Lynn school celebrates century mark

LYNN – Lincoln-Thomson Elementary School joined an exclusive club Friday when it celebrated its 100th birthday on the 100th day of school.”We didn’t plan that,” said Principal Helen Mihos. “Thank God for snow days. That was kismet.”The city has six schools that have hit the century mark and Friday’s celebration for the latest had all the trappings of a traditional birthday bash. There was cake and ice cream, 100 balloons, singing and of course special guests like former Principal Robert Thomson for whom the school is, in part, named.”I just can’t get over the fact this school is 100 years old,” Thomson said. “It’s in tremendous shape.”Thomson said he is proud that the tiny Gardner Street school produced the city’s first woman mayor, Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy, who was also on hand for the celebration.Kennedy said the school hasn’t changed much from when she was a student.”The steps are smaller and the classrooms are arranged differently but walking down the corridor, nothing has changed,” she said. “I knew when I passed the office that room six would be on my right but Mrs. Pingree wouldn’t be in it.”To mark the occasion each class created a gift that was placed into a time capsule that will eventually be sealed and stored in a remote corner of the school’s attic crawl space to be opened in another 100 years.Many of the gifts were books created by students that told future students about what life was like in 2014, what was popular, which species were endangered and important parts of life like “information on the number-one restaurant, McDonalds,” Uggs and North Face jackets. There were also CD’s with popular songs, a book of handwritten poems and one class presented a jar of wishes for the future and a note stating they hoped some had come true.Kennedy included a letter to the future mayor, which she printed carefully by hand. She said she printed it because she heard that cursive writing would be obsolete in the future.”So I asked if that were true,” she said. “I also asked if the biggest problems were still keeping the roads clear in snowy weather, taxes and schools, and I asked the mayor to take good care of our city.”Sen. Thomas McGee presented a citation from the Senate for the capsule as well as a DVD. McGee said just before he took the stage he glanced at his cell phone.”When I was in the first grade this was science fiction,” he said. “There have been a lot of changes since I was in the first grade and there will be a lot more.”Councilor at large Brendan Crighton, also a Lincoln-Thomson alumnus, added a photo of himself and several of his elementary school friends taken 20 years ago during a rally.”You can just see the Lincoln-Thomson tiger in the background,” he said.Superintendent Catherine Latham said the school might be old, “but old schools bring a wonderful history with them.”Thomson said small schools such as Lincoln-Thomson are becoming a thing of the past.”I do hope this building, this school, will stay open,” he said, shaking his head. “I used to hear the stories, people would say ?you’re principal of a private school’ or ?you’re principal of a country club’ because our school was so small. I hope it will continue just as it is.”