HAWTHORNE PUBLIC SCHOOL MARKS 111 YEARS - Full day of activities planned June 11 to celebrate milestone

June 1, 2010, Ottawa, ON — How do you celebrate 111 years of community education – you invite the students, alumni, parents, neighbours, family, friends, and community partners to a day of family fun.

Hawthorne Public School Principal Francesse Kopczewski says the school community will mark its 111th anniversary on Friday, June 11 with a day-long celebration featuring an open house, assembly, reception, and a family fun fair. The school is located 2158 St. Laurent Boulevard.

Hawthorne, an Ottawa-Carleton District School Board school, is currently housed in a building constructed 50 years ago but it boasts a much longer history that includes a one-room schoolhouse built in 1899. Daily school life in that one-room schoolhouse is still clear in the memories of many former students who plan to attend the celebration. “Hawthorne is an excellent school with a long tradition of quality education,” says Principal Francesse Kopczewski. “It has evolved tremendously since its inception as a one-room schoolhouse into the dynamic JK-8 facility it is today.”

The schedule for the day includes:

10 a.m. to Noon: Student Activities throughout the school

10 a.m. to Noon & 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. HISTORY AND MEMORABILIA EXHIBIT open to the public

1 to 1:40 p.m. — ASSEMBLY for alumni and dignitaries, including Ottawa South MP David McGuinty, Alta Vista Councillor Peter Hume (a former Hawthorne student),
OCDSB Director of Education Dr. Lyall Thomson, OCDSB Chair Cathy Curry, Trustee Bronwyn Funiciello; in addition to former students from the 1920s

1:45 p.m. Students, staff and honoured guests PLANT A TREE

1:50 p.m. Old meets new when current Hawthorne students perform a FLASH MOB DANCE in the schoolyard

2 –-2:30 p.m. RECEPTION in Room 20 for all alumni and guests

2:30 – 3:45 p.m. Hawthorne school closes to set up for the evening events

4 to 6 p.m.FAMILY FUN FAIR featuring pony rides, petting zoo, Little Ray’s Reptiles, bouncy castle, Let’s Talk Science, antique fire trucks, square dance demonstration,
coffee house musical, barbershop quartet, story-telling, face-painting, cricket match, and old-fashioned games

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For more information, please contact: Hawthorne Principal Francesse Kopczewski at 613-733-6221 or send an e-mail to hawthorne111@rogers.com. More information is posted at hawthorneps.ocdsb.ca.