The Spoke celebrates 75 years of journalism in the Tredyffrin/Easttown community
By Aren Framil, Rajan Saha and Paige Vachris, Co-Editor-in-Chief and Staff Reporters
1950-1974 (Paige):
Sept. 9, 1955 — Vol. 5 No. 1: The front page article of the newly renamed Conestoga Spoke reports on TEMS, which was then Tredyffrin/Easttown High School, becoming a junior high school as the “ultra-modern” Conestoga High School officially opens. Funnily enough, this means that The Spoke (formerly known as the Eastfrin Echoes) predates Conestoga High School by four years. The expansion of the district hasn’t stopped in the 70 years since, and just as in 1955, TESD now finds itself building a new school, this time for elementary students.
May 27, 1957 — Vol. 7 No. 9: As chronicled on the front page, The Spoke competed in a journalism competition, the Temple Press Tournament, and placed sixth out of the 60 schools competing. The Spoke won a Certificate of Distinction, and the five individual students who scored points in the competition received similar awards.
Nov. 3, 1961 — Vol. 12 No. 3: The Spoke’s special Halloween edition, titled The Spook, was only ever published once. This issue features a column on “How to succeed on Halloween.”
Oct. 9, 1967 — Vol. 18 No. 1: The Spoke premieres a new logo design, reflecting the groovy influence of the ’60s. The logo continued to change stylistically into the ’70s.
April 1, 1971 — Vol. 21 No. 8: This April Fools’ Day edition of The Spoke, entitled The Joke, features ironic and humorous articles, editorials and columns. This is the only issue of The Joke ever published.
March 3, 1972 — Vol. 22 No. 5: The career elective was introduced in 1972, giving students the opportunity to learn outside of the classroom through shadowing professionals as well as visiting labs and offices. The career elective program still continues today, as seniors pursue different jobs in person and virtually.
1975-1999 (Rajan):
May 9, 1980 — Vol. 30 No. 6: In 1980, the school board approved a proposal to add a 16-foot extension to the library, which added roughly 2,245 square feet, 100 more seats and 5,000 more volumes worth of shelving to the library.
Feb. 13, 1981 — Vol. 31 No. 5: During its Jan. 26 regular meeting, the school board decided to close the Paoli and Strafford elementary schools for the 1981-82 school year due to the inefficient use of rooms since the number of students in the district had been decreasing.
Dec. 6, 1985 — Vol. 36 No. 3: The Spoke’s only holiday edition, having fun cartoons and drawings at the top of the page.
Feb. 14, 1986 — Vol. 36 No. 4: The Spoke’s special valentine edition, which includes heartfelt messages and cartoons.
March 13, 1987 — Vol. 37 No. 5: The Spoke published its first and only St. Patrick’s Day edition issue in 1987.
Oct. 7. 1988 — Vol. 39 No. 1: Conestoga had a large-scale renovation, which included removing asbestos from the auditorium, refurbishing several rooms and repainting the whole school interior.
June 9, 1989 — Vol. 39 No. 7: One of The Spoke’s first senior destination maps, consisting of all of the senior names and the college they were attending.
Oct. 9, 1992 — Vol. 43 No. 1: Five elementary schools were renovated to add science, art, music and computer rooms to each building, along with more specialized renovations. For example, BES got a gym, and VFES got a large group room.
Oct. 9, 1992 — Vol. 43 No. 1: Conestoga started teaching grades nine and 10 along with 11th and 12th grade in 1992. The underclassmen had their first orientation to help them get used to the Conestoga culture.
June 4, 1993 — Vol. 43 No. 7: The school board passed a bill that officially prohibited smoking on school grounds and during any school event. Before this bill, teachers were allowed to smoke in designated areas in the school while students were not.
2000-2024 (Aren):
Oct. 3, 2000 — Vol. 51 No. 1: The morning announcements change to the “news show” format complete with co-anchors, video footage of special events and even a sports anchor we know today. The TV Studio class’s takeover of the announcements allowed for more student involvement in the announcements and anchoring.
Feb. 12, 2002 — Vol. 52 No. 4: Conestoga students declare their love for one another in “The Spoke Love Connection,” which has run only twice in The Spoke’s history. It features messages like “You are the bloopers at the end of my movie!” from Maggie and “Roll your feet!” from the entire CHS woodwind section (minus the flutes).
Oct. 19, 2010 — Vol. 61 No. 1: Despite attempts to ban “dirty dancing” at Conestoga homecoming, students keep on busting moves. A teacher describes the inappropriate dancing as “very embarrassing to witness.”
Oct. 10, 2017 — Vol. 68 No. 1: The Spoke switches from a tabloid format to a larger broadsheet in time to cover a teacher-led protest against long negotiations for a new contract.
Feb. 13, 2018 — Vol. 68 No. 4: The Spoke documents the Philadelphia Eagles’ historic Super Bowl win live on the scene, following Conestoga students as they attend the game and even Eagles-themed blackout poetry from Writer’s Craft.
Jan. 25, 2021 — Vol. 71 No. 3: Spoke staff members are present on the scene at the Jan. 6 insurrection, capturing photos of rioters, police and people scaling the walls of the Capitol.
May 29, 2024 — Vol. 74 No. 7: The district announces its plan to renovate an office building for the purpose of becoming TESD’s sixth elementary school.
Aren Framil can be reached at [email protected].
Rajan Saha can be reached at [email protected].
Paige Vachris can be reached at [email protected].
