The Leelanau School: small boarding school with big international flavor
Allastair Reid-Miguel, a Leelanau School student and native of Angola
Sun editor
Seventeen seniors from far corners of the world received diplomas from the Leelanau School on Saturday, June 2. This was the 81st graduation ceremony for the small, intimate boarding school located just north of Glen Arbor. Now providing five-senses, strength-based educational programs to help students who learn differently prepare for college, Leelanau has been serving its clientele of students from diverse cultures, languages and countries for 83 years.
In the beautiful A-frame dining hall perched above the Crystal River there hang flags from 26 countries and 12 states, the points of origin for many of Leelanau’s students over the years. Originally founded by Cora and Skipper Beals and “Major” Arthur Huey in 1929, and once encompassing most of the land that is now The Homestead resort, the Leelanau School is tucked into the woods just upstream from the mouth of the Crystal River.
Along with the Student Center Dining Hall, the school’s campus includes the Lanphier Observatory and the home of the Beach Bards Bonfire down along Sleeping Bear Bay, playing fields and tennis courts, a gymnasium and fitness center, a visual arts center, a classroom building and library, summer cabins, and quaint, cozy dormitories and staff residences scattered through the pines and oaks.
This year’s graduating class includes students from Austin, Tex., to nearby Lake Leelanau; from Milwaukee to Prospect, Kentucky; from Warsaw, Ind. to Winnetka, Ill. And those are just the American students. Valedictorian Michael Wang is from ChengDu, Sichuan, China, as is salutatorian Eric Liu. Other students hail from Shreveport, La.; Winter Park, Fl.; Asheville, NC; Kansas City, Mo.; Brooklyn, NY, and the countries of Singapore and Angola. The graduates are heading off to colleges including Ohio Northern, Michigan Tech, Purdue, Eckerd, Landmark, DePaul, University of New Mexico, Ball State, Iowa State, Ringling College and Aquinas College.
The school’s Alumni Weekend this summer is June 22-24, and Joe Blondia, Director of Alumni and Development, is expecting a big turn-out for the weekend festivities, and especially for the Rock the River Concert on Friday, June 22, from 7-9 p.m. on the school’s Graduation Green. Grupo Aye!, the hottest Cuban salsa band in the Midwest, will make you want to dance in a show that includes Leelanau School alum and conga virtuoso Rob Mulligan ‘83. The concert is open to the public. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the event and are available online at the Leelanau School’s website, Leelanau.org, or by calling (231) 313-8865.
Ongoing events this summer at the Leelanau School beach include public viewing through the 14-inch telescope and constellation lessons at the Lanphier Observatory on clear Wednesday and Thursday nights from 10 p.m. to midnight from June 20-Aug. 23 (adults $3, students $2), and by-heart poetry, storytelling and music at Beach Bards Bonfire at 8 p.m. on Friday nights from June 22-Aug. 10 ($1 per being).
If you don’t know about the Leelanau School, come to the concert on June 22, or check out the Observatory some clear Wednesday or Thursday, or come share a poem or song at the Friday night bonfire, and just stop by for a visit. Somebody will probably speak your language.
