“I can’t wait to graduate and get out of this town”. Sound familiar? If you haven’t heard it, then you just haven’t been listening. It echoes through the halls of Tyrone High every day. Freshman, sophomores, juniors, and seniors alike express their disgust with not only the school but also the town. But our town is far from the way that most high school students perceive it.

Tyrone used to be the heart of the railroad and a haven for small businesses. Houses stretched to the hills where I-99 now stands. However, the town began to slip. The community halved in size, and was often dubbed “a ghost town”. The storefronts downtown remained empty or rotated business to business for years. Now, Tyrone has begun to make a comeback to the town it once was.

For some reason, it has become shameful to stay in Tyrone after graduating. You hear people say, “Oh, they’ll never make it out of this old town”. But why is that such a bad thing? Small businesses are moving into our town at a rapid rate and our school is one of the best in not only the area but the state. The tight community is a perfect place to call home. The idea that people who don’t leave when they graduate are underachievers is preposterous. Although the town can not present some opportunities, it is far from “settling” if you stay.

Alums such as Jeffrey Long, Dr. Matthew Newlin, and so many more have created a successful life within our town. In order to become as driven and educated as these alums, you must have good teaching. Tyrone Area School District has raised so many successful individuals, and has done nothing but improved since the beginning.

In the past ten years, a lot of low-income housing developments have made their way to Tyrone. With that, some would expect crime and poverty. In spite of the recent spike of students living in less fortunate circumstances, Tyrone Area High School received a Blue Ribbon Award. New clubs and new mottos have arisen within the school and have made it a better place to be. This year, the sophomore class scored the highest on the PSAT exam in TAHS history. Just last year, the junior class scored the highest ever on the Biology and Literature Keystone Exams.

While TAHS has stellar academics, it also presents many unique assets that enhance the school without taking away from the traditional American high school experience. The cafe, Spring Fling, Golden Revolution’s Kickoff, Pennies for Panzi, and so many more opportunities for fun and alternative learning set Tyrone apart from other schools.

Adults have said time after time that high school is one of the best times of life and not to wish it away. Sometimes you don’t realize how good something is until it is gone, but why can’t we? And why can’t we try to be even better?

Other schools and students within our own district have fostered a stigma that Tyrone is nothing but a farming town full of hicks and thugs…which, yes, Tyrone does have these types, but it also has the most diversity one could imagine in a Central Pennsylvania town. Artists, athletes, instrumentalists, academics, farmers, singers, and just about everyone else roam the halls of Tyrone each and every day.

No one can say that their town offers everything for everyone. Of course, Tyrone can’t cater to careers or interests in certain fields due to its landlocked location, but for a small town of about 5,000 people, it presents about as much as possible, and what it can’t do, it makes up for in location. Tyrone is nestled in the perfect location between State College and Altoona. If you crave more of a bustling lifestyle, commuting to either city takes up no more than half of an hour. Even larger cities such as Harrisburg, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh are no further than a day trip away.

Tyrone is the ideal town to start a career and raise a family. So, next time you are up late doing homework and longing for it all to be over, think about how lucky you have been to grow up in the town of Tyrone. The town that cares.