On Saturday, March 20, Patrick Henry High School will start celebrating a significant anniversary with a “Fifty Years of Excellence Ceremony.” At this point, “everything is in order,” Dr. Jeffrey Crook, principal, said.

Last week, Crook and senior teacher Frances Joyner-Warnick talked about the excitement surrounding this milestone.

“We pretty much have finished our planning phase for the 20th,” Crook said. The upcoming event, he said, “is more of our celebration. This is where we recognize our dignitaries, our Board of Supervisors, School Board, former students and a lot of faculty that graduated from Patrick Henry that also teach at Patrick Henry.” He noted one staff member has worked there 37 years.

Joining community leaders will be the 2010 valedictorian, the Student Council Association president, and a group Crook called “The Blast from the Past” representatives from each decade who will reflect on their time at PHHS.

Dr. Stewart D. Roberson, superintendent of Hanover County Public Schools, will deliver the keynote address. John F. Axselle III, chairman of the Hanover County School Board, will recognize a former Patrick Henry coach.

The anniversary is being chronicled by Michelle Gary’s mass communications class.

Students started videotaping with the Tomato Bowl, the annual Patrick Henry-Lee-Davis football rivalry.

“It is incredible,” Crook said of the project. “She [Gary] has reflections from people from the Tomato Bowl, former principals, students, business partners.”

He said she has “been talking to everybody — it is going to be an awesome video.”

Musical performances, Joyner-Warnick said, will be presented by the school’s string, band and chorus.

In addition to athletics and music, academics will be featured in the celebration. Crook said former administrators, as well as supervisors and School Board members, will share “some very interesting stories” about the school. Joyner-Warnick also said the event will provide an opportunity for alumni to tell why Patrick Henry took them in a particular direction and “why so many people want to come back to Hanover County to live, to contribute as a leader, parent or community member.”

The March 20 program is scheduled to get under way at 5 p.m. at the school, which is located at 12449 Patrick Henry Road in Ashland.

A month later, on April 17, the school will present The Spring Fling, bringing the community together.

Crook said the goal is to welcome the feeder schools throughout the western part of Hanover County and residents from around the county.

“We want people who drive by Patrick Henry every day to just enjoy the campus and being with the student body,” Joyner-Warnick said.

The Spring Fling will include Patrick Henry athletics, crafts, local business exhibits “and make you love and support Patrick Henry — show your Patriot pride,” she added.

The words “Tradition, Excellence, and Patriot Pride” adorn the entrance to the school and serve as the school’s motto, Crook added.

“We are all Patrick Henry,” he continued.

The school’s art department is creating a mural with that slogan, “which is really our unifying cry, because we’re all in this. Students get the best high school experience that they can with all the extracurricular and academics.”

From an academic standpoint, Patrick Henry is riding high this year. The valedictorian has been accepted at Yale University and the salutatorian is heading to the University of Michigan. “We’ve got some very high achieving students,” Crook said. Sixty-two students have grade point averages of 4.0 or higher.

When the 2010 Class of Patrick Henry High School receives diplomas on June 19, excerpts from the video will be featured.

Crook already expects “a pretty special graduation.”

“We just want people to come out and celebrate with us,” Joyner-Warnick said.

Patrick Henry, Crook said, is building on what Lee-Davis High School did during the 2008-2009 school year when principal Mike Bishop spearheaded 50th anniversary events.

“We want to make sure that we celebrate the great things at Patrick Henry,” Crook said. “We want ours to be focused on the community, the alumni. We wanted all 50 classes to be recognized here. Memorabilia will be posted throughout the building. People can take a walk down memory lane.”

“We really want to celebrate the great support that we have from our community. We have some very involved parents,” Crook said, pointing to the academics, booster programs, band, athletics and PTA. “They’re all very supportive of Patrick Henry and we’re really lucky out in the western part of the county to have the support.”

Next month’s Spring Fling, which will be held rain or shine, is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The general public will be admitted free of charge.

For more information, contact Frances Joyner-Warnick at 365-8000 or fwarnick@hcps.us.