BILL Bryant was just 26 years-old when he started teaching at Belmont High School.
At 97, he looked back on his time teaching at the first co-ed public secondary school in the Newcastle area, that's set to celebrate its 70th anniversary on Saturday.
"In its first year I was teaching kids from Belmont, Swansea, Gateshead and Redhead and it grew every year," he said.
Mr Bryant was one of 30 staff members to work at the school which operated as a Junior High School from January 1953 to December 1955 and became a High School from the beginning of 1956.
He said in its first month of opening there was no phone and no class timetables.
"We used to make phone calls using the public phone opposite the school," he said.
Mr Bryant taught at Belmont High for 10 years and all four of his children attended the school.
"I really enjoyed my time there, it was great," he said.
Today, principal Gareth Erskine says the school continues to play a vital role in the community with music and trampolining strong reputable subjects.
"Music is a great strength of the school, we've been above state average in HSC results for 20 years," he said.
"We also have a lot of ex students like Paul Harrigan, Russell Blackford and Jane Diplock, who have gone on to achieve a range of endeavours.
On Saturday the school will open from 12pm for three hours for ex students and the community to view historical displays, presentations and performances.
"The rich history of the school will be celebrated," Mr Erskine said.
"This anniversary has really shown that even though people haven't been at the school for a long period of time there are still strong connections," he said.
"I'm sure our displays will trigger many happy memories for our visitors and we'd welcome other contributions of memorabilia from members of the community to add to our archives."
Ex student Marion Davis will also attend the Open Day with her granddaughter Talia who is currently studying in year 12.
