January 3, 1954: "Professor" George B. Sweinhart Named Man of the Year in Inaugural Award Ceremony

By Margaret Leidy Harner from her book One Day at a Time: A Social History of Boyertown, PA.

January 3, 1954: The Boyertown Jaycees have initiated a prestigious award, The Man of the Year, and its first recipient is “Professor” George B. Sweinhart, the person who had the greatest impact on the formation of the Boyertown Area School District.

His career in education spanned 52 years. He had accepted a teaching position in Boyertown in 1917 at a salary of $75 a month, when Boyertown had 400 students and 20 teachers. With his promotion to Supervising Principal, he received $1200 per year. One of his responsibilities was to go door-to-door taking the school census every summer.

In 1952 he transformed 12 independent school districts into one unified jointure that spanned the largest area of any district in the state. His primary objective was to ensure that the thousands of students in the district received the best possible education, and their welfare was his foremost concern.

He was always respected for his vision and selfless efforts and he enjoyed his job. In addition to his supervisory position, at various times he was also a teacher of English, Latin, German, and plane geometry, as well as a basketball and track coach. His teams were consistent winners from 1913 to 1922. Twice his mile relay team took top honors in the Penn Relays.

His untiring efforts were not confined to education; he was also active in community affairs, one of the founders of the Boyertown Rotary Club in 1925 and a member of the board of directors of the Boyertown YMCA and the Visiting Nurse Association.

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