John Fitzgerald Kennedy Elementary School’s

Rededication Ceremony

Kennedy student body getting ready for the assembly.

Opening remarks by Mr. Ricketts, Kennedy’s Principal.

Kennedy 3rd grade students sing “Abraham, Martin, and John.”

Kennedy Elementary School first-grader Haily waits Tuesday surrounded by her classmates to present an example of the first grade’s school project.

Kennedy 6th grade students sing “America, The Beautiful.”

Kennedy Elementary School fourth-grader Madyson explains her Space Race Timeline to the audience.

Kennedy Elementary School fourth-grader Jordyn explains her Wordle project to the audience.

Remarks from Mrs. Monica Klein, Social Studies teacher from John F. Kennedy Middle School in Bethpage, New York.

Remarks from Mrs. Judy Jonart, Butte Superintendent.

Remarks from Mr. Matt Vincent, Chief Executive of Butte.

Remarks from Mrs. Margie Willhite, 3rd grade teacher at Kennedy and daughter of Oakie O’Connor, principal at the time of the renaming.

Seated in 300 new chairs in a spruced-up gym, the students shared art work, speeches and sang with passion. “I’m OK with the program being long because the kids had a voice,” said Kennedy Principal Ron Ricketts. “This was their project.” The Kennedy Crusaders shared the celebration with sister school Kennedy Middle School in Bethpage, N.Y., represented by Monica Klein, sixth-grade social studies teacher, who came to Butte for the event. She was impressed with the turnout and well-behaved students. “It was amazing,” said Klein. “You never realize what information these kids will take with them.” Last November Kennedy held a rededication ceremony via Skype with the Bethpage school, located on Long Island, which Ricketts attended. He greeted his students back home on the big screen. Both schools were the first nationwide to be renamed in honor of JFK. Both events reaffirmed student pledges to live out his legacy, said Ricketts. The Butte Kennedy School’s original ceremony, on Jan. 4, 1964, came on the heels of the president’s Nov. 22, 1963, assassination. Kevin Shannon, Butte school board chairman 50 years ago who spearheaded the name change, attended Tuesday’s ceremony with wife Joan Shannon and daughters, Archives director Ellen Crain and Margaret Harrington, a district art teacher. Pat Williams, former Montana congressman and Butte native, read Montana Sen. Mike Mansfield’s original dedication speech from Jan. 4, 1964, when the nation mourned. It was that day that Big Butte School became Kennedy School. Williams taught at Blaine Elementary School in the Butte school district 50 years ago.On that day, he listened from a doorway in the back of the gym to Mansfield’s speech just days after JFK’s assassination. “He knew that education was the master key to human decency and international peace,” Williams remembered Mansfield saying of JFK. By Renata Birkenbuel, The Montana Standard

Closing Remarks

Mrs. Hawbaker’s 4th Graders!