By Iain Beaumont, LCS Associate Faculty Member "I can’t pick a single memory. I love Lakefield. Everyone is so kind, and really cares about you here." These are the words from just one of the 20 students who have spent the year at Lakefield, and will not be returning next school year. Tonight, this group of students and a handful of their teachers and residential staff (handpicked by the students themselves) gathered at the Head of School’s house for a goodbye celebration dinner. The room in which we all gathered buzzed with excitement, positive energy and a modicum of sadness, as teachers and students alike reflected on the past year and what was in store for the future. We dined and laughed, told memorable stories, and thanked each other for a great year in everyone’s company. "These students," one teacher reflected, "are some of my favourites, my best. I will miss…
Author: LCS
The Heart of Robin Hood Pulls No Punches
By Rory Gilfillan, LCS Teacher Both Liam Cole, who plays Prince John, and Mikayla Stoodley, who plays Alice (sister of Maid Marion), are straight A students. They hold doors open for people, ask others how they are doing and then wait patiently for a response. It’s plausible that in the last week they helped an elderly person cross the street. But not on opening night. It can’t be easy to make an audience laugh after cutting out someone’s tongue, as Cole does during the second act or connect with an audience while callously stepping over a corpse as Stoodley’s does. It takes practice. “To get into character I would have to find ways to make myself angry. Over time it became a lot easier just to jump into character. I [also] found it helped to fully disconnect from myself in real life and the character I was playing. Understanding…
The Babineau Boys: Soaring with a Safety Net
"The first time we were on campus was the day Christian '14 started school in September 2012." Simone Babineau says with a smile. "Classes hadn't started yet, and we ran into Ian Armstrong—who we'd met before—walking down a corridor. He immediately came up to Christian, put his arm around his shoulder and said, 'I'm so glad you're here!' I'll never forget that. We knew Christian was where he was supposed to be." The Babineau family—Phil, Simone and their two sons, Christian '14 and Alex '16—had never considered boarding school when the boys were growing up in New Brunswick. But one winter after Christian returned home from playing hockey against some prep schools in Ontario (both Christian and Alex are skilled players), he said he rather liked the idea of boarding school. Simone and Phil were taken aback. They'd always told their children they could achieve anything their hearts desired, to…