Midwestern Heart. Global Mind: Staying Connected While Apart

Staying Connected While Apart

Math Teacher Maggie Tennyson teaches from home.

Five years ago, Lake Forest Academy completed a rebranding initiative which resulted in a tagline that many will find familiar: Midwestern Heart. Global Mind. The phrase came about after countless interviews with LFA students, faculty and staff, parents, alumnae and alumni and friends. While the anecdotes and affections for the Academy were unique to each individual, diversity and community emerged as central to the identity of LFA as an institution. Now more than ever, in this era of COVID-19, LFA has once again stayed true to these values.

In early 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic began, LFA students rallied around fundraisers to support healthcare workers in Asia. For some, the projects were incredibly personal as hometowns and loved ones were affected. For others, the fundraisers allowed students to become more aware of the situation abroad and show care towards their peers.

Meanwhile, LFA’s administration began discussing preparations for spring break and beyond. Life at LFA continued as normal until midMarch. As circumstances developed, LFA made the difficult decision to cancel spring break trips and open its dorms for students who could not return home. Faculty and staff stepped in to continue dorm duties and local families graciously volunteered to welcome boarding students to stay with them. However, as the virus spread globally, like many schools and universities, LFA eventually closed the dorms and transitioned to an e-learning curriculum for the rest of the school year.

Parents Association President Lisa Schilling P’18, ’20, ’21 expressed her gratitude towards LFA’s thoughtful response to COVID-19. She said, “The priority was the care and safety of our school community, getting boarders home and ensuring a safe working environment for the faculty. As quarantine progressed, LFA shifted to a focus on connectivity and providing a dynamic e-learning experience, always demonstrating flexibility as we all continue to navigate this new landscape.” By Grace Kim, Dean of Communications

On April 1, 2020, while scattered around the U.S. and the world, LFA faculty and students began eight weeks of remote learning. LFA kept its A to G schedule and many classes met during regularly scheduled periods. Students in different time zones attended classes early in the morning or late at night, and teachers met student efforts by holding various office hours and classes in the evenings.

In particular, the English as a Second Language Department juggled a total of seven time zones. ESL Department Chair Constance McCabe and ESL Teacher Michele Vaca both taught classes in the morning and at night to accommodate their students, who chose to attend one of the two sessions held each day. Some classes would even go into 1 a.m. Central as the semester went on. Vaca was incredibly impressed with her students. “My students really surpassed my expectations. They submitted quality research papers as final projects and worked hard, and some were even in quarantine alone,” she said. “Next year, if other students complain about the research paper, I’ll just have to

ESL Department Chair Connie McCabe and members of the ESL class met in the morning and at night.

remind them about previous students who completed their papers in this difficult time.”

Despite various challenges, e-learning also allowed for extraordinary learning opportunities. History and Social Science Teacher Chris Dozois ’84, P’17, ’21 said, “On an early day of e-learning, [we were talking] about the Vietnam War, and I had a student who was joining the video class from Hanoi, Vietnam which is not far from the Gulf of Tonkin. We got to talk about how the war was taught in Vietnam when she was growing up. Later, I was in class talking about the Cold War with a student who was in Russia, as well as a student who was in Beijing; it really added weight to the issues we were discussing as well as making us find a positive in the conditions under which we were working.” He continued, “It was neat to think about how diverse our classes are, and we enjoyed pulling up the map in class and not just talking about where historic events took place, but having students sitting in those places while we spoke about them.”

At the same time, in the arts, faculty and students continued to work on their creativity skills. Visual arts teachers used recordings and online Zoom calls to mentor students on crafting projects, and performing arts teachers shared acting, singing and performance tips and resources virtually. Members of LFA’s orchestra also submitted recordings of their individual instrumental pieces with a new app that allowed students to see which notes were played in tune. Interim Orchestra Director Sally Stephenson wanted students to feel like they could still make something beautiful out of a bad situation. She said, “We know it’s not the same as playing together, but practicing alone let the students focus on their own contributions and enrich their experiences on their instruments. So when we do, and I hope we can soon, play as a whole orchestra, I think everyone will be better.”

As the weeks went on, faculty and students found their own rhythms, and Advanced Placement, or AP, classes began preparing for the AP exams. With modified exam structures, AP teachers had to adjust their curriculum. Science Teacher Dr. Kerry Cedergren P’13, ’17, ’24, for example, found that her AP Chemistry classes had finished

History and Social Science Teacher Sam Wold’s route while dropping off packages to his AP World History students. In English 9, English Teacher Andrea De Jesús P’22 assigned freshmen to act out a scene from Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” during a live Zoom class. The goal of the assignment was for students to develop public speaking skills, to learn Shakespeare’s language and story and to work with classmates. Groups were assigned specific scenes throughout the unit, and then the class conducted analytic discussion.

the topics that would be on the new AP exam, and proceeded to switch her lessons towards review sessions. She wrote quizzes on LFA’s Learning Management System, Canvas, and held office hours during class and at night to answer questions. Later, the class began taking practice tests and trained on how to upload answers.

Similarly, students in AP language courses began preparing for the exams. Modern and Classical Languages Teacher Noëlle Balson said, “We actually managed to keep the normal workload to complete the AP curriculum. It was demanding, but all my students were ready to tackle whatever they were supposed to do. It’s a fantastic feeling. We have amazing students who rise to any challenge. I am so proud of them.”

The College Board announced in April that AP exams would take place in U.S. standard time, forcing students in other time zones to get used to waking up at odd hours to take practice exams. In early May, during a video call from China, Carolyn Lu ’20 said, “I’m trying to slowly sleep later and later so that my days align with the exam times. I go to bed when my parents wake up.” Similarly, Alex Zhou ’20 worried about taking exams at 1 and 3 a.m. He recalled, “Fatigue was definitely present during those long nights, but like many other international students, we just fought through it. We felt that we were fortunate enough to take the exam during such extreme times.” Though LFA faculty worried, students continued to submit assignments and prepare for the AP testing period.

Right before AP exams began, to cheer students up, History and Social Science Teacher Sam Wold spent a morning driving to 19 different locations to drop off a personalized pencil, letter and an “excite”-mint candy to members of his AP World History class. Wold shared, “I realized I could have been in Minnesota by the time I finished!” Most students who received the packages were domestic students. Additionally, one student who was going back to China volunteered to mail the other packages to students abroad once home.

Mandarin Teacher Ivy Jiang held advisory meetings and took a screenshot during the final advisory session on May 21, 2020. Students wished seniors Charnice Hoegnifioh ’20, Jazmín Montes ’20 and Benjamin Park ’20 the best.

With student well-being at the forefront, various initiatives were set up to help foster community spirit for the rest of the semester.

• Dorms held Zoom sessions for boarders to reconnect while clubs and athletic teams also met for social hours.

• LFA’s Prefects started a weekly student newsletter with House Cup challenges, uplifting quotes and birthday shout-outs.

• The athletics department ran an e-fit program with faculty leading live and recorded work-out classes. Students also signed up on an app to track their daily fitness activities.

• LFA’s counselors also partnered with the athletics department to start a wellness blog with posts about socioemotional and mental health.

• Faculty and staff had trivia meetings on G-day afternoons.

Perhaps the most powerful instances of community, however, came from faculty and student devotion to service. In the spirit of Service Learning Day, Fine and Performing Arts Department Chair Jason Koenig was matched with a local medical group in Wheeling, Ill., to provide ear savers. LFA had purchased a Glowforge, or a laser engraver and printer, to create props and small visual arts projects in 2019. Koenig provided ear savers that were printed with LFA’s Glowforge to the local medical organization, which provides services to patients without medical or dental insurance. In the same vein, throughout April, LFA families in China donated masks, gloves and protective gear for Sodexo and LFA employees. The supplies were then sent to A Safe Haven, a pop-up hospital in Chicago. Junior Alina Wang ’21 also mailed masks, goggles and gloves to LFA for distribution to local hospitals. In the accompanying note, she wrote, “The shortage of masks and medicalsuits was a big problem at first in China, since it was an obstacle to make sure that all the doctors and nurses who were fighting COVID-19 were safe and protected. Now, the situation in China is not as intense as other countries, according to news updates. Thus, I think it is my responsibility, as a member of Lake Forest Academy and the Lake Forest community, that I should do something to help relieve the situation in this area.”

After a whirlwind e-learning period and a week of end-of-year events that were broadcast live, the students and teachers will now enjoy a period of summer as LFA’s administration and staff members prepare the Academy to open its 2020-2021 academic year on campus. With circumstances changing daily, LFA hired an epidemiologist and will continue to bolster its health and student services. While there is no sure answer for the future, what stays constant is the Academy’s students and faculty commitment to community and global citizenship. Above all, LFA is grateful to essential workers who give their talents and time in countless ways during these times.

Fine and Performing Arts Department Chair Jason Koenig shared a photo of the ear savers that he created for the local medical organization. Ear savers take pressure and friction off the ears when wearing masks, allowing medical professionals to wear masks for a longer period of time safely.

Caxy Connections

See all videos and stories at lfanet.org/e-learning.

ESL Teacher Michele Vaca led “Zoom-ba” classes for the e-fit program.

The Prefects sent weekly newsletters out to the student community during the eight weeks of e-learning. Welch House won the team singing challenge, and special guests Head of School Emeritus John Strudwick and Loring Strudwick P’13, ’15, ’18 helped sing the Canadian anthem!

An early House Cup Challenge was to recreate the opening of the tv show “The Brady Bunch” on Zoom.

Math Teacher Maggie Tennyson and her math class students wished Nathan Jung ’21 “Happy Birthday” during a Zoom call.

One House Cup challenge was to create LFA’s campus in Minecraft; Culter Terlato ’22, Jack Belluardo ’22, Marcel Sutkowski ’22, Ben Kolontyrskiy ’22, and Stewart Thompson ’22 won the challenge with an amazing recreation of the campus.

The Parents Association shared a video thanking LFA faculty and staff in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week.

LFA faculty and staff sang modified lyrics to “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey to lift students’ spirits as the Academy headed into the last week of school.