Wednesday, May 16 marked an exciting day for four local students, an old schoolhouse project and the community.
While the event may have taken place in Washington, D.C., the focus was on the Lake Orion community and how they are coming together to preserve and restore the Howarth School, located on Silverbell and Bald Mountain Roads.
‘Every community has its own story, and the Howarth School is part of our story and that’s why it’s important to us,? said Leslie Pielack of the Orion Historical Society.
For over a year now, members from the Historical Society and various other community organizations have been working together on research, preservation and restoration.
Students from Upland Hills School and volunteers from the Orion Township Library and Orion Neighborhood Television (ONTV) have assisted in archeological digging, documenting, conducting oral histories and creating a book about the project.
Due to their involvement in this project, four students (Theo Zucker and Malina Vervane of Upland Hills, Ashley Klingler of the Orion Public Library and Katherine Johnson of ONTV) accompanied Pielack and Ted Strunck, a teacher at Upland Hills School, on the trip to D.C. to find out if the Historical Society was the recipient of an additional Save Our History award from The History Channel. The project won a grant last year for $10,000.
This additional award was one of three awards that were being awarded to finalists from around the country. Ten different projects were chosen as finalists to come to D.C. to be considered for these awards, and additional grant money was given to the winner of the American Express Preservation Award, the Newsweek Classroom Award and the Lowe’s Community Award.
According to Frankie Goldstone of The History Channel, the Historical Society’s Howarth School Project was chosen for the Lowe’s Community Award.
?(The Orion Historical Society was) selected for this award due to the incredible community support garnered as a result of their work on the Howarth School Project,? Goldstone said.
According to Pielack, the award is considered a $10,000 cash award that the Historical Society can use on whatever project they see fit.
‘By bringing this cash prize back with us, it seems to be The History Channel’s way of saying that not only did you do a great job with this project, but keep on doing a great job,? Pielack said.
?(The Howarth School Project) is an amazing project, but it’s not the only one,? she added. ‘Look at all the other stories in our community that haven’t been told yet.?
Pielack said that the Historical Society has not made any decisions on what to use the money for, but will be looking at different projects to see where it could be best utilized.
In the meantime, work will continue with the Howarth School. Students at Upland Hills are currently working on restoring the bell tower, which will be put back on the building upon completion. Following that, work will begin on the outside, including painting and restoring.
Girl Scout Troop 1363, which spent a weekend cleaning out the inside of the school, will be hosting a pancake breakfast in June to raise money for the school repairs and restoration. So far, Lake Orion elementary students have already raised over $25,000 through school fundraisers to benefit the project.
‘We would never have received this award if it was not for all parts of our community coming together and working together to make this project a success,? Pielack added, thanking the community for their support.