The Southern Junior High/Middle School Alumni Association celebrated the school and its former students with two recent events.
The achievements of three notable alumni were acknowledged May 30 during an alumni Hall of Fame induction ceremony in the school gymnasium.
The following day, the organization held its biennial reunion at the DoubleTree Hotel by Hilton in Reading.
Those inducted were District Judge Sandy Eshelman Fegley, Bart L. Ganster and Kirk Sanocki, the association announced.
Inductees are chosen for their contributions to society and credit they’ve brought to the school through their achievements, volunteerism or work.
Fegley, a 1984 graduate of Reading High School, attended Kutztown University. She worked in the Berks County district justice system for over 12 years before working for the Reading School District in attendance and truancy for eight years. After earning her certification as a district judge, she ran for the office in Exeter Township in 2015 and won. She continues to serve, having started her second term in 2022.
Ganster, a 1980 graduate of Reading High and Reading-Muhlenberg Vocational Technical School, is a graduate of Teamster Organizing School and Temple University’s Civil and Landlord Tenant Law program. An entrepreneur who founded and owns multiple businesses, Ganster has 50 years of experience in martial arts and holds a 10th degree black belt. He holds many awards, achievements and honors and was inducted into the Pennsylvania Karate Hall of Fame, World Karate Union Hall of Fame and others.
Sanocki is a 1979 graduate of Reading High graduate and 1983 graduate of the University of Maryland. He excelled in swimming competitions, earning several championships throughout his high school and college years. From 2001 to 2023, he served as head swimming coach and aquatic director at Wingate University, Wingate, N.C., and has been inducted into the Berks County Aquatic Hall of Fame, among other honors.
This year’s alumni reunion was also a celebration of Southern’s 100th anniversary, the alumni association said.
Designed by Reading architect Edward Z. School, the school opened shortly after the start of 1924 with an enrollment of 1,100 students, according to Alexa Freyman of the Berks Nostalgia website and Facebook page.
It was built at a cost of $600,000, a figure equal to nearly $11.5 million today, Freyman said.
Born in Womelsdorf, Scholl was the oldest practicing architect in the state when he died at age 84, according to his obituary in the Reading Eagle on May 11, 1962. He was known as the designer of schools, banks and other buildings throughout Berks and surrounding counties, the Eagle said.