Whenever the staff at E.E. Waddell High School needed extra help with electronics, student Will Green Jr. was always there.

He has unsnarled computer problems, fixed audio/visual equipment and worked the sound booth during school plays and productions. By some estimates, Green, a graduating senior, has donated more than 2,000 hours at the southwest Charlotte school.

Marvin Bradley, assistant principal, said Green’s electronic ability “goes above any student I have dealt with in high school.”

“Will,” he said, “is the kind of person a lot employers seek out, because he has the ability to work hard, to work diligently, and work without looking for any credit for himself.”

With high school now behind him, Green said he wants to put his skills to work building a career in music. His goal is to one day produce gospel as well as contemporary music – all from his own studios.

“Music motivates me,” Green said, as he waited for graduation rehearsal to begin last week. “To me it is something you can use to express pain or joy. You can express almost anything through music.”

For Green, music and electronics go hand in hand. He plays drums, piano and keyboards. He also serves as minister of music at a Charlotte church where his father, the Rev. Will Green Sr., is senior pastor.

Green said his father, in fact, is the person he most admires. In addition to his pastoral duties, the elder Green also owns and manages a family construction company.

“He can handle his business,” the son said of his father. “He can handle the church and still have time for family.”

Green said he got the itch for music at an early age. Whenever he would visit a local music store with friends, he said, he was naturally drawn to the electronics department.

“Just seeing all the lights on the various mixing consoles, it just intrigued me,” he said.”

In high school, Green said, he took various computer classes. Staff soon recognized his talents and began calling on him to help solve electronic problems and to assist with various functions around the school.

“If they needed anything, they would call on me,” Green said. “It made me feel good. It made me feel valued.”

Green said he plans to enroll in Central Piedmont Community College this fall and later attend UNC Charlotte. He plans to major in music, with perhaps a minor in business.

Green said he envisions one day buying a small church building and converting it into a recording studio for local choirs and gospel artists. He said he believes gospel singers would be more comfortable if they could record in a familiar setting.

And if the music thing doesn’t work out, Green said, he plans to also stay involved in the family business.

“If you bump into me five, ten, fifteen, twenty years from now,” he said, “I will be someone successful, whether it is in the music industry, whether it is in the church, or whether it is with our construction company. I am determined to be successful.”

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