Ray Ledbetter
About Our President
Ray is the fourth child of eleven. A proud native of the Boston area of Winston Salem. No one knows for sure how the area acquired its name, but among Bostonians; Kimberly Park Elementary and Paisley High School were spoken about proudly and with great anticipation- even though the schools were segregated.
After graduation from Paisley High School, Ray continued his education at Forsyth Technical Institute in Architectural Drafting and Winsalem College to earn credits in Business. In 1968 Ray was drafted into service for the United States Army where he reached the rank of sargent. Having been honorably discharged, Ray was the first Black hired at Fairchild/Heller Industries in the Space and Electronic department. Later, Ray became the the first Black electrician and subsequently, the first Black to supervise engineering at R.J. Reynolds Archer. Simultaneously, Ray used his business acumen to become an entrepreneur – having owned Premier Charter Bus and Tiffany Limo Service.
Ray ‘s greatest passion of the last few years has been to give back to his community through his church and the Paisley Alumni Association. It is the pursuit of this latter passion that lead him to accept the presidency of the Paisley Alumni Association. With his enthusiasm, it is Ray’s ambition to continue the positive legacy of this historical association.
Ray Ledbetter
Class of 1966
The Paisley High School National Alumni Association was formed in 1995 with the focus of putting on the Big Four Reunion program and dance.
The success of the Reunion Led to the much broader focus of community leadership and maintaining the legacy of the African American big four schools in the city of Winston-Salem, N.C.
We the members of the Paisley Alumni Association recognize that we must be beacons in the community in order to gain all of the fruits of labor from the seeds that have been planted in the past.
Paisley alumni give donation to school
By Arika Herron
Winston-Salem Journal
Rooted in Paisley IB Magnet School’s history is an alumni association with an eye on the school’s future.
Through a series of fundraisers — and on the backs on many alumni association members reaching into their own pockets — the group presented at Tuesday night’s Board of Education meeting a $1,500 donation to Gary Cone, the school’s current principal.
With more than a dozen of his group’s members in the audience, alumni association president James Pickens handed Cone the check to “do those things to enhance education at their school.”
“We are dedicated to the education of the people of our community,” Pickens said, “Not only what they learn in books, but also the whole child.”
Cone accepted the donation, thanking the alumni for their support in and out of the school building.
“I’ve never been part of any school with such an active and supportive alumni association,” Cone said.
Today, Paisley is one of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools’ popular magnet programs, offering the rigorous International Baccalaureate curriculum for students in seventh through 10th grades.
Once one of Forsyth County’s four all-black high schools, Paisley is endowed with a rich history.
With a nod to that past, the association also gave the school a portrait of John W. Paisley, a principal of Winston-Salem schools for more than 25 years. Paisley, who died in 1949, was an educator, church leader, author and graduate of Winston-Salem public schools.
“He had a lot to do with making education what it is today in Winston-Salem,” Pickens said.
Pickens, a graduate of Paisley during its high school days, said preserving the history of the Big Four historically black high schools is another important part of the alumni association’s mission.
“That’s our heritage,” he said. “We’re trying to keep that going, to maintain that.”
The portrait, commissioned by the alumni association, will be displayed prominently in the school.