The yearly Coffee House took place in Lakeland Regional High School’s Media Center on Tuesday, November 11, 2025. Hosted by Mr. Mike Kelly, the event celebrated ten years of LRHS student’s and staff’s talents.
The Media Center was filled with the scent of coffee and excitement from a crowd of supportive students and staff. Mr. Kelly opened the event with a warm, welcoming feel, stating the Coffee House is a space to “unplug, unwind, …and experience something live.” He also gave shout outs to Mr. Eric White, who co-founded the event with Mr. Kelly, and Mr. Kel Pilshaw, the tech extraordinaire, who set up the lights, mics, and amps.
The Performances
Freshman Daniella DeSimone opened the show beautifully with just her electric guitar and angelic voice with a cover of “Guitar Romantic Search Adventure” by Wallows.
Senior Elizabeth Brokenshire and freshman Zoey Faber presented passionate, original poetry. Brokenshire’s poem was titled “Dreamscape” and Faber’s was titled “Love.”
Senior Delilah Lopez and junior Shayne Conley performed booming bass covers of “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac and “Credence” by Opeth, respectively.
Senior Daniel Thomas performed “You Must Burn” by Metallica on his electric guitar with help from a recording from former LRHS student Jacob Roach. The performance made the crowd feel like they were attending a real life Metallica concert.
Seniors Jesse Freedman and Jake Horevay hosted “Jesse and Jake’s Wacky Trivia.” Although they said they had “no talent,” they both clearly have a forte for public speaking. After calling up contestants, sophomore Kevin Urban, freshman Adrik Viera, and Assistant Principal Mr. Damiano Conforti, the game-show hosts had the audience enthralled with the action. Mr. Conforti came out victorious, winning an (image) of a brand new car and a cookie!
Senior Emily Salvadeo performed a cover of “Silvera” by Gojira on the electric guitar. The song is in the metal genre, and the technique she used to play it, called pick-tapping, was very unique and impressive.
Freshman Lucas Alekseyev rocked an acoustic cover of “Jersey” by Mayday Parade, a classic emo ballad that brought all the millennial staff members back to high school.
The talented Mr. Kelly rounded out all the planned performances with an upbeat cover of Alanis Morissette’s classic “Hand in My Pocket.”
When asked if anyone else wanted to perform who wasn’t on the roster, a hand appeared from the crowd. Junior Kaitlyn Correa confidently walked out onto the stage and wowed the crowd with a delightfully haunting acapella version of “Hanging Tree” from The Hunger Games.
Check Out the “Coffee House”
Even if you were not able to sit in on the action, the Coffee House was recorded by members of Lakeland Media’s team and can be viewed by clicking here.
