Hillendale unveils mascot statue

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Hillendale Elementary School students pose around the newly unveiled statue of the school's symbol, a Siberian husky.

“Just our husky statue,” Hillendale PTO President Janette Grieb responded during each PTO meeting when former Hillendale Principal Michael Audevard asked if anything else was needed from Hillendale staff. “I said that about a thousand times,” said Grieb jokingly.

On Friday, June 2, Hillendale Elementary School unveiled a new statue to commemorate what it means to be a Hillendale Husky. During the school’s annual field day, students and staff partook in a ceremony displaying a new, life-sized Husky statue outside the school’s main office entrance.

The official unveiling.

“A husky made sense to me. We have the perfect location, right outside the [main office entrance] door. I am excited that next year when our kindergarteners start, they will take a picture every single year until the day they graduate.” Grieb said.

Grieb, a Penn State alum, said the inspiration for the Husky statue came from Penn State’s Nittany Lion statue. “Taking photos on the Nittany Lion was my favorite,” Grieb said, “If PSU can have a lion, then HES can have a husky.”

When a friend and fellow Hillendale parent Carrie Lee asked what her family could donate to the school, Grieb compiled a wish list of items for the elementary school; however, Grieb said she never expected the husky statue,"‘at the end of the list," to be donated by the Lee family.

“When you have great teachers and great staff, then you get great parents like the Lee family,” Grieb said. “These are the people that make parents do crazy things like donate a statue so our children can make memories here on campus.”

The Lees reiterated that the elementary school’s excellent staff and surrounding community is what encouraged them to make such a generous donation.

“We had two kids go through their elementary education here and it has always been such a happy and welcoming place and it has such a great impact on the rest of their lives,” Carrie Lee said. “We believe this is one of the best schools in the country. We don’t send our kids to private schools because of how amazing Hillendale is,” Jim Lee added.

They said the statue symbolizes future generations at Hillendale and that each student will carry on a legacy that begins with Hillendale. “Every kid here is the future of our country,” Jim Lee said.

The Lees currently have a fourth grader, Redford Griffiths, at Hillendale and a seventh grader, Anderson Griffiths, at Patton Middle School. During the ceremony, fourth grader, Redford Griffiths read an acrostic poem depicting what it means to be a student at Hillendale.

The plaque reads: “Dedicated to all the children, teachers, and staff of Hillendale Elementary School. [A] gift of James & Carrie Lee in honor of their sons, Anderson and Redford. Inspired by PTO President Janette Grieb. Given Spring, 2023.”

While spelling out Hillendale letter-by-letter, Griffiths highlighted the ‘helpful teachers’ and the ‘loving can caring’ environment that Hillendale fosters. The audience erupted in applause as Griffiths finished his poem saying, “E stands for eco-friendly Green Ribbon school.” This year, Hillendale is one of three Pennsylvania schools to be named a Green Ribbon School by the US Department of Education.

Hillendale teacher Patrick Ricci also spoke, saying that students stay part of the school forever, remarking “Once you are a Husky, you are always a Husky.”

Ricci honored former Hillendale teacher Dave Lichter, and former Hillendale Principals Steve Dissinger and Michael Audevard, as being "huskies forever."

Dissinger currently serves as Patton Middle School’s Principal and Audevard serves as the Director of Curriculum and Instruction for the Unionville Chadds Ford School District.

“You are not only a Husky during those six years you are here at Hillendale,” Ricci said to students.

And students cheered back at him with “Always a Husky.”

During his speech, Ricci said that graduating "Huskies" would visit their former elementary school during the senior stroll this Tuesday, June 6. To close, Ricci brought up 10 students to flip the Hillendale letters during a chant that used to take place after assemblies.

Hillendale Principal Joshua Leight also spoke on the importance of the new statue, joking that several students approached him with guesses of what the statue might be, ranging from [Eagles' quarterback] Jalen Hurts throwing a touchdown pass, to the World’s Largest Bosco Stick. But even then he wouldn’t tell the students what was about to be unveiled.

“I can’t tell you what is under this tarp, but I can tell you that whatever it is, it celebrates what makes Happy Hillendale so special,” Leight said. “What is under this tarp is a symbol of the amazing things we can achieve when we work hard, dream big, and believe in ourselves,” he said.

(Photos by Rich Schwartzman)

About Ellie Vasko

Ellie Vasko is a 2022 graduate of Unionville High School and a rising sophomore at George Washington University. She has written for the GW Hatchet and Unionville Post. She is interning with Chadds Ford Live this summer.

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