Question: Are the Champion Fields at Southeast Middle School named after former China Grove Middle School principal Mr. Champion? He was a respected Rowan educator who was a former pro baseball player.

Answer: The fields were named for the parent of a former student at Southeast Middle School. The parent’s name was Alan Champion.

Staff at Southeast Middle School said Alan helped to prepare and manicure the school’s athletic fields when it opened. The school opened in October 2000, making it the newest middle school in Rowan County.  More than 800 students from sixth through eighth grade attend Southeast Middle School.

Salisbury Post article archives state that in the late 1990s Alan was an applications engineer and a member of the product support team for Power Curbers Inc. A Jan 1998 article states Alan graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He was awarded in 1998 with Power Curbers Inc’s Richard D. Messinger Commitment Award. The article states the award recipients were chosen based on commitment to the company.

Martin Champion was named China Grove Middle School Principal in the mid-1970s. He received a a degree in social studies and physical education from Wofford College and a master’s degree from Appalachian State University. He moved to Rowan county from South Carolina.

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