Timeline
October 11, 2021
Our team held our second virtual town hall event in which we continued the conversation regarding the importance of renaming Wheeler High School. We presented an overview of recent updates and future plans before the floor was then opened to questions, where we had a constructive conversation with supporters and skeptics of the issue.
September 23, 2021
Four current Wheeler students (Zoe Shepard, Shweta Krishnan, Sonaj Sanders, and Harini Vijay) spoke at the September board meeting using the public comments to once again, urge the board to provide meaningful feedback and actively address the matter. Zoe Shepard spoke about the impact of symbols throughout Cobb County that display white supremacy and how the board has done everything to disregard these issues. Shweta Krishnan addressed the idea of how the Name Change issue affects more than the student body currently attending the high school. Sonaj Sanders expressed her feelings of frustration about the "lackluster communication" received from the board throughout this entire process. Harini Vijay spoke about the actions the students have taken in the past few months and the responses the initiative has received from the board. Each student has requested for a written response from the Cobb County Board within 30 days that does not simply speak about the committee dissolved in November 2020, which was formed to address the naming policy regarding schools.
June 10, 2021
Three current Wheeler students (Zoe Shepard, Shweta Krishnan, and Ana Valencia) spoke at public comments urging the board to provide meaningful feedback and to actively address the matter. Our group has continued to reach out to the board via email but has yet to receive a response.
April 22, 2021
For the third time, our attempt to give a research presentation during the board meeting as an official agenda item was denied. Our group decided at that point to present during the public comment portion of the board meeting. Thirteen students joined two parents to utilize the entire 30 minutes of public comments to present our research about Joseph Wheeler and the history of Wheeler High School and the Cobb County School District. You can find the full video on our YouTube channel, linked here.
March 18, 2021
Once again, our appeal to give our research presentation during the board meeting as an official agenda item was denied. While we were not able to give our presentation, we did attend the board meeting public comments section alongside several students from South Cobb to voice our concerns and share our stories. You can find the recording on our YouTube channel.
February 23, 2021
Our team held our very first virtual town hall event in which we presented the facts and reasons why we believe a name change is necessary. The floor was then opened to questions, and we had a constructive conversation with supporters and skeptics of the issue. You can find a full recording of the town hall on our YouTube channel.
February 11, 2021
By the recommendation of previous board chairman Brad Wheeler, our team created a research presentation regarding the naming of Joseph Wheeler High School. We would have liked to present it to the board at the board meeting, but board leaders failed to add it to the agenda.
Current Wheeler students Zoe Shepard and Sonaj Sanders encouraged the board to respond to emails and engage with our team during the public comment space. South Cobb student Sydney Testman and Pebblebrook teacher Gregory George also spoke in support of the Wheeler Name Change. You can find the recordings on our YouTube channel.
January 21, 2021
Wheeler alumna & current Georgia Tech student Derin Aladesanmi spoke at the work session public comments and urged the board to outline clear policy measures regarding how to carry out potential name changes.
January 6, 2021
Leroy Tre' Hutchins was sworn in as the new school board member for Post 3. Randy Scamihorn was elected to become the new Board Chair and David Banks was re-elected as Vice-Chair.
December 17, 2020
Four Wheeler alums (Matthew Coffin, Ryan Jackson, Carmen Dyck, and Shannon Redmond) and two Wheeler students (Zoe Shepard and Rachel Toole) made public comments at the 2:00pm and 7:00pm board meetings, reminding the school board members that the Name Change is still at the front of our minds!
December 4, 2020
Jaylen Brown publicly supported our Name Change initiative on media day for the Boston Celtics. He says "I've been working with some kids from my high school that are working on getting the name changed. Wheeler High School is named after a confederate. Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere. I think it's time to move to the future. Hopefully we can get this done."
November 19, 2020
In the 1:00pm work session, Brad Wheeler proposed the dissolvement of the previously approved name evaluation committee, as he wanted elected officials to make these decisions. However, three Board Members would have made up this committee. Even after this correction and obvious support due to our email campaign, the motion unfortunately passed, with only Charisse Davis and Dr. Jaha Howard voting against it.
Three Wheeler students (Caroline Hugh, Nina Kesava, and Sydney Spessard) spoke passionately against this decision during public comments at the 7:00pm in-person Cobb County Board of Education Meeting.
You can watch a video showing the Board Members' statements with our members' responses here.
October 2020
Wendy Parker from the East Cobb Daily News and Ryan Kolakowski from the Marietta Daily Journal interviewed our members as a way to open up a dialogue between our group and the public. If you would like to read these articles, they are linked under the "Press" section.
September 17, 2020
Three Wheeler students (Nina Kesava, Jake McGhee, and Matthew Norman) made public comments at the virtual Cobb County Board of Education meeting. You can watch their statements, where they each detailed different reasons for the Wheeler name change, on the Cobb County Board of Education website.
August 20, 2020
Board Member David Morgan proposed a committee designed to reevaluate the names of schools within the county. The motion passed with Charisse Davis, Dr. Jaha Howard, David Morgan, and Brad Wheeler voting in favor of the committee. Three Board Members would serve along with chosen members from each post.
July 10, 2020
In order to better understand how to act on the petition's goals, our members made a survey to evaluate the ideas and support from current students, faculty, alumni, and community members. A post advertising the survey was widely-shared on Instagram using the Wheeler Student Government's platform. This survey is on the home page. If you haven't already, please complete it!
Mid-June 2020
A change.org petition was started by Wildcats for Change (unaffiliated with our group), pushing for Joseph Wheeler High School to be renamed. The petition sparked public awareness regarding the name's origins.