THAT'S A WRAP FOR OUR SIXTH ANNUAL TEDxLBS SPARK

Yesterday was an amazing day with an abundance of SPARK! Twenty-three Upper School students spent the last 16 weeks designing an inspiring event for our community. They curated a lineup of 15 visionary speakers, navigating budgets, and orchestrating cutting-edge audio-visuals for a global audience. They were expertly guided, mentored, and supported by faculty members Allison Armstrong, Katherine Niksto, Michelle Finck, and Jill Sonbudtasan. A heartfelt congratulations for the incredible achievements of Regina Lujan '24, Danica Damiani '24, Lily Rice '24, Dania Zamudio '25, Sydney Fisher '25, Lila Foster '26, Cyanne Blabey '25, Siena Wyatt '25, Cierra Rogers '24, Lucy Wang '24, Milla Hirsch '25, Jack Garcia '24, Chloe Gidney '25, Carson Steward '25, Peyton Gimbel '26, Caroline Kenny '25, Sarah Woodhouse '24, JJ Stone '26, Dakota Risley '26, Jinling Wang '25, Paloma Lujan '24, Serena de Ponce '25, and Spencer Hlavaty '24.

A standing ovation for our student speakers Griffin Rick '24, Ada Ray '25, and Milton Lopez Plascenia '25, along with faculty speaker Grant MacNaughton. We are so proud of you!

Last week, 55 eighth grade students culminated a semester of collaborative work across science and humanities with their Capstone presentation of Mission to Mars. Eight teams presented their mission to colonize Mars to a panel of "investors." The presentations encompassed various aspects, including technical launch procedures, engineering considerations, communications, medical aspects, and food supply proposals. Two teams will receive approval from the panelists on Friday to proceed with their mission to launch.

Next year's calendar has been set. Please make a note of important dates.

Help raise money for our school at the Golden Oak Gala and host a party board event. These ticketed social events are hosted by a family, or families, where all ticket proceeds go to the school. Party Board Socials are fun for new and old friends alike and can be adult, child, or family events. Dinner parties, outdoor movies, and beach gatherings all do really well. Email Cate Stoll for more information or if you have an idea for a hosted event.

Tatiana Taylor '27 spent the last few months working on a project from concept to prototype in her Engineering and Design elective. She wrote the software, built the hard drive which she soldered, used an organic light-emitting diode (OLED), a Raspberry Pi Pico W, a solar battery, and wired it all! The software that receives, reads, and shares data enables her to log into the cloud and read temperatures in Celcius and Fahrenheit, atmospheric pressure, and humidity. This data is also reflected on the front of the prototype. During semester two, she will be working closely with Mr. Ary as his Trainee Assistant for the Intro to Engineering elective. Way to go, Tatiana!

Turning their classroom into a hub of creativity and equipped with only marshmallows and toothpicks, these fourth grade architects built impressive structures, showcasing both their STEM and innovation skills.

Last week, seventh grade students who participated in the Theatre elective during semester one culminated their work with a captivating performance of Peter Pan Shadow. Bravo to the talented cast!

Last Friday, the Family Association's Learn @ Laguna hosted Karla Cosgriff from Common Sense Media for a presentation on Artificial Intelligence. Thank you to all the parents who joined. Below is a link to the presentation, which includes helpful videos for parents. Additional information is available in the FA tile in My Laguna

Celebrate Black History Month by exploring literature with diverse Black representation and learning about notable Black figures in history. Click below to explore the books we are adding to the school libraries.

You're invited to join us for our second Book Club night. Bring a bottle or small dish to share. The book we are discussing is Wellness by Nathan Hill. Please email Gina Nelson for her full address and to let her know you if plan to attend.

The Wellness Promotion Project—an Upper School led club—invites all Upper School students to watch Forest Gump (PG-13 rating) Friday next week. Drinks, popcorn, candy, and pizza will be available for purchase. No registration needed.

NY TIMES BESTSELLER JESSICA LAHEY

Come socialize and have fun playing a friendly pickleball game, which is open to all levels! A coach will be on hand for instruction. Regsitration required ($35).

FA Drinks & Bites Social

SB Public Market

6-8PM

Summer @ Laguna Priority Registration Opens for Laguna Families Only

9AM

Summer @ Laguna General Registration

9AM

Golden Oak Gala

Rosewood Miramar Beach

Our Middle School JV Basketball team conquered the court and clinched the championship against Crane School last Thursday. The hustle and teamwork were on fire. Go Owls!

The Boys Varsity Soccer team clinched a CIF-Southern Section postseason berth with their 1-0 win over Villanova Prep last Thursday. Shout out to Baylor Wilson '26 for the goal. The team recorded their fifth clean sheet in the last six games. The win concluded the Owls Frontier League season with a record of 5-2-1 and a second-place finish in the standings and improved their overall record to 7-4-2. Brackets will be released on Saturday. Enjoy these photos from the game against Bonaventure on January 23.

Last Friday, the Boys Varsity Basketball team won 53-40 over Grace on Senior Night. Eka Nayak '24 led the offensive attack with a career-high of 20 points while Charlie Sheldon '24 contributed heavily in the second half with 14 points of his own, and Josh Hansen '24 collected seven points and nine rebounds. The seven seniors honored were Josh Hansen, Charlie Sheldon, Drew Levinson, Eka Nayak, Ganden Walker, John Mayfield, and Spencer Hlavaty.

On Monday, the Girls Varsity Soccer team pulled out a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Dunn in overtime. Shout out to Mary Stoll '25, Natalie Bianchi '24, and Maritza Barrera '27. Enjoy these photos from the game against Grace on January 9.

The Girls Varsity Soccer team found the back of the net within the first five minutes and kept the pressure on to win 3-1 over Beacon Hill. Shout out to Mary Stoll '25, Milla Hirsch '25, and Natalie Bianchi '24! Six seniors were honored during halftime—Natalie Bianchi, Christiana Perez Cino, Jordyn Garcia, Paloma Lujan, Regina Lujan, and Sarah Woodhouse.

Congratulations to senior Spencer Hlavaty for earning All CIF-Southern Section First Team honors in Division 2 Eight-Person football. Spencer tallied 36 touchdowns during the season (28 passing/8 running) while leading the Owls to an 8-2 record and into the 2nd round of the CIF playoffs. 

Girls Volleyball: Tuesday, August 6

Boys and Girls Cross Country: Monday, August 12

Girls Tennis: Monday, August 12

Boys Beach Volleyball: Monday, August 12

Girls Golf: Tuesday, August 13

5:30PM

Upcoming dates, deadlines, reminders, and important logistical information by division.

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