What’s happened
With the coming of winter, La Lumiere School has officially seen the start of its 2021-2022 basketball season. In accordance with tradition toward the end of October/beginning of November each year, the start of the basketball season is marked by a huge pep rally known as Marsch Madness.
Marsch Madness takes place in the historic Marsch Gymnasium and is a huge celebration of not only all the basketball teams but also of the other winter activities being held during the school year.
In the afternoon leading up to March Madness, La Lumiere hosted a fall festival in which students could participate in a number of activities and games, such as real-life Hungry Hungry Hippos. There was also face painting, food trucks, and a number of mini-games that students could play. However, the main event of the night was Marsch Madness.
To begin the night, every member of the three varsity basketball teams and cheerleading teams is announced. This year, La Lumiere has three varsity basketball teams; those being Varsity White, Varsity Blue, and Varsity Girls.
After all the players are announced, a variety of events happen to celebrate the upcoming season, and to spotlight some of the players on the different teams. Among these is the boy-girl cheer dance in which the basketball teams and cheerleading teams choreograph and perform together. While this performance is popular, the favorite event of the night is the dunk contest.
In the dunk contest, a group of students on the various basketball teams are selected to participate. The goal of the event is to perform the best dunk and achieve the highest score. The score is decided by a panel of judges who can rate the dunk on a scale of 1-10.
This year La Lumiere had a truly exciting panel of judges, including La Porte Mayor Tom Dermody and recent WNBA Champion Diamond Deshields.
While the competition was very close, JJ Starling, a member of the Varsity White Team, took the top score, winning the contest. The excitement from Marsch Madness has set the basketball season off to a great start, with the Varsity White team taking a victory on their home opener which took place on Friday, November 5.
What’s coming up
With only five weeks left of the fall semester, many different events and activities are coming up. Among these are a music showcase, Thanksgiving dinner, and numerous basketball games.
The Music Showcase is a new event this year, allowing students involved in the music program to perform in front of their classmates. This year, the concert choir, jazz band, and a number of individual students will get the chance to show off the work they have been doing both inside and outside of the classroom.
The Thursday before Thanksgiving, La Lumiere will see the return of holiday meals. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year, the annual Thanksgiving dinner was canceled. This year, however, it is making its return. All boarding students and faculty members are encouraged to attend, and it is a truly treasured tradition that occurs on campus.
Teacher spotlight
Taylor Reck is the Interim Athletics Director at La Lumiere, and while this is only his first year here, he has quickly come to love the community that makes up La Lumiere.
“When I came here for the first time and saw the connections and relationships between the people here, I knew I wanted to be a part of this awesome community,” said Reck. “The people truly are what makes this place so great.”
While only having been here a few months, Reck has noticed some differences at La Lumiere that do not happen at other schools.
“I was surprised when I learned that the schedule changes and that some days students have all their classes, but then on other days they only go to a select few for a longer period of time,” said Reck.
With the basketball season now officially underway, Reck is looking forward to some fierce competition and exciting matches.
“This season, I’m really excited to see some great games plays with high levels of competition,” said Reck. “Also, I really hope to see a lot of victories on our part.”
Student spotlight
Daniel Isaacs is a senior at La Lumiere this year and is both the Head Prefect as well as a member of the Varsity Blue basketball team. While initially from Jamaica, he has attended La Lumiere since his sophomore year, noting that his discovery of the basketball program instantly drew him to the school. However, he quickly learned that La Lumiere is much more than a school.
“La Lumiere, I have learned, can be whatever you want or need it to be. What you make of your experience will determine how your time here will be,” said Isaacs. “That’s why I chose to get involved and push myself to get the results I wanted out of my experience here at La Lumiere.”
In getting involved and pushing himself at La Lumiere Isaacs has learned a lot of things he feels will better prepare him in life, and that is all due to La Lumiere.
“La Lumiere has taught me how to achieve goals, independence, time management, and discipline. These have all collectively helped me to better myself, and to better prepare to enter the world as an adult,” said Isaacs.
As the Varsity Blue basketball season begins, Isaacs is very much looking forward to his senior year on the team, hoping to take lots of wins, and also getting to challenge himself in the sport like never before.
“This season, I’m really looking forward to playing against Division 1 teams and getting the chance to travel around the country to play games,” said Isaacs.