What’s recently happened?
The winter sports season has ended at La Lumiere (La Lu) with all the Laker sports proving to be successful. Shortly before Spring Break, the Varsity White National team finished its season. The team is still young with only two seniors, Ace Buckner and Steven Solano, so next season is already looking like an exciting season.
After Spring Break, the spring sports season started, with Boys Baseball being the first team to start its season. The La Lu Lakers defeated the Argos Community High School Dragons 9-4 on March 27. It was Head Coach Blake Logsdon’s first match with the team. With great pitching from Junior Brady Monaghan and Sophomore Josh Jaracz, they contributed to a combined 16 strikeouts.
On April 3, the Girls Tennis team and Boys Golf team both were supposed to start their seasons; however, the weather canceled both events. With both teams losing many seniors last year, their seasons this year started unpredictably, but many freshmen stepped up and contributed to the teams’ positively. Both teams are rather young this year, making an exciting next four years for the current freshman.
Freshman Lucy Horn is from Chicago, Illinois, and in addition to playing varsity soccer, she is now a part of the varsity tennis team.
“Tennis is so fun because it is so different from soccer, but I still feel the team camaraderie,” Horn said.
The Girls Tennis team is now scheduled to start its season on April 11 against St. Thomas More Academy.
The Boys Golf team will start its season on April 9 against South Bend Riley High School.
What’s coming up?
Spring has sprung at La Lu. While March may be a slower month at La Lu with both Spring Break and Easter Break, students are anxiously waiting for April. In addition to spring sports starting, April also has events such as the Spring Gala, senior retreat, and spring open house.
The Spring Gala, held at Journeyman Distillery in Three Oaks, Michigan, is an opportunity for parents to socialize with each other and the faculty of La Lu. The gala is largely run by La Lu’s Torie Jaques, assistant director of advancement, and Megan Gausselin, assistant director of marketing. The gala overall gives families a great opportunity to see the community being fostered and become a part of the community.
On April 27, the admissions team will be hosting its second event of the year. The open houses are always a great time for prospective families to see a little more about La Lu and get to know people such as faculty or student ambassadors. The admissions team is always very excited to welcome new members of the future La Lu community onto campus.
In addition to the gala and open house, the seniors get to go on their retreat. The senior retreat is something that La Lu students look forward to from the start of their freshman year all the way up to their senior year when the day of the highly anticipated event finally arrives. The senior retreat is a little different than most La Lu traditions largely because it is a secret to all underclassmen students. Most La Lu traditions are largely celebrated and talked about, but the senior retreat is hardly talked about, making the experience even more exciting.
The Taste of La Lumiere is also taking place in April. The annual event is one of the most fun experiences on campus. Each year, the Global Communities Prefect (Senior Sephora Hirsch) and the Hospitality Prefect (Senior Sloane Guenin) team up to create a school event where more than 100 dishes are made from all over the world, by all different students and faculty alike.
“I love the opportunity to help create a fun environment that is able to show how culturally diverse our community is,” said Guenin.
The Taste is an annual international food festival that celebrates different cultural and culinary traditions. This year, there will be a traditional Afghan dance performed by different students.
The Taste was created in 1992 by a group of international students and their French teacher Mariam Nasidi in the school’s international club. Now, The Taste is celebrated and run by Guenin and Senior Advisor for Student Services and Academic Events Susie Eguizabal.
Staff spotlight:
Susie Eguizabal joined the La Lu community in 2007. Eguizabal, originally from Guatemala, has worked at La Lu for 17 years.
Eguizabal truly has shaped the La Lu community into what it is today.
Many students refer to her as their “school mom” because she makes a point to create a relationship with each and every student. So many students have formed a strong bond with Eguizabal. She is often found giving candy to the students that stop by the Student Services Center, where you can find her smiling at her desk and greeting whatever student needs help. Freshmen at La Lu are taught to go see Eguizabal with anything school-related and she will be able to help.
Eguizabal is also a vital part of The Taste, which she has co-run with many other teachers and students throughout her time at La Lu. She is truly the biggest fan of “The Taste” and is the perfect person for it, as being from another country, she can easily relate to so many students at La Lu and wants to make sure their heritages and cultures are equally celebrated.
“We have the opportunity to celebrate all the different cultures we have here at La Lu by preparing food from so many different countries. It also gives us the opportunity to be together as a community.” Eguizabal said.
In addition to The Taste, Eguizabal helps to run Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, along with the senior dinner at the end of senior year. These dinners help to develop the culture at La Lu which Eguizabal is such a vital part of.
Student spotlight:
Sloane Guenin is a senior day student at La Lu. Guenin has attended La Lu all four years of high school and is an active member of the hospitality program, the Girls Golf team, and the literary magazine, “the Massasauga.”
Guenin only recently joined the Girls Golf team but quickly became a leader, becoming a captain this year. Guenin also has been an intricate part of the “Massasauga,” as she has both submitted work – a poem titled “Him” – and a piece of art, along with being one of the editors.
In April, Guenin will be one of the student leaders in The Taste. As hospitality prefect, Guenin works to plan events such as the Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, the Taste of La Lumiere, and works with the food service team at FLIK Dining.
At “The Taste,” Guenin will be presenting a presentation she made that shows the significance of the event to the student body as a whole. Guenin has been attending “The Taste” since she was in middle school, because her brothers also attended La Lumiere, so “The Taste” has become a tradition that has been celebrated widely in her family.
“As hospitality prefect, I am responsible for coordinating the million details that go into creating ‘The Taste’ with the help of my adult mentor,” Guenin said. “In addition to managing the food selections and ingredient purchases, I also work with the global prefect to curate a list of people who will offer blessings in their native languages to open the event, and recruit volunteers to share cultural dances with our students and guests.”
After La Lu, Guenin plans to attend college to major in architecture and minor in real estate development or sustainability.