by Carol Keefer, Reporter and Eve Morris, Reporter

Being a teacher at your old high school may sound like a great idea, but is it really all that amazing? We interviewed a few alumni teachers to find out what high school life used to be like at Jim Thorpe High School.

“Back then the high school was seventh-twelfth, so I attended from
1960-1966,” said Mrs. Schiner. “When I went here, we didn’t have the other side of the building– the science hall.Where your courtyard is, that was where we got on the bus. Okay, your library was our cafeteria. Down the hallway in the math wing is where we used to line up to go to the cafeteria.”

Apparently, the looks of the building were not the only thing that was different about the high school. The school lunches have changed significantly, too.

“School lunches back then weren’t bad. They seemed maybe a little bit more basic than what the school lunches are today. Not that they were bad, but probably back then our favorite school lunch in the 80s was the French Bread Pizza. That was our favorite,” said Mr. Searfoss.

Mr. Searfoss and Mrs. Schiner are not the only alumni teachers here, though. Mr. Searfoss often compares his side of the building to a class reunion of sorts.

“Mr. Pope was one of my real good friends from high school, and he’s right down the hallway. Mr. Roos is another good friend. Mr. Strubinger is also a good friend. I actually taught Mr. Miller. I taught Mr. Yurchak, so I have a lot of connections to this school– either friends or former students,” stated Mr. Searfoss.

In recent years, the high school has taken on a more technology based learning environment. While most students prefer the technology, we were curious as to what the alumni preferred–pencil and paper or technology.

Mrs. Schiner said, “I like both, actually. I mean, I like to integrate if I can. I like the pencil and paper because I like to work on the board, and I think kids learn better if they can get up and do the problems. I tend to lean towards pencil and paper, even though I have my Associates Degree in Computer Science; that was back in the day when we had punch cards, so it’s not doing me any good now.”

Overall, the alumni that we interviewed said that Jim Thorpe High School prepared them well for college and their future.

Mr. Searfoss said, “The education I received here as a student definitely prepared me. You get out of education what you put into it. I was fortunate enough to get good grades in high school and that allowed me to get through college. There’s nothing wrong with some hard work– you learn from failing and they’re the best lessons. You’ve got to put forth your best effort. I think what we do here at Jim Thorpe now definitely prepares students– for not only college, but also the work force, and the military.”