The month of March 2001 began with “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” leading the box office and it ended with Chris Batten having just a single marking period left in his high school career. Now we hear what happened to Chris when there were no more periods left to mark.

For example, we learned that Chris’s post-NFA journey was a unique one. After earning a degree, he began his career with the state’s Department of Corrections. It’s his side hustle, however, that really animates him: he became a world class knifemaker! (BirchCustoms.com) Both career and hobby make for interesting discussion topics in this fascinating episode.

Ian’s trivia about knife-making was, like some knives, rough around the edges, but Chris took most questions as an opportunity to sharpen everyone’s knowledge. Chris closes with an insightful retrospective about what makes NFA so valuable, including a couple of Delta Unit teachers who made a big impact on him.

His name is Chris Batten, and he’s a member of the NFA Class of 2001.

Finishing off Lovebird February is Elizabeth Brown, but do you know which 2001er she’s lovebirds with? Listen to find out.

You should also listen because Elizabeth proved to be one of RWS’s most articulate and insightful guests. In this episode, you’ll learn about her outdoorsy first summer after high school before joining Ian and Zack pursuing and then excelling in the field of public education. Elizabeth offers incredible insights into being a reading instructor, particularly in an era of evolving technology offering both opportunities and distractions, the latter of which, as you’ll hear, gets under Jim’s skin. Once you hear Elizabeth’s approach to teaching reading, you’ll wish she was in every school in America.

Because she likes musicals, Elizabeth (and listeners) also has to steel herself against Ian’s unique trivia, where each of our co-hosts hums famous musical numbers to see if Elizabeth can guess where they came from. It wasn’t pretty. Finally, Elizabeth recounts her time at the Norwich Free Academy, including how a certain 10th grade English teacher saw something special in her, marking a turning point in her life as a student. Who could it be? Oh, and Ian asks about horses on highways.

Her name is Elizabeth Brown, and she’s a member of the NFA Class of 2001.

In our 25th episode of looking back on 25 years, we have the gregarious Joe Ruffo. Listen to hear how his NFA work ethic carried him into his first post-diploma summer, where he balanced two jobs, a golf habit, and American Legion baseball. His go get ‘em attitude eventually led him to a successful career for a local business, rising to manager of a 13-million dollar store. We never get tired of hearing these Wildcat success stories.

Joe is now married with kids. Since it’s still Wildcat Lovebird Month here at “Red & White @ Silver,” you’ll need to find out which fellow 2001er he married. Joe is also a massive Patriots fan. As such, he had to field some tough trivia questions about the table’s favorite team. (Little did they know their squad was just one year away from returning to the Super Bowl!) He also has plenty of fond memories about the Norwich Free Academy that he shares with us, including remembering some of our dearly departed classmates.

His name is Joe Ruffo, and he’s a member of the NFA Class of 2001.

It’s Valentine’s Day Week! And what better way to mark it than having as guests the NFA Class of 2001’s Class Couple! That’s right. They stayed together all these years later. What a story!

In this episode, we learn how it all went down. Hear how they met, where they went after NFA, how Mike proposed, and where their family has ended up. Ian also uses this unique pair of guests to do a unique round of trivia–the first ever “Red & White @ Silver” Newlywed Game! Mike and Danielle also share their memories about the Norwich Free Academy. Although many teachers received a shoutout, perhaps the most memorable was some life advice from Mr. Merrill–advice that our guests fortunately ignored. The guests and hosts also put their heads together to piece together the words to the NFA Alma Mater. Do you remember all the lyrics to the first verse? It’s a fun episode from our delightful Class Couple.

Their names are Danielle (Dunn) and Mike Lavallee, and they’re members of the NFA Class of 2001.

As we kick off the romantic month of February, “Red & White @ Silver” has lined up four episodes where our guest NFA Wildcat married another NFA Wildcat! That starts with the great Eric Beit. Do you know what alum he married? Because as you’ll hear, Ian clearly didn’t.

What else has Eric been up to? In this episode, we learn he went into the family business, but even our brilliant and well-prepared classmate could not prevent market forces from ultimately shuttering the beloved Beit Brothers grocery store. The resilient Eric pivoted, largely thanks to his wise words (“never burn your bridges”), and you’ll learn the nimble Wildcat ended up just fine. Eric also needed to endure two categories of trivia, one a lightning round about famous brothers, the other about Eric’s favorite musical genre. He also heaps some heavy praise onto the Norwich Free Academy, and you can hear the pride in his voice when he describes being “part of something multigenerational.” The reminiscing reaches its height when he recalls a lengthy and detailed memory of Mr. Novakowski’s freshman biology class. Oh, and Ian rants against Samuel Huntington. Not the school. The guy.

His name is Eric Beit, and he’s a member of the NFA Class of 2001.

That’s 21 episodes down, 21 to go for “Red & White @ Silver.” To kick off the back half of RWS, we have a first: TWO guests! Join us to catch up with Amber Desrosier and Class Secretary Debby Allard, two BFFs who have been inseparable since meeting while freshmen at the Norwich Free Academy nearly 29 years ago.

One listen to this episode and you’ll realize how two friends can walk separate paths yet remain together. Listen to hear where those paths took them. One left the state, one stayed close to home. One entered the field of marketing, the other education. One is proud of the other, while the other is even prouder. Even more delightful is what they have in common. Both have kids who call the other Auntie. Both have jobs that led to visits back to the beautiful NFA campus. And both dominated “Famous Duos” trivia.

Oh, and there’s another first for the podcast: our first ever live Ad Read! We hope you’ll enjoy that and all the sidesplittingly funny memories our hilarious guests share with us about their time at our alma mater. Their names are Amber Desrosier Berg and Debby Allard, and they’re members of the NFA Class of 2001.

On January 20, 2001, George W. Bush was sworn in as America’s 43rd President. SPEAKING OF PRESIDENTS… this week’s guest needs no introduction. She was the President of the Norwich Free Academy’s Class of 2001: Morgan Miller!

In this episode, we learn what her post-presidency was like. Did she write a memoir? No. But does she have a library dedicated to her? Also no. Still, that’s not to say she hasn’t had an impressive life. She shipped up to Syracuse for all sorts of education before returning to her home state, recently becoming a Director of Marketing. In that capacity she’s testified at the State Capitol, showing our great President still has political blood running through her red and white veins.

Morgan also shares some of her hobbies, including hiking, an activity that once led to a chance hilltop encounter with a fellow 2001 grad who upon seeing her promptly kneeled and paid his respects with a “Madam President.” Listen to find out who this zany, mystery Wildcat was. Morgan also recalls her time at NFA, including teachers, coaches, and classes that left an impact. Finally, she withstands not one (hiking), not two (Election 2000), but three (NFA) rounds of trivia! (Sorry. It was our first day of recording and we were still finding our way.)

Her name is Morgan Miller, and she’s the President of the NFA Class of 2001.

“What’s it like going to a school where your parents DIDN’T teach?” So begins Zack Lamothe’s recontextualization of the question he’d been asked a thousand times at the Norwich Free Academy. As listeners of this podcast know, our cohost’s parents were the universally beloved Mr. and Mrs. Lamothe, who taught math and English, respectively. (We hope Mrs. Lamothe approves of that sentence structure.) In this episode, we learn how this unusual circumstance affected Zack’s trajectory at the Norwich Free Academy.

We also learn what happened to Zack after high school. Like his legendary parents, he too became an educator. He’s also published five books, which is five times more than Ian and infinitely more than Jim. Meanwhile, as the author of BackyardRoadTrips.com, Zack had to withstand Ian’s trivia about Zack’s own website. Then, catching the two of them off guard, Jim surprised both history teachers with a “history-off” – trivia questions about early(ish) American history. Which cohost won the best out of five?

We’re sure you’ll agree Zack’s turn in the hot seat made for one of our best episodes. His name is Zack Lamothe, a host of Red & White @ Silver, and a member of the NFA Class of 2001.