Every May, LASA is electrified by talk of who is going to Coffeehouse, who will be performing and what people are most excited for. Without a doubt, Coffeehouse is amongst the treasured traditions of LASA — up there with the Lip Dub, Senior Salute and the myth of the “green hallway.” Over time, Coffeehouse has evolved into the event that students and staff across the school know today. This year, though, LASA won’t exactly see the same event it has come to expect.

Due to the pandemic, Coffeehouse was harder to plan than during a normal year. Corey Snyder, who teaches the Songwriting elective and is traditionally responsible for planning Coffeehouse, tried to keep the event as close to previous standards as possible. 

“I always try to make the focus on the students,” Snyder said. “So sometimes, we have a real hard year where there’s a lot of tragedy around, and we need healing and positivity. Other years, it’s a bummer of a year, and everybody just needs a good party.”

COVID-19 did intrude and change this year’s event. Coffeehouse this year opted for a produced, online format rather than in-person performances.

“We really, really, really had our hopes set on a big live event,” Snyder said, “but because parameters keep changing, it takes months to plan such a thing, and we never know what’s going on for weeks.”

Of course, it wasn’t all COVID-19 that changed up Coffeehouse this year. Coffeehouse on its own is simply different every year. 

“I only have six kids in Songwriting this year,” Snyder said. “Last year, I had 24 kids in the class, and so putting on a show for 1,000 people with a crew of 24 is way different than trying to put something together with a group of six.” 

Coffeehouse, like all good traditions, is old and storied. It was imported from the Liberal Arts Academy (LAA), one of the two predecessor academies to LASA — those being the Liberal Arts Academy and the Science Academy — and has undergone all kinds of change over the years. English teacher Brad Sharp is a fervent attendee of Coffeehouse and has witnessed much of the event’s evolution.

“We’ve moved venues several times,” Sharp said. “One year, it was in the school gym here and in a hallway. But the last time we did, over 1,000 tickets were sold. I mean, it’s the biggest social event of last season outside of prom. And it’s a chance for students to showcase stuff that has nothing to do with math or science.”

Coffeehouse, like plenty of things, has been caught up in the history of LASA itself. United States History teacher and former LAA student Kimberly Pettigrew recalls the state of Coffeehouse before the two schools merged.

“I don’t know when it started at the LAA, but it started [at] the LAA, and the LAA had a [class] cap of 70-ish kids,” Pettigrew said. “So because it was really small, we had Coffeehouse in February when you would want a hot drink because it’s cold outside. And we had it at the Zilker Park Clubhouse. The stage was inside the building, and there’d be a bonfire outside. But that was easier when you have like 200 kids, max.” 

Coffeehouse is by no means the only tradition to be imported and changed upon arrival here at LASA. Plenty of the traditions often seen as belonging to LASA can be traced back to the LAA.

“It’s interesting thinking about what our LASA is, the traditions and how many of them are actually from LAA traditions,” Pettigrew said. “The Composer, the literary magazine, came out from the LAA. We called it the Rampage because our mascot was a ram.”

Coffeehouse, regardless of its origins or of any other mitigating factor, consistently receives positive reactions from students and staff. Sharp struggled to choose his favorite year.

“Oh, I wouldn’t know which one was the best, you couldn’t know which one was the best,” Sharp said. “It’s hard to choose.”