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Basketball has wrapped up and Villa has progressed into volleyball season. I volunteered to coach the Villa sixth grade girls team this year. Although I love the sport and used to play a lot, I haven’t coached any sort of a team in about eight years. Back then, I was coaching every summer with a variety of different age groups, but it’s funny how over time you forget drills, games, and general coaching skills. Reading a list of old drills I used to play with names like “Dead Fish” and “Triangle” was more confusing than anything until I watched YouTube videos of them being played real-time. Being back in the Villa gym also helps as it resurfaces a whole load of memories about PE classes, basketball practices, and of course my own volleyball practices and games when I was a student at Villa.

During the winter and spring of my eighth grade at Villa, every morning that we had PE, my friend Peter Metzger and I would race each other from the fifth floor where we had science class all the way down to the gym. Obviously the teachers and staff at Villa don’t want students running down the stairs and halls, but surprisingly we never got caught. Peter was a fast runner, and there was only one time that I managed to beat him. Of course I rubbed it in his face from that point onwards. 

I remember having to change into my gym clothes down in the eerie girl’s locker room. It always seemed to have the additional use of a storage room. The wallpaper was crumbling, the lights would flicker, and the metal on the shower faucets rusting. We used to jump out from behind the old showers and scare each other. I think at one point in time they actually used those boys and girls locker rooms for the annual Halloween festival at Villa. They had the “big kids” haunted house, and then the “little kids” one that was more tamed down. I remember walking down the stairs as a little kindergartner to the girls locker room and then crawling on my hands and knees through a dark tunnel. If I was scared in there as a big, tough eighth grader, I’m not quite sure how I managed it so young in complete darkness!

Some of my favorite PE games were tag (on the blue, flat scooters), capture the flag, and dodgeball. Fall and spring were fun because we could go down to the field to play games and sports. Luckily that field is getting remodeled this year to become a larger one made of turf so that it’s no longer a mud pit! Villa had two PE teachers when I was a student. First there was Mr. Bocian with his booming voice and authoritative stance, and then Mr. Melver. Mr. Lee, who’s still at Villa today, came to help as an assistant when I was in middle school. I remember the boys in my class adoring him. 

My cousin coached my seventh and eighth grade volleyball teams at Villa. Before I started coaching the sixth grade girls this year, I asked her for advice. She mentioned that my team back in the day was really chatty and easily distracted so the important thing is to teach them the basics and get them to enjoy volleyball. At ages eleven and twelve, kids really just want to have fun. Winning is great, but it’s important to have games that drive competitiveness while honing skills and encouraging good sportsmanship at the same time. I just hope that after my time spent coaching them, the sixth grade girls like volleyball enough to play next year.

-Claire Smith ’03

Some days, after school lets out, I peek my head into the Rainbow Theater and watch the “Alice in Wonderland” rehearsals. It fills me with nostalgia as I reminisce on my time here as a student and the many plays and musicals that my classmates and I performed. My favorite part of Villa was music class and the after school theater program. When I was in 6th and 7th grade, Mr. Hagen was in charge of all things theater-related. He was eccentric and cool and middle schoolers were fascinated by him. He could dance well to many music types, had a breathtaking singing voice, and could do loads of different accents. In 6th grade, my music class and the 7th grade music class put on the “Mikado.” I was devastated when I didn’t get a leading role, but I remember the music being so lively and fun, and the costumes vibrant and beautiful. Later that year, ten other girls and I performed “Dolls of Poplar House,” which was short since it was only one act. There was no music in the performance, but it was an engaging story about young girls living at an orphanage. Since we were all females in the cast, as you can imagine there was a lot of giggling at rehearsals.

Some of the standout plays and musicals that I recall the most vividly are “Treasure Island” in the fall of my 7th grade, and “The Secret Garden” later that year in the spring. I played Jim Hawkins in “Treasure Island,” and I took the role so seriously at the time that I still remember a few of the songs by heart. In the “Secret Garden” I played Mrs. Sowerby, Dicken’s mother, and I had to speak in a somewhat Scottish accent for that part. According to my sister, however, at times I sounded more like a leprechaun. In one of the rehearsals, my friends and I discovered a secret staircase behind the Rainbow Theater that led up to the chapel via a fire escape. We shouldn’t have been sneaking around, but we were scared off anyways when we heard voices but didn’t actually see anyone in the chapel. From that point onwards, I truly believed the Villa ghost stories.

“Peter Pan” was another impressive play during my time at Villa. I wasn’t in this performance, but many of my friends had roles. The costumes, sets, and acting skill levels were remarkable for the age level. Mr. Hagen directed the performance, and he even brought in a company to do the flying effects. So when Peter, Wendy, and her brothers fly off to Neverland, they actually flew off on stage. They were, of course, attached to strings. A funny moment from that performance was when one of my good friends, Hayley Vanderwall (who was playing the part of a Lost Boy), drew back the string on a bow to shoot an arrow and snapped the bow in half. To this day, Hayley claims that to be her most embarrassing moment. It was entertaining nonetheless.

In my opinion, there’s something so empowering about stepping out on stage in the bright lights and performing in front of a crowd of people. Learning how to act, sing, and dance, then memorizing and performing those steps and lines helped me develop public speaking skills that I have carried on throughout life. Performing in front of people is no easy feat, but Villa gave me the confidence and charisma I needed. Teachers like Mr. Hagen taught me the importance of empathizing with characters in order to adequately reflect emotions theatrically. I’d like to say that I have good people skills now because of my experience with theater back in the day. I’m sure many Villa alumni can relate to feeling that theater in elementary school here was a positive and uplifting experience.

-Claire Smith ’03

Winter has hit Villa hard. Students are coming down with colds, the flu, strep throat, and all kinds of other illnesses that seem to breed in schools like bacteria in a petri-dish. But despite the varied absence of students, faculty, and staff members, there is still a great deal of fun happening on campus. The lower school had their performances of “Winnie the Pooh” a couple weeks back, and rehearsals for the upper school’s version of “Alice in Wonderland” have commenced. Even though the holidays are over and there are no more echoes of “Jingle Bells” and “Rudolph the Red Nosed-Reindeer” filtering through the halls, the music and magic continue in different forms.

Yesterday was Villa’s annual talent show. This year’s circus theme was quite the contrast to last year’s Broadway theme. The day was cloudless but cool, and the sun seemed to fuel the students’ talent show prowess. When 1:45 rolled around, boys and girls dressed in their circus and performance best poured down the stairs and ran to the gym to prepare for their moments of fame. The stage was set up to look impeccably similar to a circus tent, and there was quite a vivacious crowd present.

The eighth graders did a great job hosting and “mc-ing” the event. They were dressed as various circus performers, such as an incredibly strong man, ringmasters, unicyclists, mimes, and animals. While introducing the acts, the presenters would tell jokes and comment on the outstanding performances. The student performers entered the stage fearlessly. Some did gymnastics, sang, or danced, while others played a variety of musical instruments, told more jokes, hoola hooped, or pogo-sticked across the stage. Led by Mr. Arteaga, the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade Spanish classes demonstrated the dance skills they acquired throughout the year, and surprised everyone with some pretty technical movements to Puerto Rican music. All around, the talent was impressive. Heads were bopping and feet were tapping to beats ranging from eclectic Spanish music to Taylor Swift, Britney Spears, Hilary Duff, Justin Timberlake, Vance Joy, Rachel Platten, and Fitz and the Tantrums.

Consequently, I was brought back in time to past talent shows when I was a student at Villa. Back then, there was a great deal of dancing and lip syncing to songs by artists like Backstreet Boys and Nsync. In fact, in 1999 when wearing bandanas on your head was a thing, two of my girlfriends and I busted out some mediocre dance moves to “Bye Bye Bye.” I also remember one girl even painted a smiley face on her stomach and did a belly dance. She was really good and I’ve heard teachers at Villa reminisce on that spectacle to this day! And then there was Mr. Hagen, one of the previous music teachers at Villa, who rallied the teachers to do a Arabian theatrical musical performance back in 2000. Those were the days.

The talent at Villa continues to progress and improve each year in a variety of forms. Some students got on that stage yesterday who I rarely hear utter a word. But once they had the microphone in their hands poised to sing, or had their heads down and arms up ready to dance, it seemed that all fear or shyness faded away and they dominated the stage. I’ve always viewed Villa as such a talent incubator. Whether it’s scholastic, sports-related, artistic, musical, or theatrical, Villa attracts students who exhibit such an array of skills. Talent shows in general really draw kids out of their shells and comfort zones. I felt like I was a middle-schooler yesterday as I looked on, feeling my own nerves build up just remembering how I felt back in the day on that stage.

 One of the first things you notice when entering Villa’s grounds are the trees. They spread across the 31-acre property from the castle-like building, all the way down the Tom Lord trail to the water. They have been around since the early 1900s when the school was built and served as a home for orphans. Back then they were mere saplings compared to the giants they are now.

What types of trees are they? Quite a variety actually. There are Poplars, Madronas, Spruces, and Douglas Firs, to name only some. The diversity of trees mirrors the different types of students at Villa. Students of all different backgrounds who find protection under the lengthy boughs from the rain, and chase each other around the sturdy trunks. Boys and girls skip down the path to the water, laughing and racing one another, while the trees stand guard and send leaves and pine needles cascading around them.

If only trees could talk. They would tell stories of Villa’s history, of witnessing Mother Cabrini’s arrival and when she decided on this particular plot of land to build a home for youths in need. They might have even peered into the second floor window and seen the miraculous healing of terminally ill Sister Delfina Grazioli after Mother Cabrini appeared to her in a vision in 1925. While simultaneously growing, the trees experienced Villa’s expansion to accommodate and teach 1300 children in the 1930s. The trees saw when Villa was saved from closing by a committed and loyal group of parents, and also when the sisters bid adieu to the school in 1997. To this day, Villa’s trees observe all of the love and compassion that members of the Villa community show one another, as well as the struggles and hard times that the school sometimes endures.

The trees stand tall around Villa with whispers of a sacred history rustling their branches. Some of them are decaying or have collapsed, but members of Villa’s community still honor them by preserving them when possible. At one time, a Madrona tree leaned precariously over the soccer field. Ryan Erickson, the Facilities Director, refused to let such beautiful wood go to waste. The Madrona was made into a beautiful dining room table that was sold at the Villa auction in 2016 and now has a place in a Villa family’s home.

Villa’s trees give life to the school in so many ways. They are homes for wildlife that the students study and observe, and they also serve as subjects for experiments and math equations. The community does such a great job of maintaining and caring for the wealth of nature sitting on Villa’s property, and who knows what interesting secrets and pieces of history that Villa’s gentle giants will continue to witness.

Every day I come to work, I’m flooded with memories from the time I was a student at Villa. I feel so lucky to have attended this school. I met some of my closest friends here when I was just five years old. I was a timid kindergartner at first, always crying when my mom dropped me off in the mornings and then rushing up to hug her when she worked in the lunchroom. But after a few weeks with my fellow classmates, my parents had to pry me away from school in the afternoons.

Mrs. Rector was my first teacher here, and she has long since left the school. I still have vivid memories of her turning the lights down for nap time and asking each of us to grab a carpet square. Instead of sleeping, many of us would put our carpets together in a small circle and whisper about who had the coolest eighth grade buddy or the best Playmobil set.

I remember reaching lofty milestones, like learning left from right, finally being able to somewhat tie my own shoes and tell the time, struggling through reading a Berenstain Bear book, and drawing a Christmas tree. I remember racing out to the playground- back when it was the old cement and metal play ground composed of massive tunnels pushed together with secret hideouts above and in between them- to be the first one to reach the wood chips, and playing Cat and Mouse and Lava Monster with my pals. Funny enough, those are games that we played through eighth grade. Back as a tiny kindergartner, even the first graders seemed so big to me. I was so scared of them when they would chant the “Kindergarten Baby” song out on the playground.

My sister, Galen, started Kindergarten here when I was just a year old. I can’t remember that far back, but I know Villa has been another family for me almost since I was born. Ages one through fourteen are pivotal years in an individual’s life. My Villa peers and I experienced our fair share of trials and tribulations both personally and scholastically during our elementary and middle school years. However, because of Villa’s community, not once did I feel like I was alone. My teachers at Villa are some of the best ones I’ve had. I derived my passion for the French language from Villa, where Madame Joulain would create engaging games with prizes, songs, and dances to help stimulate our learning. I started writing my first novel at Villa. Although I never finished the book, as lengthy as it was, I remember my seventh grade Language Arts teacher, Mrs. Taylor,  being so encouraging and patiently leafing through and editing the superfluous writing. Even later on, when I was in high school and college, I felt that Villa was a second home for me and I frequently came back to visit. Mrs. Smith, my eighth grade science teacher, always welcomed me back like I was an old family friend. Being more artistically minded, I didn’t pursue math or science in college, but some of my Villa classmates and friends attribute their success in medical school to Mrs. Smith instilling in them a love for the sciences.

Villa has a special magnetism that constantly draws people back. Since I started working here in September, there have been neighbors, alumni of all ages, and alumni family members and friends who pop in to tour the building and share their stories. It’s not every day that one has such a strong attachment to their Kindergarten through 8th grade school. I think it’s a combination of Villa’s history, scholastics, and general community that make it so special to people of all ages.

-Claire Smith ’03

The final countdown to Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and all other December holidays is officially on. Now that Villa has let out until the new year, it is remarkably quiet around here.

December didn’t start quietly, though. Children skipped down the halls, munched on holiday treats, eagerly discussed what they wanted for Christmas, and sang and played carols in preparation for Illuminata and the music performances. The hustle and bustle of school life grew to a crescendo over the past few weeks, and has now eased into the random clanging sounds of the furnace, the occasional rain tapping at the windows, and the wind rustling through the evergreens. The quiet pervading the school and grounds even reaches out to cover the forest and Lake Washington in a layer of fog each morning. It feels like the entire campus is recharging for the onset of 2017.

The week before break was busy. There were four Christmas concerts, plus the eighth graders’ mock trials. I got to watch the first, second, and third graders’ performances in the Rainbow Theater. They sang, danced, and played recorders, xylophones, and drums to songs like “Good King Wenceslas,” “I Want to Be an Elf,” and “Petit Papa Noel.” Students sparkled in their holiday finery, and they knew the songs remarkably well.

It’s interesting being a Villa alum who is now a staff member at the school and able to participate in the student events. Serving on the jury for the eighth graders’ mock trials was a real treat. An official judge was brought in to oversee the case in the Parlor, and the students dressed like young professionals in dress pant, suits, skirts, and ties. The prosecution and the defense built such strong cases with such powerful witness testimonies that it was tough for those of us on the jury to reach a verdict.

My favorite experience at Villa this time of year was the Festival of Lights in the chapel last Friday morning at 7am. Unbeknownst to many alums, this is an annual holiday celebration for Villa’s faculty, staff, administration, and their families. It’s a time of peace and reflection when the rest of the school is dark and the chapel is lit solely by candles. Jacob Lucero, the lower school music instructor, began the ceremony with some beautiful songs on the violin. The ceremony progresses with a series of readings and songs performed by Villa’s faculty and administration, and then finishes with the rising of the sun. Directly following, a breakfast cooked and prepared by Villa’s Chef Allison is served and hosted by Villa’s board members.

As I listened to the readings, breathing in the sweet smell of the candles and experiencing the music, I reflected on a prior Villa tradition: the annual student Christmas pageant at St. Bridget’s. I’m not sure when they stopped that tradition, but I remember hearing the story of when my sister, Galen, was a kindergartner at Villa back in 1990 and was supposed to be Mary. Her dreams of Christmas stardom were crushed however, since there was a snowstorm forcing the cancellation of the show. Nothing very exciting happened in the performance my Kindergarten year when I was a shepherd, but I’ve heard stories of Villa pageants with children throwing up, giggling uncontrollably, tripping over decorations and knocking over fellow students, and generally just causing a big uproar. But what would an elementary school Christmas pageant be without a little bit of craziness?

My love for Villa inspired this alumni blogging effort, and I hope that others will share their memories of Villa, the good and the bad, so that we can create a living history of individual experiences at this school.

Happy holidays, everyone.

-Claire Smith ’03