Fall 2000

Vol. 1, Issue 2

What’s Inside

• Stewart Middle School to celebrate 75th Anniversary

• Stewart JHS/MS Photo Album

• Hall of Champions Association Inductees for  2000 

• First Annual Lou Spinelli Award to be presented 

• Alumni In the News

• Reunions

• Alumni Spotlight:  Lillian Marx

• Welcome to the newest members of the Alumni Association

Stewart Junior High/Middle School Celebrates Diamond Anniversary

“Tuesday, September 8, will mark a new epoch in the public school system of Norristown and on that date the new Thomas J. Stewart Junior High School in the West End, now receiving the finishing touches, will be opened to accommodate close to one thousand students transferred from the grammar schools of the borough.  The new school with its modern equipment is according to official reports the last word in modern school building.”

Norristown residents read the above description of their first junior high school in the Norristown Register on August 3, 1925.  A month later, Stewart Junior High School opened its doors to the young scholars for the first time.

One of those students, Mrs. Edith Givens Buler  (Stewart 1928,  Norristown 1931W), remembers the smell of the new school.  “It smelled new.  There was no smell of oil or cleaners  It smelled new.”  The 1931W Class was the first seventh graders to enter Stewart and to attend the new junior high school for  three years.

Seventy-five years later, Steward Middle School is still educating students from the Norristown Area.  To celebrate this milestone, anniversary, Mr. Joe Howell, Principal is inviting alumni and the public to a program at the school on Sunday, November 12, 2000 from 1 to 4 p.m.  A reception and open house will follow the program.  This will kick off American Education Week activities at the school, which will include a career fair featuring Stewart Alumni.

Mrs. Cheryl (Larkin) Brumbaugh (1970 Stewart graduate, 1973 NHS graduate), who is Stewart’s school  nurse, is compiling a history of the school for this anniversary.  Mr. Bob Cain (1946 Stewart, 1949 NHS) is assisting in the effort to locate memorabilia from each decade.  These items will be on display during the open house on November 12.  Included will be scrap-books containing newspaper clip-pings from the opening of the school to the 1970’s.  Sports memorabilia will also be on display. 

Do you remember...

• orange and blue?

• Wildcats?

• Stewart rats and Rottenhouse?

• The Stewart Revue?

• King and Queen of the ninth grade prom?

Spring 2000

Vol. 1, Issue 1

What’s Inside

• Hall of Fame/Champions inducts newest members

• NAHS welcomes a new principal

• New principal, Dennis McKnight’s message

• Upcoming activities for the Alumni Association

• Alumni In the News

• Alumni Spotlight:  Al Zone

• Welcome to the newest members of the Alumni Association

Alumni Can Always Be “At Home”

 by Jim Holton, Class of 1953
President of NAHS Alumni Association

For me, being an alumnus of Norristown Area High School has a number of perks, both intangible and concrete.  There's the Diploma displayed in a prominent place in my home, that instant connection with fellow alumni, the sense of pride at seeing the many accomplishments of the long line of NAHS graduates and knowing that even when you leave Norristown, there's always a place for you here.

I also can say proudly that I am one of the rapidly growing numbers of members of the rejuvenated NAHS Alumni Association.  One of the perks of Association membership is this Alumni Newsletter.  It will keep you abreast of what fellow Alumni are doing and interesting people and projects on Eagle Drive.

I hope you enjoy reading this first issue of our Newsletter as much as the Committee, under the leadership of Mrs. Maggie Hall, enjoyed working on it.  Inside you will read about the many benefits of becoming a member including news about our Website, the NAHS Hall of Champions, reunions, networking, social activities, and opportunities to give back in your own small and large ways to an institution that has been so good to you, in countless instances your families, and your classmates.

So relax, put your feet up, and revisit through this Newsletter the place where Blue and White are the dominant colors and where you're always at home!