confidence communication adaptability empathy critical thinking citizenship

Each month, Cherokee Elementary students earn “Cheetah Paws” for positive behavioral traits that demonstrate Cherokee citizenship, including cooperation and safety. Two students are drawn from each grade to win a special prize such as extra recess or playing a game with the Principal Dr. Kate Cavanaugh. When the school reaches a milestone goal, they earn a school-wide celebration!

The Lake Forest High School Foundation partnered with LFHS to create the Business Incubator in 2014. This course helps students become true entrepreneurs by developing their own product or service. Students are mentored by local experts and the course culminates in Pitch Night, a “SharkTank’’ style event when student teams present their ideas for the chance to earn funding. This year’s winning team, Soluble, created the first-ever 100% sustainable, dissolving bubble wrap, intended to reduce packaging waste.

This year’s Galaxies Unknown-themed LFHS TEDxYouth event highlighted students, teachers and innovative thinkers that have ideas worth spreading. The event places a strong emphasis on empowering students to find confidence in presenting and public speaking about topics that are important to them.

“Each day is another opportunity,” says LFHS Outdoor Education teacher, Ray Werner. Mr. Werner recently led students on their annual three-day trip to Devil’s Lake State Park in Wisconsin. They cooked their own meals, climbed mountains, managed weather changes, challenged themselves outside of their comfort zones, and made new connections with students they never had interacted with before.

The annual LFHS Service Awards Breakfast was held on May 18 to honor the more than 40 students who received Young Adult and Teen Presidential Service Awards and LFHS-specific service awards including the Principal’s Award for Service. We are incredibly proud of the giving spirit demonstrated by these students over the course of the 2022-2023 school year.

The annual Physics Cardboard Boat Regatta requires non-AP physics students to build a boat out of cardboard or paper products, a real-world engineering problem! Students watched from the pool balcony as their peers showed off their engineering and skippering skills at the conclusion of this three-month project. The fastest time was achieved by Evan Sloan, Matt Durburg, Robert Medica, and Logan Uihlein with 34.94 seconds!

From performing at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna to going down the slides of a Salzburg salt mine, the 2023 LFHS European Music Tour was a huge success! LFHS Band, Choir, and Orchestra students traveled to Germany, Austria, and Czech Republic over Spring Break to tour and perform. It was a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate musicianship, create memories with friends, and experience new places through the universal language of music.

Dancing in the Moonlight

LFHS juniors and seniors danced the night away with friends at the Hyatt Regency at this year’s LFHS Prom, themed Dancing in the Moonlight. Highlights included a walk down the red carpet and the crowning of Prom royalty!

Taking Life in Stride

The Wellness Walk is an annual school-wide activity every May that allows students and staff to take a well-deserved mental break during the last month of busy school days. The tradition, which began in 2010, kicks off when underclassmen and staff clap out the seniors and staff retirees followed by a walk around the neighborhood and games, food, and music on the front lawn.

FROM THE LAKE FOREST HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL