by Rosa Stern Pait

Despite leaving high school behind years ago, BHS alumni are determined to remain connected and in-touch.

Nearly every teenager has probably heard at some point in their lives that high school is not forever and that they won’t stay friends with their peers after graduation. However, some teachers say otherwise.

“This past weekend I spent some time with one of my best all-time friends who I grew up with,” chemistry teacher and alumnus Steve Lantos, class of ‘80, said. “Our children now are now twelve and thirteen and they’re best friends.”

With today’s advanced technology, it is even easier for alumni to connect and become even closer to their high school friends. Many have recently created class Facebook groups to plan reunions and catch up.

Did you know?

The class of ’43 recently got together for their 80th reunion. Read all about it here.

Lantos said the uniqueness of his high school experience, especially in School Within A School, was what inspired him to become a teacher.

“I felt like my years here were formative,” Lantos said.

Associate Dean Lisa Redding, alumna of ‘89, said none of her former classmates live in the area, but she still manages to stay in touch without a Facebook account.

“My good friends from high school I keep in touch with, we call, we email,” Redding said.

Lisa Gaffney was in charge of the school tours given to alumni this year for the first time and spoke to some of the former students. She said many had kept up their friendships without the help of the school.

According to Gaffney, a group of graduates from Runkle and the high school met up for a breakfast together the morning of the tour.

“They knew about the alumni tour, they were going to the reunion, but it was more important for them to be with their friends from elementary school,” Gaffney said.

Redding said that her parents moved their family from Cambridge to Brookline after her eighth-grade year specifically so she could attend high school here.

“I knew nobody when I came here freshman year, and I made unbelievable friends,” Redding said.

She said her friends were important to her then and continue to be to this day. They visit each other and have remained close over the years. Redding attended her 10th graduation reunion and looks forward to her 25th in the spring.

“It was great, seeing people you haven’t seen in ten years and talking about high school and kind of laughing off some things that seemed like a big deal in high school and really weren’t then,” said Redding.

Gaffney said her goal for the reunion tour was to “give a pitch about the school” but that alumni, perhaps as a throwback to their high school days, preferred talking to their friends and catching up to learning about the school.

“I brought them up to the library and very few of them made it beyond the front desk,” Gaffney said.

Rosa Stern Pait can be contacted at [email protected].