This year, Lake Forest Academy’s annual tradition of RA weekend occurred on May 17th. However, the weekend was different from ones in the past. Instead of primarily focusing on families, the event was turned back to the students. RA weekend acted as a way for the community to bond during the stressful time of AP exams and finals. With graduation approaching, students took the weekend as an opportunity to connect with each other as a final class event. This year’s RA weekend also shifted toward a House Cup point opportunity, acting as the finale of the House Cup.

Freshman Class President Jeffery Chang and his representatives on the freshman student council were in charge of planning the event. They officially started planning in March, although they have been coming up with ideas for the whole academic year. This years RA weekend had events “such as trash bagging [going down a hill in a trash bag], a dunk tank, inflatables, a physical labor relay [weight lifting, box jumps, and more], a coax performance, tug of war and a make a boat challenge”, Chang said. This year’s event is similar to and different from RA weekends in the past. Last year, RA weekend was on the quad and featured inflatables and food trucks, as it was on the last day of classes. This year it was on a Saturday, the week before the last day of classes, and had similar activities to last year. However, this year had more challenges and games, as they count for House Cup points. The Freshman Student Council “expects an exciting day of fun” that will be “a great way to bond with your class and the school,” Chang said.

Assistant Dean of Students Ackim Mpofu also helped the freshmen plan this community bonding event. Mpofu shared that when he came to LFA, “COVID had just happened, so RA weekend didn’t happen for my first 2 years here.” He discussed that because many students at LFA get caught up in studying and being academic scholars, this event helps them relax and have some fun, especially during a stressful time like finals. Mpofu further mentioned that RA weekend is important for the social and emotional well-being of students, as most spend the weeks and weekends studying without a break. This new and improved RA weekend has been changed since COVID, and was a fun way for students to bond with their community before the end of the year.

RA weekend has changed over the years. This year, a lot of fun activities were hosted for the students to bond with each other before the end of the year and take a break from studying for finals.