Bird’s Hill School to mark 100 years

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This article was published 12/02/2014 (4491 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Bird’s Hill School is looking forward to celebrating its 100th anniversary.

The school is currently making preparations to mark its centennial with an event at the school on April 23 from 6 to 9 p.m. Bird’s Hill School is currently inviting alumni to contact principal Nori Dehn at ndehn@retsd.mb.ca to be kept in the loop about events as details are announced.

Dehn said a planning committee has been developed, and getting details finalized for the evening are well on their way. In addition to having a formal program, dignitaries from the River East Transcona School Division will be in attendance, students will be performing a selection of songs, and refreshments will be served. While there may be other entertainment or programs added to the evening’s roster, Dehn envisions the event as one for attendees to reconnect.

“It will be for people to come and visit,” said Dehn, who attended the school when it was situated at its initial site, where Sobeys now sits just east of the current site along Hoddinott Road. The school opened its current site in 1987, and celebrated the 25th anniversary of the new site in September 2012.

Current students are getting involved in the centennial fun, as every student will have a piece in a permanent art installation. The young artists are receiving guidance from artist Alice Kulyk.

The installation “ties in Aboriginal perspectives with writings”, said Dehn, as students have learned about the seven sacred teachings and about pourquoi tales (derived from the French word for “why”) where students, in this case, write about why an animal has a certain feature. Each student painted an animal on a square tile, and the tiles will be brought together to create the installation in the main hallway. Each class will also make a book of the stories, and the hope is to have them ready in time for the celebration.

As well, students are brainstorming words that describe the school, and 100 of those words will be posted on the bulletin board on the way to the gym.

“All the teachers will work with their classes to get the kids to come up with words to describe Bird’s Hill School, and we’ll have 100 in total,” she said.

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