Lake Forest Country Day School Honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Lake Forest Country Day School (LFCDS) honored Martin Luther King, Jr. ahead of the national holiday by hosting an all-school assembly on Friday, January 15. Honoring the man who once stated “I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character,” LFCDS students, parents, and teachers joined together to celebrate Dr. King’s life, and to remind each other of the LFCDS emphasis on “strong character.”

Head of School Bob Whelan noted that the assembly took place on Dr. King’s actual birthday, and that he, too, was once a 10-year-old who loved football and baseball, who played the piano, and who dreamed of being a fireman. However upon being turned away from the front door of the store where he and his mother went to purchase shoes, his goals turned toward inclusion and equality for all. He became, what Mr. Whelan called, “An upstander rather than a bystander.” Mr. Whelan asked each individual in the room to look for connections today, to Dr. King, to each other, and to the world.

Candace Gregg, Assistant to the Head of School, spoke of who Dr. King was and how his story evolved as he stood up for those unable to do so for themselves. She encouraged students to, “Go out and make your own story. By pulling your neighbor up, you will make a change in the world.”

Brothers Asher and Leo Anderson of Highland Park shared that Ghandi was the inspiration for Dr. King’s peaceful protests, and that their grandfather worked alongside Dr. King. Amidst the violence of the times, the Civil Rights Movement couldn’t be silenced. Charlotte Kelliher, Lake Bluff, and Mia Foxman, Highland Park, shared the chant They Go Wild Over Me, written by Candy Anderson while jailed during a Nashville sit-in.

Those assembled watched video excerpts of Dr. King’s I Have a Dream speech followed by Grade 8 students holding I Stand For signs -- Peace, Bravery, Education, Differences, Integrity, Women’s Rights, Freedom, Safety, and Second Chances were just a few.

A commitment to responsible citizenship and a dedication to producing students of strong character infuse every aspect of life at LFCDS. Drama teacher Nicky Pitman defined an upstander as a person who takes action when the easiest course is to do nothing. “It could be Dr. King or Rosa Parks or Malala…Or it could be you,” she said. Ms. Pitman asked students, parents, faculty, and staff to hang a photograph of themselves with their own I Stand For sign outside her classroom in the long hallway leading to the cafeteria, making a chain that will fill the walls with the strength of this school community’s convictions.

Under the direction of Lower School music teacher Maria Hempen, who spoke of character being who you are when no one is watching, students in grades 1 through 4 belted out a rousing rendition of Upstanding Citizens, which elicited cheers from the audience.

After speeches by Foxman, Kelliher, Grace Fitzgerald, Lake Forest, and Michael Giambrone, Grayslake, encouraging their peers to strive to be upstanders and to dedicate each day to being the dream Dr. King challenged each of us to be, Angelique Alexos, Lake Forest, detailed the history of the anthem We Shall Overcome.

The LFCDS celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. King closed with the communal singing of We Shall Overcome. A few students rose as they sang, each person inspiring the next, until the Green Bay Atrium was filled with all those assembled singing and standing together.

Lake Forest Country Day School serves students from more than 30 communities throughout the North Shore and beyond. A regional center of excellence for early childhood, elementary, and middle school education for children ages 2 to Grade 8, LFCDS is committed to inspired teaching, academic rigor, attention to individual needs, and responsible citizenship as well as the dedication to producing students of strong character with a passion for learning. For more information on LFCDS, please visit www.lfcds.org or call (847) 234-2350.

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