Poway High Celebrates 50th Anniversary

Students, staff, alumni and community members gathered at Poway High School to celebrate the school’s 50th anniversary Saturday.

The Open House included campus tours, carnival activities, a petting zoo, student film vignettes, food, music and other entertainment. Poway High’s dance, choir and band ensembles performed, and the robotics team demonstrated their work.

“This school has done so much for me,” said sophomore Kathryn Klahn as she managed one of the sign-in tables. “I like to give back to my community and my school. It’s a good thing that we’re putting on.”

Junior Shannon Miller added that Poway High is like her “second home.”

“I come here everyday,” she said. “Why not celebrate that it’s been here so long?”

As current students managed carnival games and sign-in tables, alumni reminisced and browsed through old yearbooks.

“I haven’t been out here in many years,” said Poway High alumna Kathleen Chavez. “I wanted to see if there was anybody that I knew that still happened to be around.”

Chavez, who graduated in 1970, also wanted to see the campus, which she said has greatly changed since she was in school.

“There’s so many buildings,” she said. “There were just a couple of buildings when I came to school.”

Chavez wasn’t the only one who talked about the school’s transformation.

Principal Scott Fisher said the school had just a few buildings when it opened. Four years ago, Poway High was revamped during a $90 million modernization project, he added.

Victor Sherreit, who was the school’s first principal, recalled when the school was constructed. He remembered a golden shovel was used to scoop the first few piles of dirt.

“And Poway High School was on its way,” he said.

Before the school was opened, local students attended Escondido High School.

"This community was very excited about having a high school of their own," he said.

As the first principal, Sherreit had to help hire staff, make school policies, create the curriculum, buy equipment and organize the student body and parent group, he said.

“It was just interesting to see it come up out of the ground,” Sherreit said.

He added that it has been “rewarding” to see how the school has grown.

“You’re recognized for your excellence, strong educational program and it’s a school that people want to attend, which I think is wonderful,” he said.

Science teacher Alan Torretto said it’s not just Poway High that has changed, but the community has changed since he first started working at the school 39 years ago.

Poway was a much more "rural, working class community" then, he said. There were avocado groves around the campus, he said. Some students rode horses to school, and many students wore cowboy hats to campus, he added.

“It was a good school, and it was a lot of fun,” Torretto said.

Despite all the changes to the school and the community, Torretto said some things have remained constant. The community has always supported educated, he said. And, Poway High’s goals have stayed the same.

“When I got here in 1973 and all through the years that I’ve been here and when the school started 50 years ago, it’s been about hard work pays off,” Torretto said. “It’s been about teamwork. It’s been about cooperation and dedication, and making kids not only educated, but have good character and be good citizens of the country.”

The anniversary event not only reflected on the past, but also celebrated the present and future.

Fisher announced the school plans to open a museum and Hall of Fame. He said the first Hall of Fame class will be named in the fall.

"We’ve had lots of people accomplish great things while they were here and after they left here," Fisher said. "It’s time we came to know about that, and our kids have a terrific interest in that as well."

Torretto said he expects many more great things from Poway High School.

"I’m sure Poway High goes on 50 years from now," he said. "Those goals and those qualities that haven’t changed for 50 years will lead Poway High into the next 50 years that we have here."