When the new Talawanda High School opened its doors Monday morning, the staff welcomed the students with an assembly that included a gold-medal ceremony.

It was a golden day for first-year Principal Tom York and Talawanda’s teachers and students.

“We had a great day,” York said.

By late afternoon the students had departed, the hallways were silent and the parking lot was mostly empty. Finally, York could relax a little.

“As the old school administrator would say, we got ‘em here, we got ‘em fed, we got ‘em home,” he said with a grin. “Of course there’s a lot more to it than that.

“There is a sense of relief and accomplishment,” York added. “All the things we were hurrying to try to get finished, we got done. This building is so complex with all its technology and controls. We requested that the contractors come back Saturday, and we went through every room. We think it went very well today.”

Earlier this year, Talawanda had received one of 12 gold medals awarded nationally from High Schools that Work, an organization that promotes excellence in the academic realm. That gave York an idea about how to welcome the students to their new school, something light-hearted.

“The first thing we did, the kids went to the gym, we made some introductions of some wonderful volunteers who helped the children through their first day, and I told the kids we had a special, surprise guest,” York said.

The surprise guest was Talawanda teacher Bernie Phelps.

“He came in wearing a swimming warm-up, cap and goggles and he had six gold medals around his neck,” York said. It was a humorous take on Olympic gold-medal swimmer Michael Phelps.

Bernie Phelps handed out the painted medals and presented Superintendent Kelly Spivey with the gold medal from High Schools that Work.

Special guest speakers included Marvin Wilhelm, former long-time principal; Phil Cagwin, former superintendent; and Mary Jane Roberts, member of Talawanda’s Board of Education and former Kramer Elementary School principal; plus Joe Pyfrin, Sue Killy, Sue Morris, and Margy and Jim Brandenburg.

“We had the guests speak to kids for a few minutes about the impact of this move and the heritage we all share,” York said.

Holli Moorish, Talawanda coordinator of development and community relations, said the one thing she noticed were shoe marks in the hallways, lots of them.

“Over the last few weeks we haven’t had a single day when we weren’t showing off the building to groups coming in,” she said. “I’m sure there were some kids who hadn’t come in before today and who were in awe, but I didn’t get an overall shock and awe feeling.”