EXACTLY one-hundred years after a group of parents successfully campaigned to establish a school in Nyah West, several generations of the school’s community rallied together on the weekend in celebration of its history.
The Nyah district community was joined by old friends and past school students from all across the state for the Nyah District Primary School centenary festivities.
Starting Friday night with the launch of a history book on 100 years of Nyah education at the Nyah West Grand Hotel, attendees then flocked to the Nyah West Silos for a viewing of an animated short film recounting old students’ stories, as re-imagined by current students’ drawings.
Many returned on Saturday for a memorabilia display and official speeches, the opening of a 30-year old time capsule containing past students’ mementos and, later, an evening meal at the Nyah Recreation Reserve.
What was obvious to the hundreds of people attending was the sheer amount of change that has taken place over the past century.
Speaking at the book launch, former school principal Ian Brauer observed the change in the perceived distance between Nyah and Nyah West over time (brought about by, among other things, improvements in automotive and telecommunications technology), and how that shaped education within the district.
“The Nyah Railway Station School started on November 22nd, 1915 due to parental pressure because parents had to walk too far to attend the Nyah Primary School, which was started in 1896,” Mr Brauer said.
“By 1996, there would be a bigger school — a merger with the Nyah school, the process for which started in 1995 to keep education n the district.”
Serving as school superior between 1986 and 2004, Mr Bauer was the first principal of Nyah District Primary School, the outcome of the schools’ merger in 1997.
For more on this story, grab a copy of Monday’s Guardian (November 23).
