Dr. Robert Thornton Public School Students Paint the Town Red

Posted On Tuesday January 21, 2020
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On December 18th, staff and students dressed in red from head to toe for the Paint the Town Red contest.

Showing off their school spirit and love of hockey for Rogers Hometown Hockey

The Paint the Town Red contest began this past November, and led up to the Rogers Hometown Hockey event which took place on December 28th and 29th at Iroquois Park in Whitby. The event was one of 25 stops that sports-television presenters Ron McLean and Tara Slone made during this season’s Rogers Hometown Hockey Tour.

The contest was separated into four categories: Residential, Business, School, and Minor Hockey Association.

Participants were encouraged to decorate their home, work, or school environments with a red Hometown Hockey theme.

“Every student was given a colouring page, and every teacher was invited to decorate their bulletin boards,” explains Jill Harvey, Vice Principal of Dr. Robert Thornton Public School.

Student Spirit

Harvey says staff and students fully embraced the opportunity to get creative, “Some classes went above and beyond - we had a 3D hockey rink on one bulletin board, one class set up a miniature ice rink in the foyer, another class coded a giant iPhone that played, The Good Old Hockey Game by Stompin’ Tom Connors and made the buzzer sounds when you pressed the buttons. We had ringette and hockey trophies and uniforms on display, a giant cut-out goalie for pictures, a hockey stick Christmas tree in the front entrance, we took black and white shots of all the students that play hockey and posted them in our 'Thornton Hall of Hockey Players', our Kindergarten classes made pond hockey displays with cut outs of each student playing pond hockey...the list just goes on!”

On December 18th a panel of judges that included local Members of Council and the Local Organizing Committee for Rogers Hometown Hockey visited Dr. Robert Thornton PS. “On the day the judges arrived, we had everyone dress in red, students lined the hallways, and our custodian drove her 'zamboni' (a floor sweeper) up and down the hallways with a line up of hockey fans singing the Good Old Hockey Game!” says Harvey.

The next morning, Harvey says she received an email from Rogers Hometown Hockey saying they had won first place in the School category.

“Everyone was thrilled! From the onset we promoted the event not as a competition, but as an opportunity to show our school spirit and support of Hometown Hockey. It was never a 'we've got to win this!' situation. It was more of a 'let’s show Rogers Hometown Hockey that Dr. Robert Thornton PS has spirit!' Winning was an added bonus,” Harvey says excitedly.

Harvey says that a representative from the Town of Whitby will be stopping by the school in January to present staff and students with a $500 pizza voucher and a certificate acknowledging their hard work.

Congratulations are also in order for E.A. Fairman PS who took second place honours, and Captain Michael VandenBos PS who came in third.