Betty White turned 89 years old on Monday and the students at Horace Mann didn't forget, making her birthday cards and offering her an invitation to attend the school's PTA alumni night this week.
Although she won't be able to make it this time, there is hope for a White sighting at Horace Mann in the future.
“Betty knows that Horace Mann is trying to connect with her,” White’s assistant said in an e-mail to the school's PTA. “She will try to do something for the school.”
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The Emmy Award-winning actress is a graduate of and . White currently stars in Hot in Cleveland, airing on TV Land, but is best known for her work on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Golden Girls. She recently hosted Saturday Night Live after a successful Facebook campaign called for her to do so.
Horace Mann PTA President Howard Goldstein got the idea to invite White to the alumni event while researching former students. Board of education member Steven Fenton, himself a Horace Mann alumnus, told Goldstein that White attended the school.
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“Like many others, I was surprised to discover that she was a Horace Mann graduate,” Goldstein said. "The teachers were just as excited to find out that Betty is a graduate. She brings our community together because staff, students, parents and even grandparents know her."
Most of the K-5 classes made White birthday cards. The first batch has already been mailed and another is expected to go out later in the week.
“Although we will not see Betty at our alumni night, it definitely appears that Ms. White will not ignore her grade school,” Goldstein said.
In the meantime, all Horace Mann graduates are invited to the PTA-sponsored alumni night at 6:30 Thursday. Several notable graduates, including Fenton, are expected to attend.
