On Wednesday, October 23rd, Hawthorn School gathered to honour our beloved grandparents with an afternoon of entertainment, refreshments, and togetherness. Thank you to our faculty and staff for shepherding student rehearsals so carefully in anticipation of this wonderful annual celebration. The Atrium was filled with animated chit chat as grandparents gathered at specially decorated tables and Gr. 7’s greeted guests and served coffee, tea, shortbread cookies, and fresh fruit.
Ms Zupan led our festivities with a warm welcome to all of our cherished grandparents, reminding us of Pope Francis’ institution of World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly and citing his reminder of the vocation of elders ‘to preserve our roots, to pass on the faith to the young, and to care for the little ones’. Before blessing our assembly, our school chaplain, Fr. Eric Nicolai, invited our elders to think of themselves as the aged tree’s sweet cherries that legendarily sustained Mary, Mother of God, on her exhausting flight into Egypt with her young family.
And then, the student tributes began! Our very littlest Hawthorn flowers blossomed forth from the Daycare room and gave the first performance by singing acapella ‘Grandparents Song’, showing their love for grandmas and grandpas. Junior and Senior Kindergarten students followed with Louis Armstrong’s ‘What a Wonderful World’, with beautifully choreographed actions.
As the grades progressed, students recited a ‘Thank You’ poem, showed a touching photo-montage of themselves with their grandparents, read a prayer for them with handmade visuals, proved their math sense with the fun ‘Place Value Song’, did a choral recitation of John Masefield’s poem ‘A Wanderer’s Song’, as well as, impressively, a memorized excerpt from the 70-stanza poem ‘Horatius at the Bridge‘ in preparation for the coveted Winston Churchill Award.
The Grade 3 strings ensemble played and sang ‘I Like Popcorn’, and Ms Kim led first the US Choir with Irving Berlin’s ‘Blue Skies’ and Bach’s ‘Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring’ with violin, followed by a trio of songs from the LS Choir whose clear young voices rang out angelically from the balcony above us. Truly, more than one tear of joy was shed during these heartfelt performances which were at turns adorable, moving, and spunky. Finally, the LS students regally performed the traditional ‘Kings and Queens’ folk dance – and then invited their grandparents to join in as laughter, singing, and dancing filled the room!
Ms Zupan wrapped things up by inviting grandparents to have their photo taken with their grandchild as a memento of our celebration and to take a student-led tour of their grandchild’s classroom. In her thoughtful words, ‘With an abundance of gratitude we remember and cherish the invaluable wisdom and love that our grandparents impart to us.’ Thank you, grandparents!
