What's recently happened?
The basketball season is upon us at La Lumiere School (La Lu)! With both the varsity girls and the varsity regional boys teams starting their seasons at the end of October, the busiest season of athletics is officially here. With the varsity girls, the varsity regional boys, and the varsity national boys teams starting with wins, the season is looking promising for La Lu basketball fans. La Lu's Varsity National team has been ranked as high as fourth nationally since the season began.
The Varsity National Boys team started its season off with two wins against Don Bosco Prep and Aim High International (FL) and is ranked fourth in the country. With powerhouse players on the team such as Jalen Haralson, Jerry Easter II, and Ace Buckner, La Lu is getting all of the attention from sports newscasting companies such as ESPN and League Ready.
On October 20, Buckner committed to Clemson, making him a legacy of Clemson basketball following his dad. His father, Greg Buckner, now coaches for the Cleveland Cavaliers following his retirement from the NBA in 2009. Haralson has offers from more than 22 schools, including the University of Michigan, Duke University, and the University of Notre Dame. In addition, Easter also has offers from more than 35 schools, making La Lu a hotspot for recruiting college coaches right now.
What's coming up?
The end of any semester is always hectic on campus, and this year was exactly that. The week before Thanksgiving, La Lu has a Thanksgiving dinner which brings together the campus as students and staff all sit down together and share a very special holiday. It is also one that is native to this country, meaning its international students will experience their first Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving break, La Lu has its annual Christmas dinner, where the faculty’s children get gifts from the school.
“Christmas dinner is a time where we all come together and get to see each other outside of the school environment,” said Junior Anne Kuehn. "It is really fun to get to be with my friends outside of our normal school environment before we all go on Christmas break.”
At the start of January, La Lu will be hosting the third annual La Porte Invitational where some of the top 11 teams of high school basketball will play each other, featuring over 20 of ESPN’s top-ranked recruits. The tournament will be nationally televised, making the crowds electric.
This year, La Lu plays Long Island Lutheran (NY) on January 4, and plays Wasatch Academy (UT) on January 6.
Staff spotlight:
Dr. Patti Pangborn, an English teacher, is an extraordinary teacher at La Lu. Pangborn has taught at La Lu since 2020. She teaches all sophomores, some juniors, and some seniors. Pangborn earned her English Ph.D. from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and her M.F.A. from Columbia College Chicago in Poetry. She currently teaches Literature and Composition, Women Writers, and Speculative Fiction.
Pangborn’s classes mainly focus on reading otherworldly books that make you envision the world in another way. In her classes, students read books such as George Orwell’s “1984,” Octavia Butler's "Parable of the Sower,” or Virginia Woolf's “A Room of One’s Own.”
“I have met some really cool students from all over the world,” said Pangborn. “I never thought I'd be teaching a class with a student from Rwanda, a student from Slovakia, and then a student from South Bend all in the same class, and we can come together over a cool book or a great poem, and that's a really cool feeling.”
Pangborn loves seeing students grow into different leadership opportunities. She aims for students to become their best selves and learn how to become better readers and writers. Dr. Pangborn enjoys teaching at La Lu and cannot wait to see what the coming years bring!
Student spotlight:
Nicole Herrera is a junior boarding student from Chicago Illinois. She is very involved in La Lu, being a part of the girls' soccer team all three years and being a leader of her Speech and Debate team. In her junior year, she became a captain of the soccer team, proving her immense leadership skills. Herrera loves the community aspect of La Lu.
During her first tour at La Lu, she instantly fell in love with how welcoming everyone was and knew she could envision herself attending the school. She realized how close everyone was. She knew it was a small school, but she realized that everyone truly was friends and cared about each other. Now, she is a very active member of the student admissions team, giving tours and helping prospective students and families learn more about the school and what it’s like to be a boarding student from Chicago. Herrera loves living in the dorms and has now learned first-hand how important the family aspect of La Lu is.
“My favorite part of La Lu is by far the community,” Herrera said. “You can literally walk up to anybody and start talking to them.”
She encourages everyone to be themselves. As she has progressed through high school, she says she has learned not to be scared. The more you put yourself out there, the more you can learn how to become a better person. She believes that there is no reason to not be yourself. She is looking forward to the next three semesters of high school but is not quite ready for it to end.