School Life

Entering the Roman Forum by the cypress-lined Via Sacra (Sacred Way), one sees the Arch of Titus looming in the near distance. Beyond, stand a multitude of pagan temple ruins signifying the magnificent imperial past of ancient Rome. It is an unforgettable experience for a group of students from Toronto who study antiquities in their classrooms back home.

Every three years, a group of Upper School students and supervisors from Hawthorn School for Girls travels to Italy for a 10-day learning adventure. The trip to Rome and the surrounding Italian countryside synthesizes Hawthorn's classical liberal arts program and allows students to "live" the subjects they study in class. On the March 2007 trip, they saw masterpieces of art such as the Sistine Chapel, examples of classical architecture such as Pompeii, and beautiful medieval hilltop towns in Tuscany.

Hawthorn's appreciation for the fine arts means nurturing the talents of its students, as well as supporting the arts outside of the school's walls. One special way Hawthorn does this is by taking on restoration projects at the Vatican Museums in Rome. The school raises money to provide the funds needed to restore objects of importance for the preservation of ancient art and architecture. A previous project was the restoration of a pair of Canaanite cymbals, and the present undertaking is the restoration of an Etruscan funerary urn. The group was able to see these projects on display in person while touring the Museums-one of the many high points of the 2007 trip.

Grade 11 student Neena says "the trip was like a 10 day history lesson," as well as "a way to understand the life of the ancient Romans, and link it to the life of the present-day Italians, and to modern civilization."

Connecting students in the present with the past and for the future - Hawthorn School for Girls