The Jim Thorpe Area High School Class of 1964 has given a gift that will keep on giving to the school district. On Saturday, the class presented the district with a polished granite bench inscribed with the words "We enter to learn, we leave to serve."

The bench, created and donated by the Walters Monument Co., Summit Hill, sits outside the high school principal's office.Reunion chairman Ed Moyer of Jim Thorpe said the class wanted to do something special for its 50th anniversary, and had considered installing a bench in a borough park. The school board suggested the class put it instead on school district property.Greg Walters of Walters Monument said he was chatting with Moyer about the Palmerton war memorial when talk turned to the bench, and he decided to make the donation.The gift took high school Principal Tom Lesisko by surprise."We were expecting a wooden bench, " he said. "This is an overwhelming monument to the class and to the spirit of the Jim Thorpe Olympians."Harry Eisenhardt of Perkiomen, who coordinates the class' monthly meetings, said the group is considering future gifts, perhaps a garden or beautification project for the borough.