The Leelanau School, the private school located just north of Glen Arbor on 1 Old Homestead Rd, invites the community to join in an evening of holiday cheer on Friday, Dec. 13, from 7:30-9:30 pm. Stop by the school’s auditorium for music and sing-along at 7:30, a dramatic reading of A Christmas Carol at 8 by local actors Don Kuehlhorn and Drew Gibson, followed by cookies and punch at 9. The event is free, but reservations are requested by visiting leelanau.org/scrooge.
The Leelanau School recently dedicated the newly constructed Charles E. Scripps Jr. Creativity Center on its Glen Arbor campus. The Center will house the school’s ceramics studio, newly donated woodworking shop, and new Laser Engraving program. The project was inspired and funded through the generosity of Charles E. Scripps Jr. of Montana, a Leelanau parent and grandparent. Mr. Scripps shares Leelanau’s passion for hands-on and entrepreneurial learning experiences. Applied arts allow students to learn elements of creativity and design while acquiring the discipline required to turn ideas into reality.
Laura and Bruce Hood have finished their teaching careers at the Leelanau School after 31 years. Bruce delivered an emotional graduation speech at the school’s 93rd commencement ceremony on June 1 that included these words: “I believe our lives, like careers, are made from the moments, the unpredictable times that happen when you are together, that fill in all the time between the milestones, those moments that you will remember for the rest of your life, the ones that shaped who you are and set you on a course for who you will become. Our challenge is to live those moments, to understand them for what they are before they become only memories…” What a bunch of moments and memories these master teachers have shared with more than three decades of students!
Living in Leelanau invites the wearing of many hats, with individuals often finding themselves sitting on multiple boards, working more than one job, or filling numerous needs throughout our small communities. Many of the most successful businesses also operate in this way, meeting multiple needs under one roof: the coffee shop that is also a music venue, the vintage store with the art club, the restaurant with an inn above. At one such multi-functional establishment—Farm Club—writer Mae Stier sat down to talk with Elijah Nykamp, who is himself a wearer of many hypothetical hats. Owner of the clothing studio and shop Nykamping in Suttons Bay, Nykamp is the designer and sewist of all the clothing he creates. Not only does he design and create beautiful, wearable pieces, he is also a community builder, frequently partnering with other artists.
In October of 2021, the first snow frosted the maples still ablaze with red and orange color. Art instructor Kaz McCue from the Leelanau School saw the opportunity to take his Photography 2 class for a ride. They got great photos, and when Kaz sent one of the best to his wife Pam, an art teacher at St. Johns Country Day in Orange Park, Fla., she replied, “This would make a great puzzle!”
The pandemic pivots and pirouettes required of teachers everywhere only inspired the creativity of Leelanau School’s Dr. Elizabeth Wolterink. Her PhD (and MA) in Mythological Studies (with an emphasis in Depth Psychology), and a BA in Anthropology (with a minor in Cinema) show her versatility, her attention to detail, and her passion for expansive imagining and deep thinking.
After a virtual spring and a mostly closed summer, Glen Arbor’s Leelanau School is welcoming students back for live, three-dimensional, hands-on learning.
Have you ever dissected a baby goat? Ever had a music teacher tell you to get your instrument ready and then to hit the mute button? Then you missed this spring’s virtual zoom lessons at the Leelanau School, the private boarding school located just north of Glen Arbor. Two of its teachers, Bruce (science and pottery) and Laura (music and senior seminar) Hood used their resilience as long time hands-on experiential educators to do the sudden switcheroo required of all teachers in March to teach on a screen. “Leelanau School is about establishing a relationship with each student,” Bruce explains.
Manitou Winds presents “Winter Songs & Carols” at the Leelanau School on Friday, Dec. 13, at 7:30 pm. The concert is free. No tickets or reservations are necessary.
Student activist Liam Bottoms led Leelanau School students to join in the worldwide walkout to protest against global climate change on Thursday, Sept. 20. Millions of Students and many adults from around the world walked out of schools and workplaces to demand immediate action against climate change. The walkout was planned ahead of the United Nations General Assembly and Climate Action Summit which will be held on September 23.