LCHS 70th Celebration Events!

Logo courtesy of LCHS

If you have read many/any of the posts here, you can probably guess I have a huge love for my alma mater Loudoun County High School. Well, this year is the 70th anniversary of school's opening, and the school administration is throwing a year-long party!!

Here is the full lineup of events:

February 3rd - 70th Anniversary Winter Fest [open to students only]

Week of April 8th - Decades Spirit Week [open to staff and students only]

April 12th, 6pm - Concert on the Lawn: This is the main kick-off event of the 70th Anniversary Celebration, taking place on the picturesque front lawn. The concert will include the staff band Staff Infection, current student Sela Campbell, and LCHS 2013 alumna Emma Rowley. Food trucks will also be on-site.

April 13th, 12pm - Afternoon Tea and Tours: Like the late Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee for her 70th year on the thrown, this is the 70th year of LCHS's reign as the crown jewel of LCPS. In that grand tradition, the school is hosting a Jubilee tea, accompanied by historical tours open to alumni and former staff. Archival photographs, artifacts, and stories from the past 70 years will be on display.

April 19th - Prom [open to students only]

May 4th - LCHS Marching Band performs in the Apple Blossom Festival's Grand Feature Parade: The annual festival and parade is located in Winchester, Virginia. Come to support the marching band, stay for all the additional festival fun (and apple blossoms)!

June 18th - 70th Graduation Ceremony (the hands-down best high school graduation venue in Loudoun County) (unless it rains *knock on wood*)

Week of September 16th - Homecoming Spirit Week [open to staff and students only]

September 19th, 6pm - Homecoming Parade and Food Trucks

September 19th-20th - Additional School Tours!

September 20th - Homecoming Football Game and Tailgate [Tailgate only open to students and staff] Go Captains!

September 21st - Homecoming Dance [open to students only]

There are other ways to get involved. The school's literary magazine The Crow's Nest typically only allows submissions from current students/staff. This year for the 70th, they are also accepting submissions from future and former students/staff!! This is a really exciting opportunity to share art from multiple generations! Learn how you can submit HERE. Last day to submit is March 18th!

Then, there is sponsorship! If you are able to give back to your alma mater, consider doing so! This will honor your time and memories, as well as positively impact future generations of learners! Funds raised will go towards school improvement projects, including (but not limited to) new professional hallway murals, and an update to popular seating areas on the school grounds. For more detailed information on sponsorship, please check out LCHS's 70th Anniversary Sponsorship Page.

Can't wait to see you all at County this year, it'll be a blast!

The Cooper Caper of 2010, aka Driving a Car Into LCHS

Cooper Caper of 2010

This year is the 70th anniversary of the opening of my alma mater, Loudoun County High School. While I don't have plans (yet?) to do anything to celebrate that fact, I thought I would share another one of my favorite stories from my time in high school. It's been shared online before, but I've never written about it here: enjoy The Cooper Caper of 2010!!

During the 2005-2006 school year, English teacher Ms. Toni Rader purchased a Mini Cooper car. She thought it looked small enough to drive right into Loudoun County High School. So on a teacher workday (and after receiving principal approval), she tried to do just that. The car ended up being a smidge too big to fit through the doors, but the attempt was documented in the yearbook.

Picture from LCHS's Lord Loudoun 2006 yearbook
Mini Cooper trying to fit through the school's double doors.
Yearbook caption: "Mrs. Rader trys [sic] to fit her new Mini Cooper into the school on a teacher work day. Unfortunately, her plan to drive through the main hallway back-fired when it didn't fit."

Fast forward four years, I was working on a self-appointed Drama Club project that involved going through every LCHS yearbook to date (some things never change) when I came across the picture. I shared this find on my Facebook wall, tagging Ms. Rader for more information. "Well, if it hadn't been so new, and if I'd pulled in the mirrors, I think it would've fit, [but] I chickened out," recalled Ms. Rader. But now four years later, the car wasn't as new and Ms. Rader was up for a second attempt.

On a drizzly August 13, 2010, the Mini Cooper drove up from the bus loop.

After folding in the side-view mirrors, it was go-time! The car inched through the double doors, but the mirrors still prevented it from proceeding fully into the hallway.

After backing away from the doors, the building engineer removed the Mini Cooper's side-view mirrors.

Ms. Rader driving her car towards the school

This time, the car fit through!

Success!!

Once in the building, the car was turned off so its exhaust wouldn't set off any fire alarms. With the car in neutral and Ms. Rader steering, the group that had assembled helped push the car down the hall. When it reached the foyer, it was time for photos!

Principal Oblas' desk name plate on the car
(He was out of the building at the time)

At one point, the car was repositioned to look like it drove out the front doors!

"Wouldn't it be cool if it could go out the front?!"
(But it couldn't, and didn't)

After a successful caper, we turned the Mini Cooper around, carefully avoiding walls and columns, and pushed it back towards the exit.

POV: taking a photo while also pushing the car down the hall

Driving out the doors

Driving away...

And so the Mini Cooper drove away, into the distant parking lot, never to be seen inside the school again. Yet, some say on rainy days, you still can hear the wet rubber tires rolling down the hall.

Moral of the story: Do that ridiculous thing that makes you happy. And if at first you don't succeed, try to do that ridiculous thing again.

THE END!