Home

By Audrey Lutz

Ms. Switzer and her History of Nonviolence class made an outstanding art installation depicting a visual timeline of nonviolent movements in American history. The project is the culmination of many years of preparation, research, and development. 

After involving Ms. Story, an upper school art teacher, they decided to make a timeline following events through history. We were standing in front of the artwork when we spoke and she said,  “If I were to go back 20 years when I first started teaching about non-violence I would not have known half of what is up here.”

Each student made individual tiles that show non-violent activists and researched them to gain a better understanding of who they are and how they affected history. I was able to speak with Leah Cox about her involvement with this project. “I was a student in the class, so I helped with brainstorming and making the background,” she said. “If you look at the board, on the far right, there is a collage of non-violent organizations and above it there are doves. I made both of those.” 

Ms. Switzer said that the installation is a way “of visualizing all of the interconnected complexity of non-violence in American history.” Everything is connected one way or another, and this installment shows all of the historical branches. 

As we started the interview Ms. Switzer implied that “Non-violence isn’t just about creating peace and justice, it’s creating conditions where violence is less likely.” This art is meant to show that peace is possible and that people are willing to risk their lives to stand up and say, they want a better society. 

There are 14 different non-violent movements that are represented on the board, but the art piece starts with the Indigenous people in the United States. “What my students discovered is that from a very early point, Indigenous people in the United States had non-violent peacemaking kinds of cultural technologies, and a lot of the non-violence that evolved came from seeing the way the Indigenous people resolve conflict,” said Ms. Switzer. 

The Indigenous people are the true roots of America and the first people to teach non-violence. “Many people think that the Indigenous people were just bows and arrows, but they had such a complex life,” said Ms. Switzer. 

Next, we move on to the Quakers and Anabaptists. “The historic peace churches (the Quakers and Anabaptists) came to the United States to escape persecution.” The Quakers and Anabaptists lit the fire for the anti-slavery movement. “They believed that there is a god and somehow that god is present in all people, so then anytime you’re unjust or violent to another person, you’re being unjust and violent to god. So that sort of theological premise motivated them to confront slavery first.”

Everything is connected in history and this board is illustrating that. “So we have this early women’s movement that starts, and those same women became the leaders of the suffrage movement.” Ms. Switzer then shows me how the branches connect everything together. 

As we keep moving down the boards we are introduced to the pre-civil rights which of course leads us to the all mighty civil-rights movement. They tried to include as much as they could, but the board can only hold so much. The board includes the majority of the 50s, 60s, and 70s. 

Finally, we come to the final board with the Black Lives Matter movement “as the most recent manifestation,” with its focus on anti-racism. “We have anti-racism, kind of having these moments of surging and then receding and then surging over time, but always there.” 

People have always been fighting against racism in history. “A takeaway that one of my students realized is that since the 1600s, there have been people, white people standing against racism, all the way to the current time. And since 1730-1740 every year someone has been born in America who has fought against racism.”

At the end of the final board, there are many pieces of art. “We have this collage of doves and it sort of represents the future for hope and peace,” Ms. Switzer said. There is a collage of different activists, and then finally  a mirror “because we wanted people to get to the end of the installation and say, well what can I do to make a more peaceful future?” 

Under the mirror, it says “The Future of Nonviolence is You.”

This project was a semester-long idea, yet the idea mainly came to fruition right around thanksgiving. As Ms. Switzer usually has a much bigger class she doesn’t do big projects like this one. This year she only had 9 students in her History of Nonviolence class, so Ms. Switzer asked them if they wanted to do something more creative than they normally couldn’t do with a greater number of students. “We talked to Ms. Story and we started brainstorming options. My students wanted to work together so we developed this idea, which was much more complicated than we were expecting and I didn’t know if we were going to finish.”

They started making it right after fall break and only had until exams to finish. “Towards the end of the last 2 weeks of class, this project was all we did. The students came before school, after school, and during lunch. They spent so much time on this and it’s incredible.” Leah Cox, a student who worked on this project, said that “There were times when we would have to come during our free periods, and we would work together and collaborate throughout the whole process.”

As the artwork started to finish they brought in Ms. Story again to take a look. “Once Ms. Story saw the project coming together she said that we needed to get this in front of other audiences.” Then came talk of where this outstanding project could go. They are considering the  Hartfield Jackson airport, which has a section where they display student work; the Center for Civil and Human Rights; and even the history center of Atlanta. “Right now the chief of the marketing department – Janie Beck- is working on finding out if this could be a traveling exhibition.”

Ms. Switzer is so proud of this piece and it has only made her think of what she could do in the future. “I’ve been trying for years to know how to organize this incredibly complex history and the more I taught the more I realized that it’s not just the history of non-violence but the histories of non-violence, and I’ve always struggled to make sense of it all visually. And the fact that they were able to create a way of visualizing it is amazing, not only to me but to them and future students.”

This project was huge, not only for Lovett but for the future of Ms. Switzer’s class. This artwork alone holds so many important people, dates, and moments in history that are not talked about in the history books. 

The students had to work so incredibly hard to get this project completed and it brought them closer together. “I think that this bonded my class,” she said. “We would see one another so much during the day that our close proximity to each other almost forced us to get closer.”

This artwork will be displayed in the art gallery hall until the end of February. After that, no one is truly sure where it will end up but, hopefully, wherever it goes it will inspire people. “We’re trying to create a better world,” Leah said.

By Valeria Benitez

With the all-girl Junior SGA planning prom (Cate Turner, Grace Schmidt, Savannah Jones, and me), we had many visions for the big night. At the start of the year, we decided on a Monte Carlo Casino Night. We had all the vendors and decor picked, including blackjack tables, poker setups, and Texas Hold’em, overflowing our online carts. In our minds, it was going to be the best prom ever.

And then…plot twist. Just two weeks before finalizing bookings, a Community Time focused on the risks of gambling changed everything. After checking with administration, SGA received a firm “no.” Although casino nights had been approved in the past, the administration told us the timing didn’t feel appropriate, and like that, months of planning had to be scrapped. No pressure.

With our original plan gone, we had to start over, fast. The search included ideas ranging from ffrom Masquerade to The Great Gatsby, but they seemed cliché and nothing quite clicked. After hours of brainstorming (and plenty of Pinterest scrolling), Savannah threw out a new idea: “What if we did a Master’s theme since it’s Master’s weekend?”

Savannah said she knew it would appeal to everyone because “Girls would think it’s cute with the southern vibes, and guys would also like it with all the golf activities.” 

Suddenly, we didn’t feel so doomed after all. The idea was fresh, fun, and new, something no one had done before. Once the theme, “The Master’s, A Night Unlike Any Other,” was chosen, the goal shifted. We started brainstorming, and instead of a DJ, SGA chose a live band to create a more elegant atmosphere. We also decided to incorporate themed entertainment, including mini putt-putt stations and even a golf simulator, despite some initial concern that someone was going to get hit by a golf club (let’s not jinx that).

While the final product will hopefully seem effortless, the planning process was anything but effortless. In January, we spent hours contacting vendors, negotiating prices, organizing decorations, and managing a tight budget. 

To stay on track, we divided responsibilities among the team. Savannah handled the photobooth, buying decorations and vases for the tables, emailing seniors to submit their pictures (which, if you haven’t yet and you’re a senior reading this, PLEASE send your photos), as well as many other logistics. 

Grace managed the band, putt-putt, golf simulator, and yellow U.S. flower poster that she carved out from cardboard. She supported Savannah in acquiring vases and decor, and all the payments for this. 

Cate worked on picking out the best master’s menu with the caterer, planned the venue’s logistics for the day of prom, and did a walk-through. She also worked on getting contacts for the balloon wall that will go in the front, as well as purchasing decor and vines that will hang from the ceiling. 

Finally, I handled buying disposable cameras that everyone will be able to use around prom, the senior walls (still a work in progress), contacting security for prom, and the faculty dinner and prom king and queen.This process hasn’t been easy, but since we are all really good friends, we can yell at each other to get things done. I think a huge challenge would have been if we hadn’t communicated.

After finalizing the details, SGA returned to the venue with their new vision in mind. Funny enough, our PDC this year was at this venue, and when we toured it for the first time, we had our PDC mindset, and we all wondered how we were going to fill that much space. This time, everything felt different.

Savannah also acknowledged the challenges behind the scenes, such as “making sure nothing falls through the cracks has been hard… but dividing roles and staying organized is key.”

Her advice for future SGA members is simple: focus on quality, stay organized, and make sure no one is left out, as well as hype up your prom theme. Grace Schmidt had similar advice: future Junior SGA should have fun with it and, when something doesn’t work out, just trust the process.

I asked Grace and Cate what they thought the biggest challenge was, and both agreed that filling up such a big venue with a tight budget has got to be the toughest part. “You don’t realize how little time you have to plan everything, and before you know it, you have to have everything almost booked before March, as everything gets booked fast,” Grade added.

Looking back, I think that we are all very proud of the way the theme was announced. The night before the Tuesday Morning Meeting, Savannah created an edit of the Masters that in the background had Juniors Jack Stephenson and Thomas Rhodes, and we didn’t tell the Ultras the theme, we just told them to say that they were the fans of the week, and I have never seen someone more shock to receive fan of the week a year later. Everyone was so confused about what was being announced till the end of the edit, which said Prom 2026. Bridget Valls was pretty disappointed to see that the theme was not Candyland (in fact, she was very passionate about this theme).

In the end, prom planning is more than just decorations or themes. It is about adapting when plans change, working together, and creating something meaningful for the entire student body. After all, giving up my lunch period 3 times a week, both this past semester and this one, to work on prom, was definitely not easy.

But sometimes the best ideas come from unexpected turns. See you at the Masters. 

By Ella Harvey

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Especially when the Advancement office asks you to help recreate some old Lovett photos, which is what I did a few weeks ago as part of Alumni Giving Day.

Lucy Lina is another Riverbank Guide who took part in the event. “I love how it was one of my responsibilities because it is one of my favorite things I take part in on campus,” she said. Riverbank Guides lead tours around campus for prospective families and occasionally engage with alumni. 

On Alumni Giving Day, Lovett alumni are kindly asked to donate to support Lovett’s future. All of the donations are contributing to Lovett’s annual True Blue Fund. According to Mrs. Olaya, the assistant director of annual giving, the True Blue Fund is “Lovett’s unrestricted Annual Giving campaign. So the annual fund offsets the budget. Tuition covers only a certain amount of the annual operating budget, so the True Blue Fund makes up the rest.” 

Mrs. Olaya has been here since January of 2025, and before this, she was at another school, where she was “doing advancement and marketing and communications, which I was running someone else’s social media, which is where my ideas come from.” This includes the photo recreation project. 

One day, the Engagement Office was looking at a photo of students in the ‘70s walking up the stairs to the ARC, and Mrs. Olaya thought, “How cool would it be if we created that with current students now?” 

She asked Riverbank Guides to recreate the photos because they also interact with alumni. “I got about 10 Riverbank guides to agree,” Mrs. Olaya said. Over the course of a couple of days, she recreated a ton of photos and then incorporated them into a short video, which was uploaded to the Lovett Alumni Instagram.

“I was very excited when I got the email to recreate the pictures from alumni giving day,” Lucy said. 

This intersection of past and present coincided with the theme of this year’s Alumni Giving Day, “Honor, Give, Impact.” 

“It’s honoring the places and spaces that built you,” Mrs. Olaya said. This year was even bigger than previous years because it was the last Alumni Giving Day before construction on the new Rita Anne Rollins Hall begins. 

“We wanted to honor specifically the community center, and all the spaces and places on campus that meant something to alumni,” Mrs. Olaya said. This is where the recreating photos idea came to mind. 

Lucy valued the opportunity to explore Lovett’s past. “It was fun to get to walk around campus and see how it has changed over time,” she said. 

Still, Mrs. Olaya understands that the demolition and construction will evoke mixed feelings among alumni. “Especially for our older alumni, this was their high school, or it was their middle school,” she explained. 

Alumni are not the only ones who are asked to donate to the True Blue Fund. Parents, grandparents, friends of the community, parents of alumni, and faculty are often asked to donate. 

She pointed out that they solicit from these other groups more than alumni “because many recent alumni are young and in college, and might not want to be solicited by their alma mater regularly (it is just my guess, though).” 

Ultimately, Mrs. Olaya hopes older alumni will enjoy the new changes at Lovett and, hopefully, embrace the future Lovett generations. 

By Zoe Robinson

Lovett’s annual Marine Bio trip went on just a few weeks ago, with many upperclassmen missing the latter half of their week to head to Skidaway Island. 

The two-and-a-half day trip, planned by both Marine Biology teachers, Dr. Reynolds and Ms. Kostka, was led by Dr. Reynolds, Despite its brevity, the trip was definitely impactful for the students who went on it.

Dr. Reynolds has been taking students to Skidaway for the twenty years she’s taught at Lovett. The goal, she said, is to get students out of the classroom and to enjoy what they’re learning. It takes place on UGA’s marine biology campus on Skidaway Island, promising lots of opportunities for students to see what they’ve learned in class up close and personal.

For Dr. Reynolds, taking a trip like this for her class just feels like the natural thing to do. “Our unit on estuaries is right there,” she told me of the site, “so why would I lecture about it in the classroom when I talk about it while we’re standing right in the mud?” 

For Dr. Reynolds, who has a PHD in ecology, not only is it the best way to teach what she knows, but it’s also the best way to give her students a reset so that they can enjoy the class. Even though what they’re learning may be interesting, it’s always nice to get out in the field and do the work themselves. 

The trip also has a bit of a reputation for being a bit mucky, given how much of the time is spent in the actual ground and water, but it’s just another part of the experience. “One year, Mr. Greenberg was literally up to his neck in the mud,” she told me, recounting what the landscape was like. However, when you’re doing it, you get to appreciate the hard work that goes into a marine biologist’s job – and also how fun it can be.

While junior Chloe Major felt she was working hard throughout the trip, she also said that the experience was just a good time. “Being in the field, it’s very interactive and hands-on, which is the best part,” she said. 

The Marine Biology classroom does have its iconic aquarium, giving a bit of real-world experience, but the trip presents an exciting opportunity for students. Since most of the class is lectures and observation, getting to actually do the work of marine biologists was a nice way to apply what they’ve learned. “We got to do the actual experiments that we read about, which was fun,” she told me. 

While much of the trip was admittedly spent working, being able to do so in such a beautiful place made that work 10 times easier and more enjoyable. “It’s a beautiful view and setting,” Chloe described to me, saying that it was definitely a nice place to learn.

Junior Ashton Hightower agreed, mentioning how beautiful the land was. “It’s like super well preserved, it’s crazy… and it’s so serene,” he explained. For him, doing the work also gave a sense of calm, making it even more enjoyable.

When the students weren’t doing fieldwork, they had time to get a taste of the college experience and campus with other college students. “There’s stuff to do other than just working,” Ashton told me. “They have a field, they have games, an aquarium, a trail.” Overall, there were many activities for the students to enjoy together.

For Chloe and other students, the best thing they got to do together was just hang out at night. “We were just up super late, walking together and being together,” Chloe told me. “It was really like class bonding.”

For Dr. Reynolds, being able to see the bonding, as well as the genuine curiosity and joy from her students is what makes it worth it. The moments when kids find strange objects washed up on the beach and ask about them, set up their own experiments, or even just freak out after sitting in mud are the ones that make her proudest. “Those moments of just pure inquisitiveness, those are my favorite,” she explained.

While the trip may have gotten them a little muddy, it seems to have been a rewarding experience. “I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to do it,” Chloe told me, as she headed off to clean her tank back here at Lovett, 362 miles from the ocean. 

By Isabella Ying

When most people think of Ramadan, they might think of fasting from dawn to dusk. After all, from February 17th to March 19th this year, many of us have noticed the Muslim members of our community abstaining from lunch. But what many don’t realize is that Ramadan is about so much more.

Many people believe that Muslims fast during Ramadan “only because we believe God tells us to do it,” said senior Zaynab Farid, president of Lovett’s South Asian Alliance. In actuality, the reason is much deeper. It’s about “resetting yourself or grounding yourself,” and learning empathy for those who may not have food on the table every day, according to Zaynab.

In addition to fasting during the holy month, Muslims change numerous behaviors that, to many of us, seem habitual. So for all the gossipers and debaters by nature (both prohibited), Ramadan is a time to reorient, forgive, and strengthen your faith.

Zaynab, who has fasted since she was 13, admitted she struggles to adhere to these moral obligations during Ramadan. However, she tries her best to keep them at the forefront of her mind and has seen the positive results: throughout the past month, she found herself “definitely praying more often, or just reflecting on my life and religion a lot more.”

Ramadan 2026 was especially near and dear to Zaynab because it marked a turning point in her life. “My favorite part is just being able to spend more time with my family because this is the last year I’ll be doing it with my family,” she reflected. Once she leaves for Babson College this coming fall, “it makes me really sad to have next year and be doing it alone.” 

For anyone who’s never participated in Ramadan before, the assumption might be that it’s difficult for Muslims to maintain their energy during the daylight hours without eating or drinking.

Zaynab doesn’t find this too difficult, but if she does begin to feel drowsy, she likes to take naps to replenish some vigour. Altogether, Zaynab finds fasting is more so “in the back of your mind” as opposed to a “twenty-four-seven thing of ‘I’m so hungry.’”

Like many Muslims during Ramadan, Zaynab has heard her fair share of “so you can’t even eat or drink water or anything in a day?” She understands that many people are simply genuinely curious, so she’ll gladly offer explanations to clear up any confusion. But for those who are inconsiderate, she offers this: “We know we’re fasting. You don’t need to remind us.”

Over time, Zaynab has learned to accept that there will always be people who act ignorantly, no matter the religion. She’s learned to laugh off these interactions and not take them to heart. “That’s just something you have to put up with,” she said.

Although Zaynab isn’t exceedingly vexed by fasting or the narrative around it, eating is obviously still necessary. But considering its proscription from dawn to sunset, her schedule from February 17th to March 19th differs greatly from the rest of the year.

During Ramadan, Zaynab’s day starts around five or six in the morning. She’ll have breakfast, and then, “if I have time, I’ll just go back to bed and I’ll try to sleep for a few more hours,” she recounts. On school days, she follows a relatively normal routine: she’ll do her homework, go to school, and spend time with her friends. On a weekend, “I’ll get up pretty late, probably.”

Then, around seven or eight in the evening, she’ll eat dinner with her family and family friends. This differs from “regular days,” where Zaynab will “go out with my friends, or I’ll eat on my own, or sometimes, none of our schedules will line up,” so she won’t be able to dine with her family. But during Ramadan, “every night we get dinner together, so I’m always home for dinner during that.”

Zaynab confessed that during Ramadan, even on school nights, “my brothers and I, we found ourselves usually going out until like one or two AM.” Zaynab’s brothers both go to Lovett. Humza is a freshman, and Muhummed is a junior.

With Ramadan having just concluded, Zaynab has just celebrated Eid al-Fitr. Eid, the way Zaynab likes to explain it, is the Muslim version of Christmas. It’s not celebrating the exact same thing—Christmas with the birth of Jesus Christ, and the breaking of the fast for Eid—but for both religious spectacles, gifts are given and received.

On Eid, Zaynab and her family go to the mosque early in the morning to pray and listen to a talk. Then, after that, the festivities commence.

Eid is, to Zaynab, essentially “a whole day just partying.” Girls apply henna and families take many pictures. “We basically celebrate it because we’re just celebrating the end of Ramadan,” Zaynab explained. Specifically, Muslims will eat “a lot of food. Everyone’s eating a full day.”

A meaningful Eid tradition in Zaynab’s family is a celebratory treat. The night before Eid, her mother will prepare dessert, and the family will wake up early to eat it. What a fitting familial festivity to top off the holiest month on Zaynab’s calendar!

By Parvi Anand

At Lovett, March Madness isn’t only about basketball. This year, students and teachers are competing in a different kind of bracket: a GeoGuessr tournament organized by English teacher Dr. Brice Ezell.

GeoGuessr is an online game where players are dropped into a random location on Google Street View and must guess where they are in the world. Using clues like road signs, landscapes, and languages, players try to place their guess as close to the real location as possible.

According to Dr. Ezell, the idea for the tournament started last year with a former student.

“The inspiration really came from Brendan Pitfield, who graduated last year,” Dr. Ezell said. “He had seen a TikTok about the game and started playing it. We began playing together and decided it would be fun to build a club and eventually a competition.”

The GeoGuessr Club then created a tournament inspired by the excitement of March Madness brackets. Before the tournament begins, players compete during a regular season to earn points based on how often they attend meetings and how well they perform. Those points determine their ranking, or “seeding,” in the final bracket.

Once the bracket is set, players compete head-to-head. Each match includes five rounds where players have 30 seconds to guess the location shown in a Google Street View image. The closer their guess is to the real location, the more points they earn.

As the tournament continues, the rounds become more difficult. In earlier rounds, players can move around the map to search for clues. In the semifinals, they can only pan or zoom. In the final round, players cannot move, pan, or zoom at all; they must guess based on a single image.

Success in the game often comes down to small details. “Some players look at things like the color of road lines or what side of the road cars drive on,” Dr. Ezell said. “Others might look at the trees, the language on signs, or even the time of year.”

While the game is competitive, Dr. Ezell believes it is also a great way for students to learn about the world. “It’s a game where you naturally learn geography,” Dr. Ezell said. “You start noticing things about different countries and landscapes.”

Interest in the tournament has grown since last year. The first competition had 17 participants, while this year nearly 30 players showed up to compete.

The tournament also includes both students and teachers, something Dr. Ezell believes makes the competition more interesting. “I think both groups would be surprised by what the other knows,” Dr. Ezell said.

Last year’s final match came down to Dr. Ezell and Brendan, with Dr. Ezell eventually winning. This year, however, Dr. Ezell says the outcome is much less certain. “At the end of the season, I was in the lead,” Dr. Ezell said. “But players like Colin Summers, Nathan Shaw, Baker Weeden, and Jack Kilroy have been winning more recently.”

Senior Colin Summers has been playing GeoGuessr for about a year.

His experience traveling has helped him recognize locations more easily. “I’ve traveled a lot around Western Europe, about once every other year,” he said.

When trying to figure out where he is in the game, Colin looks for small but important clues. “I look at license plates, Europe has some with blue stripes,” he explained. He also pays attention to “what side of the road people drive on, the nature around, and road signs.”

For students interested in trying the game themselves, Colin recommends starting with the free options. “You get three free guesses,” he said, adding that students can also “join the club.”

Because the final round includes 15 guesses and the tournament uses a single-elimination bracket, Dr. Ezell says anyone could take the title this year.

No matter who wins, Dr. Ezell hopes students leave the tournament with new knowledge and a stronger sense of community. “It’s amazing how a game can bring people together,” Dr. Ezell said. “And this one helps you learn about the world at the same time.”

(A quick update: Dr. Ezell was the champion, which is a little sad for the student competitors. But there’s an upside for Dr. Ezell: “I now at least get to keep my money!”)

By Angelina Ricker and Micah Ingram

For many, including us, the community center basically grew up with us–from a place to eat lunch, to a place you go to avoid the rain, to a place you go to for dance class. 

But let’s be honest, it’s seen its better days. And yet, despite its peeling paint, its vintage HVAC system that cycles between hot and cold, and its bathrooms that smell like the 1980s, the community center is more than a broken-down building. 

As a result of the lack of modernity, part of Lovett’s master plan for the campus is to completely demolish the community center, starting this summer, and construct the Rita Anne Rollins Hall, hopefully to be completed by the fall semester of 2028. 

Currently, faculty and students are preparing for the big change that will reshape how we get lunch, attend classes, study, and access certain resources. 

We sent out a survey asking about your favorite memories at the community center and what y’all will miss most about it.

Surprisingly, many students and faculty provided thoughtful, unique responses that stood out to us.

Ironically, many at Lovett recognized that they appreciated the “Frankenstein-nature of the Community Center,” or that “it felt like our Hogwarts to me.” Ultimately, for many, the lack of uniformity transformed the simple building into a place of genuine character and belonging. 

Another trend observed across some entries was the number of people who expressed sorrow and recalled the great memories they shared with their peers and colleagues. 

Although the form was anonymous, one teacher expressed how, in the faculty dining room, they “had so many hilarious, meaningful, and idiotic conversations there with my colleagues over the past 23 years! RIP!” 

Several students expressed sadness about their memories of the cafeteria, the “dark rooms” behind the jazz band room, the cozy rooms overlooking the pond, the theatre, and the photo darkroom. 

But before all that concrete, drywall, bricks, and toilets are trucked away, we wanted to check in with some of the people most affected by this change. 

We started with Ms. Northrup and Mr. Bowden, the high school librarians, whose home away from home is in the community center, and if you’ve been here recently, you can already start to see the change taking place within the space.  

So one of the main questions they receive is precisely this: “So where are the books going to go?” Ms. Northup communicated that, for right now, they plan to relocate to the indoor track in Glover gym, which Ms. Northup likes to call “Ontrack” (get it? Because it’s on the track). (We like to imagine the 1980s teen movie version of this, where a ”nerdy” student goes to borrow a book and falls in love with a jock playing dodgeball.) 

The new “On Track” system has several drawbacks, including limited space, flexibility, and access. But one of the main pros that is completely new is Ms. Northup’s and Mr. Bowden’s new delivery system, BookDash (similar to DoorDash). This system will enable books to be delivered to students’ advisories after online orders, rather than through the traditional checkout process at the library.

For the librarians, the demolition of the current community center is a bittersweet experience, and they expressed how they will miss the library dearly. And yet they can’t wait for the new amenities that will replace the broken, inconvenient ones now. 

For example,  the new and improved library will include more windows, natural light, a larger open floor plan, and more engaging activities.

‘If we need stuff from upstairs, we have the dumb waiter that’s older than I am, which doesn’t always work to get things from upstairs to downstairs. It’ll be exciting to have better temperature control and a space with windows,” Ms. Northrup told us.

On the other hand, they will sincerely miss the memories and the “welcoming environment” they created in the current library. Besides books, the library also provides board games, a sewing machine, Legos, and other fun crafts to do when you’re bored. 

Additionally, many middle schoolers hang out in the library after school, and some high schoolers eat lunch there as well. “I’m going to miss having a space where so many people get to come and hang out,” Mr. Bowden says, “It’s one of the best parts of my job.”

Mr. Silvermann, the Film and Broadcasting director, has been here for 20 years, so if there’s anyone at Lovett who knows the community center, it’s him. 

“I will certainly miss being so close to my Fine Arts colleagues, hearing the chorus singing and the band practicing, seeing the dancers running up and down the halls,” he said. 

Despite being somber about the community center’s demolition, he also gave us some inspirational words about the major change to come, stating that “The positive thing is that our community exists with or without a building. Ideally, we spend each day in an effort to strengthen our connections– between students, parents, teachers, and administrators.”

He hopes that, through these modifications, he can rebuild the safe space he has enjoyed for the past 20 years, creating a low-key, low-pressure zone where students can decompress and fuel creativity. 

While the dust of demolition and the hum of new construction are inevitable, it is clear that the community center has never been just a collection of bricks, peeling paint, or temperamental HVAC units.

It has served as a scrapbook for the Lovett community, and a building that somehow managed to feel like home for everyone from the quietest reader to the rowdiest lunch table. 

As we transition to the “On Track” era and begin to navigate the logistics of BookDash and temporary classrooms, the sense of wistful melancholy among students and faculty is a testament to the environment that decades of Lovett students and faculty built together. 

Ultimately, the fall of 2028 will bring a sophisticated new hub to our campus, but the legacy of the old center will persist in the stories shared across the new cafeteria tables. We aren’t just gaining a state-of-the-art facility; we are also mourning the spirit of a shared rusty, dusty landmark that provided the backdrop for so many students and faculty over the years. 

While it’s hard to watch the rust take over, we aren’t just losing a building; 

Ultimately, Mr. Silverman advises optimism. “Life is change… embrace that. Don’t try to hold on to it!” he said. Hopefully, this new chapter will create many more memories and opportunities for everyone in our Lovett community. 

And decades from now, we can be sure that students will walk into the bathroom in the new center and think, this smells like the 2020s.