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Troup High School held its second annual Hall of Pride Induction Ceremony on Wednesday morning, canonizing four new inductees. Ellis Cadenhead, Zsa Zsa Heard, Vicki Leigh Thrailkill and Michael Stiggers Jr. were added to the hall.

ELLIS CADENHEAD

Ellis Cadendead graduated from Troup High in 1961. Cadenhead, a former Troup County Commissioner, is retired from Newnan Utilities and the Coweta Water Authority. He is a founding member of the Troup High School Alumni Association, which gives out a Citizenship Award Scholarship in his honor.

Cadenhead organized the Rosemont community Fire and Rescue Squad and still volunteers with the Troup County Fire Department nearly 60 years later. Cadenhead served as Troup County Commissioner for District 2 for eight years, and has served as a board member of Pleasant Grove Community Church, where he still attends with his wife Carol.

“I am so proud of this honor. It is the most honorable thing I’ve ever had done. We spent a lot of time here at Troup High School back in the early days. Thank goodness I had the people behind me, the teachers that recognized me as the Citizen of 1961,” Cadenhead said.

Cadenhead brought one of his former Troup High instructors with him to the ceremony, Coach Phil Williamson.

“Not very many of our teachers are left, and I am so proud that he was able to be here today. Students, you’ve got a long way in front of you. You’ve got a long life to live, but please remember Troup High School and what the teachers are instilling in you today. You do not realize how it will affect you in later years, but I can assure you it will stick with you,” Cadenhead said.

ZSA ZSA HEARD

Zsa Zsa Heard, Zsa Zsa Hart, was born and raised in Troup County and is a graduate of Troup County Comprehensive High School Class of 1988. 

After graduating from Troup High, Heard obtained a bachelor’s degree in Social Work from the Tuskegee University, a Master’s in Counseling and Psychology from Troy State University and graduated from the John F. Kennedy Executive Education program from Harvard University and the Rutgers State University Executive Directors education program, ultimately earning a PhD at Capella University.

Heard is a licensed professional counselor who has practiced for over 15 years and taught Psychology at West Georgia Technical College while serving the program as the Program Chair of the Psychology department and serving as an adjunct professor at Columbus State University.

Currently, Heard serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the City of LaGrange Housing Authority and West Georgia Star. Since 2014, during her leadership, she has changed public housing into affordable housing by creating a new housing platform by purchasing and developing housing infrastructure. 

Heard helped rebrand the Housing Authority with the name The Phoenix, a symbol that regenerates itself or a rebirth. All Housing Authority properties bear the word Phoenix, including the homes formerly known as Benjamin Harvey Hill Apartments, named after a slave owner.

Heard is a member of the Troup County Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated. She and her husband, Titus, have two children, Wanda and Alexis.

 “This is one of the greatest honors of anything that I’ve done, to come back to a place that I love and that’s Troup High School,” Heard said.

“I think I was at the best high school in the county. So people tell me we don’t have a ring. We don’t need a ring because we’ve got good people. That is what we do. We do good things at Troup High School. I love this place. It’s been an honor,” Heard said.

“I’m one proud person this morning to do this, and the accolades are great, but it’s even greater if these students come along and they do better than I’ve ever done to show how great we can make our community,” she said.

VICKI LEIGH THRAILKILL

Dr. Vicki Thrailkill Pheil was born and raised in southern Troup County. After graduating from Troup High School, Vicki completed her BA degree in Middle Grades Education at LaGrange College and was awarded the Shackleford Award for Excellence, the Education Department’s highest honor. She earned her Master of Education degree and National Board Certification while teaching sixth-grade language arts and science at Callaway Middle School. 

Dr. Pheil joined the LaGrange College Education Department in 2007, having received several national scholarships. She earned her Doctor of Education Degree in Curriculum and Leadership, Teaching and Learning from Columbus State University.  At LaGrange College, Dr. Pheil teaches in both undergraduate and graduate programs and has served on numerous committees. Professionally, she is an active member of and holds leadership positions in several state and national organizations, and continues to present her research in multiple venues at the state and national levels. She has edited several texts and serves as the editor of the statewide research journal, Gateways to Teacher Education.

Over the past 28 years, Pheil’s community service in Troup County includes various roles through the LaGrange Junior Woman’s Club, Success by Six, and her church, Clearview Chapel, where she serves on the Board of Trustees. She and her husband, Mike, have constructed three little free libraries within LaGrange.

Having spent her career in education, Pheil reminded everyone of the importance of good teachers.

“Teachers matter. My kindergarten teacher, Miss Brown, was the first person not related to me to make me believe that I was smart. My second-grade teacher, Miss Mary Von Lee, called me her assistant. I could pick out library books for my classmates, and I got to sit next to her on the piano bench while she played music for us. My fourth-grade teacher, Miss Cora Stinson, taught me a rhythm and pattern to learn the 44 most commonly used prepositions in Standard American English. Not only do I still know that rhythm and pattern and those 44 prepositions, I taught that same rhythm and pattern to my sixth graders at Callaway Middle School for almost 10 years,” Pheil said.

Pheil said in a recent interview, Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, said he believes in 10 years, artificial intelligence, AI, will replace doctors, lawyers and teachers.

“I concede that artificial intelligence will have a place in our world, and it already does, but I hope we push back on that other idea just a little bit, because we have something that AI can never replicate, and that is our very humanness and goodness. We need humanness in our doctors, our lawyers and our teachers. Teachers matter. I believe in a strong public education system, it should be can be the great equalizer for all children, no matter if you come from a one-bedroom apartment in the city, a three-bedroom house in a subdivision, or a single-wide trailer in the middle of a cornfield. Public education is important,” Pheil said.

MICHAEL STIGGERS JR.

Michael Stiggers Jr is a 2003 graduate of Troup High School. He pursued his dreams of becoming a musical theater professional, earning a degree in Theater Education from Columbus State University, which allowed him to share his talents with others on stage productions across the country and internationally.

Stiggers eventually made a name for himself as a voice artist, working with Nickelodeon and numerous big brand commercials. He has also served on the cast of The Lion King on Broadway as the understudy for the role of grown-up Simba, which allowed him to perform the iconic role on multiple occasions.

Michael grew up as the son of a pastor and a teacher in West Point. His upbringing established a foundation in the gospel choir, which helped his career in performing.

“This is an amazing honor, I am so blessed in my life, and I’m so grateful,” Stiggers said.

“Troup High School was where I met Miss Stacy Hardigree, who was the chorus teacher right over there, across the way in the chorus room. She allowed me to have a little structure with my foundation that was established by my mother,” Stiggers said.

“It seemed like something so unattainable, because I’m from West Point, Georgia, and it’s way up in New York, and I have no idea how I’m gonna get there [or] how I’m gonna do this, but that’s where the dream started. That’s where the seeds were planted, and that’s where my foundation began. And I’m so grateful that right now, I have a career where I am doing the same things that I was doing over 20 years ago, right across the way in the chorus room,” Stiggers said.