Legacy — historical significant achievements; something passed on from the past.
Newton High School has been honoring their own over the past several years with “Legacy Night” during basketball season.
Thursday is a Red and Black Letter Day for Newton High as six men will be honored for lasting legacies while teaching, coaching or being an administrator at Newton.
It also will be Senior Night to honor the 2016-2017 NHS basketball senior players and their parents. Senior Night activities will be between the varsity girls’ and varsity boys’ basketball games.
The NHS Legacy Awards for 2017 go to Bruce Hoffmeier, Todd Lappe, Bill Quick, Dennis Brostrom, Tom Hill and Roger Slykhuis. They will be recognized at halftime of the boys’ varsity basketball game between Newton and Pella Christian, which begins at 7:30 p.m.
Brostrom is a former band director for NHS and Newton’s junior high programs. He was associated with the Newton band department for 35 years, starting with his student teaching in 1971. Brostrom retired in 2007. He was the Newton Municipal Band director for 24 years. In his retirement, Brostrom teaches band lessons part-time at Pella Christian Grade School.
Hoffmeier, Quick and Lappe are former activities directors for NHS.
Hoffmeier was a guidance counselor, coach, assistant principal at Berg Middle School then spent 24 years as an administrator at NHS including the AD from 1978-86. After leaving NHS, Hoffmeier served as the Skiff Foundation Director at Skiff Medical Center, 2002-2013.
Hoffmeier started the Cardinal Wrestling Classic in 1978. He started girls’ cross country at NHS in 1979 and began the girls’ track division of the Cardinal Relays in 1983.
Quick taught government class at NHS, 1971-86, then served as the NHS activities/athletic director from 1986-2000. He was head coach for girls’ basketball, softball and boys’ track programs.
Lappe became the Newton High AD in 2000 and left in 2004. He now is a financial advisor for Edward Jones Investments in Indianola.
Hill taught in the Newton school district from 1975 to 2011. He began his coaching career as eighth-grade girls’ basketball coach and ninth-grade boys’ track coach at Newton’s Central Junior High. He coached eighth-grade boys’ basketball at Berg.
At NHS, Hill coached sophomore girls’ basketball, sophomore football and was an assistant boys’ track coach. Hill was the Cardinal head varsity boys’ track coach, 1989-2011. He also was the head varsity girls’ track coach for three years when the two programs were combined. Hill was a scorekeeper for the NHS varsity girls and boys basketball games for 20 years.
Slykhuis has retired in 2007 after 38 years of teach, counseling and coaching in three school districts — the last nine years in Newton. He might be retired but Slykhuis is still coaching at NHS as this spring will be his 17th season as a volunteer working with the hurdlers in the girls’ track program.
Slykhuis was Newton’s boys basketball head coach for nine years. His Cardinal teams won 91 games in that span, and three district championships. Under his coaching, the NHS 1983-84 team went 16-5, which is the best record by Newton since the 1964 state championship team.
Each one of these men has left a legacy for Newton students, teachers, coaches, administrators and community members to cherish and follow.
Contact Jocelyn Sheets
at jsheets@newtondailynews.com