Staff and former students of St. Anthony School are gearing up for the school’s 90th anniversary gala, reunion and fundraiser to be held on Sept. 26, marking a big milestone for the Little Italy community.
Paul McGuire, the current principal of St. Anthony School, says the organizing committee started preparing for the event this past summer. He said it’s the older generation of students who are spearheading the fundraiser.
“The gala event is something that was organized by a group of community members who wanted to do something for the school,” McGuire says. “They’re in essence giving back to the school that was their first school when they arrived here in Canada decades ago.”
St. Anthony School, formerly known as the Dante Academy, started in 1925 as an inner-city elementary school that welcomed children of immigrant families coming from Europe, predominantly from Italy. To this day, the school – part of the Ottawa Catholic School Board – continues to work with new immigrant populations and takes pride in how rich in culture the school is.
Ermelinda Mancini was just seven years old when she first attended St. Anthony after her family emigrated from Italy in 1961. She was unfamiliar with the English language and Canadian culture at first, but said it was the patience and tolerance of her teachers that made the transition easier.
“St. Anthony’s for me was a new beginning in a land that I knew little about,” Mancini said via email.
Today, she’s part of the enthusiastic team of former students who are making this event happen.
“Former students of the school have fond memories of their start at the school and most of them have come forward to help and attend the event,” she said. “The turnout is phenomenal.”
The goal, according to McGuire, is to raise enough funds to rebuild the schoolyard. The plan is to tear up the old asphalt and replace it with a more water-permeable, child-friendly surface – a kind of rejuvenation that other several downtown schools, such as Glashan, Centennial and Elgin Street, have been undertaking in recent years.
The proposed refurbishment at St. Anthony, located near the intersection of Booth Street and Gladstone Avenue, would also reduce storm water drain-off, which McGuire says is a big problem in the neighbourhood.
“It’s a very, very expensive project, but all the proceeds from the fundraiser will go directly to it,.
Both Mancini and McGuire are confident that the goal will be met since the fundraiser is receiving such a positive response so far. McGuire says the project will cost about $100,000 to complete.
“The way things are going, the event’s going to be sold out.”
Angela Ierullo, a former student and member of the gala’s organizing committee, says she’s amazed at how many people want to give back to the school.
“It’s been very, very emotional in a positive way,” she said. “The school had given them so much and they want to give something back.”
Ierullo has three generations of family who have attended St. Anthony School – her mother, herself, and her niece. Looking back, she says, the school was a “moral compass” in the same way her parents taught her about values.
“I feel very privileged,” says McGuire, “to be the principal of a school like this.”