Wilmerding Grads Impressed With School’s Look
July 27, 2023 |
By Bonnijean Cooney Adams | Posted in: McKeesport and Region News, North Versailles Twp. News, Wilmerding News
Stephanie Spingola looks over items in the costume studio, including a Westinghouse sewing machine. She is a member of the Class of 1963 and taught art for fourth through sixth graders after high school students from Wilmerding moved to East Allegheny. Below: The main entrance to Westinghouse Arts Academy reflects the building’s historic past as a school, and includes access to the auditorium, home of many student performances. (Bonnijean Cooney Adams photos for Tube City Almanac)
For some, it had been a long time since they last set foot inside the main building that now houses many of the programs at Westinghouse Arts Academy in Wilmerding.
As a prelude to activities for the second all-class gathering (1937-1969) of Westinghouse Memorial High School, more than 30 former students met on the school steps the morning of July 22 before breaking into smaller groups to tour that building and the neighboring Westinghouse Castle.
Ray Adams, a Westinghouse Memorial graduate who came back to teach at his alma mater, was part of a committee that decided to hold the first all-class event in 2022, then again this year.
Adams taught social studies, photography, and videography there and at East Allegheny Junior-Senior High School before he retired in 1995. He also was the advisor for the Class of 1969, so said he agreed to be on the committee when asked.
