IHMS ANNUAL TEA PROMOTING THE HIGHEST IDEALS OF EDUCATION

The 2017 annual tea hosted by Immaculate Heart of Mary School, as always, pulled in a packed auditorium of school supporters. The event was held February 5 at the Flora Avenue school itself in Winnipeg’s North End just a block west from the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of Sts. Volodymyr and Olha. Besides the main event situated in the school’s gymnasium, other rooms hosted the bake sale, the numerous amazing prizes of the silent auction and various displays.

 

School Principal. Mr. Rod Picklyk, opened the event by welcoming the guests, acknowledging some of the special guests and giving a bit of a report on the present status of the school as well as plans and projects for the near future. The Archbishop of Winnipeg, Metropolitan Lawrence Huculak was joined by other dignitaries from Winnipeg’s religious, political and services communities as special guests of honour. The keynote speaker was University of Manitoba’s Professor Roman Yereniuk. He spoke on the importance of education within the province’s Ukrainian community from the earliest years of immigration right to the present. He offered a brief, albeit comprehensive, history of various important individuals and groups that promoted and facilitated better education among the people over the years. This fit well with this year’s theme of the tea – “Celebrating 125 Years of Ukrainian Settlement in Canada”. After the address, Dr. Yereniuk, assisted by School Director, Sr. Anne Pidskalny, SSMI performed the traditional gesture of lighting the candles and officially declaring the tea open.

 

Needless to say, the guests were treated to an amazing array of gourmet sandwiches, pickles and sweets. As one would expect, the tea flowed generously as students volunteered as tea-pourers throughout the afternoon keeping every cup warm and filled.

 

Immaculate Heart of Mary School has an extraordinary 112-year history that has seen to the elementary education of many of people who have gone on to be leaders and active members of the Winnipeg community. Operated by the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate from the beginning, the school strives to maintain a perfect balance of academic excellence and openness to faith-based values to this day. With the increasing request for enrollment on the part of Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian families, IHMS is exploring the possibility of expanding or building a new school facility in the near future.

 

For more information, visit the SCHOOL website or the LUBOV FOUNDATION.