Newtown High School Creates A New School Anthem

By Tanjua Damon

“Newtown High, dear Alma Mater, We will sing thy fame, Our allegiance true and loyal, Pledge we now to thy dear name, And wherever we shall wander, What the scenes that greet the eye, We shall ne’er forget thy precepts, Alma Mater Newtown High.”

Times are changing and so are the students of today. With the 21st century here, it is a different world with different people. So now it is time for the Newtown High School Alma Mater to reflect the students of today. They are hoping to say farewell to the old one and hello to the new one by graduation in June.

In order to do that, new words had to be created for the Alma Mater. Student Erin Thomas took on that challenge along with other fellow students during poetry class last year under the direction of English Department Chair John Terenzi after Chorus Director Ann McNulty Ferraro brought the idea to him.

“Ms Ferraro approached Mr Terenzi,” Erin said. “Basically what he did was he gave it as an extra credit assignment for his poetry class.”

Erin’s creation was selected to replace the old Alma Mater of Newtown High. These are her words:

“Newtown, we are a part of you (for) we left our handprints in your halls our footprints in your fields our shadows on your stage (and) through the years we grew together finding friends old and new with your teachers touching our hearts Alma Mater, we thank you.”

Erin, 17, now a senior, wanted to make sure that all students and the school’s atmosphere were included in the new Alma Mater.

“It’s been this way for a while that everyone who sings the alma mater dislikes it,” Erin said. “It’s kind of old style and we didn’t have anything to relate it to.”

Writing a song is not easy, Erin said. She had to rework the first couple of lines after Ms Ferraro selected Erin’s submission for the Alma Mater.

“She didn’t totally like it at first,” Erin said. “The first two lines were corny and cliche.”

Chris Basset, a 1997 graduate of Newtown High School, had tried to rewrite and rework the music for the Alma Mater while he was in high school, but nothing was ever finalized. But when he came back for a visit, Erin reworked those lines that were not so well liked.

“They were talking and all of a sudden this line popped into my head,” Erin said. “It’s more along my life. I based it more on the experiences of my friends and what they have been through. Then I looked at the whole school to make sure we got everything in.”

Making sure the alma mater is about each student, club, or activity at school was important to Erin. She wanted to be sure that it reflected the school as a whole.

“I don’t see anyone who doesn’t touch something in the hallway,” she said.

Mr Basset has been selected to write the musical accompaniment for the words. He is a music composition major at New York University. The hope is that everything will come together by graduation.

Erin does not plan on writing music for a living, but will keep up her gift of writing as a hobby. She still has not gotten used to the idea that she will be singing her own words.

“I like poetry and I like writing stories. It’s just a hobby I’m going to keep,” Erin said. “It will be really weird to be singing your own words. I’m not used to it.”