Many see Ryan Banta as an award winning coach in both girls cross country and track. However, in high school, Banta enjoyed the performing arts more. Banta graduated from Parkway Central in 1997 and was involved in the choir.
“For me, honestly, choir was probably my favorite experience, I did it all year for four years, it was something that I didn’t think I would be very good at and I became quite good at it,” Banta said.
Even though choir wasn’t something he ultimately pursued, it made an impact on his life and made his high school experience enjoyable.
“I knew when I didn’t take that scholarship at Benedictine University for my voice, I knew that I would never get this experience that I had in choir,” Banta said.
Approaching its 70th year anniversary, Parkway Central has opened its doors to professional athletes, doctors, and educators; many of whom have returned to Central after their time as students. Many teachers found their passion for learning through former PCH staff. Art teacher Cara Deffenbaugh graduated in 1988 and found her passion for teaching through a PCH teacher.
“Lauren Davis, who was my teacher, was so supportive, and I loved being in her classroom, and I thought wow, I could see myself doing this,’” Deffenbaugh said.
The foreign language department also played a crucial role in forming future educators, including German teacher and 1994 graduate Christie Staszcuk.
“My high school German teacher Amy McMahon was an amazing teacher and a great mentor, she definitely encouraged my love of the German language and culture,” Staszcuk said.
German teacher Amy McMahon also had a profound impact on long term TA and Academic Support Eric Kniffin, who graduated in 2008.
“I remember doing particularly well on a German test I didn’t study for and Mrs. McMahon complimented me on that, she told me ‘Imagine how well you could do if you put in effort all the time,’” Kniffin said. “That was very inspiring to learn that your potential can be much higher if you really apply yourself.”
Teachers who stay at Parkway Central often have a positive influence that impacts teenagers from many different years. Choir teacher and 2002 graduate Ben Silvermintz currently works with one of his role models.
“Though Mr. Hoover is a lifelong learner and is always sharpening the proverbial ax, he is still the same wonderful human being, and educator he was during my time in school,” Silvermintz said.
Parkway Central teachers not only teach important subjects such as math or English, but also important life lessons.
“One of the most important things I ever did was stayed in Mr. Greathouse’s chemistry class, he was the hardest flipping teacher we’ve ever had, I wanted to transfer out of his class and he refused, he said ‘you’re going to work in here and get a good grade’ and that was the most rewarding b- in my entire life,” Banta said.
Although the positive impact teachers make at PCH has been consistent throughout its 70 years, many things have changed socially at Central such as girls sports, according to Assistant Principal and 1989 graduate Shruti Upadhyay.
“Title IX had just started showing up for girls when I was in middle school, so we have far more girls sports offered today, when I was in high school there weren’t that many girl athletes, and the few that were, everyone was amazed they could do stuff boys could do which was funny,” Upadhyay said.
Title IX today is seen today through PCH’s multitude of elite girls sports programs, such as volleyball, who won the district championship and posted a successful record of 24-14-1, and track and field who won a state championship for the first time in the program’s history.
“Sustaining that excellence year in and year out at a school where people told me that can’t be done here, we don’t have the culture, we don’t have the athletes and now 20 years later we were state champions which was a beautiful moment for me,” Banta said.
Upadhyay, a JV tennis and volleyball player, was an active member of the Parkway Central community, however her involvement was cut short due to external factors.
“When I was in high school a lot of my activities were cut short; my parents liked to sponsor people from overseas,” Upadhyay said. “During my duration at Parkway Central we always had 10 extra extended family members living at my house, so I would oftentimes have to quit a sport to help everyone out,”
Not only did girls sports change in Parkway Central’s history but also the diversity of the student body changed.
“When I went to high school, West County and Chesterfield just started getting more immigration. Moving in, my family was probably one of the only brown people in Chesterfield. We just started getting students transferring in and we didn’t have this diverse makeup,” Upadhyay said. Despite all the changes, many faculty are the same from when they first entered Central High’s doors as students.
“I was a defender of anyone who got made fun of, particularly if they were foreign students, anybody of color, or even anyone who was shy,” Upadhyay said. “I’m still a fierce defender of the underdog, I was the president of the teachers association for four years, I got us a pay raise during the year of COVID-19, and fought for a lot of benefits for teachers.”
Another thing that has stayed the same about Central is its commitment to developing well-rounded students.
“Our school really celebrates having multiple strengths,” Banta said. “So we want kids to not only be good academically in math, reading and writing, and things like that, but also we want kids to be stellar, in music, and in art.” Central’s high emphasis on academics is also something that has stayed the same. “I think our elite students really value the academic experience that they get here, I think that if a kid does participate in their education, that they will be better prepared than many of their peers from other schools,” Banta said.
Along with providing a strong and nurturing environment, Central has also fostered memories, many of which are rooted in long-standing Parkway Central traditions.
“My favorite memory from Parkway Central was powderpuff. At that time the football players gave the powderpuff players their jersey and I wore Ryan Young’s jersey and he went on to play in the NFL,” Staszcuk said.
While some alumni’s favorite memories stem from tradition, others are rooted in opportunities Central has just recently tried to revive.
“My favorite memory was probably winning the state hockey championship at the end of my senior year, just being part of them, all the practices and games, it was a fun time,” Kniffin said.
PCH has not only provided positive memories for students but also for faculty.
“My favorite memory is the first day the teachers came to the building. That was a lot of fun, just getting to know them and just seeing the passion was really cool,” Upadhyay said.
From 1954-2023 the world has seen many evolutions in technology, something that is reflected in Central’s history.
“The most obvious difference is the proliferation of smartphones. These simply did not exist in the late 1990s and early 2000s and I will be forever grateful for that fact,” Silvermintz said.
Kniffin, who attended Parkway Central from 2005-2008, saw the beginnings of the ever changing technological developments
“iPhones were just starting to become a thing when I was in high school, and smartphones have changed the social dynamic in a way, kids today can walk around all day and never communicate with people if they want,” Kniffin said.
Despite the many changes throughout Parkway Central’s history, the positive connection between students and staff has still remained.
“The staff is still very caring of all the students and wants to see everyone succeed. I always felt like teachers had the student’s best interests and wanted to see people grow, become great humans,great adults and now I see the challenges that staff face in accomplishing this. That’s what makes the job fun and fulfilling,” Kniffin said.
