We are counting down to the end of the 2019-2020 school year, and it is a particularly bittersweet time for our 8th grade students as they prepare to graduate under very unusual circumstances. To help celebrate and recognize our ILS Class of 2020, we are again launching our “Meet Us Monday” blog series to introduce you to the members of this year’s graduating class.
Each week, we will be sharing interviews that we have done with each of our 8th grade students, in which they share more about their favorite ILS memories and traditions, words of wisdom they’ve received over the years, and other reflections from their years here with us at ILS. We hope that you will enjoy these reflections, and join with us in congratulating and celebrating these students!
Meet Us Monday: Margaret M., ILS Class of 2020
1. How long have you attended ILS? I have attended ILS for 10 years. Every new school year makes me learn something new. There’s always been something new to look forward to each year.
2. To what house do you belong, and how have you developed as a person by being involved in it? I am in House Athanasius and am also Captain. Being in Athanasius has been teaching me to be a better person because it challenges me to get involved proactively, share my ideas, and also include the ideas of others and learn from them. It teaches me to be a better sport; even if we lose, we’ve worked really hard and sometimes even accomplished things that seemed impossible at first. That makes me really proud of our house, whether we win or not.
3. What was your favorite House competition? I think I have to go with the time we designed and made our house shields. Everyone got to be creative and think outside the box. Our final project was gorgeous, and everyone’s was beautiful. These shields are our house crests and each one is unique and definitely represents each house and our house saint. We have them on water bottles and Miss C. Davis made sticker versions of our crest for us! The crest establishes our house and explains how special each house is. Little kids as they grow and become house members look forward to seeing house shields and learning what they mean. I’m really proud that I and my housemates were a part of creating this legacy.
4. What is your favorite ILS memory? (Or, which ILS tradition will you remember the most?) My favorite memory is probably Veteran’s Day because I love how we share the memories of all the veterans who fought for our country and served. We put all the photos of veterans from our school and families up on a wall. It’s very inspiring and uplifting. My father’s photo goes on that wall. For traditions, I really love when we go down to the Lower School and help younger kids. We play games with them or read to them. It’s really great to see all of their smiles and remember what it was like to be that age. Sometimes house captains go down to teach them about our houses, which is fun too.
5. Which event did you most look forward to during your 8th grade year? The last day of school – it’s that time to say goodbye to everybody and tell them how much they mean – especially everyone I’ve been with a really long time, teachers and students. To just be able to talk to them. It will be very uplifting and seems like it’s going to be helpful before going to high school. Just being with the people that I’ve been with for so long, I’m really going to miss. It’s important to say goodbye! I’m also really sad to miss graduation.
6. What was your favorite class at ILS, and why? I really love literature specifically. Every year, Miss C. Davis comes out with these amazing book lists. We really dig into the lives of each character and the book feels so alive. I also enjoy the projects for each book that she does – skits, artwork, whatever! It’s enjoyable to do that with my classmates and a great bonding experience too. My favorite project was in 7th grade: we did skits for King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Everyone was so creative, it was hilarious, and they were just so, so great.
7. What was your favorite ILS field trip? Okay. I believe in 3rd or 4th grade we went to Baltimore Aquarium and we got dissect squids. It was SO FUN. It was interactive and so cool to learn about all the pieces of the squid. It was a little gross at the same time, and I’m a fan of animals so it was possibly an awesome day just because of that too.
8. Where are you attending High School? I am attending Bishop Ireton, a private Catholic school. I’m very happy that I’m going to be getting a Catholic education and I know a lot of people there too. I used to run through those halls a lot as a little kid because my mom worked there, so to be able to go there as a student is a blessing. I’m excited to take this next step in my life. It really shows how much I’ve grown!
9. What will you miss the most about ILS? I think it’s going to be greeting my teachers every morning. I just like getting to say hi to everyone in the morning and it helps me through each day. They express love back to me each morning and just… they give me so much every day. My education! It’s the trust that we have that makes me feel like we’re in it together, no matter what happens. Thinking each day: “What are we going to do today? Let’s go!”
10. What is something a teacher told you that you will never forget? Miss Malcolm was my first teacher in the Upper School. When I felt like I was being teased or left out one time she said: “Margaret! Never change. You bring something special to ILS and that is love, kindness, and acceptance.” I bawled when she said that. It takes a lot of time to be kind to yourself. I struggle sometimes to accept who I am and ILS has helped me with that a lot. Miss Malcolm helped put me on that path and I’ll never forget what she said to me that day. It will leave a mark on me.