By Alice Ervin
The Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board will celebrate 150 years of Catholic education in the Ottawa region on April 30.
The event will be held at St. Anthony Elementary School, located at 391 Booth St. A book detailing the history of Catholic schools in the city will be available.
An archive will be displayed containing a book with details on the first classes to attend St. Anthony and former students are invited to bring pictures of their own to share.
“We felt it was appropriate to hold the event here because St. Anthony is one of the oldest in the city,” says Angela Ierullo, a member of the committee organizing the event.
“It’s a case where parents attended the school and they’re passing that tradition on to their children. We felt it was important to recognize that.”
St. Anthony opened in 1905 under the name Dante Academy. Through the years, it has provided an education and safe haven to many immigrants and therefore has a rich history of cultural integration. Many of the students are multilingual.
John Dorner, a former principal of St. Anthony, says he believes many still feel a deep personal connection to the school.
“Certainly during my tenure there I met many who just wanted to come back for a visit after many years, immigrants whose first school was St. Anthony,” Dorner says
“It’s a very rich history,” he added.
The celebration will begin with a mass at St. Anthony’s Church, 427 Booth St. followed by a reception.
Guests can bring pictures and other memorabilia to the event, Ierullo says, and if enough material is gathered, it will be collated into a book.
“There isn’t a lot of historical documentation about the school, and we’d definitely like to see more.”
For more information please contact Angela Ierullo at 613-828-1807 or John Dorner at 613-739-0963.