Newfound high gym dedicated to Alan Blakeley

BRISTOL — Homecoming Weekend provided the setting for the dedication and renaming of the Newfound Regional High School gymnasium to honor Alan Blakeley, a teacher and coach whose dedication to his students has extended well beyond the 37 years of his employment there.

In addition to having helped instill values in those he taught, Blakeley continues to make a point of following what former students are doing today, including attending their class reunions and assisting current students as a board member of the Blakeley-Mills Newfound Regional High School Scholarship Foundation, providing needs-based financial aid to those pursuing further education at colleges or trade schools.

The ceremony, on Sept. 26, was the culmination of an effort initiated by Jamie LaRoche to memorialize Blakeley’s contributions to the Newfound community. She approached the Newfound Area School Board about dedicating the gymnasium to him earlier this year, and on Aug. 10, the board approved the request.

Interim Superintendent Brian Connelly followed up by spending time with Blakeley to learn more about his experience at Newfound between 1964 and 2001, allowing Connelly to recount some of what he learned during the Homecoming dedication. LaRoche also spoke, describing Blakeley’s influence to generations of students.

In accepting the honor, Blakeley recalled, when he began teaching at what was then Newfound Memorial High School and is now the middle school, he had to conduct physical education classes in a gymnasium with large glass windows on three of four walls — the fourth was a stage — and spoke of what it meant to have a regulation gym when the district built the new high school.

Saying he was deeply grateful for the recognition, Blakeley later posed for photographs by the plaque outside the gym, and the new sign over the high school trophy case, carrying the name “Alan Blakeley Gymnasium.”

The plaque states, in part, “Mr. Alan Blakeley has left an important legacy at Newfound Regional High School and our greater school community. Throughout his remarkable career, from 1964-2001, Alan served in a variety of roles as a dedicated educator, leader, coach, and mentor. His unwavering commitment extended far beyond the classroom and athletic fields, with wisdom, integrity, and warmth. He shaped the lives of generations of students, instilling values of perseverance, teamwork, and character that carry long after graduation.”

Beyond the dedication, people can make a donation in his honor to the Blakeley-Mills Newfound Regional Scholarship Foundation at newfoundalumni.com.