Once Greenhill was up and running in 1950, there were countless decisions facing the students and faculty, and of course every inaugural year is full of firsts at every turn.  The school needed a mascot, and after receiving a dozen nominations from students, the student body voted for Hornets, which the Upper Schoolers reminded everyone were capable of inflicting intense “stinging” on rival schools. 

 Charlie Leathers, assistant headmaster and head football coach, can be thanked for another identifying element of the school.  “I had the pleasure of picking the school colors,” Leathers reminisced.  “Even though I went to SMU, I was always intrigued by Baylor University’s colors, so when we formed the school, Mr. Fulton said, ‘What colors are we going to have?’ And I said, ‘Why don’t we use green and gold?’ And Mr. Fulton said, ‘All right, fair enough!”

 That first year, however, presented a mighty challenge.  Girls had opportunities for physical education, which included calisthenics and horseback riding.  Every boy, however, was expected to play all sports.  There were no locker rooms or gym, so the student-athletes kept their uniforms and equipment in the trunks of their cars, and then dressed in the classrooms.  Mr. Fulton and Mr. Leathers marked out playing fields between the school building and Hillcrest High School, though actual games were all played “away.”  One drawing card for potential male students that Mr. Fulton and Mr. Leathers used unabashedly in admissions recruitment was the fact that with only sixty-two students in the whole school, every boy would get plenty of playing time! 

When the 1951-52 school year rolled around, excitement was in the air.  Against all odds, the twenty-one players on the Hornet football squad scraped together an improbable undefeated season, including wins over Trinidad and Highland Park.  “I remember very definitely that Hillcrest wouldn’t play us,” bragged Mr. Fulton.  “They thought we were too good!” 

In need of a symbol to emblazon the Hornet helmet, Greenhill players wrote Vince Lombardi of the NFL Champion Green Bay Packers for permission to use the legendary “G” helmet insignia.  Meanwhile, girl’s powder-puff football games also drew enthusiastic crowds to Hornet Field as the girls volleyball team played in the shadow of the old red barn. 

When the Cox Gym opened in the spring of ’69 Greenhill had moved to its current location. The gym provided the physical education/athletics department its own facility for the first time in the school’s history.  Seating 762 and sporting a state-of-the-art Tartan floor, the facility was a dream come true.  “It was a huge step forward for Greenhill,” offered George Birdsong from the class of  ’75.  “The basketball team was actually able to play home games and have practice on campus.”  By the next year, fully sixty percent of the Upper School student body was involved in athletics, and the improved facility allowed Head of Upper School George Young to declare to the board: “One of the most important activities in which a youngster can become involved is athletics.  I believe that we should do everything in our power to foster this idea.”  

 Today, Bernard Fulton’s legacy lives on.  The Greenhill athletics program enjoyed much success throughout the 2008-09 school year, finishing as the No. 1 ranked coed school in the Southwest Preparatory Conference (SPC).  The Hornets recorded Division I conference championships in boys’ volleyball, girls’ soccer and girls’ tennis, while finishing second in girls’ and boys’ cross country, girls’ volleyball, girls’ and boys’ swimming, and girl’s track and field.