What’s happened
With the arrival of May and the end of the school year La Lumiere School has focused its efforts on getting the school together and reconnecting the student body.
On Friday, May 7, the whole community was able to come together for the first time this school year. Due to COVID-19 restrictions and safety protocols, having all school events was not a possibility up until now. All students participated in a field day on campus.
The day kicked off with the different grade levels playing games to help form better relationships and connections. Later on in the day, the school participated in fun competitions within their head cup teams.
At the beginning of every student's time at La Lumiere, they are assigned to one of four teams named after four different headmasters of La Lumiere. These different teams compete against each other in various academic and athletic games throughout the school year.
After a fun day of events the day concluded with Fine Arts Friday; an event within the arts program that happens on various Fridays throughout the year. Fine Arts Friday is a chance for all students to get up and show off their talents.
After a difficult year, the ability for events like these that connect the whole school is remarkable and allows students to bond and connect even with the current circumstances of the world around us. There has been a clear boost in school spirit as was evident from the supportive shouting and cheering on of teammates in the various events whether it was a piano performance or a potato sack race.
What’s coming up
After a long, thought-out period from the administration and lots of effort from student volunteers, it was finally announced that La Lumiere would be hosting a prom for sophomores through seniors.
The event takes place Saturday, May 8, and has created much excitement among the student body. After not being able to have a prom last year and having many typical campus events get canceled this year, having the normalcy of prom, though it will look different this year, is a very exciting thing. Students have become quite excited with promposals and prom plans being widely talked about around campus.
“After a year when so much hasn’t been normal, having something that happens normally in a year like this is a very exciting thing, and we are happy to offer it to the student body,” said Director of Student Leadership and Activities, Chad Perney.
Another exciting upcoming event will take place on Monday, May 10. The La Lumiere Arts program will be hosting a spring concert. This event allows students the opportunity to hear the work that music students have been working on throughout the school year. The event has also been modified to allow for many to attend while keeping safe social-distancing measures with both outdoor and indoor seating being offered.
Many efforts have been made to engage the student body after a year of seeming isolation. The morale of the student body going into the last few weeks of the school year is very high and many are looking forward to all the fun events coming up.
Student spotlight
Emma Perez is currently a junior at La Lumiere and has just been named Fine Arts Prefect. This has given her the job of leading and organizing many of the fine arts events, such as Fine Arts Friday. For Perez, after three years of major involvement in the arts program, being named the prefect has been an honor for her.
“It means everything to me that I would be given this position, and I'm so excited to be able to give back to our community in this way. The arts are such a big thing in my life, and I am so excited to have been given this opportunity,” said Perez.
While it has been hard to have the arts. In its normal form this year because of the pandemic, Perez is confident in her abilities to bring back the arts as they once were in hopefully what is a more normal year.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone’s face again when this is all over, and I am super excited for all the fine arts events that will be able to happen again,” she said. “My goal is to just have people try and get involved no matter if they are good or bad at the arts. The arts is about being who you are without being ashamed, so I encourage everyone to participate.”
Teacher spotlight
Dr. Francis Yun is a graduate from The Juilliard School and has been teaching at La Lumiere for two years now. Although it has been an abnormal year for everyone, especially the arts, there have still been quite a few performances and concerts. Yun commented on how special it was to still be able to have these events.
“In the year we have been having, it has been a great privilege to be able to have some sort of performance even against all the challenges that have been thrown at us,” said Yun.
While this year has certainly put more difficulties on the arts, there is great hope for the future programs at the school and Yun even laid out the main goal of the arts program.
“There are so many things to say you want to improve for the arts program, but the main one is to just simply have it continue growing so that it is there and available for any student who wishes to pursue any version of the arts,” said Yun.