MORE than 40 men who were among the first students at the Wodonga Technical School when it moved to its new Mitchell Street campus in 1968 gathered on Saturday to share some stories and tour the school for what is likely to be the last time.
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With a major redevelopment planned of what is now one of the campuses of the Wodonga Middle Years College later this year, the former students took the chance to revisit the original school buildings.
Tom Kaitler said the workshop classroom “smelt just like it did all those years ago”.
Some of the original equipment including benches and lathes remain and plenty of memories rose for the men who shared their school days together before many moved away from the Border to all parts of the eastern seaboard.
“We are all 52 and we were all 12 when we came here,” Mr Kaitler said.
Another, Tilo Schmidt took in his first year at high school at the school’s High Street campus before moving across to Mitchell Street to join the others.
Mr Kaitler said in 1968 the Mitchell Street campus was the finest and newest technical school in Victoria with small class sizes of 15 to 20 students per teacher, many pieces of new equipment, a gym, showers and large grounds.
He said it also had a young and enthusiastic teaching staff and a progressive principal, Jack Thomas.
One of the young staff was Laurie Frost, a social science teacher who had moved new equipment and books from High Street to Mitchell Street.
Mr Frost returned to the school in 1991 as principal, remaining until his retirement in 2002.
“When I returned as principal, the place was virtually the same,” he said.
Mr Kaitler said no work had been done on the school grounds and the new buildings sat among empty grounds spread with coarse gravel to keep the clay soil from turning to mud after any rain.
“Clay and gravel” were well remembered by many of the former students.
“All we remember is that it was very difficult to walk on between classes and to have any reasonable sports activities on at recess,” Mr Kaitler said.
“February, 1968, was hot but the new school with long corridors felt cool compared to the gravel outside.”
Mr Kaitler said the school had a new approach in many areas including uniforms with the boys wearing skivvies in winter instead of shirts and blazers.
There were also plenty of activities outside the academic studies including debating, photography and film making, snow trips, music lessons and what was thought to have been the first department-supported sex education lessons.
The school tour was followed by dinner at The Blazing Stump Hotel.
