Legacy is one word to describe what a person or individual leaves behind for others to remember them by. For many, this process starts in high school, as students are given the opportunity to represent their school in many different forms. While representing their respective high school, students have the opportunity to alter the legacy of the school. What they do has the opportunity to leave a lasting impression on those that precede them for years to come. One family that has left a remarkable legacy at Newton High School has been the Thaw family.

The Thaw family has left a lasting impression within the walls of NHS with the contributions they have made as students and even coaches. The family has been responsible for helping countless state champions throughout the years. Their impact has been so great that board of education president, Matt Treaster, proposed the idea to rename the wrestling room after them. 

“I got to thinking one day about all that the members of the Thaw family have done in the wrestling/gymnastics room, both with the gymnastics program and the wrestling team, and how many years they have made contributions to Newton High School,” Treaster said. “I got to digging into the many accomplishments of not only the parents, Jack and Joanne, but also their four children, in connection to our gymnastics and wrestling teams, and realized it was even more than I thought.”

Treaster describes the process for renaming the wrestling room as being a simple one. Treaster sought input from his colleagues for the idea and stated that their reactions were all positive. After that, Treaster decided to pitch the story to the school board in order to begin the process of renaming the wrestling room.

“The process is fairly simple, the name change must be submitted to the board of education and the board must then approve the name change,” Treaster said. “In this case, the USD 373 School Board voted unanimously to change the name of the wrestling room to the Thaw Family Sports Facility.”

Even with all of the impact the Thaw family has had on the school in the past, the legacy still has not finished. Senior Toria Thaw continues to add to the long list of accomplishments her family has by being a four time letter recipient in Gymnastics, qualifying for state four times, and claiming a medal on beam at state her junior year. Thaw has also been a four time letter recipient for her participation on the school’s varsity cheer team and has lettered three times on the school’s softball team. 

“It’s super cool to have a room in your own high school,” Thaw said. “Especially being named after such an important person in my life.”

Thaw describes the wrestling room as being important to her entire family, making the decision to rename the room that much more impactful for her. The decision to rename the room serves as a tribute to the family as Treaster described. A way to give thanks to a family who continues to give back to their community to this day.

“I hope it shows the Thaw family how much we appreciate all their years of hard work,” Treaster said. “They have had such a positive impact on so many people over the last five decades.”