About TW

Principal:  Landon Smith                                                              Vice Principals:  Tina Dean                 Athletic Director:  Kristen Parker

Address:  126 Blue Gray Road, Ewing, VA 24248                                Phone: (276) 445-4111                            Fax:  (276) 445-5584

School Quality Profile                                                                    Mascot:  Pioneer                                                                Colors:  Blue and Gray     

Conference:  Cumberland Region: 1D                                         

School Motto:  Ever Forward- Conquer and Prevail

Thomas Walker High School Mission Statement:

It is the goal of Thomas Walker High School to prepare our students to be productive and responsible citizens.  We believe that all students should be encouraged to seek a commitment to excellence through academic, emotional, physical, and aesthetic experiences.  Achieving esteem in these areas will contribute to their success as we move into a more global and technological society. 

Thomas Walker History:

Thomas Walker High School was built in 1940.  It was built to combine Rose Hill High School and Ewing High School.  The high school was remodeled and enlarged in 1959.  The last addition was added to Thomas Walker High School in 1971.  Thomas Walker High School currently serves students in grades eight through twelve.

Dr. Thomas Walker 

Explorer, Statesman, Surveyor & Physician It was Dr. Thomas Walker who, in 1750, first recorded the existence of the Cumberland Gap.  Dr. Walker was born on January 25, 1715 in King and Queen County, Virginia, to Thomas and Susan Preachy Walker.  Walker's ancestors came to America in 1650 and settled in Tidewater, Virginia, where the family prospered as respectable plantation owners.  Thomas was educated at the College of William and Mary and then studied medicine, in 1741, he married Mildred Thorton Meriwether, widow of Nicholas Meriwether.  The couple had 12 children.

Walker was a physician to Thomas Jefferson's father, Peter.  After Peter's death, Walker became Thomas Jefferson's guardian.  Walker developed great skill and reputation as an explorer and surveyor and in 1743 led an expedition as far west as present day Kingsport, Tennessee.  In March 1750, he led another expedition through present day Kentucky that lasted four months.  It was during this expedition that Walker discovered the Cumberland Gap and recorded its existence in his April 13th diary entry.  

Throughout his life, Walker continued to act as a surveyor and land agent and was active in civil affairs as a treaty commissioner, member of the House of Burgesses and General Assembly, delegate to the Revolutionary Convention, and a member of the Committee of Public Safety. 

In 1791, Walker's son Francis wrote a letter to a friend describing his father's attributes: "(He) possesses all that life and good humor which we were all kept alive by in the woods." "Life and good humor" and "fire and spirit" were Walker's mottos throughout his life.  He died at his home in November, 1794. 

Source:  NPS