September 4th: Shelter in Place All was well on the first day of school until around 1:52 pm when the intercom turned on — the next thing we knew, we were in a shelter in place. This safety precaution was put into effect after the discovery of a Snapchat video with text containing threats that involved Lakeside. While we still don’t know many details about what happened, we do know that no one was expecting this for our return back. The shelter in place was not lifted until 3:09 pm, and our annual schoolwide kick off to the year, Convocation, was postponed. What a way to start the year!
September 10th: Convocation Although Convocation was unusual this year, it still had the same energy as all years: listening to great speeches while getting baked by the sun. This year’s Convocation featured speeches from 8th grade speaker Vina V. ’29 and student-body president Rohan D. ’25. Vina V. ’29 spoke about purpose, passion, and pride and reminded us to set goals, ask for help, and try new things to help navigate us through this year. She was followed by Rohan D ’25. who delivered a humorous yet deep speech about how “perfection is boring” and reminding us to “live a little” and have fun this school year instead of obsessing over it. As per tradition, Convocation was wrapped up in a riveting L-I-O-N-S chant and the adorable 5th graders running through a tunnel of seniors.
October 2nd: BIG CAT Award This year, Lakeside Athletics launched a new award called the BIG CAT Award, an honor celebrating 2 student-athletes per month ( one from a girls sport and one from a boys sport) who have shown outstanding dedication, performance, and sportsmanship. The first set of BIG CAT Awards for the month of September were awarded to Will P. ’26 of the boys golf team and Victoria G. ’25 of the volleyball team.
October 10th: Clubs Fair The WCC and Student Center hosted 58 clubs sharing insight and information and lots of free food for sign ups! Lakeside had quite the expansive array of clubs this year, ranging from Games Club to Model United Nations. Some highlights included clubs that handed out food themed to their club, like Community Gardens club handing out whole carrots and Lakeside Medical Society handing out blood-jello cups!
October 5th: Homecoming Lakeside’s Student Government hosts the third-annual homecoming dance in the WCC, featuring a DJ, a photobooth, and free pizza and soda.
October 19th: Community Night Lakeside’s PGA hosted the 7th annual Community Night, a fun celebration dedicated to bringing together the different cultures of Lakeside through a potluck, music, and family stations. For the first time, this year’s Community Night was kicked off with a parade procession and performances from students and family. With more than 400 members in attendance, this year’s Community Night was a huge success!
November 6th: House Assembly A beloved Lakeside tradition, House Assembly, involves a fierce rivalry between Auslander (Red House), Nordhoff (Blue House), Trudgian (Black House), and Holcenberg (Green House), intergrade squads each led by two house leaders. The four teams competed in a series of events involving bump, tug-of-war, team charades, and flag snag. The first House Assembly in the year resulted in Nordhoff and Trudgian tied for first place, Holcenburg coming in second, and an upset for the defending champions Auslander, who placed in last. Who knows what’s to come for the next House Assembly…
November 13th: Distinguished Alumni Assembly This year, Ronnie Cunningham ‘86 was honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award in front of family, friends, former teachers, and current students and faculty. He reflected on his life at Lakeside, being the first Black student to attend all eight years of Lakeside, his work in Rainier Scholars and as a therapist, and of course, his anecdotes of being on Lakeside’s football team. His presentation touched the hearts of every member of the audience and was met with a well-deserved standing ovation.
November 14th: Bite of Lakeside Student Government hosted Bite of Lakeside, an annual event for Lakeside students to support their favorite clubs! Popular booths included Lakeside Asian and Pacific Islander Students’ refreshing (and huge) bowl of hwache, Model UN club’s global foods, and Book Club’s homemade brownies.
November 19th: Inaugural Flag Football team This winter, Lakeside added a new girls Flag Football Team, drumming up lots of excitement with around 60 sign ups for the team. This team is led by Middle School Assistant Director Jesus Soler and is doing well so far with a record of 4-0 as of December 14th.
November 20th: School Closure As a “bomb cyclone” of wind hit King County, Lakeside campus as well as many students and faculty members lost power or were affected in some way, causing the first school closure of the year. Even after Lakeside regained power thanks to the work of the maintenance team, many members of the community still were without power until several days after the closure, making that week exceptionally difficult for everyone in the community.
December 2nd: New Bench Duty System With many complaints about the after school bench duty system especially with after school conflicts and messes being left for several hours, a new system is in its pilot phase. This new system involves selected advisories cleaning up during the last ten minutes of their lunch period instead for 15 minutes after school and the added perk of not having to take out the trash!
December 7th: Winter Ball Student Government’s Junior Committee hosted Winter Ball in the WCC with an interesting new addition of styrofoam light up batons. A mosh pit combined with a bunch of high-schoolers jumping and waving around those batons was definitely an intriguing combination.
December 10th: Lakeside’s New Strategic Plan Kai Bynum announces Lakeside’s Strategic Plan entitled Hope In Action, an initiative to empower Lakeside’s future. This plan has been a culmination of years of preparation, insight from students and faculty, and envisioning of what Lakeside’s future looks like and focus points to have Lakeside live out its mission. The plan focuses on three main principles: Educational Excellence; Community Experience, Engagement, and Impact; and Infrastructure, Operations, and Capacity. Together, this plan hopes to guide Lakeside’s work and purpose into the future.
