Gilford High School celebrates 50th anniversary

GILFORD — Gilford High School celebrated its 50th anniversary on Wednesday with a reunion among former faculty and students. Those in attendance hugged, chatted and reminisced on their time at the school. Principal Anthony Sperazzo spoke to how meaningful the reunion was.

“They haven't been able to connect for various reasons, so to bring everybody together is pretty special.”

Gilford High was founded in 1974. Several juniors from Laconia High School were in the first class transferred to the new school. The first class to graduate was in 1976. Many former teachers told stories of starting their first year at Gilford. Miriam York, a physical education teacher who started at the school in 1974, said the teachers helped put together the school before the kids started.

The school's anniversary was delayed from 2024 due to a locker room renovation.

“We brought the furniture, we brought the books. We stamped the books,” York said.

Another colleague said they painted the walls, too.

The first teachers were guinea pigs in the open classroom-style building. Larry Frates, an art teacher during the founding years of the school, said it was an adjustment for many teachers who came from other schools, yet put their trust in the process.

“There was so much transition that went on from the opening to now,” Frates said.

The reunion was hosted by students of the Reading and Writing for the Workplace class. The class teaches students skills on how to understand and navigate working in a business. Teacher Debra Langenhein said students were tasked with creating a project that benefits the community, and go through all the steps to bring it to fruition.

“I give them these parameters, but they knew it was the 50th because it got promoted around. And we thought, ‘How cool. What if we do a small lunch for teachers, past and present? That sounds pretty neat,'” she said. “Then they had to develop a business plan, and then they just took off with it.”

Senior Ryder McKay, 18, is vice president of the project, and he laid out what the class was responsible for.

“We came up with the pitch for the principal, We came up for getting the decorations. We found all these decorations, the Bingo machine, we created the Kahoot!,” he said.

The event included social time, with refreshments, with displays of yearbooks from throughout the decades. Staff offered tours of the school, and a Gilford High School trivia event on Kahoot!, where people answered questions like who the U.S. president was at the time of the school’s founding (Gerald Ford) and how many current staff were former students (23). McKay said he was surprised how many people were interested in making the event successful.

“I didn't expect the school to get this involved in it, which is nice,” McKay said. “The staff are giving people tours throughout the day. So, some of the staff are staying after to help out with that stuff.”

Sperazzo believes Gilford High has created a culture that makes a good learning environment for students, and also brings alumni back to the school after they graduate. The event highlighted the traditions, successes and accomplishments of students have, which he attributes to the staff, supportive since 1974 to now.

“One thing that we're really proud of is the many teachers teach here, but they also graduated from Gilford,” Sperazzo said. “They want to come back because they know it's a great place to live, work and play.”

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the timing of the school's 50th anniversary and first graduating class.