In just over a week, we will be celebrating with our ILS Class of 2019 at our Graduation Vespers Service. It is hard to believe that our year is fast coming to a close, and we will soon be saying our farewells to our graduating 8th grade students. These past weeks, we’ve been counting down alongside our 8th graders with some reflections and memories from their time at ILS in our "Meet Us Monday" series. We hope you enjoy getting to better know the members of the ILS Class of 2019 and that you will join us next week, on Wednesday, June 5th, as we celebrate with our Graduation Vespers.
Meet Us Monday: Kendall B., ILS Class of 2019
1. How long have you attended ILS? 6 years, 6 fabulous years.
2. To what house do you belong, and how have you developed as a person by being involved in it? Ambrose, the best house in the world. I’m a captain this year so it’s helped me to develop a better leadership style. Preparing for competitions helps you realize what kind of leadership works and how to relate to kids of various ages. Also, it’s all about teamwork.
So an example would be from our House Fathers Passion Play. We were trying to figure out how we could get the house members to practice and prepare for it. We could just tell them what to do or we could involve them in the process so they’d want to do the work. We try to brainstorm with them and involve anyone who was interested in the writing process. This worked really well because the kids who wrote it were the ones who genuinely wanted to and so on. Being House Captain of Ambrose has taught me that the best leadership is when you actually do less of the leading, and let others express their ideas and be allowed to lead their own ideas.
3. What was your favorite House competition? Probably the play! I really enjoyed it and our house did well.
Each house had to write a passion play based on their church father’s life and effect on church history. For example, ours was on Ambrose. We wrote the whole thing in rhyme to showcase his life. He was a bishop and we made the climatic moment of the play to be when he became a Christian. He also wrote a lot of hymns we sing in chapel.
4. What is your favorite ILS memory? (Or, which ILS tradition will you remember the most?) I have a lot of favorite memories! I loved 4th grade and 8th grade a lot. In 4th grade we were a small class and got to do so many fun things. Abigail probably talked about this, but the best memory was pretending to steal Miss Leithart’s keys. I don’t know why but that was just like a highlight of the year for us. We also loved making a radio show, although we realized after we finished it that we left out a key part of the plot. The radio show was a school project where the class wrote a radio drama like one might have heard in the 40’s, and then we recorded it and had CDs made. Abigail and I still listen to it, and it’s hilarious.
My favorite tradition…. I love the Advent Evening Service. I’ve been here since 2nd grade before we even had houses and I was little. My other favorite tradition is probably the House System!
5. Which event did you most look forward to during your 8th grade year? Well, we have Adventure Camp in three weeks. We do a lot of team building activities. Last year we didn’t do so well, and I’m motivated for us to accomplish those earlier this year! I’m excited to complete the activities with a new group of people, and I hope we do well!
6. What was your favorite class at ILS, and why? My favorite subject is English. I’ve been able to develop a lot in my writing skills and we discuss great books. The books we read are very rich, and I love the discussions we have about them, because they are usually really deep. I still remember discussions we had from 6th grade when our theme for the year was “Youths facing great challenges!” Reading great literature helps me to see the world through other people’s eyes, which I really enjoy.
7. What was your favorite ILS field trip? I really enjoyed a Shakespeare Play we went to. We saw the Merchant of Venice. I enjoy acting so it was cool to see Shakespeare. I learned a lot and it was cool to see Shakespeare presented in a more old-fashioned sort of setting.
8. Where are you attending High School? I’ll be attending National Cathedral School. I’m excited to join new extracurriculars and am looking forward to meeting lots of new people!
9. What will you miss the most about ILS? I’ll miss my friends and the community the most. I’ve been here so long and Immanuel is like my other family.
10. What is something a teacher told you that you will never forget? Just day to day, the teachers believe in you and push you to try harder. I can’t think of some special saying, but the general belief of the teachers in you is hard to forget. They know when I can do better and push me to write the best essays and do the best projects I can.