Tea Area School District celebrates 20 years of growth with podcast series

The Tea Area School District was built by a community of volunteers in 2003, constructing five stick-built buildings where students learned.

Eleven students graduated from the district that school year. Nearly 20 years later, 120 students graduated in the class of 2022.

TASD is celebrating its 20th year as a district this school year, and it’s making the most out of the milestone and growth.

At homecoming time, the district will be implementing a hall of fame to recognize alumni and community members who contributed to the success of the district. TASD is taking nominations through Friday.

Superintendent Jennifer Lowrey also wants to record the school district’s early history before the memory can be lost.

To that end, the Tea Area School District will release a monthly podcast through the end of the school year, focusing on different parts of the school’s history in each episode.

“This first set of podcasts includes a group of people who worked on the first day we opened,” Lowrey said. “So the podcast asks questions and digs into the memories of these amazing people who can share that history before they get too old.”

September will include the history of choosing the Tea mascot and colors. October will interview founding members of the TASD association, and November will remember community members who donated to the district, built the buildings and developed the land. The last month in the series, May, will feature graduates of Tea schools who now teach in the district.

The podcast is an important tool for the district as more and more families move into Tea and don’t know the city’s recent history, Lowrey said.

“I don’t think you can really know who you are and form a tight-knit family unless you know where you came from,” Lowrey said. “There is tremendous pride in Tea even as it’s grown. To keep it that way, we need to know where we came from and celebrate the milestones and know who we need to thank.”

The podcast will be featured on the district’s website, Lowrey said.