 when Eastern was recognized for National
Drug Free School, based on its programs in the school. An award was
presented to the school with Edwin Jones and a student the recipient
from Secretary of Education, Richard Riley.
Prior to Jones
becoming the principal at Rochelle Middle School in Kinston, he served
as a Principal at Woodson Senior High School in Washington DC and at
Charleston County Discipline School in Charleston, SC.
He is married to the
former Paulette Hammonds and they have one daughter, Erika Christina
Jones.
