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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 Tanisha Naik

As I was walking to the first-floor alcoves during lunch, I spotted sophomore Jackson Van Os doing some homework. I figured I’d see how he’s doing so far this semester. 

Jackson is part of the Speech and Debate team. He enjoys “going to tournaments and having friends with it makes it more fun,” he said. “It lasts a while but it’s worth it.”. 

He started debate last year where his event was public forum, but now he does Lincoln Douglas.  With public forum you debate with a partner, but with Lincoln-Douglas you debate by yourself “and it is more philosophical based,” he said. Jackson  likes it because “you don’t have to rely on a partner.”  On the other hand, it’s hard because he has to write two cases at the same time. 

So far his debate season is going well. “A few weekends ago we had the state championships in Carrollton and this past weekend we had a tournament at Emory,” he said. This was the Barkley Forum. “It’s a tournament where if you do well you get a bid and you get points for a bid to go to the national tournament,” he said. His next debate will be nationals at Woodward in March. Even though this is Jackson’s second year at Lovett, he has made an impression. 

Outside of debate, he still has many hobbies that keep him occupied. He is in the band and he plays trumpet. “I wanna try out for the Ellington jazz ensemble which I’ve been hoping to get in since I got here,” he said.. He also tutors and helps out with kids at Agape, and runs track.  

Something you may not know about Jackson is that he also does karate and is a district champion in short form. He is a secondary black belt. When he has practice “We spar and put on gear, it’s really fun. We do combat sparring, I used to go to tournaments and I have a lot of medals,” he told me. 

When he’s not sparring on the mat, he’s doing it in the world of Fortnite, and also playing sports with his little brother. 

With all of these extracurriculars, Jackson has to stay disciplined. “Last year was pretty rough, but this year I’m starting to discipline myself and lock it in,” he said. He knows his classes and schedule so well that “I can plan things accordingly, like do stuff in advisory,” he said. 

To end the interview I asked him what he was doing after school.

“Track,” he said, “which might hurt.”

By Olivia Janis

Now that second semester is underway, I thought I’d do a health check on the seniors to see how many of them have a case of senioritis. 

If you’re Avery Arnold, it started junior year. On a Tuesday morning, I found myself voyaging to the cafe to aid my extreme hunger. As I was scoping out the snack options, I caught a glimpse of the cafe tables filled with seniors. I heard laughing, yapping, and snacking all the way from the chip section, so I decided to go check it out. To my surprise, it was a bunch of seniors plagued with the lethal disease of senioritis. 

In order to find a cure for this disease I voyaged to the nurse’s office. She said with a chuckle, “The only cure I can think of would be half days on Fridays.”

Avery Arnold describes senioritis as “losing all motivation to do anything or even show up or get out of bed.” All her friends immediately agreed with her. 

“I was late every day last week, solely because I just woke up late every day,” said Senior, Ania Wallace. 

Early mornings do not seem to mesh well with the seniors, so as a result, the absences are off the charts. Or at least they may be headed there. As Mrs. Gilmore said, “As of this moment, senioritis has only impacted a handful of students, but I can feel the tsunami coming.” 

As a junior, I am finally aware of the car privileges we have, which means leaving campus is an easy process. 

Avery says she has started to “count down the absences until I get to 17.” She says “I’ve planned out the rest of the semester just to miss as much school as I can, because I don’t want to be here especially now that I’m already in college.” 

Avery will be attending the College of Charleston in the fall of next year, so her head is already in a nice beachy town, smelling the fresh salty air. 

Senior Parks Allgood chimed in on our conversation, revealing how she has four free periods this semester. 

“You haven’t shown up to one photography class,” said Avery with a chuckle. 

Getting through a school day is already hard enough, so being a senior with an after-school commitment is even more excruciating. 

“I couldn’t play a spring sport senior year. That sounds like the most miserable thing ever having to get to school by 10 and stay till like 8 pm,” said Avery. Avery played softball in the fall, so to her, she is off the hook for the second semester. 

Dorian revealed how she has to attend play practice, so she gets home a little later than 6. Which is not what she prefers. 

So, how do students manage to do well in class if they don’t attend them anymore? Well, according to Avery, “No college looks at 2nd semester.” To verify this, I chatted with college counselor, Mr. Rodriguez, who said colleges “give you grace…and they are not going to be rescinding your admission unless something catastrophic happens.” Nevertheless, he advises seniors to “keep your foot on the gas.”

Additionally, Dorian, Avery, and Ania say they are relying on the exemption from exams if they maintain an 85 average in their classes, so that is why Dorian says she is “trying minimally for the 85.” To confirm this point, I voyaged to 12th grade dean, Mrs. Hooker, who said, “Teachers have the ability to allow seniors and seniors only, to exempt their final exam spring semester. The grade minimum is an 85, but then teachers have the ability to employ any kind of other requirements,” such as attendance or participation. So seniors with an 85 may want to continue to lock in.

Even though these seniors have acknowledged their desire to finish school, they still agreed that leaving is going to make them extremely sad.  

“I think I’m going to cry a lot,” she said. She thinks that it will hit her in the last few months before the end of the school year, so that is when she plans on showing up to school every day. 

“Sometimes I’ll get sad and wish I had a little more time, but at the same time I’m like I can’t do any more homework any longer,” responded Dorian. 

In the corner of the cafe booth, Logan Lutz was very intensively busting up his biscuit, so I had to finally interrupt to ask if he had anything else to add before I headed back to the newspaper room. Once he finished chewing, he agreed that senioritis hit for him around October like Dorian and that he will miss his friends very much. To which Dorian, Avery and Ania all gasped in awe.

By Anna Mefford

Hartt Daniel has 65 pairs of sneakers, and when I asked what his favorite pair was he responded, “That’s like picking your favorite child.”

Hartt is one of the 3 owners of the Luxury Box ATL, a very famous and prestigious shoe store in Buckhead Village. This business started in October of 2022. 

Hart’s love for shoes started in 6th grade when he got his first pair of Jordans. He said that the reason he loves shoes so much is because of all the variety they have, whether it’s brands or styles. He says that his collection has always been growing but owning a shoe store has given him more access to shoes  “And now I’m sitting here having sneakers that I would’ve laughed at me having back in middle school,” he said. 

While I didn’t manage to get him to pick his favorite “child,” he did land on Nike being his favorite brand. He said they are of great quality and that Nike knows what they are doing. 

Hartt owns Luxury Box Atl with 3 other people, one of whom is his cousin’s friend who dropped out of Temple University to start this business. The other guy, Jeremy, “is one of the biggest sneaker suppliers on the East Coast,” Hartt said. He then added that “Everyone who buys and sells rare sneakers, knows Jeremy. So having him as an asset for us is huge. ”

The store sells a lot of luxury shoes and designer brands, however, they also sell Air Jordans and Dunks. They are also the only store that sells Air Forces for $100 and Nike sells them for $120. 

They can do this because they buy the ones with damaged boxes. “Sometimes it’s missing receipts and stuff that people don’t really need to wear with the shoes,” he said. He added how the shoes are still in the same condition you’re going to get from Nike. The box might just have a dent and they get it for $20 less.

Hartt tries to go to the store every day after school and both days over the weekend, but that can be hard with schoolwork and sports. Since he can’t be in the store all the time he manages the online presence, like Twitter, Instagram, Little Red Book, and the website. 

He is in charge of all the SEO, and search engine operations, so his goal is “if you search Jordan one, we want to be the first link that shows up.” 

The store has a full staff but none of them are Lovett kids. “I’ve had a lot of people come and ask me for a job,” he said. “I’m like, you can submit your resume. I’m just probably not gonna hire you.”

Hartt and his 2 other partners are opening up a new location in Atlantic Station within the next month. Adding store will “funnel more customers to us. So two stores, one city…that basically claims a city, especially like in Atlanta,” he stated. The Atlantic Station store will have all their vintage stuff, such as the 90s and 2000s Jordans.

Hartt said that Jeremy is the key to getting all of these vintage shoes. For example, the first collection Nike did was a pair of SBs that was released in 1999. “There’s only a hundred pairs in the world,” he said. “Three of those have been with us.” 

Because of all their rare vintage shoes and designer brands, finding celebrities in the store is not uncommon. Some celebrities that have shopped there are Drake, CJ Stroud, Trey Young, Morgan Wallen, Lil Yachty, and 21 Savage. Hartt said this as if it was nothing. 

Hartt has been working on a nonfiction book about shoes and plans to get it published by the end of this year. The book is about “all thing sneakers,” he said. The book shows the history of how shoes became a symbol of status rather than a necessity. 

The book is 40 pages right now and he is currently in the revision process. His goal for the book is not to make money but rather to educate people on shoes. The book is a nonprofit and all the money he makes will be going to 3 charities, Sneakers for Kids, Cure, and Back to Blue. He is planning to sell the book online on websites like Amazon, Walmart, and Target, as well as in stores, libraries, and the Luxury Box.  

As if running a business and being a student isn’t enough, he has a podcast with one of his friends called “For the People.” They talk about everything; obviously, shoes are the main topic, but they also talk about sports and what’s happening in the world. The podcast is on Spotify and Apple Music.

So, if this article has made you feel like you need to find more things to do with your time, it did for me too. And if you’re looking to raise your sneaker game (or run into some celebs) head to his store.

By Beza Kifle

When I walked into the first alcove on the second floor, I saw Chelsea Daniel sitting there talking with friends and doing some work before the school day. Since she’s the 11th-grade SGA president, I wanted to check in with her, so I pulled her for a quick chat.

Chelsea and the rest of the SGA have been working hard with everything they have coming up. “We’re definitely trying to generate new ideas just to improve student life in general,” she told me.

SGA meetings are usually held once a week for each division. The full SGA meets on Wednesdays, and the 11th grade SGA meets on Fridays.

In the 11th grade SGA meetings, the biggest thing that they are working on is Prom, which is on April 6th. “We’ve been working on that since October or November, so there’s a lot of elements in it that people don’t really see,” Chelsea told me. 

The venue for prom this year is the Stave Room, and the SGA is working on a “fun project and celebration of the seniors at Prom,” Chelsea said. She also told me that the theme is coming out next week, and invitations will be sent out next Friday! 

In her meetings with the entire SGA, Chelsea, and other SGA members have been working on “a culmination of different things,” as Chelsea said, but right now they are working on Winter Fest. “I know the faculty basketball game is locked and loaded. The 10th grade SGA are the main planners of Winterfest, but from the full board meeting, it’s supposed to be a fun one!” Chelsea told me.

Knowing how much work school requires, especially in junior year, I asked Chelsea if there’s a lot of work that she does outside of her meetings. Luckily, most of their stuff gets done in their meetings, but “there is some work like I had to contact caterers and get everything solidified for prom,” Chelsea said.

Chelsea’s love for her work on the SGA makes it easy for her to balance everything. “It’s a lot easier to balance stuff when you’re super passionate about something, so to me, SGA isn’t really a chore or an obstacle, but it’s a pretty fun experience,” Chelsea said.

When I asked what her favorite part of 11th grade SGA is, she told me that she likes that it’s all girls. “We have totally different perspectives, but we still get guys’ input,” she explained.

For the full SGA, Chelsea told me that she likes that it’s a lighthearted group. “It’s so fun to go to the meetings because we’re all super happy, and we just crack jokes the whole time,” she said.

Chelsea takes her work very seriously. “I just love it because it gives people the opportunity to come and speak with me if they have anything that they might want to see,” Chelsea told me. “I love our 11th grade and full SGA, so it’s a good experience.” So she “100%” plans on running again next year.