Students bustling through the hallways, calling out to each other and wandering wide-eyed around familiar buildings is a common sight at Orange High School during the week.
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On Saturday, the halls came to life again with students coming back and forth, with one noticeable change - there was slightly more grey hair in the class of 1979 than there is in the class of 2019.
The year 12 cohort of 1979, alongside their peers who finished year 10 in 1977, had their 40-year reunion on Saturday at the school, being treated to a tour of the grounds by current principal Chad Bliss.
SEE MORE PICS OF THE REUNION: Out and about: Parties and events from November 5-10
OHS school captains in 1979 Michelle Bradley and Paul McNamara were among the 70-odd out of 200 who returned on Saturday.
Ms Bradley said it was "unbelievable" walking through the halls for the first time in 40 years.
"The school's changed so much," she said.
A lot of kids left and went to Sydney for tertiary studies but more people are staying and doing this at CSU which is great for the town.
- OHS 1979 school captain Paul McNamara
"The gardens we used to sit in, they've got these huge trees and these were small trees when we were here."
She said technology was one of the biggest changes since then, with no mobile phones nor computers in the school during their study - with Mr McNamara adding he didn't even see his first fax machine before he moved to Sydney and began working.
"It was a totally different lifestyle on that front," he said.
He said the courses had also changed.
"There's a lot more set courses, you'll do English, maths, science, but now there's more variety and flexibility which I think is a great idea to prepare you for what you want to do," he said.
"However, on the other hand they're rethinking maths but I think as a society we'd be better off if everyone had basic maths, lifestyle business style maths."
Mr McNamara's children studied at the school, but beyond the occasional concert he's "barely" been back at the school despite living in Orange for the past 30 years after a decade in Sydney.
Most students in 1979 - including both school captains - left the city after school.
"A lot of kids left and went to Sydney for tertiary studies but more people are staying and doing this at CSU which is great for the town," Mr McNamara said.
Ms Bradley, however, while still visiting Orange often to see family, hasn't lived in the city since she graduated.
"I often drive past and think 'that's new, an electronic board out the front'," she said.
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Max Stainkamph
Max joined the CWD in September 2017, leaving the big smoke of Melbourne to come to Orange, where he stayed until 2020.
Max joined the CWD in September 2017, leaving the big smoke of Melbourne to come to Orange, where he stayed until 2020.
