The one day a year when all 4,000 LT students can unite in one place has returned once again for the 22nd year. However, after three years, the All-School Assembly was finally back to its classic structure. The last “normal” All-School Assembly was in 2020 before COVID-19 shut down the school. In 2021, the assembly occurred online through Zoom and in 2022, it was moved to April instead of the usual February date. 

“Every year, the Student Council tries to do something new, however, this year I believe we’ve outdone ourselves,” Student Council President Zaden Hickenbottom ‘23 said. “Our amazing outreach team has been able to get in contact with multiple groups in our local community, bringing all of us together for some incredible entertainment.” 

Hickenbottom and the team of Student Council students were excited and proud of the work that was presented to the school on Feb. 3, he said. The lineup of activities was enough to get the NC fieldhouse erupting with laughter and enthusiasm, as it featured a wide range of sports and clubs participating in different competitions. Performances from competitive and spirit cheerleading, poms, and a goofy dance routine from the football team helped to achieve that. A few competitions included a relay from the boys swim and dive team against the boys wrestling team, as well as a friendly game of dodgeball played by Operation Snowball and the Lions Den. 

Along with those activities, LT hosted professional sports bettor Marco Piemonte who was offering $10,000 to any student who made a half court shot. One student, Alek Krzemkowski ‘26 was the first student to attempt the shot, and caused the school to explode with excitement after he made it, winning the cash. 

“It was really surprising making the shot having no faith in myself,” Krzemkowski said. “I’m still feeling surprised that I was able to make the shot and win the money. The money is going toward a college tuition if I can make it there.”

If a student attempting the shot missed, Piemonte would take the shot himself and if he made it, he would award that student $5,000, and the opportunity to choose five friends from the crowd to be awarded $1,000 each. Cami Schodrof ‘23 and Patrick Cramer ‘23 missed, however Piemonte scored after them, awarding a total of $20,000 between them and five of their chosen friends. 

“There are challenges every year,” Director of Student Activities and Student Council advisor Peter Geddeis said. “It’s a process of honing all of these ideas down into what they think are the very best ideas for an exciting assembly and then matching it up with the various groups that want to be a part of the assembly.”

Student Council came up with dozens of ideas beginning preparation in October with a lot of work needed to produce such a large event, Geddeis said. It was important that they were able to brainstorm games that are big enough to engage students in the last row of bleachers.

“Student Council wants to reform itself,” Student Council secretary Olivia Thomas ‘24 said. “As officers, we want to make it both more exciting and structured. It gets a little chaotic when everyone is there with their friends, and of course, even the officers get off-task, but we would like to be more efficient in getting things done to be fully prepared for all the fun events we make happen.”

Thomas and Hickenbottom worked alongside NC Vice President Jack Micaletti ‘24, SC Vice President Artist Dingle-Guynn ‘25, treasurer Vasiliki Fournier ‘24, and the rest of Student Council. They created many personal goals they hoped to achieve for this year’s assembly, but together they established one collective goal. 

“We are simply looking to create a fun engaging experience for all of the students here at LT,” Geddeis said. “And to really lean into and build on that sense of us being one school, because this is the single opportunity we get each year to have everybody together under one roof.”

The All-School Assembly was ultimately an opportunity to increase school spirit and pride, as well as strengthen the bond of the students and faculty, Micaletti said. It was especially important for the underclassmen at SC because it gives them a chance to see the growth of the upperclassmen as they experience their journey at LT. 

“[Overall,] my favorite thing is after the assembly each year, teachers will reach out to me and ask me to pass on to Student Council about how excited their students were about that year’s All-School [Assembly],” Geddeis said. “All they end up doing the rest of that day is talk about what they liked, didn’t like, and how they hope to be involved next year.”