St. Joseph’s College will commemorate 50 years of dedicated teachers nourishing young minds at the Dillon Child Study Center on June 8 with an afternoon filled with games, speakers and food.
The Dillon Center serves children in the local community, while also giving aspiring teachers at SJC Brooklyn the opportunity to fine tune their craft in a hands-on environment. Additionally, the event will celebrate the 85th anniversary of the Dillon Child Study program.
Beginning at 10 a.m., a two-hour Champagne Brunch will be held in the Bloodgood Garden. The brunch will feature encouraging speeches from St. Joseph’s President Donald R. Boomgaarden, Ph.D.; S. Patricia Dittmer, an SJC Brooklyn Class of 1972 graduate and an assistant professor of child study; and Dillon Center Director Susan Straut Collard, Ph.D.
Students in the 2019-20 class at the Dillon Center will perform a song called “We are a Rainbow.” Tours of the preschool will be offered to those interested.
Sunfest will immediately follow brunch, from noon until 3 p.m.
The annual festival will feature pony rides, a bouncy house, a mini-carousel, face painting, art and crafts, gymnastics, ceramics classes, and a barbecue inside the O’Connor Mall. Patrons can also purchase raffle tickets for a chance to win prizes.
While the Dillon Center has existed at the SJC Brooklyn campus since 1934, the building it now calls home was built in 1967 and opened the following fall, when S. Vincent Thèrése was president of the College.
Construction of the new two-story building — named after former SJC President Monsignor William T. Dillon — coincided with the expansion of the College’s child studies department, which Msgr. Dillon founded.
