What’s recently happened?
The school year at La Lumiere School (La Lu) is in full swing as after school activities, clubs, and academics have started. After an amazing orientation week, academic classes started on August 21 and everyone has been busy since.
Orientation week was one of the most successful in years. The week started on Sunday, with faculty introductions led by Sophomore Jack Vanderveen and Senior Activities Prefect Avery Tegt. Faculty introductions are a fun time for all of the students, new and returning, to meet the new and returning faculty. Sunday concluded with a school-wide rock, paper, scissors Heads Cup competition that team Webster won, taking home the first four points of this year's competition.
On Monday of orientation week, Head Prefect Brady Monaghan and Head of School Andy Webster announced the theme of the year: show up and step up. Each summer, the Prefect Council meets to discuss the upcoming school year, and during that time, the students also choose a theme for the school year. This year’s theme was created to help foster a community of students who not only just show up, but also step up to the challenges, or opportunities granted to them.
In addition on Monday, students participated in the annual scavenger hunt, created by Physics and Calculus Teacher Ken Andert. The challenges range from finding markers, locating teachers, and completing the challenging campus tour, in which students and staff are tasked with taking photos around the entire campus. Sullivan won this challenge by ultimately sending the most people to combine with the most photos and gaining the most points.
Tuesday morning was filled with a grade-level field day, the first one in years. The prefects designed a morning full of fun activities, including a giant soccer ball game, hopscotch rock, paper, scissors, tug of war, and a water balloon grade-wide toss that ended with a massive water balloon fight. Orientation week ended as it always does, with the soccer shootout, which was won by team Moore and gave Moore the lead heading into the school year.
“Grade level field day was fun because we got to have fun and participate in activities with our grade, as opposed to our Heads Cup teams, which is the group we usually do activities with,” Senior Macey Hamilton said.
As school started, so did athletics. Between the classroom and co-curricular activities, the Lakers have been involved all over campus. On Wednesday, August 28, a new program started, the Lumina Program, which created a series of new clubs on campus during the new Lumina period on Wednesday afternoons.
On Friday, August 30, the seniors organized a senior sunrise event on the school's soccer field, Sullivan Field. Run by a group of senior girls, the morning was complete with music, donuts, and hot chocolate. The event was a great success and a fun time for the senior students to celebrate their upcoming last year together.
What’s coming up?
The fall season at La Lu never slows down, and this year is no different. The season is complete with sports such as Girls and Boys Soccer, Boys Tennis, and Girls Volleyball, along with other activities such as the school’s literary magazine, “The Massasauga,” announcing its theme for the year.
“The Massasauga” is faculty sponsored by English Teacher Patti Pangborn and largely supported by Editor-in-Chief Ilaria von Eschenbach. This is the third edition of the literary magazine, and each year it has gained a new team who has produced an extraordinary work of students' poems, artwork, and writing. This year's theme, unity and harmony, was chosen by the current students in the after-school program.
Senior retreat is also taking place this fall. While the event usually takes place in the spring, it has been moved to the fall because students felt as though they would’ve appreciated the close-knit bonding that takes place earlier in the school year. Senior retreat is one of the best kept secrets at La Lu, as students don’t know much about the retreat until they go on it.
“It’s a unique opportunity for students to reflect on their journey, bond with classmates, and prepare for their next chapter,” Director of Academic and Student Life Duncan Webb said.
Another senior tradition, senior chapels, will also start in the month of September. Senior chapels are a time where seniors have the opportunity to share an experience they had in high school and how they grew from it. While the chapel is a graduation requirement, it is something that many seniors look forward to.
Like many traditions, the Head Prefect of the school goes first for their senior chapel, with the rest of the seniors randomly placed at later dates. This year’s Head Prefect Brady Monaghan, will start off the chapels with one of his many speeches to the students while serving as Head Prefect.
Staff spotlight:
Duncan Webb is the current Director of Student Academics and Student Life and has worked at La Lu for two years. Prior to working at La Lu, Webb worked at the American Academy of Art College in Chicago for 28 years as the academic dean. While he was born and raised in Leeds, United Kingdom, he moved to America when he was 12 and completed his university education at University of California Berkeley where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in art and art history.
Throughout his time at the American Academy of Art College, he helped students on various projects through student-led artwork. At La Lu, he is creating an experience where similarly, students are taught to bring their ideas to fruition through a new program Webb created this year, entitled the Lumina Program.
The Lumina Program has taken the place of the previous elective period on Wednesday afternoons and serves as a time where students are given a platform to pursue their passions outside of the regular classes offered. While Webb’s intentions were to encourage students to take ownership of their learning, it has turned into much more than that, giving students the opportunity to teach their peers about something they are passionate about or make an impact on the school community.
“The Lumina program at La Lu is a student-led initiative that encourages exploration beyond the classroom. It provides opportunities for students to engage in independent projects, creative pursuits, and service activities that foster leadership, personal growth, and community engagement,” Webb said.
Through this program, students will create a project to showcase the work they have completed at the end of the semester or year, depending on their program. While some programs still have continued on from the past elective model, the new Lumina Program offers a more creative way to engage students in activities that they otherwise may not have gotten the opportunity to experience.
In his free time, Webb enjoys traveling and exploring new places with his wife and two kids, along with camping and hiking. Next year, he is leading a Scouts trip to St. Thomas, where they will experience a Sea Base high adventure. He also is a painter and artist and maintains an active studio at his house.
Student spotlight:
Senior Brady Monaghan is the head prefect for the 2024-2025 school year and has attended La Lu all four years. Being from Northfield Minnesota, he has been a boarding student, along with winning the La Lu Film Fest, participating in Varsity Soccer, Varsity Regional Basketball, and Varsity Baseball.
Before becoming head prefect, Monaghan was a vital member of the Blue Key Council, where he hosted many shadows and gave numerous tours to prospective students and families. Now, Monaghan participates in nearly every council through being head prefect. He is able to make a difference throughout all of the councils and the school as a whole through this position.
One of his favorite traditions is the Taste of La Lu. The combination of culture and food with his love of traveling makes it an ideal event. The Taste of La Lu is a cultural food event put on by the Hospitality Council every April and is a place for students and faculty to have the opportunity to share their food and culture with the whole school community.
“The two things that I love the most are traveling and food, so I live for the Taste of La Lu. Cooking is one of my favorite hobbies so being able to cook while adding other cultures' dishes on top of that makes ‘The Taste’ hard to beat,” Monaghan said.
Being head prefect, Monaghan is primarily responsible for being a liaison between the students and the staff, mainly the school’s Headmaster Andy Webster. In their meetings, they often discuss the things students would like to see improved throughout the school community and the ways in which they can be improved.
