James Hamilton and Brian Sprake, both 67, started high school in 1963 along with 368 students as Wagga High was the only state secondary school at the time. 

“It feels like we were all together yesterday, time goes so quickly,” Mr Sprake said. 

This was a big population boost to the public high school, which was in the final stages of completion of the red-brick, three level building facing Coleman Street, and portable buildings to cater for the big influx. 

Mr Hamilton said he entered school as the “guinea pigs” in the first year of the Wyndham scheme, which was implemented the year prior.

“This was a revolutionary educational system which saw the high school years become six rather than four and we set the standard,” he said. 

“Education gives you the key to opportunity and in 1968 they agreed to form the Riverina College of Education, which is now Charles Sturt University; this was a big step forward for education in Wagga.” 

During their high school years, the metric and imperial systems began as well as the introduction of decimal currency in 1966. 

Mr Hamilton said in the same year during July, “just before our school certificate trials”, the school experienced snowfall and “that was amazing”. 

“We saw a lot of changes in that time, boys had longer hair, girls had shorter hair, bikinis came into fashion, we had The Beatles and The Seekers,” he said. 

Mr Hamilton said the changes since he left school in 1968 have been huge, not only in education and technology, but also in the lack of discipline. 

“The changes in assessments since I left school to now, the establishment of the university and offering more faculties and the opportunities to study elsewhere,” Mr Hamilton said. 

“We had no calculators or computers during our schooling and now there are two other public secondary schools in Wagga. 

“We had discipline back in the day which taught us to respect individuals, teachers and property. When I went to the 2012 centenary, there were teachers who said discipline is lacking.” 

Mr Sprake said the changes in Wagga have also been dramatic. 

“It’s a lot different since back then, it’s become a provincial regional town which is going from strength to strength,” he said. 

“It’s a lovely place to live and the general development has created a strong and stable environment to live and work in.” 

Both men said their careers have not really changed since what they had envisaged when they graduated school. 

Mr Hamilton received a bachelor’s degree in administration and accountancy at the university, then worked at the Commonwealth Bank in Wagga, before moving to Tumut for five years and then returning to Wagga at the Agricultural Institute where he worked there for 38 years. 

“I met my wife in ‘79 and she was born in Italy and we married in 1984 – we have no children unfortunately, we weren’t blessed with that, however I have a few nieces in Italy,” he said. 

Mr Sprake said he has kept in contact with eight of his former classmates and always had an interest in the share market, deriving from his family. 

“I always have a strong interest in the share market and way back in 1968, there were spectacular gains made on the share market through speculative stocks,” he said. 

“I left Wagga and joined the public service in Canberra and I was away for about 10 years and then I met up with my childhood sweetheart from school and married in 1976. 

“In 1984, in Wagga, I started my own financial planning business and that’s where I ended up; the business still exists – Flynn Sprake Financial Planning – but I’ve semi-retired, working only two days a week.” 

Mr Sprake said his wife was a teacher for many years and he has been “blessed” with three daughters and four grand kids, all still living in Wagga. 

The class of 1968 have reunited four times since graduation, for their 20^th, 30^th and 40^th reunions and also a mini reunion for the school’s centenary in 2012. 

Mr Hamilton estimated that about two-thirds of the class moved away from Wagga and about 45 people have passed away since leaving school. 

The 50^th Wagga High School reunion for students from 1963 (1^st form) to 1968 (6^th form), gathering at the weekend commencing Friday, October 19, with a tour of the school, followed by informal functions.