A look back: NHS 50 year Celebration

Mary Beth Almquist was secretary-treasurer of Niwot High's very first graduating class. Almquist was also the first person to graduate from Niwot High School in 1974.

Almquist's memories of graduation day 48 years ago remain sharp. "Graduation was held inside the school in the gymnasium because the outside grounds weren't finished," Almquist said. "There were open fields behind the school and we had a huge parking lot but that was about it."

'Almquist had the distinction of being first to collect her diploma, because her name was the first "A" in the alphabetical list of the 160 students. "The next to graduate was Steve Anderson," Almquist recalled.

The Longmont Daily Times-Call captured the photograph of Almquist and Anderson walking down the gym steps to receive their diplomas. "We were a small class, and we were just starting out, we didn't really know what we were doing," Almquist laughed.

The Times-Call article and accompanying photos appeared on the cover of the newspaper the Saturday after the Monday night commencement ceremony in the gym. "It was a big deal to be on the cover of the paper," Almquist said. "There were photographers snapping photos all over the place. It was exciting."

Discovering her photograph on the cover of the Times-Call clipping posted on social media, Almquist responded, "Here I am 48 years later! I still have my cap and tassel too!

Jeannie Hardman remembers the commencement ceremony as well. "The first graduating class had to wear the ugly (more Grey) than silver gowns! I felt like a walking file cabinet!" she wrote. Remembering all of the firsts, Almquist mentioned, "The fall before graduation in 1973, there was no homecoming dance or homecoming celebration because there was no one to come home! So instead, we called the fall dance and celebration the Fall Ball."

The 160 students who graduated in 1974 began high school at Longmont High School. "The school was bursting at the seams due to the massive growth Longmont was experiencing," Almquist said. "Longmont was a burgeoning bedroom community and had only one high school. Niwot was a sleepy farm town."

"As freshmen we had to go to school in shifts. So, I went from 2 p.m. until 7 p.m.," Almquist remembered. "Once they decided to build the new school in Niwot, they drew the line at east and west Hover Road. The Hover families on the west, who were LHS sophomores, would end up being the incoming Niwot students. By the time we were seniors, we attended all our classes in the new school. During construction, students had to go back and forth from Longmont to Niwot."

Former student Catherine Gates wrote, "Remember classes on swing shift (@LHS) while they finished construction? I froze coming on the bus ride home in the dark."

The building itself was a very different look for the small town of Niwot. At that time there were a lot of farms dotting the landscape. "Then, you drove up the hill and this brand new, very modern building sat at the top of the hill. It was a memorable view," Almquist said. "The open concept, moveable partitions which made up classrooms and ramps were the things that stood out as being different. The school was promoted as being the ultimate new concept for high schools of the day. There were very few walls or windows. We had air conditioning, which was new to us. LHS didn't have air conditioning. We really enjoyed being part of something so cutting edge."

On social media, former students from the era remember the open classroom concept. David Wilcox asked, "Did they finally build walls for classrooms? LOL, I think it was just another 'experiment' in education."

Deborah Garvin commented on an ancillary benefit of the design. "I loved the open space concept. I have the best focus now, no matter what's going on around me. Don Sherwood recalled, "If you got bored listening to 'Sergeant Algebra' teaching his class, you could tune in to 'Brook's history.'"

Describing the design inside the school, Almquist said, "At the bottom of the big ramp was a place they called the pit, later nicknamed, the senior pit. The pit was a place where they ended up putting the lockers. It had carpeted cubes that you could sit on. Hallways then jutted out from the pit area. It was a very social area, the pit."

The 2-story ramp went from the ground floor to where the classrooms were. The garden-level basement held multipurpose classrooms and homerooms. "Carpets and floors were supposed to have been made from new sound absorbing materials, but they didn't really do much to absorb the noise," Almquist said. "They found out that they had to have closed doors for some classes such as a noisy typing class where students were practicing on loud typewriters."

According to posts on social media there were lots of pranksters. Motorcycles were ridden up the ramp by students in gorilla suits. Also, the streaking phenomenon was alive and well in Niwot. A photo of a streaking student ended up in the 1974 yearbook. Each of those published photos had to be stamped out one by one by the yearbook staff before they were made public.

Getting geared up for the football game and upcoming celebration, Leigh Anne Kelly Chisam remembers the cheer of the day, "Green and silver is our fame, Niwot Cougars is our name. Spell it backwards, that's no sin, Niwot backwards spells to win."

Skip Monroe cleared it up by adding, "Remember Niwot spelled backwards is, To Win?" Well, thank goodness for that.

Updated Schedule for the weekend of Sept 9, 2022

3 p.m. Parade in Niwot

4 p.m. Open House/Tours - Every 15 minutes, tours provided by NHS students

4 p.m. - 6 p.m. 70’s music-Hoping for a guest appearance by former classmates to perform!

5 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Barbecue and Reception-$2.00 for burger/hot dog, chips and drink

7 p.m. Homecoming Football Game

9 p.m. - 11 p.m. Street Party in Niwot

Additional notes:

Niwot High Alums: Make sure you check-in at the ALUMNI table and get your Alumni pin for admission to the football game.

Consider bringing something to sit on for the football game.

1974, 1975 and 1976 classes will be recognized between the 1st and 2nd quarters of the game.

Classes of 1974, 1975 and 1976 - A gathering is being planned for Saturday evening, Sept. 10, but the location has yet to be determined.