Master Teacher - Bryan Smith - ageless, damn him! He's gotta be using Grecian Red!
La Lumiere School: boarding and day preparatory school -Arcadia in Indiana
La Lumiere School in La Porte, Indiana is Alma Mater to Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts, HBO Director and producer Paris Barclay, John Buck Company Principle and Operations Chief Pat Buck, Actor & Comedian Jim Gaffigan and school Headmaster Mike Kennedy.
The school was established in 1963, by Chicago and Indiana Catholic laymen, like Andy McKenna, John Daly, Art Decio, Charlie Comiskey, Aidan Mullet, F. Miller Bransfield, Ed Stephan and Ed Proctor to name a few. It is positively one of the most beautiful places on earth. I lived and taught at La Lumiere School from 1988-1994 with some of the best teachers on the planet -Bryan Smith, Miriam Nasidi, Pete Campbell, Johanna Miller, Father Jay Schultz, Mike Hall, Pat Mulligan, Pat Buck, Chris Balawender, Larry Sullivan and Linda Weigel. It was wonderful.
Bryan and Judy Smith parented Augustine House (dorm) to the east of my dorm Becket House - each housed a family and twenty plus teenagers. Bryan Smith is a Baltimore native and Notre Dame Graduate who has spent his entire teaching career at La Lumiere School. Bryan married Judy Coppens and they became great friends to the Hickey Family.
I know many great teachers and Bryan Smith a biology and science instructor to be the very top of the food chain. Along with Larry Sullivan - Headmaster Emeritus - Bryan Smith possessed genuine academic command and mastery of the classroom. Moreover, Bryan Smith is the man any parent would want serving in loco parentis - Mr. Smith has been Dad to hundreds of brilliant, capable, snotty, ingracious, cooperative, saintly and more than a few kids with my instincts and inclinations.
In October of 1989, my son Conor ws born at La Lumiere during our football defeat at the hands, feet, teeth, ass & elbows of the Bridgeman Bees ( Michigan) and sixteen years later the native son returned to La Lumiere for his junior and senior years of high school. Bryan and Judy again watched over Conor.
# 55Conor Oliver Hickey '08 -Capt. La Lumiere Lakers Football-Center -in two years of play at St. Rita and La Lumiere Conor never muffed a snap, nor missed a block -thank Christ that Conor is his Mother's son!
Bryan Smith initiated and coached the La Lumier School Science Olympiad Teams - in twenty years Bryan Smith's teams have "gone to State!"
They are going again! God Speed Lakers! Go Blue! As always, well done Coach Smith! God Bless Bryan & Judy Smith!
The La Lumiere School Science Team took first place in the Indiana Science Olympiad Regional Competition at Goshen College, Saturday, February 5.
La Lumiere School placed first in 21 of 23 events. In over half of the events where La Lumiere placed first, they also captured second. Headmaster Michael Kennedy commented on the students’ accomplishment, “This exemplary performance, and that of our Regional Championship Academic Decathlon Team, is only surpassed by the outstanding character and commitment of these students. This confirms what many people already know: La Lumiere has the strongest academic program in the area, and this is just one example of our level of excellence.”
The Laker team will compete in the state tournament at Purdue University Calumet on April 2, 2011.
La Lumiere School students compete to qualify for a spot on the School’s Science Olympiad team. Through classroom activities, research and training, the team prepares for district, regional and state tournaments. La Lumiere has competed successfully at local, regional, and state levels for the past 19 years. La Lumiere School’s medal results are as follows:
First Place Medals
Anatomy and Physiology – Adnan Ahmed, Chesterton and Neathie Patel, Chesterton
Astronomy – Neal Patel, Chesterton and Andrew Yarger, South Bend
Chemistry Lab – Adnan Ahmed, Chesterton and Christian Allen, Valparaiso
Disease Detective – Christian Allen, Valparaiso and Anulé Ndukwu, Chesterton
Dynamic Planet – Neal Patel, Chesterton and Michael Spaeth, La Porte
Ecology – Laima Augustaitis, New Buffalo, MI and Mary Catherine Brown, Lakeside, MI
Experimental Design – Kelly Barr, La Porte, Andrew Bartels, South Bend, and Emet Murillo, La Porte
Forensics – Adnan Ahmed, Chesterton and Lucas Tang, Portage
Fossils – Christian Allen, Valparaiso and Anulé Ndukwu, Chesterton
Helicopters – Chong-xin (Dereck) Luo, China and Lucas Tang, Portage
Microbe Mission – Neathie Patel, Chesterton and Lucas Tang, Portage
Mission Possible – Chong-xin (Dereck) Luo, China and Michael Spaeth, La Porte
Mousetrap Vehicle – Christian Allen, Valparaiso and Hans Guentert, South Bend
Optics – Lindsay Ciastko, Hammond and Mackenzie O’Brien, La Porte
Ornithology – Robert Bartels, South Bend and Alexa Hicks, La Porte
Remote Sensing – Neal Patel, Chesterton and Andrew Yarger, South Bend
Robot Ramble – Hans Guentert, South Bend and Ryan Worl, La Porte
Sounds of Music – Lindsay Ciastko, Hammond and Anulé Ndukwu, Chesterton
Technical Problem Solving – Esmeralda Alvarez, Chicago, IL and Jin-uk (Tim) Heo, Korea
Towers – James Caplice, Michigan City and Lisamarie Nappier, Chicago, IL
Wind Power - Lindsay Ciastko, Hammond and Mackenzie O’Brien, La Porte
Second Place Medals
Astronomy – Emet Murillo, La Porte and Marina Walinski, Rolling Prairie
Chemistry Lab – Jin-uk (Tim) Heo, Korea and Esmeralda Alvarez, Chicago, IL
Experimental Design – Robert Bartels, South Bend, Mackenzie O’Brien, La Porte, and Andrew Yarger, South Bend
Forensics –Esmeralda Alvarez, Chicago, IL and Kelly Barr, La Porte
Fossils – Andrew Bartels, South Bend and Emet Murillo, La Porte
Helicopters – Jin-uk (Tim) Heo, Korea
Ornithology – Mary Catherine Brown, Lakeside, MI and Marina Walinski, Rolling Prairie
Protein modeling - Alexa Hicks, La Porte, Neathie Patel, Chesterton and Lucas Tang, Portage
Remote Sensing – Kelly Barr, La Porte and Emet Murillo, La Porte
Sounds of Music – Jacqueline Lange, La Porte and Marina Walinski, Rolling Prairie
Technical Problem Solving – Lindsay Ciastko, Hammond and Chong-xin (Dereck) Luo, China
Towers - Neal Patel, Chesterton
Write it-Do it – Mary Catherine Brown, Lakeside, MI and Jacqueline Lange, La Porte
Third Place Medals
Dynamic Planet – Andrew Bartels, South Bend and Jacqueline Lange, La Porte
Ecology - Robert Bartels, South Bend and Alexa Hicks, La Porte
Write it-Do it – Alexa Hicks, La Porte and Neal Patel, Chesterton
About Science Olympiad
Science Olympiad is a national organization that strives to promote and improve student interest in science and to improve the quality of K-12 science education throughout the nation. Its vision is to:
Create a passion for learning through the organization of tournaments.
Improve the quality of K-12 science education throughout the nation by changing the way science is perceived and the way it is taught (with an emphasis on problem solving and hands-on, minds-on constructivist learning practices).
Celebrate and recognize the outstanding achievement of both students and teachers in the areas of science and technology.
Promote partnerships among community, businesses, industry, government and education.
