Tag: community

Categories
Spirit

True Confessions of a Cheer Lover

By Kaye Hauschild
Middle School Coordinator, Lakehill Preparatory School 

Time for true confessions: I have been a cheer lover forever.  It is not a well-known fact, but I never achieved the rank of cheerleader as a student.  Oh, I tried out and have some very funny stories for my family to retell of my trials and errors.  Not being on the cheer squad did not lessen my cheer.  Instead, I became a member of the pep squad, drill team, spirit sign painting club, ribbon seller, and anything else that let my love of spirit shine.

One normally leaves cheer behind when formal education ends, but I was a lucky cheerer.  I got to cheer at work.  In my first school, I quickly joined the ranks of the cheer people, coaching a squad of ninth graders in my hometown.  When life moved me to Dallas and Lakehill, I followed the stomps, claps, and chants to my colleagues, Mrs. Harris and Mrs. Durbin, and asked for the chance to share the Lakehill love.  I have lived happily ever after since then.

Cheer has changed a lot since I first hit a megaphone on the ground while yelling, “Lakehill….Warriors!”  We used to have super strict try-outs for our squads that left other cheer lovers off the field.  When we realized that every other sport at Lakehill allowed every student to participate without try-outs, we happily joined in the fun.  Our squads have ranged in size from five to twenty-five in my twenty-something cheerful years at Lakehill.

For a cheer lover like me, life could not be better!  Whether Varsity or Middle School, Lakehill cheer brings me the joy and spirit that we share with our fans.

Along the way, I have been lucky enough to find others like me, those who love Lakehill and cheer alike.  And beginning this spring, I am passing the opportunity to lead our Varsity squad to the amazing and awesome Mrs. Becker and Mrs. Burt.  I will continue my stomp, clap, and cheer with the Middle School cheerleaders and look forward to those amazing times when we get together, two squads as one.  “Lakehill……Warriors!”

Categories
Seasons

Springing Into Spring

By Katie Becker
Social Studies Chair, Lakehill Preparatory School 

Spring is here! You can feel the energy in the building. This time of year the school is buzzing with track, baseball, and tennis. And if you are not involved in sports you are busy with musicals, debates, and community service projects. It seems everywhere you look someone is doing something and it’s a race to the finish line.

It’s just six weeks until the end of school. That means only six more weeks until my 8th graders will move on to high school, just six weeks until the senior’s journey ends at Lakehill and their college experience begins, just six weeks until summer, and just six weeks until  I start planning for the next school year.

It always amazes me how quickly the school year passes and how much we seem to accomplish. I can’t wait to do it all again in the fall!

Categories
Community Learning and Leading

Building Champions

By Roger L. Perry
Headmaster, Lakehill Preparatory School 

On a recent drive to Abilene to watch our boys and our girls Varsity Basketball teams play for the area championships, I had time to reflect on how far our school has come over the many years I have been at Lakehill. Many people do not realize that from 1971 until 1989 the school leased portions of the building at the Hillside campus from Lakewood Baptist Church.

The church actually owned the building and used it all day on Sundays and on Wednesday evenings. Under the early lease, any person (adult or student) who was on the second floor, more than six feet from the stairways at the end of each hall, cost the school $50 per occurrence. The old sanctuary, that no longer exists, was only available for us to use once a year, for graduation. The current lunchroom was not available for use at any time. One of my critical functions as a young administrator was to make sure the vending machines worked properly for the lunch periods and to have enough change for everyone on campus to use for lunch. Yes, the lunch program consisted entirely of vending machine items. The lunchroom was located on the bottom floor where the locker rooms are today. This space was also used for any performing arts performances and music programs.

Prior to the construction of the gym in 1980, basketball practice was held on an asphalt parking lot on the opposite side of the auditorium, where we now have playing fields. We had to lease this property from the church as well. Yes, I coached a Middle School boys’ basketball team back in the ‘70s. The gym was a wonderful addition to the school and for many years had a concrete floor. Traveling was never called because any player who tried to stop would slide on the concrete for at least a couple of feet before coming to a stop.

The gym we enjoy today is outstanding and is available to us because of a visionary Board of Directors and many donors over the years including two major donors, Joe Lancaster and Karl Kuhlman, who made large gifts to make it a reality. Both Joe and Karl are now deceased but our school would be much different today had they not given so generously in the early years. They would have enjoyed, with pride, the performance I watched in Abilene of two teams who gave all they had for their team and for their school. The school will continue to develop over the coming years and generous people, just like Joe and Karl, will step forward to make sure generations of children will be able to enjoy their Lakehill experience.

Categories
Family and Community

Everything I Need

By Victoria John
Latin Teacher, Lakehill Preparatory School 

Lights! Camera! Action! A lone figure dressed in red steps to the mirror, a grin breaking on her face. Emoting with the colorful energy that brings to mind the musical machinations of rock legend Mick Jagger, she sings the following line from “Life’s a Happy Song” in The Muppet Movie, “I’ve got everything I need.”

Arms flailing, she wraps them over her head, and cradling her ears with opposite hands, simultaneously squeals with syncopated delight, “I’ve got ev’ry-thing I need.”

Encore. She leans into her image exposing tiny white teeth and belts into her imaginary microphone while lingering over last word with intense dramatic flair, “I’ve got everything I neeeeee – eeee – eeed.”

Applause! The performer is my 28 month-old granddaughter, Ruby. She’s probably not aspiring to American Idol fame but rather capturing the essence of human learning who she is. What a great mantra: “I’ve got everything I need.”

The other day I told each one of my classes that I appreciated and enjoyed teaching them. While I try to be positive and look for the good, there are times I forget. But each time I watch Ruby’s singing debut, she reminds me that I too have everything I need.

On Veteran’s Day, Kaye Hauschild, Gigi Ekstrom, and I took the 7th grade students to C. C. Young to join their celebration of the commemorative day. Not quite knowing what to expect, my group of ten students entered a sun-filled room lined with row upon row of elderly, quiet adults, some with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Time stopped as the students froze in their tracks with the melancholy World War II background music playing “There’ll be bluebirds over the white cliffs of dover…” I caught movement as one lone student broke the mold by walking up to a proud veteran, and introducing himself. “Hi, I’m Noah Bernstein. Who are you?” The quiet man’s face lit up with his response, “You see that woman in the red cap? She’s my wife.” Noah commented, “Interesting. How long have you been married?” The man chuckled and said, “Too long.” They laughed and talked for several minutes.

On the other side of the room Natalie Lasko entertained a group of people by sharing her stories with heartfelt emotion while encouraging theirs. Observing Natalie’s success encouraged classmate Madeline Jones to get past her discomfort. She admitted, “I was afraid.  I felt quite uncomfortable and didn’t know what to say to anybody. But, I suddenly remembered that my grandpa would always tell me to act like myself before he passed away. So I walked up to a man, sitting in a wheelchair, who looked as scared as I was, and asked him about the war. As he talked, he cried, and that made me feel very sad. Then, I remembered my grandfather and suddenly felt closer to the person next to me and more comfortable.”

Gradually students left their comfort zones to interact. By the time we left, everyone was laughing and playing balloon volleyball to the rhythmic, young-at-heart sound of the Big Band era with the Glenn Miller Orchestra playing, “In the Mood.” It was only 30 minutes, but it felt like a lifetime of humanity.

I feel very gratified that I can come to school and work with children that continue to teach and inspire.

“I’ve got everything I need,” with a little help from Lakehill, music, and my friend, Ruby.

Categories
Family and Community

A Crazy Quilt

By Lara Gajkowski
Assistant Headmaster, Lakehill Preparatory School 

Recently, my mom and I pieced a baby quilt for my newest grandbaby – this time a girl! My sister-in law, who is a fabulous quilter, picked out the fabric and even cut out the pieces for my mother. We are making a “Crazy Quilt” so the pieces are of various shapes and colors. My mother and I are experienced at piecing quilts but selecting colors is not always our forte.  So we thought, “great, a master quilter is picking out the fabric for us, this should be a cinch”.

Well, we started piecing the quilt and we thought, “This is awful. The color combination is disastrous, the pieces are too small, the pieces are too big, we need more variety, we need less variety, perhaps we need a different variety”.  We just could not see the beauty in the individual pieces or the individual squares. Yet, we persevered. Little Laurel was going to have this quilt with all our perceived short comings.

Through the days, our pieces turned into squares and our squares turned into blocks. Before long our blocks became rows and soon the quilt top was completed. What a transformation! Once our eyes accepted the quilt in its entirety, pieces that by themselves were viewed as eyesores became highlights, squares that were considered too small became interesting landmarks, and the colors melded together to a rich mass of blended shades and hues. What we thought was unappealing package turned out to be a rich, warm, stimulating, protective covering for our little girl. It’s beautiful. We should have trusted the experts.

Our school is like a “Crazy Quilt”. If we nit-pick the individual pieces to death we can always find fault or short comings. We can always think we need more variety or we need bigger or better.  However, when we look at our school in its totality one can easily be amazed with the richness of color, the variety of shapes and sizes, and the richness of the fabric of our school. Together, all the pieces, all the opportunities, all the protective coverings make us a rich, stimulating school.

Sometimes things are best seen in their totality.

Categories
Family and Community

Giving Thanks

By Roger L. Perry
Headmaster, Lakehill Preparatory School 

As we race toward the Thanksgiving season, it seems the time is right to share with you the story of one of Lakehill’s greatest friends and supporters over the first forty years. Mr. Charles J. Wyly, Jr. was a great friend of the school. He shared his wonderful insights about the world and his philosophy about the importance of education for all people. He was a pillar of the Dallas community and was very generous with causes he believed in, especially our school.

Some of you may know that for the first eighteen years of our school’s existence we rented our current building from the Lakewood Baptist Church. In 1989 the Board of Directors voted to purchase the building and the 5.6 acres we now occupy on Hillside Drive. In order to buy the land and building, the school needed to raise gifts to make the purchase a reality. The first gift came from Mr. Wyly and it set the tone for the success of the fund drive. The goal was $2.5 million and he provided the first $250,000 toward that goal. The largest gift in the history of the school, prior to his wonderful gift was $30,000.

His leadership and generosity made it possible for us to ultimately raise all the funds and to own the land and buildings free and clear. Over the years, I’m sure Mr. Wyly has given cumulative gifts in access of $1,000,000 toward our efforts to provide a quality education here in East Dallas.  Mr. Wyly loved people and to the best of my knowledge, he attended every holiday luncheon we held and truly enjoyed the interaction between our students and the senior citizens. This year’s holiday luncheon will be a little different for me, because Charles will not be here enjoying the “Spirit” of the holidays, as he passed away this summer in Aspen, Colorado.

He will truly be missed, and I am so grateful to have known him as one of those rare individuals who helped build a foundation for an outstanding prep school called Lakehill. He was a good friend and mentor and one of the most generous men I have ever known. My life and the lives of thousands of young people are better because Charles Wyly crossed each of our paths and shared his can-do spirit with all of us. Lakehill Preparatory School is very thankful to have been fortunate enough to have a great friend in Charles Wyly.

Categories
Family and Community

Lakehill Perks

By Victoria John
Middle School Latin Teacher, Lakehill Preparatory School 

It’s Monday morning. Still tired, I drag my rolling bag through the parking lot up the inclined sidewalk and into school. The enticing smell of coffee jolts my senses. Then I remember – the Commons.

As I weave my way through the Upper School hall, I see former students chatting at their lockers. I hear the early morning buzz of a new day mingled with excitement. I feel my cheeks lifting in a smile and hear my voice saying, “Good morning!”

Connor Cumpton comes up to me to share his latest skating success. I pass Emily Allton and congratulate her on her state cross-country victory. Jackson Vickery turns with his signature friendly smile and says, “Hi, Ms. John.”

I’m grateful to be teaching at a school where I know most of the students. Grogginess has given way to renewed energy. It’s not the caffeine but the feel of community that awakens me.

Lakehill has a brand new gathering place – the Commons. It has now become our own neighborhood coffee house filled with students, teachers, and parents.

I get many perks from this. It forces me to leave my home in the Middle School hall. It begins my day by reminding me why I love teaching at Lakehill – it feels like a home. It gives me the chance to get reacquainted with previous students. Once they move on to Upper School, graduation comes quickly. While I see them on the stage or the playing field, I don’t always have a chance to interact.

How lucky we are to have this new addition to Lakehill. It gives the students the opportunity to practice their entrepreneurial skills while welcoming the rest of the school. In serving us, they build community.

Hudson Trent is there every morning. I see Hudson’s involvement all over Lakehill. Whether in sports, Homecoming, or offering advice to another student, Hudson epitomizes Lakehill. He is a genuine example of what makes Lakehill tick, what gives us that sense of being part of something larger than each of us.

In my twelfth year here, I still find ways to appreciate the gifts Lakehill offers. Let’s give a big hand to Bob Yttredahl, Jamie Thorne, and sophomores Emily Allton, Sydney Firsching, and Hannah Cavouti for starting this new tradition and for creating a common ground for sharing a cheerful “Good Morning.”

Here on the pulse of this new day
You may have the grace to look up and out
And into your sister’s eyes,
Into your brother’s face, your country
And say simply
Very simply
With hope
“Good morning.”

     – Maya Angelou

Categories
Spirit

Dreaming In Blue And Green

By Kaye Hauschild
Middle School Coordinator, Lakehill Preparatory School 

I could not sleep last Thursday night.  It was ridiculous, really.  We have been having early morning cheer practices and after-hours projects like float building along with volleyball games that earned the varsity girls a place in the playoffs.  Students and teachers have continued to keep their academic focus throughout these overscheduled days. There was every reason in the world to fall deep into some seriously needed REM.  But I didn’t.  Instead I anticipated the day and the night to come.

HOMECOMING!

You might think that I would be beyond bored participating in my 28th Lakehill Homecoming.  No way!  I am filled with the excitement that our Homecoming celebrations bring with them.

My first surprise was a Homecoming mum I received from my cheerleaders, decorated with miniature cowbells that rang with my every step.  A second treat was the parade participation of a former Lakehill cheerleader from the early ’70s who wore part of her cheer uniform and used her original megaphone throughout the parade.   After the hard work of our Upper School houses, it was no surprise that our first ever Homecoming parade was super spirited and fabulously fun.  The pep rally that followed the parade was a labor of love, creativity, and skill from the Varsity cheerleaders and included performances from our Middle School cheerleaders and the senior guys.  I was proud that everyone’s hard work paid off in what I heard some people call our most spirited pep rally ever!

On Friday night, Perry field was alive with cheers for our football team.   The lines were long for the Dad’s Club cooking and the Alumni dinner catered by Mr. Wolf’s Rudy’s.  No one could have predicted the incredible number of alumni who came to share in the fun. I loved seeing the new babies, the reunited friends, and the alumni parents who don’t want to miss the fun even if their child has graduated.  It was definitely an honor to see how many of our past Homecoming queens came to join our halftime ceremony.    And it was wonderfully unexpected when we sang our Alma Mater at the end of the game and so many alumni voices joined in.

I loved every minute of Homecoming 2011.  It was definitely worth losing a little sleep over.  Now I start dreaming of 2012…

Categories
Family and Community

Home Is Where The Heart Is

By Lara Gajkowski
Assistant Head of School, Lakehill Preparatory School

Home is where the heart is . . .

This past weekend my family had a wonderful homecoming reunion in celebration of my mother’s 90th birthday. Sisters, husbands, brothers, wives, children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews gathered in McKinney for a new kind of family homecoming. My mother, the matriarch of the family, has always been the glue that has kept my huge family together. Her home was always welcoming, lively, and a place of stimulating conversation as well as raucous play. My mother no longer owns her own home but rather shares a home with me and my husband Russ. So, though my siblings and I had a few moments of trepidation about amassing so many people outside my mother’s home for a weekend, we forged a new path, a new tradition. We all stayed in McKinney for the weekend and a most excellent time was had by all, far exceeding our expectations.

Most every morning I have the pleasure of traveling to what has become my home away from home for the past fourteen years, Lakehill.  My connection to my Lakehill family is deep and I revel daily in the accomplishments of the members who share or have shared this home. Tomorrow, Lakehill will be having its wonderful homecoming reunion in celebration of its 40th anniversary. Students, alumni, parents, grandparents, friends, family members, and faculty will gather together to celebrate the successes Lakehill has had over the years. Yet, while we celebrate the past, we forge ahead with the new. Amongst just a few moments of trepidation, this year the students, alumni, and faculty forged a new path, a new tradition, a homecoming parade. The planning and implementation of our parade, including floats, the homecoming court, and alumni homecoming queens, has created some wonderful moments of bonding across the generations and some memories to be laughed about in the years to come. This new experience has far exceeded our expectations.

In many ways, I see a kindred relationship between my Lakehill family and my biological family.

The Lakehill experience is the glue that keeps us all connected much as my mother has been the glue that has kept my family connected.

Home is where the heart is and Lakehill has our hearts. See you at the homecoming parade, pep rally, and game!

Categories
Spirit

Coming Home

By Katie Becker
Social Studies Department Chair and Alumna, Lakehill Preparatory School 

October has always been my favorite month. In Texas, October means that fall is officially here and the oppressive heat is replaced with cool breezes and changing foliage. When October arrives, it’s time to visit the State Fair of Texas to eat a Fletcher’s corny dog and see Big Tex.

October also means that football season is in full swing and it’s time for homecoming. This year on Friday, October 14, Lakehill will celebrate this annual tradition with alumni coming home, high school girls wearing mums, and everyone enjoying the cool weather as they watch the football team under the Friday night lights.

When I was a student at Lakehill I loved homecoming week. It was spirited, fun, and ended with a dance. How could it get any better? I don’t think I realized at the time what homecoming truly meant for the school and the alumni who returned home to visit their alma mater. But it all made sense when I returned for my first true homecoming during my first year in college. While I had only been at college for a month or so, I felt an entirely new sense of community from the school I had graduated from just months earlier. Where once I was merely a student within the immediate confines of the school, now I was part of a much larger community – a network of accomplished and interesting individuals. I felt a new sense of spirit and a pride in my school that eventually drew me back to teach here. Now I enjoy celebrating homecoming week as a teacher and as an alumna. And this year I look forward to sharing homecoming with my husband and two future Lakehill alumni.

This year a new tradition is taking place and adding to the spirit of homecoming week. Festivities start at 2:00 p.m. on the Lakehill main campus with a homecoming parade, complete with student-made floats, the homecoming court, and former homecoming queens. The parade will lead the entire school around the building to the gym for the annual pep rally that starts at 2:30.  And later at Perry Field, both Middle School and High School football teams will play Rockwall Christian with games starting at 5:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. respectively. The alumni tent will host all alumni in a welcome dinner beginning at 6:30 p.m. I look forward to sharing in the homecoming fun with all past, current, and future students and their families.