About Us

About Worthington Middle School

Established: 2023
Mascot: Tigers
Colors: Orange  

Our campus' namesake Mr. Charles Wendell (C.W.) Worthington served on the Northwest ISD Board of Trustees for a decade, from 1965 to 1975, helping to steer the district's long-term vision.  He was instrumental in the purchase of land on what is now Northwest ISD’s central complex, home of several district operational facilities as well as Northwest High School and Pike Middle School. Mr. Worthington was a Navy veteran who graduated from Texas Christian University with a degree in business.  A resident of the area from 1970 until his death in 2013, Mr. Worthington was a well-regarded pillar of the community who loved to support the school district, spend time with family, and engage in his hobbies of archeology, camping, and water activities like boating and fishing. We are grateful for his and his family's dedication to Northwest ISD.  His life of public service models our core Tiger values of "teamwork", "attitude", and "growth".

 

From the Worthington Family: Our family wants to convey our gratitude to the district’s Naming Committee and Board of Education for the honor of having this beautiful facility named for our father, C.W. Worthington.  

Our Dad, C.W., known to his friends as Wendell, was born in Hill County, Texas, in December 1925. His family moved to Fort Worth, where he attended middle school and then graduated from Paschal High School.

After serving in the U.S. Navy in WWII, he attended and graduated from Texas Christian University.  He was a lifelong fan of the TCU Horned Frogs, Texas Rangers baseball and an attendee of all sports at Northwest ISD.

Wendell and our mom, Mary, met & married in Fort Worth, Texas.  They both loved archeology and were members of the Fort Worth Archeological Society for many years attending meetings and digs, proceeds of which benefited the Fort Worth Natural History Museum. They also supported local sports and seldom missed an opportunity to see the Fort Worth Cats play a baseball game at La Grave field or watch a hockey game at Will Rogers Auditorium!

Other activities they enjoyed and participated in were golf, softball, volleyball, water skiing, camping, ice skating, hunting, fishing and anything pertaining to history.  It was a joke in our family that Dad’s driving would give you whiplash during a quick turn if he realized he’d accidentally missed an exit for a museum or roadside Historical Marker.  

Our family’s history with Northwest ISD goes back to December of 1960, when our parents purchased a few acres and small frame house on Cemetery Road in Aurora.  

We three kids attended the old Rhome Elementary school then graduated from Northwest High School before moving on to college and careers. Mary joined the PTA and was a member and officer for almost 25 years.  In the 70s, when Northwest ISD opened its first Special Ed department at Rhome Elementary (then later at Haslet Elementary), she took on the job of Special Ed Aide and also drove the SE bus for the district.  She knew and loved her students and kept up with them throughout their time in class well into their adulthood, and often volunteered for Special Olympic field trips with the group.  After retiring from NISD in the early 90s, she was a substitute in both the Special Ed classes and in the nurse's office for many years.

Wendell was elected to the school board in 1964, beginning his decade of service as a board member, and was heavily involved in the formative years of Northwest ISD.  In the early days of this district, the Texas Robin Hood group (had they been around) would not have considered Northwest a rich district! NISD was a sparsely populated, consolidated, country district made up of approximately 223 miles of farm & ranch land created by the merger of the school systems of the cities of Haslet, Justin, Rhome and Roanoke.  

These lean years of school funding would put to use Wendell’s business degree from TCU and his years of accounting and auditor experience for TESCO.  During this time, the board not only set and approved budgets, they also interviewed and hired teachers, sometimes made much needed repairs to facilities, made all purchases for the district, and bought supplies for student programs - sometimes out of money gathered from the pop machines or fundraising!

With school finances as sparse as they were during that time, it is truly amazing that Dad (with his love for accounting) and fellow board members Sonny Nance and J. Fred Davis (with their land & people connections) had the foresight to begin saving back funds and convince other board members that additional land around that original small and remote Northwest campus should be secured and bought for the benefit of future students of this district.  That land is where the administrative offices, the aquatic center, the softball & baseball fields, Gene Pike Middle School and the Northwest High School complex all sit today.  Dad was so proud when that purchase was finally completed knowing that there was room for the district, its campuses and facilities to grow.

Over the last 60+ years Northwest ISD has been a large part of our family.  All three children, three grandchildren and two great grandchildren have attended district campuses, and three family members were employed by the district for a combined 50 years of their careers.

In closing, we wish to thank Principal Childress, her staff and the PTSA for the work that they have put in in opening this campus and welcoming the first group of students to these facilities.   

We know Wendell and Mary would be so proud of you all, and above all, we know how excited and proud of these students they would be.  Our parents were lifelong learners and “explorers of life” and through them our family wishes to encourage the students of C.W. Worthington Middle School to go forth and do the same.  

GO TIGERS!!!