A 21st birthday is a symbol of growth and is seen as an initiation into adulthood.
St Stithians Girls’ College, founded in 1995, is celebrating their 21st birthday in an unconventional, historical manner.
The school’s gym has been converted into a museum which doffs its hat to 21 years of memories, growth and development. This museum was opened for viewing on 1 June.
Each of the high school grades was assigned a specific task in putting this museum together and the preparatory school also got involved. The displays in the museum contain posters, pictures and symbols which represent the school’s history.
Leanne Horwitz, a history teacher at the school said, “This museum is symbolic of a coming-of-age in the school. During a 21st celebration, a person looks back on their life and reflects on their past. This is exactly what we wanted our pupils to do and we wanted the pupils to know where they came from.”
This exhibition put the pupils into a St Stithians’ time machine and transported them back to the building of the school in 1994.
“The Grade 8 pupils were assigned the task of researching all aspects of the school. They then had to bake a cake to represent this aspect of the school. There are cakes of the school uniform, the chapel and even the swimming pool on display.”
Horwitz said the Grade 9 pupils had to interview old St Stithians’ pupils who had matriculated in the past and their research was put on display boards in the museum. This aspect of the display celebrated past pupils who had succeeded in life such as Daniela Gutstadt who matriculated in 2007 and is now a head chef and manager at a well-known restaurant.
“The Grade 10 pupils delved into the art of film and did a short documentary on the school and this is displayed in the screening room of the gym. The Grade 11 pupils had a very academically challenging task and they had to research 21 years of South African history, for example, the 2010 Soccer World Cup. This display not only shows the school’s history but our country’s history.”
Wendy Robinson, the head of the history department said, “Everything you see has been done by the girls – the teachers did not get too involved. We wanted to create synergy between the high school and preparatory school so the preparatory school also had a history display as a part of the museum.”
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