Lakehill's college-aged alumni joined students and faculty at the basketball games on January 6 for a special celebration in their honor. "This was the second year for us to host this event," explained Ray Dent, Director of Development and Alumni Relations.  "We hope it will become a long-standing tradition. Everyone enjoyed reconnecting with our college-aged alums and hearing about their successes while they were home for the holidays." 

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John Trout has sponsored the Lakehill

Magic: the Gathering club and summer camps every year since he began teaching fourth grade 12 years ago. 

Magic, a strategy card game that is something like the game of chess crossed with a fantasy world like 

Following three years of intense training that culminated with a rigorous three hour physical exam, eighth grade student Reed Zimmermann recently received his black belt in karate from Ray's American Karate.

 Zimmermann first became interested in karate after seeing the movie Kung Fu Panda 2. "Karate felt strange at first with all the bowing and gestures," he said, "but I realized I really enjoyed it and was learning a lot, so I stuck with it." 

An important focus of karate is to promote physical and mental growth through focused training, while instilling a sense of discipline and code of ethics to inspire students to become good citizens.

To test for their black belts, students must exhibit proficiency in various areas of study, including basics such as hand strikes and kicks, self defense techniques, takes downs and throws, and sparring. Students train extremely hard for this special day.

According to Keith Yates, founder and president of American Karate and Tae Kwon Do Organization, "The black belt has a humility that is evident to all who know him. He should be in control of himself and have the perseverance to face difficult circumstances."

Zimmermann plans to continue his training in karate with hopes of advancing to higher levels of black belt. "Karate has helped me develop self-discipline and confidence," he says. "In sparring, if you quit, you fail. Karate teaches you to never give up."