Staffers and students at Central Montco Technical High School have had plenty of reasons to celebrate since the school opened its doors to teens from the Colonial, Norristown Area and Upper Merion Area school districts 50 years ago. Those celebrations have highlighted everything from the career and academic accomplishments of current and former students to the completion of CMTHS’s $20 million expansion roughly a decade ago.

That said, the CMTHS Community Day planned for April 28 to mark the school’s 50th anniversary promises to be a standout, writes M. English in The Times Herald.

The event — scheduled for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. — will feature a car show, a college fair, a moon bounce and face painting for the kids in the crowd, a car wash and vacuum, computer tuneups, a health fair, a bake sale, haircuts and braiding by CMTHS cosmetology students and an assortment of food vendors.

One of Community Day’s highlights will be school tours and demonstrations to show off the numerous changes at CMTHS since the then Vo-Tech School opened on Sept. 6, 1967. Not surprisingly, the differences go way beyond student hairstyles and clothing choices. CMTHS’s offerings and concerns have evolved with — and in some cases, ahead of — the times. Along the way, classic “tech school” specialties like automotive, cosmetology and culinary have been updated to state-of-the-art standards and now share a roster with cutting-edge majors like allied health, networking technology and visual communications. Those multiple adaptations have resulted in articulation agreements with several colleges and universities and an alumni list that includes at least four or five medical doctors. According to R. Walter Slauch, CMTHS director for the past 18 years, at least 65 percent of the school’s students continue their education following graduation.

McCarthy welcomes individuals or businesses interested in becoming Community Day sponsors or car show exhibitors to contact him by phone at 610-277-2301 ext. 200 or email at fmccarthy@cmths.org. Advance car show registration forms are available at cmths.org. They and the show’s early $10 registration fee (payable to Central Montco Tech) may also be mailed to CMTHS at 821 Plymouth Road, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462. Information regarding sponsorships or other CMTHS volunteer options may also be directed to Janet Hodge at 610-277-2301 ext. 240 or jhodge@cmths.org.

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