Volume LXXXII, Issue XXIV
STUCO remodel
sluh.org/prepnews
St. Louis University High School | Friday, April 4, 2018
Seniors Alexander and Pollard help lead March for Our Lives
Senior Hastings marches for his aunt BY Jack Schweizer EDITOR IN CHIEF
Toussaint steps down, replaced by Mueller and Menne
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mong the 10,000 protesters who walked down Market Street two weekends ago in downtown St. Louis in the March for Our Lives, a national protest calling for gun reform, was senior Pierce Hastings. The march was personal for Hastings: he carried a sign along the march which read, “Too many lost to guns... including Terri LaManno my aunt 4/13/14.”
Underclassmen can now serve on executive board Paul Gillam and Liam John BY
Senior Pierce Hastings was 14 at the time and had just finished auditioning for a part in Into the Woods. After slipping out the theatre doors of Visitation Academy, where the auditions were held, Hastings hopped into his brother’s red Camry and immediately sensed something was wrong. His brother, Thom, didn’t normally pick him up and the ride was unusually quiet. Thom had something to tell
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CORE STAFF
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tudent Council at St. Louis U. High is the the midst of the largest overhaul since its inception. In addition to current moderator Kate Toussaint stepping down and science teachers Megan Menne and Bradley Mueller taking her place as co-moderators, changes will include but are not limited to new leadership opportunities for underclassmen, a new form of elections, and a change to the homeroom rep program. In past years, the executive board has been made up of the student body president and vice president—seniors who are voted into the positions by their class—in addition to the supporting positions of secretary, publicity, spirit, technology, intramural, and pastoral representatives— also all seniors. However, during the 2018-19 school year, any sophomore, junior, or senior who wishes to be on STUCO executive board will be able to apply through a new application process in which the applicants will be chosen by a team of selected teachers and faculty. Out of the students chosen for executive board, the supporting positions will be divvied out based on interest. The number of applicants that will be selected is not yet decided, as it may depend on how many students apply for executive board. The positions of class
Pollard chanting as Alexander holds banner with his fist up. BY Paul Gillam CORE STAFF
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t. Louis U. High was well represented at the March For Our Lives on Saturday, March 24. In addition to the several students and faculty who attended as marchers, seniors Damen Alexander and James Pollard both took leadership roles in planning and executing the march. Alexan-
der, one of the four lead organizers, presented a speech while Pollard was in charge of communicating to the public via Twitter and writing press releases. In early February, just days after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Fla., local politician Megan Greene reached out to Alexander
photo | Matthew Rauschenbach
asking if he were interested in helping to coordinate the march. From there, Greene gave him the contact information of broadcast journalist Steve Hartman who set up a Facebook page for the march and put Alexander in contact with several other local student leaders. Hartmann helped the page get a
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Clavius to take program to Belize BY Chris STAFF
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lavius, a STEM-based program St. Louis U. High has had for the past three and a half years, has decided to go international to Belize this summer to work with students and educators. Clavius at SLUH has worked with kids who don’t have an adequate STEM education and are now taking their service to the underprivileged in schools in Belize City. Clavius program director Jeff Pitts, father of several SLUH alums, has been the leader for setting up the trip. The idea came up at Cashbah last year when Mark LaBarge and Thom Digman, two SLUH alumni, approached Pitts and asked him about the Clavius Project and all the work it does. LaBarge asked Pitts to look at St. Martin de Porres in Belize City to see if a group would be willing to go down there. continued on page 4 “St. Martin’s is a Jesuit
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parish and school serving in the southern part of Belize City, one of the most underserved areas of the city and country,” said Pitts. “Some educators and supporters of St. Martin’s had been up to St. Louis to observe the work that Access Academies does to bring enrichment activity to Catholic schools in the city of St. Louis after school. When they visited, two of the schools were doing robotics through the Clavius Project at SLUH, and decided they wanted to do the same at St Martin’s.” Pitts then connected with Belize2020, a group of philanthropists, educators, and volunteers whose mission is to bring help to St. Martin’s and St. John’s College, a Jesuit junior college and all-boys high school. “Belize2020 wants the Clavius Project to bring robotics to both St. John’s High School and St. Martin’s School so that their students
News
Russian exchange postponed Due to the backlog of Russians waiting for visas to the United States, exchange students from St. Petersburg Gimnaziya were unable to come to SLUH this quarter. Page 2 April Fools
Zarrick shares unique upbringing The folklore about the yoga-master and karate-guru extrodinaire is true! Listen to Zarrick’s dramatic telling of his upbringing. Page 5
can discover and experience robotics (and the field of STEM in general), with the goal of helping to encourage students who graduate from St. Martin’s to go on to high school to further their education,” said Pitts. With many groups involved such as SLUH, St. Louis University, St. Martin’s, St. John’s, the Jesuit Province, Belize2020, and LEGO Education, there are still a lot of parts to be planned and organized. Luckily, there are a lot of dedicated people willing to help out with the trip. One goal of Clavius in Belize is to start up the robotics program at St. John’s. They plan to train the junior college students and educators to be teachers, mentors, and coaches for LEGO EV3 Mindstorm robotics. “It may sound complicated, but really, we are just trying to establish the same Clavius Project model we use
photo | courtesy of Grace Daugherty
Cashbah to be a Bicentennial Ball this Saturday BY Justin Koesterer and Sam Ortmann CORE STAFF
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very year, Cashbah is St. Louis U. High’s largest fundrasing event, breaking $1,000,000 raised each of the past three years. The earnings go towards the school’s scholarship funds in order to aid students who are unable to pay tuition. This year, for the 49th Cashbah, SLUH hopes to reach new heights. The theme this year continued on page 8 is Bicentennial Ball. It will
April Fools
Clocktower penetrates ozone Erected clocktower continues to grow thanks to the aid of many generous young boys. Happy clockta-sentennial! Page 5 April Fools
Senior Pierce Hastings (right) holding signs with his mother.
Stricter dress code for next year Lanyards banned, hoodies allowed, and shorts forever! Ha, we wish. New strict formal dress code being instituted in 2019. “Absolutely brilliant!” – every graduating senior. Page 5
Sports
Water polo wins in Chicago Water polo edges out tournament win in Chicago by goal differential after splitting wins with opposing finalists. Dive into the article on. Page 6 Sports
Rugby falls to 1-2 on the season Rugby rises and falls over past three weeks, beating Springfield, Ill., but losing to Notre Dame de LaSalette. Page 6
take place on Saturday, April 7, and there will be a preview the night before, where people can come in, view the items in the auction, and set up their bidding account. The house will be packed on Saturday night—it is sold out, with around 900 guests attending. The planning committee stuck to many continued successful traditions. Students again received a roll of raffle tickets to sell. If all of
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INDEX 2 News 3 Features 4 News 5
April Fools
6-7 Sports 8 News
2 Alexander, Pollard on point at March for Our Lives Prep News
NEWS
April 4, 2018
Volume 82, Issue 24
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following and then backed off. At its peak, the page had a 500,000-person reach. “That’s a lot of people,” said Alexander. As the roles were divvied up, Alexander was put in charge of organizing speakers. One of the speakers he arranged to come was a survivor of the Sandy Hook school shooting in December of 2012. “We had a Sandy Hook survivor (Liesl Fressola) speak at our march; I don’t think any other march could say that,” said Alexander. In addition to Fressola, speakers included Rep. Bruce Franks Jr., Parkland native Amanda Weinstein, and other St. Louis area teens. Originally, Alexander did not intend to speak. “Well, I didn’t really want to speak, it just kind of fell on me,” he said. “(But) not a lot of people can say they read a (speech) in front of ten to 15,000 people.” He can though. Alexander spoke in front of what St. Louis police estimated to be about 10,000 marchers, delivering an impassioned call to action for gun control reform. The speech was a part of a 15-minute call to action in which each of the four main organizers, Alexander included, spoke, stressing active voting, staying energized, and ensuring that the cause is remembered.
“As we said earlier, we are not just the students anymore. We are the voters,” said Alexander in his speech. “There is a new generation of leaders just ahead. We need to be ready. Each and every one of us has potential. And we need each and every one of you— your ideas, your thoughts, your feelings—we need it all.” Although the speech was well received by those present, Alexander went in cold, having never practiced it out loud. “That was my first time reading the speech out loud, but it went pretty well,” said Alexander. “Damen was a really good speaker. He was really entertaining and inspiring,” said junior Niko Rodriguez, who attended the march. “There were a lot of cheers and constant applause. (The crowd) was really receptive.” Alexander, who had been leading chants earlier in the day, was not very nervous about speaking. Rather, he was excited. “I think there is a limit. Speaking in front of 100, 200, or 500 people can be tough. It’s really intimate. But what’s the difference between speaking in front of 1,000 or 2,000 or 15,000 for that matter. Eventually there’s not a difference, it’s a lot of people. So you just have to get up there and do it,” said Alexander. “I’ve always been a strong public speaker. I am usually confident in my
words—even when they may be wrong. I’m open to criticism; I think that’s a value SLUH has instilled in me. I was more excited than nervous.” The other organizers were Haley Zink (St. Charles Community College), Lauren Malloy (MICDS), and Morgan Lowe (Southern Illinois University–Edwardsville). In late February, Pollard was asked by Zink, Pollard’s step-cousin, if he wanted to be a member of the organization team. After saying yes, Pollard was put in charge of the March for our Lives Twitter account, @AMarch4STLLives, and writing the press release for the march. “She knew where I stood (on gun control) … and knew I was into writing and politics and this issue especially, so she reached out to me and said ‘hey, we need help,’” said Pollard. Pollard had never written a press release before so the first thing he did was look up how. “I looked up some examples of press releases. I looked up ‘Wikihow to write a press release,’ because there’s one for everything,” he said. After writing the release, it was shared with the other organizers and was meticulously edited before being sent to every major news outlet in the St. Louis area. “The message that we were trying to get at (was that)
we are not anti-gun. Our big thing was talk, march, vote,” said Pollard. When running the Twitter account, Pollard was responsible for Tweeting updates about the march and other upcoming events, including a town hall, taking place this April 7. Two messages that Pollard stressed were for people to foster discussion and utilize their vote. For all the future events, Pollard will continue to help run the Twitter account and write press releases. Despite being initiated by a school shooting, Pollard stressed that the movement is about all forms of gun violence. “While this was sparked by the mass shooting at a school, gun violence affects people from all communities in this country. It’s not just mass shootings just in schools, it doesn’t just happen in mass shootings; there are homicides every day. We wanted our message to be that this is about all forms of violence being done by people with guns that should not have guns,” said Pollard. Alexander said that gun violence is also a pro-life issue. “The pro-life movement has narrowed down and has put a laser sharp image on abortion. The pro-life movement needs to expand outside of abortion. In order to recog-
nize a person’s human dignity, you need to expand what the definition of pro-life means and what it means to be prolife,” he said. Alexander also stressed the effects of gun violence on human dignity. “Not only is human dignity violated when a person kills someone with a gun, human dignity is also violated when a politician, or governor, or president or anyone is complacent in that killing and doesn’t take action and only sends thoughts and prayers,” said Alexander. “Thoughts and prayers are one thing, but we need action and results. Thoughts and prayers are
Seniors Matt Rauschenbach and Sawyer Cleeland.
lovely, and they do work, but there comes a time when we need more than thoughts and prayers.” Both Pollard and Alexander know that the march will not change laws overnight. “We didn’t want this to end just with this march,” said Pollard. “We’ll find out after the 2018 election once we start looking at exit data, once we see who’s in congress and what bills they are proposing. This isn’t a thing that happens in one day or two days,” said Alexander. “This is years.”
photo | senior James Pollard
Students and faculty embark on service at Jerusalem Farms, KC
Students and Deves at Jerusalem Farm. BY Thom Molen REPORTER
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en SLUH students and two faculty members made a trip across Missouri to spend a week at Jerusalem Farm in Kansas City over spring break. Jerusalem Farm is a Catholic intentional community that does service and provides community for their urban neighborhood. The farm is built on four cornerstones that guide their way of life: prayer, community, service, and simplicity. “What was unique about Jerusalem Farm was that it was just such an intentional community,” said math teacher Stephen Deves. “The service and the community that formed their lives cen-
tered around the four cornerstones.” Volunteers had the opportunity to serve in many different ways. There were multiple work sites that the farm was working on and volunteers got to help at many of the sites. Some of the services provided by the volunteers were putting siding on a house, insulating a basement, painting a garage, and many more. “It opened me up to other hobbies and loves in my life,” said junior Michael Ruzicka. “On my first day I did a lot of cutting and siding repair which showed me that I like the type of service that you work with your hands.” The SLUH volunteers
shared the farm with volunteers from Notre Dame de Sion, a girls high school in Kansas City. The two schools were mixed and divided into four teams, each led by one of the adult chaperones. Each team would go to different sites every day and serve the owners of the homes. Volunteers also did service that helped out the farm itself. Every morning before breakfast, volunteers signed up for different jobs like spreading mulch or flipping compost. A few people live at the farm full time that the volunteers got to interact with daily. Jesse and Jordan founded the farm and run the show along with their two kids Nathaniel,
in multiple activities through- where the volunteers learned out the week to learn about about Catholic social teachand reflect on injustices in ing. world. Every day at the farm, the “During my time at Je- volunteers would participate rusalem Farm we had a fast in a morning prayer service to from meat that lasted the help guide their day. Volunwhole week to raise aware- teers were also called to find ness for the cruelty to animals God in everything they did in the meat industry,” said and pray meditatively while freshman Nathan Malawey. doing monotonous tasks such “We also had a shower fast as caulking, siding, or cutting and were encouraged to only onions. The farm also had take three showers during two Masses during the week the week, two of which were at night and prayer services bucket showers.” on the nights that Mass didn’t Volunteers participated happen. in an electricity fast and spent “I definitely want to go Thursday night hanging out back in my time at SLUH,” in candlelight to recognize the said Malawey. “It opened my lack of easy access to electric- eyes to a lot stuff I had never ity in the world. thought about before and I The biggest event of the hope SLUH continues to go photo | courtesy of Joe Mantych week was a walk around the there.” neighborhood on Monday, age 7, and Jubilee, age 4. Sun- led by Sunny and Joseph, ny, Joseph, Leigh, and Cassie were the other members there that led the volunteers in service. “All of them were some of the most perfect human beings I’ve ever met as a whole,” said junior Joe Mantych. “All of them were kind of the perfect embodiment of Christian values.” This was SLUH’s second year sending a group to Jerusalem Farm. Junior Tony Buttice and sophomore Lucas Frillman came for a second time this year. “It was fun to get to see everyone again,” said Buttice. “It was fun and the group was just enjoyable.” photo | Mr. Stephen Deves Volunteers participated Junior Thomas Molen preparing food.
FEATURES
April 4, 2018
Prep News
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Russian exchange trip Hastings protests at March for Our Lives; tells postponed due to lack of aunt’s death and gun violence of Visas (continued from page 1) an and my aunt yelled to get his ‘wow this is really personal to “When I hear about Sandy Volume 82, Issue 24
BY Jake Hennes NEWS EDITOR
him—news that would shake and change him. lmost every year for the “You’re going to find out when you get home but I think past 20 years, a dozen or so students from St. Petersyou should be prepared for burg Gimnaziya No. 209, a what you see,” said Hastings, high school in St. Petersburg, recalling his brother’s words. Russia, have come to Saint “Terri was shot and killed in Louis U. High at the end of this incident in Kansas City.” March and beginning of April His brother was referring for an exchange program, but to their aunt, Terri LaManno, this year they did not come who was killed in a shooting because of political tensions spree by Frazier Glenn Miller between the United States and Jr., a white supremacist and forRussia. mer leader of the Ku Klux Klan According to Russian in North Carolina. LaManno, teacher Rob Chura, there was 53, was on one of her weekly some political back-and-forth Sunday visits to see her mothbetween the United States and er at Village Shalom, a Jewish Russia about sanctions and nursing home, when the attack various other actions. Back happened in 2014. in September, there was a peAlthough none of his vicriod of time where the United tims were Jewish, Miller Jr. was targeting Jews in his hate-filled States was asking some Russian diplomats to leave the rampage and had already killed US and Russia was asking two others—a boy, 14, and his some US diplomats to leave grandfather, 69—outside a JewRussia. Due to being underish Community Center before killing LaManno in the parkstaffed, the US closed all of its consulates and only kept the ing lot of the nursing home. She embassy open in Moscow for was killed two days before her four months, leading to a very 25th wedding anniversary. slow process with anything The shooting quickly became a national story and that involved both countries, includeding visas and passspurred reactions from both ports. Benjamin Netanyahu, the “It was close to imposPrime Minister of Israel, consible for people who did not demning the attack toward Jews, and President Barack live in Moscow to get visas processed,” said Chura. Obama, who released a stateAccording to Chura, the ment expressing his condolencconsulates were re-opened on es to the victims’ families. Dec. 10, but they have limited While the shooting was one more in a long and growstaff and there is a big backlog of people waiting for visas. ing list of deadly gun attacks for the country, it was a personal Most years, the group would come for two weeks at and unfathomable tragedy for the beginning of March and the Hastings family. Pierce’s fathe end of April, but none ther, Tom Hastings, LaManno’s of the students were able to brother, initially refused to believe the news coming from get in for an interview for a visa in time. Chura and the his brother-in-law through the school in Russia tried movtelephone on the day of the ing the trip back to May, but shooting, thinking it was some that is no longer possible due kind of joke, until he heard it from the local sheriff himself. to the backlog. So, now they are planning on coming in The shooting didn’t seem November during their fall possible, and Pierce Hastings struggled with the sheer odds that it happened to one of his family members. “I mean, how many Sundays my aunt went and visited my grandma and this was just the time there happened to be somebody there who had so much hate in his heart and had such drive to murder, but it just happened,” said Hastings. He added, “it just didn’t necessarily feel real.” By the time Hastings got home from his audition, the family, devastated, was packing art | Stephen Ocampo for the funeral in Kansas City and grieving uncontrollably. “I got home and walked through the door and just Senior Jake Hennes received the heard wailing coming from my parents’ room because my dad Archbishop May Service Award. The and my mom were hacking and and just didn’t underaward is given to 30 seniors from sobbing stand what was happening,” high schools in the St. Lous area who Hastings said. As the days passed and the participate extensively in service to family learned more about the shooting, it became clear that their school and to their community. LaManno died a hero. Accordto Hastings, Miller Jr. was Each senior is chosen from a select ing going to shoot another woman group of faculty from each school. but LaManno got his attention and tried to resolve the conHennes was unanimously selected frontation. “He was actually aiming from a pool of 30 seniors from SLUH. for and yelling at another wom-
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break. This is not the first time that the group was not able to come as planned; there was another time, in the fall of 2001. “After 9/11, the Moscow school that would usually come in the fall decided to cancel to see what was happening before they traveled again with kids. That is the only other time that they haven’t come in the past 20 years,” said Chura. This change in schedule is a reminder that sometimes things happen that are out of your control and you just have to take them in stride. “It will be a little bit different next year because we will have a group that comes in November and a group that comes in March, as they normally would,” said Chura. “This was not anybody’s fault. There is just a backlog in the system, so they were not able to get visas in time.” The students that were supposed to host the Russian students are seniors who were already hosted by the Russia students this past summer in St. Petersburg. “I am uspet that I will not be able to introduce my country to them like they did to us,” said senior Russian student Will Lake. “I was looking forward to taking them around St. Louis and showing them the city in the same unique way that they showed us St. Petersburg.” “Over the summer we all got to know our Russia kids pretty well. We were all excited to host them,” said senior Sam Evans. “I’m a little disappointed because after all the help my host gave me, after she fed both Sam Ortmann and I for a couple weeks and showed us around, we will not be able to repay the favor.”
attention on her and then she put out her hand and tried to calm him down and stop him and that’s when he shot her. So she basically saved that other woman,” said Hastings. “I mean it’s just incredible.” Four years later, Hastings is still astonished and inspired from his aunt’s words and actions, from the way she lived to the way she died. The Hastings family firmly believes that Terri, a loving and understanding woman and mother of two, would have forgiven her killer. “I mean she had such love and compassion and sympathy in her heart that she would have understood that it’s an illness. That it’s a blindness. That hate puts a veil over a person and they can’t see reality the way it is and I feel like she would have understood that and I feel like she did understand that and maybe she understands that in heaven,” said Hastings. Since LaManno’s death in 2014, the country continues to grapple with gun violence, hatecrimes, and mass shootings. Most recently, 17 people were killed in a high school in Parkland, Fla. this past February, sparking unprecedented protests across the country, including the March for Our Lives. Hastings attended the march, carrying the poster for his aunt along the way. It was both intimidating and empowering for Hastings. The march was the first time Hastings had publicly shared the story about his aunt, a stressful experience which drew some attention from other marchers and even a reporter from KSDK, who interviewed Hastings. Yet, despite his nervousness, Hastings knew the sign—and the story with it—had the ability to change people’s hearts and minds. “It’s nerve—racking and you feel really vulnerable when you’re putting something so personal out there. Like when I was holding it up, I was like,
me and I’m just broadcasting,’” said Hastings. “But at the same time it’s empowering. It makes you think, ‘you know what, if people are hearing this story and my pain can change their perspective for the better, then it’s in that good I can take that small hit of being vulnerable because I know it has the possibility of doing good.” The protest two weekends ago, which took places in dozens of cities across the country, was not Hastings’s first time marching for an end to gun violence. Hastings was among the crowd of protesters seven months earlier after the release of the Jason Stockley verdict, which found Stockley, a St. Louis police officer, not guilty of murder in the shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith following a high speed chase. Hastings considered that event in the light of gun violence, and wants to broaden the national discussion to include all deaths from guns, not just those from mass shootings. “I think that’s part of the problem is that we’re considering gun violence in a kind of microcosm right now of mass shootings but I think it’s a lot more than that. We need to broaden, in our country, the definition of gun violence,” said Hastings. Hastings has turned his pain into passion in the years following his aunt’s death. He wants gun reform—including more regulations and the enforcement of background checks—because he believes such measures could have prevented his aunt’s death and others like it. Anytime talks about gun reform resurface after major shootings, Hastings feels the same emotions he experienced when his aunt died. But instead of depressing him, Hastings uses those emotions to empathize with each new set of victims.
Senior Service Award
photo | courtesy of Grace Daugherty
Hastings at a protest last weekend.
Hook, when I hear about Parkland, when I hear about Ahora, when I hear about Las Vegas, I feel that same pain over and over and over again,” said Hastings. “And that’s empathy. That’s letting me empathize with the victims. So my experience lifts the veil of doubt that a list of statistics will allow because you can look at statistics and be like, ‘ok yeah that’s sad,’ but if you’ve had a personal experience, even if its something deeply personal to you, you can feel the pain that the person on the other end of that feels.” Each new shooting and hate crime also raises questions about how to combat hate itself, according to Hastings. Some want to fight hate with violence, while others want to put a limit on hate speech. But Hastings said LaManno taught him a different approach: understanding. “Terri has taught me the most important and most effective approach which is also the hardest approach, is understand hate, which is really hard to do,” said Hastings. “To try to work and understand and think critically about and empathize with hate, that’s where the true power lies and that’s where I think we need start moving towards doing.” Hastings is hopeful and excited that change will come following the recent protests against gun violence, but any potential legislation can’t fill the hole left by LaManno’s death. He’s continually reminded of her absence during the holidays or when the family gets together in Kansas City. “Like you always felt like, ‘oh next time I go up to Kansas City I’m going to see Aunt Terri. Because I didn’t see her all the time, I saw her at holidays. But now every single time we go up to Kansas City it becomes more and more real and there’s this hole at family gatherings. And it’s sort of ongoing,” said Hastings. He added, “Just think about Christmas, think about Easter, think about holidays with your family and then imagine one of them’s not there and you keep thinking about why. Like you can’t not be passionate about an issue like gun control when you’re reminded at the times your supposed to be the happiest about such a pain like this.” Hastings, who makes frequent calls to local legislators advocating for gun reform, hopes his story will change people’s perspectives and he encourages others to share their stories as well. “Wherever you fall on the political spectrum, your story has influence, your story has value and it deserves to be heard and victims of gun violence can’t do it alone. We need other people to stand on our side, to stand in solidarity and to help us with this fight,” said Hastings.
4 Changes in STUCO to improve student leadership opportunities Prep News
NEWS
April 4, 2018
Volume 82, Issue 24
(continued from page 1)
president and vice president will still be elected by their respective classes. Rising sophomore elections are on April 25, rising junior elections are on April 18, and rising senior elections are on April 11. In addition to these changes, Menne and Mueller are looking to revamp the homeroom representative system with the class council. Rather than homeroom representatives being voted on by each homeroom, the class council will be open to any and every student in a class. Those on
“When I found out that Mrs. Toussaint was not doing STUCO next year, it seeded an idea in my head for how maybe we could restructure STUCO as a co-moderated position.” -Megan Menne
the class council will serve as a liaison between the students and elected officials and will help organize the quarterly class events which each class president and vice president will be required to plan and execute. Both Mueller and principal Ian Gibbons S.J., who led STUCO at his previous assignment at Regis High School in New York City, hope that the changes will improve the leadership opportunities for underclassmen. “We are looking at moving down the real leadership experiences from just senior year to sophomore, junior, and senior year and start developing the practice of being a leader as a freshman,” said Gibbons. “I think first and foremost there’s been a lack of student leadership across all the grade levels. I think the main focus is on seniors, which is an important leadership year, but half of the senior year is spent transition to get ready for college,” said Mueller. “I also think there are a lot of
freshmen that could be pinpointed their freshman year and sophomores that could be great leaders but don’t know it and haven’t been told.” While the current positions of secretary, pastoral, intramurals, technology, and publicity are still in place, their roles are in the process of being assessed and are subject to change. “We are going to try and get (the positions) a little bit more legitimized, so (STUCO members) can take a little more responsibility for each role or position they have,” said Menne. The position of spirit leader is being revamped to include three different students: one to lead each sports season. This will allow for spirit leaders to play a sport and still be able to fulfill their STUCO duties. The role of senior leadership itself too is being redefined. Now seniors will focus more on mentoring of the underclassmen on how to become effective leaders. “The senior role is determined to be more of an elder statesmen and more of a mentoring sort role,” said Gibbons. “So they’re advisors (to the juniors), but also roles where they would be involved with the freshmen and incoming freshmen in ways that really model, ‘What is it to be a Junior Bill?’” Class moderators will also play a greater role in the big picture of Student Council. “Right now, it’s almost like STUCO and the class moderators are their own separate entities,” said Menne. The class moderators will be working closely with the class president and vice president and class council to plan the quarterly events and will aid both Menne and Mueller in keeping tabs on each class. One of the first tasks that the new STUCO will be charged with is redrafting the Student Council constitution. Much of the original constitution will remain the same, but with the potential redefinition of the roles and the new admissions process, certain parts will need to be changed accordingly. “We have the old one that we can base it off of,
but we want whoever is the next STUCO to help us form a new STUCO constitution,” said Menne. While the majority of the changes are being implemented before the upcoming elections, many aspects still need to be worked out, such as the new STUCO room, which is still in the process of being decided. The hope is that a room will make STUCO a more prominent and established organization in the
been five years, and it’s a big job,” said Toussaint. “I feel like I’m being called to do more equity and inclusion work.” “I think (Mrs. Toussaint has) left it on a really good foot. She’s started a lot of new things that weren’t there when she first started that we are going to continue certainly,” said Mueller. “I think she deserves a break from school stuff from a while just to be closer to her family and I think
art | Matthew Quinlan
SLUH community. “It would need to be a space where they could work, where they could have a presence in the building, where they could take care of functions,” said Gibbons. “We are still nailing down some of those details. But we do know that we want to make Student Council a much more visible part of the school.” Although the changes were very sudden for the majority of the student body, plans have been in the works since last spring, when Toussaint began discussions of stepping down from the position of STUCO moderator. After five years at the helm of STUCO, she was looking to make more time for her two young children and husband and do more involving equity and inclusion at SLUH. “I have little kids, it’s
this is a great opportunity for her to do that.” About a year ago, Toussaint told Mueller, who coaches freshman soccer and baseball, that she would be stepping down and suggested he look into the position. Mueller expressed interest, but knew that he did not want to become the sole STUCO moderator and was interested in the possibility of co-moderating with another teacher. “I did not want to do it as a single moderator position; I knew that for a long time,” said Mueller. Menne is currently taking part in Jesuit Schools Network Leadership Seminars and through the program knows many teachers who moderate STUCO at their respective schools. After hearing about the many different ways that student council could be run,
Prep News
News Editors Jake “big T-Swift guy” Hennes Riley “big retreat guy” McEnery Features Editor Nathan “’Big Time Rush guy” P. Wild II
Sports Editors Nathan “big TCS guy” Langhauser Ben “big Lavar Ball guy” Dattilo
Zak Luke “big Vine guy” Wilmes Paul “big math guy” Gillam Justin “just a regular guy” Core Staff Koesterer Stephen “big college Handley “big Footley groupme guy” J. Ocampo City Slicker guy” Hicks James “big Jonathan Liam “big Lebron guy” Byers guy” Pollard John Matthew “big hair guy” Sam “big Festus guy” Quinlan Ortmann Steven “big meme guy”
“We are looking at moving down the real leadership experiences from just senior year to sophomore, junior, and senior year and start developing the practice of being a leader as a freshman.” -Ian Gibbons natural transition.” Eventually, Toussaint and Assistant Principal for Student Life Brock Kesterson asked Mueller and Menne separately if they wanted to moderate STUCO by themselves, but neither were interested in moderating alone. “Both (Mrs. Menne and I) chatted and said we don’t want to moderate it by ourselves, but we would comoderate,” said Mueller. Menne, who is currently junior class moderator, will be stepping down to take the role of STUCO co-moderator. The administration is currently in the process of selecting a new junior class moderator. Despite being nervous about the big step, Menne is excited to fill the co-moderator position.
“I was very anxious at first, because I like being the junior class moderator. … So going into a new role that is huge, much larger than the junior class moderator position, is a little frightening. But after talking to Fr. Gibbons and the other moderators, I am really excited,” said Menne. Mueller too is looking forward to co-moderating. “I was nervous that they were going to make me a moderator and I was going to be the only moderator of STUCO; that’s what I was nervous about,” said Mueller. “In terms of being nervous as a co-moderator, no, not all, mostly because there is someone to bounce ideas off of. The administration is super supportive about the transition and about Mrs. Menne and I taking over STUCO.” Gibbons hopes that the modified STUCO will allow for students to take more responsibility with the student government. “We have a history of sort of doing it for you (students), the different things around the building, and then, you guys help with the touching pieces,” said Gibbons. “You guys need the experience of thinking about things, looking at the pros and cons of different aspects, to study what’s out there, to look at the ways we could actually go about and do this, to make the plans, to develop the people’s capacities to put it together, to do it, and then to evaluate it.” In response to the many changes and tension, Gibbons calls for patience. “There is a lot of movement, but I would hope that people would be patient too. These take a little bit time, but we will keep moving forward. These are bold initiatives we are taking. We know there will be some growth tensions, but all of this is being done for the community and for the experiences of everyone,” said Gibbons. “This is not a done deal. This thing is still rolling out. It’s certainly a work in progress. But there will certainly be elements of (the changes) that will be in place for the elections coming up, as well as next year and the next few years.”
Credits
Volume 82, Issue 24 Editor in Chief Jack “big nasty guy” Schweizer
Menne became interested in the position of STUCO moderator when she learned Toussaint would be stepping down. “When I found out that Mrs. Toussaint was not doing STUCO next year, it seeded an idea in my head for how maybe we could restructure STUCO as a comoderated position,” she said. Although initially Menne and Mueller did not know the other was interested in the position, the decision to co-moderate came naturally. “We sit right across from each other (in the science office), and it just kind of became part of the natural conversation,” said Menne. “Somewhere along the lines, we just kind of started talking about doing it together. It was a very
“What kind of guy are you?” Staff Ben “big ‘why does it have to be only guys’ guy” Klevorn Chris “big Cor Jesu guy” Staley
Jackson “big X guy” Ducharme
Nick “medium size guy” Prainito
Staff Photographer Louis “big swell guy” Barnes
Art Director Joe “just a big guy” Bytnar
Reporters Daniel “big sister guy” McMurran Joe “small swimming guy” Feder Thom “big sushi guy” Molen
Contributing Artists Ian “big katie guy” Shocklee Sean “big drawing guy” Anderson
Staff Artists John “big Friday vegan guy” Burke
Moderator Mr. Steve “big April Fools guy” Missey
April 1, 2018
Zooweemama! Tower blasts off the flat Earth!
year. BY the Nathan P. Wild XCXWith the time being unCXVIXCV the second viewable, so too have the lanHARVARD GROUP CHAT ADMIN yards of the class of 2018 that were thrown across the original tower. It was a tradition in 2018 to throw the lanyard across the top of the tower after graduation. That was stopped some time ago that was roughly around the time that it takes Guy Fieri to cook a mean steak. The tower is also being recognized this year as one of SLUH’s one natural wonders. This is an extremely prestigious award only awarded to one location at SLUH this year. After the space themed Cash-Bah brought in the final funds of $limx→∞(x+3x)=li mx→∞x+limx→∞3x=∞+0=∞ needed to fund the space ship that was to be sent to the supply team on the moon, students celebrated by spending half that fund on T-shirts showing a billiken on a black shirt. “It’s a great design that I worked really hard on. It’s like the billiken is in the depth of space,” was painted by the artist who for some reason decided to bring back the T-shirt Club. “Don’t forget to mention the three more shirts that will drop later this week,” added the painter.
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o celebrate the hepta-jeptawombo-combo-superduper-high-number-bicentennial-tri-quadcentennial, SLUH seniors have decided to carry on the long standing tradition of extending the clocktower hand built in 2018 by the famously dashing Jack McGrail. The tradition began exactly six very long times ago when the class of 2018, after six months of email bickering, decided to build a clocktower as their class gift. After raising the funds, the tower was erected in the middle of the turnaround. What began as a limestone clocktower eventually grew over the years to be what only science experts in clockology can describe as “really tall” or “gosh darn she’s a beaut height.” After the original was built, every time SLUH celebrated a bicentennial, the seniors created the tradition of extending the tower by another 200 feet, using 200 stones, cut from 200 different mines, from 200 different continents. “I think it’s a great idea,” screamed a senior Steve Buscemi into my ear quite rudely.
The Earth is flat. Facts.
photo | Flat Earth Clocktower Society
“If there’s anything I learned at SLUH, it’s how to carry on a good tradition, especially from Mr. Wehner’s educational video that has survived to this day. “TRADITION,” exclaimed the two second video by theology teacher Dick Wehner circa 2000s, who was dressed in a baseball jersey with a hawaiian shirt over it. The hepta-jepta-wombo combo-why-are-you-reading-all-of-this-super-duperhigh-number-bicentennialtri-quadcentennial marks the bicentennially bicentennial, a number even expert scientists can’t deduce what it even is. Since the originally built 20 foot clocktower in 2018, the clocktower has been built only what can be described as “extremely high” to the naked eye. This centennial will mark the expedition of the tower into space. “I think it’s great that our tradition is reaching the cold depths of space. It really says something about the Jesuit mission here. What it says I couldn’t tell you, but it’s up for interpretation,” was typed out in morse code by someone who is currently failing freshman English (which is somehow possible in the future). The time on the tower can now only be read by a camera that is brought up with the weather balloon built in the spring. Many have seen additions to be futile, but the tower will surely be built upon this
All in all, the SLUH community is rejoicing this immense accomplishment as it will surely be a great fact that will be added to the tours given by Adam Cruz, great-greatgreat-great-you-get-the-pointgreat grandson of the nephew’s neighbor of English teacher Adam Cruz in the 2000s. Surely, this will help him to break his tradition of a monotonous routine. “Hurtful,” spoke a soft voice heard in the hallways that day. “It’s a tradition that we are all excited to keep alive!!! :p,” was read aloud as the most liked message in the senior class Groupme. Construction on the clock tower will not begin until the exact date of 10043-43 AD and will not be finished until it is done being built. Further information can be viewed on the Prep News website if you can tolerate the now 50 hour wait time to open the article’s information. “TRADITION,” exclaimed the video by Wehner again. Happy octa-wopta-trilong-time-septa-bi-woptatopta-lopta-hepta-bicentennial SLUH and heres to another cta-wopta-tri-long-time-septa-Thanks-for-reading-mybad-article-bi-wopta-toptalopta-hepta more!
APRIL FOOLS
Prep News 5 Volume 82, Issue 24
Cracking the man of mystery: Patrick Zarrick. Who is he? More importantly, what is he?
very good school, the students through the veins.” at the university, Fordham, Administrators also hope did a study on the effect of that, in addition to improved one’s clothing on their mental academics, this decision will state,” said Gibbons, “We are also improve student’s adherapplying the findings of that ance to the dress policy, which study to St. Louis U. High.” has been horrendous this The study found that year. In restricting student’s when one’s neck is nearly freedoms and issuing one choked by a tie, it squeezes the uniform, they expect for the blood from that area of the number of violators to drop. body up to the brain, adding “Wearing vans is the brain juice eighth deadand allowing ly sin,” said one to think Gibbons. harder. The “They are additional polluting heat added our feet, our from a blazhalls, and er was also our minds.” found to exKespedite blood terson says flow. that there “When will be no the blood tolerance for grows warmunpressed art | Jonathan Beyers shirts er, it acts or like a human would act when wrinkly pants. Students will stepping across a bed of hot also have to wear either black, coals, like that one episode navy, or grey socks with their of The Office when Michael shoes, and a failure to do so challenges the employees to will result in a triple JUG. do so but then Pam does it,” The new policy will also said physics teacher Bradley benefit the school’s security, Mueller. “Anyways, like feet for anyone not donned in the over hot coals, the blood jets classiest of clothing will auto-
rincipal Ian Gibbons in coordination with Assistant Principal for Student Life Brock Kesterson decided to change the dress code policy from its current relaxed state to a stricter code. Next year, students will be required to wear a standardized blue blazer over a white button-down along with a blue and white striped tie with grey suitpants and black dress shoes. “Over spring break I visited some military academies on the east coast,” said Kesterson. “All the boys there wear the same outfit and look really sharp. They act sharp too.” This move is a part of Kesterson’s new initiative, “Look Good. Feel Good. Think Good.” This decision comes in the midst of a declining cumulative school GPA, which dropped to a 200year low 2.00 this past year. Gibbons and Kesterson hope that, by dressing better, students will subsequently study and test better. “Back when I taught at Regis High School in New York, which, I must say, was a
kingdom. It was there that I played with the penguins and invented the game known around the halls of SLUH as bashball. I chose to go into high school education at the age of 14. I took charge of the public school system entirely in Canada and educated myself beyond the level of an average high school student in order to become more dominant in the ranks of public education. After that, I took a gap year. Then, well, let’s see. What was the question again? RM: I had asked you how you got to SLUH based on experiences from your childhood, but I’d love to hear more about these adventures. PZ: And I’d love to tell you more about these adventures. So at age 20, I voyaged on a solo expedition through the Andes mountains and mastered the skill of the stone cold stunner. That technique would prove vital to my next stage in life when I became a bodyguard. My days as a bodyguard started when I was asked to guard the president. I’m sworn to not give any more details about my work as
News editor Riley McEnery sat down with the man, the myth, the legend Patrick Zarrick to discuss his unique upbringing. Riley McEnery: So, first, could you tell me a little bit about what your childhood was like, and how that lead you to SLUH? Patrick Zarrick: Well my most vivid childhood memory was when I was eight years old and got a hatchet to the face. Allow me to explain. At five years old I was left to fend for myself in the Apache-Sitgreaves forest near the Mogollon Rim and the White Mountains. I quickly adapted to the harsh environment, feasting off of the juicy meat from the bears I had slayed using a small rock I found in a river there. I spread my all-powerful reign over the 34 mighty lakes in the forest, fighting with the native beasts to satisfy my ever unquenchable thirst for power in the wild. I befriended a local mountain lion and together we took control of the forest. As my seven-yearold grasp tightened around the kingdom of wildlife, the mountain lion and I grew apart, both naively focused on our own power. On my eighth birthday, I creeped into his den with a crossbow that I forged from twigs and some tall grasses and slayed him. I then wore his fur as my royal coat as I had become king of the southwest region of the American wild. At nine, I decided to change my course of action, and so I began my training as a member of the League of Shadows. After overpowering the entire League and claiming the title of leader at the age of eleven, I decided to build an empire in the icy depths of Antarctica. I worked tirelessly among the ranks of abominable snow monsters and penguins to form a great icy wall around my grand
my Amazon journey, I went into aerospace engineering and built the world’s largest rocket with my bare hands. I alone possessed the ability to pilot and land the rocket, and so I took it upon myself to voyage into outer space to learn about our solar system. After claiming Jupiter as my own and conquering Saturn, I decided to look outside of our solar system, exploring into the Milky Way and beyond. I eventually stumbled upon an intergalactic space stop for traveling aliens. There, I witnessed a fight break out, and I quickly diffused the situation using by mastered stone cold stunner technique. Upon viewing this, the owner of the rest stop hired me as a art | Ian Judd bouncer, and I worked there for eight years until I finally decided to return home to take care of my family. RM: So your family is pretty important to you? PZ: Of course. I’m currently training my children in mixed martial arts, and I hope that they can one day lead the world with a wide skillset of majestic battle moves. RM: You’re a pretty interesting guy. If you could sum up your personality with a catchphrase, what catchphrase would you use? PZ: It would have to be “tag that man!” That of course is a reference to a defensive tactic in bashball, but it also sums up a lot of my work with the International Tag Organization. That of course was right after my years spent bullfighting in Spain. I won’t bore you with the details of that era of my life. That was not very interesting relative to other things I’ve done. RM: Is there anything else you would want the school to know about you? PZ: No. I’ve said too much already. Thank you.
a presidential bodyguard, so I guess I can take your next question. RM: I think the SLUH community would love to hear about your interest in yoga. PZ: Ah yes, yoga. I can tell you a thing or two about yoga. I find my most blissful form when reaching for the inner depths of my soul through the power of deep meditation and yoga. The pure physicality and beauty of figure is not the only important aspect of yoga, however. The deep intellectual relationship between yogi and pad and earth is essential to creating the effervescent bliss and peace that is meditation. When emotion and spirit are poured into the blender of soul, the inner core of one’s being can be seen, touched, and inspired. I first took up yoga when I was kayaking up the Amazon River, and ever since I’ve been more in touch with reality. I can see the physical manifestation of truth and peace in our world, and I have been granted the power to touch the spirit of my peers. That reminds me, when I was 29 or so, after
Dressed to the nines; new dress policy for 2019 BY Charlie Heaton EDITOR WITH BEEF
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matically be recognized as an outsider. Despite all of these benefits, most of the faculty, however, are not fond of this new code. While students were enjoying their late start last Wednesday, the faculty took this issue of dress code to a vote. After the measures failed to gain even a simple majority, the future president of St. Louis U. High, Alan Carruthers, walked in with a new constitution in hand. He signed it along with Gibbons and Kesterson, officially ratifying it. This new constitution allowed for him to make an executive decision on a matter such as this, and he sided with Gibbons and Kesterson. “This past constitution has lasted 200 years. It is time for this SLUH to catch up with the times,” said Carruthers. “Look around the globe. In Russia Vladimir Putin has bended the rules. Xi Jenping no longer has term limits out east in China. The world is trending in this way and as a Jesuit institution we are called to join the tide and trend with the rest of the world.”
Water polo takes title in Chicago on tiebreaker Volleyball is hungry; Joe Feder devours first five games BY REPORTER
BY Nathan Langhauser SPORTS EDITOR
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fter a week of dominating the pool against water polo teams across the St. Louis area, the St. Louis U. High water polo team took a weekend trip up to Chicago to test its strength against some bigger, more physical, and more experienced teams. Leaving immediately after school on Friday, March 23, the team took the nearly five-hour bus ride north, only to jump out of the bus and into the pool for their first game at 8:40 with only 20 minutes to warm up. Playing against longtime rival New Trier, the Jr. Bills got off to an early start thanks to quick goals from senior captain Joe Jellinek and seniors Brendan Moore and Nick Mattingly. The remainder of the first half was marked by sloppy play from the Jr. Bills, who only led 5-1 by the end of the second quarter. But the team came back out strong after the break, with much credit due to junior goalie John McCabe, who made 11 saves, and Player of the Game Jacob Fields, who ran a tight defense and contributed a man-up goal to the 11-5 SLUH victory.
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art | Joe Bytnar
Fields declined to comment. Upon reaching the hotel, getting enough rest was paramount, as the Jr. Bills would be playing three games in less than eight hours on Saturday. The team rose early for an 8:00 game in a Jesuit showdown against St. Ignatius Prep of Chicago. Ranked eighth in Chicago, St. Ignatius never threatened the Jr. Bills, who established a 5-0 lead by the end of the first quarter. Mattingly was named
Scoring extremes in first games for inline BY Nick Prainto REPORTER
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ll three of St. Louis U. High’s inline hockey squads are rolling through the beginning of their schedule. The Jr. Bills this year have teams for the C, JV, and varsity levels of the Missouri Inline Hockey Association (MOIHA). The varsity team, after a rough start, has picked up its pace as of late. The JV team, after two games, is even on
battle, with freshman star Matt Warnecke picking up the game-winning goal. Warnecke and junior Christian Berger look to be great playmakers for the team throughout the season. Berger leads the team with 9 points on 5 goals and 4 assists. Warnecke has earned 5 assists and netted his first goal with the shootout winner. The JV team fell to Fort Zumwalt West 9-2 in its
Varsity inline team against Seckman.
the season with a win and a loss. The C team is still looking for its first win of the season. All teams play a total of 14 games. The varsity team started off its season at different extremes. In their first game, the Jr. Bills got mercy-ruled 11-1 to first-place Seckman. Just a few days later, the Jr. Bills mercied Francis Howell North 10-0. The third game featured a thrilling shootout
photo | Mrs. Kathy Chott
first game, but last Saturday won 2-0 against Northwest, with freshman goalie Andrew Bergman stopping all 22 shots he faced to notch his first shutout of the year. Bergman will be important for the Jr. Bills this year, as he is the goalie for both the C and JV levels. The C team has fought hard, playing four games,
continued on page 7
Player of the Game for his dominance across the pool, tallying seven steals by the end of the game. Senior Barclay Dale also contributed two goals, and junior Garrett Baldes swatted down a shot in the 9-5 victory. Having won their first two games, the Jr. Bills won their initial block and advanced to the championship block, consisting of the top three teams from the tournament. Beginning the cham-
pionship play with a game against third-ranked Lyons, the team played its best game in the season so far, going into a nail-biting sudden-victory overtime. Facing a 2-0 deficit after the first quarter, SLUH was plagued by kickout after kickout, but McCabe was unyielding in goal, and Mattingly put the Bills back in the game with a goal to close out the first half. Mattingly continued his
continued on page 7
t. Louis U. High volleyball has started the season with a 5-0 record and is hungry to taste a state championship once again after falling to Lafayette in the finals last year. Early in the season, the team is looking to send messages to opponents that they might face down the road, whether in the playoffs or later in the regular season. The Jr. Bills sent a strong message against Lindbergh on Monday, bouncing back from an underwhelming 25-15, 2521 win over Chaminade. “We did escape with a victory but the match was not a success. Prior to that point, the team was progressing well with energy, skills that we have been refining in practice, and a driven focus,” said head coach Jeff Cheak. “Unfortunately, in this match we didn’t execute any of those areas. Hopefully, this will be the only match that we aren’t focused on for the rest of the year and we will take that match as a learning mechanism.” SLUH pounded Lindbergh 25-7, 25-14 with some good serving and hard work from junior middle Andrew
Cross, whom the Flyers could not stop. The Jr. Bills did not allow Lindbergh to get more than one serve in a row in the first set. Senior Ryan Whelan rattled off seven consecutive jump serves to put the Jr. Bills up 18-4, crushing Flyer spirits for good in the set. “I was just feeling it back there and letting some Randy Johnson’s loose,” said Whelan. The first set also consisted of a bombardment of blocks from the Jr. Bills, forcing Lindbergh to try to hit around them and resulting in a lot of hitting errors or easily dug tips. The second set started more evenly though, as Lindbergh went on a short run of their own to take a 5-4 lead over the Jr. Bills. SLUH was struggling to find a kill as the Flyers were making some defensive touches and frustrating SLUH hitters. At 10-9, the Jr. Bills found their rhythm when junior Dalton Ennis went back to serve and the team kept sending him back to the serving line. At the end of the run, SLUH was up 17-10, a gap that Lindbergh could not close.
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Rugby sprints through Springfield, IL; suffers sobering defeat against La Salette Academy BY Chris Staley and Thom Molen STAFF, REPORTER
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24-7. “Schwartz got a try, which was surprising for everyone, but it was good since it shows our growth on offense,” said Quinlan. Due to a great tackle by senior Joe Watkins, SLUH again gained possession of the ball, leading to Quinlan using his signature goose step to juke past the defense into the tryzone, making the score 31-7. More tries by Chevalier, junior Miles Maityko, and a conversion by sophomore Owen Tucker put the final score at 45-7. On Sunday March 18, the SLUH rugby team took a road trip to Olivet, Ill. to face Notre
Dame de La Salette, a boarding school with only 78 students and only three of whom do not play rugby. La Salette came out strong offensively and brought the ball within SLUH’s 22-yard line early on. Multiple failed attempts to break through the defensive line made them swing it wide to get a try, making the score 5-0 due to a missed conversion. SLUH gained some major ground following another try by La Salette. La Salette commited a penalty and Chevalier quick tapped, broke through the line, and shook a tackle to score a try, making the score 10-5. At half, the score was 24-
he St. Louis U. High rugby team rode a roller coaster the past three weeks after posting a monstrous victory against Springfield and a rough loss against Notre Dame de La Salette on March 18 in Georgetown, Ill. SLUH faced off against Springfield, Ill. at Lucier Park in University City on Saturday, March 3 and won 45-7. Senior captain Buck Chevalier started the scoring early by breaking through the line of defense and weaving his way in and out of opponents to a clean try right up the middle. “They were a little weaker team so it was much easier for our offense to work and we are still getting some kinks out,” said Chevalier. Three penalties later, Springfield took advantage and tied it 7-7. But a clean phase play by senior captain Matthew Quinlan made SLUH score and take the lead 14-7. A beautiful catch by junior Darion Mullins created a wave and and ended up with senior Tommy Rogan getting a try, making the score 19-7. In the second half, SLUH started out strong and Chevalier threaded the needle right to senior Andrew Schwartz, who scored to make the score Senior Buck Chevalier against Notre Dame de La Salette
5, La Salette. “We didn’t get low on the tackles so they broke through us pretty easily,” said Quinlan. “We came up as a line but we didn’t come up hard enough so they were able to just keep hitting the line and they would get it out wide.” The tired out team continued to fight in the second half, but La Salette scored five more tries to make the final score 53-5. “La Salette was definitely a more fit team but we can always fix that by conditioning. Fitness is definitely going to be a focus in our practices now,” said Chevalier.
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photo | Mr. Vincent Lombard
SPORTS Rain-outs delay start of tennis; first Tails call gives track match strong for young program first meet victory
April 4, 2018
BY Justin STAFF
Koesterer
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he SLUH tennis team opened its season battling the elements, as three of the first four matches were cancelled due to the rain or snow. In their first match they actually played, the team beat Marquette High School in Alton, Ill. 7-2. The team graduated several key seniors last year, including Michael Behr and the Bott twins, Ben and Sam, who combined for a phenomenal doubles team. The varsity tennis lineup tentatively looks like this: playing on court one for SLUH will be freshman Leonardo Da Silva, whose experience playing while living in Germany has helped him become a strong player.
Court two belongs to sophomore Victor Stefanescu and three to another sophomore, Danny Lombardi. Courts four through eight are filled by the senior core, who rotate games. For the games against Marquette (Alton), Noah Sandidge played on court four, Brendan Charles on court five, and Jack Lenzen on six, with seniors Drew Patritti and Drew Kirchoff rotating in games. The doubles matches saw Da Silva and Stefanescu play together as the lead doubles team, followed by Lombardi and Sandidge, with Charles and Lenzen rounding out the third doubles spot. “Personally, I’m trying to win every match I play and do my job to help the team win matches. That’s what it’s all
about. As a team we want to win, but we also want to grow for the upcoming years,” said Charles. Obviously, with a core group of seniors and young talent in Da Silva, Lombardi, and Stefanescu, the team looks to make a deep playoff run. But they also recognize how much talent the team has for future years, even past next year. “I know the incoming class and even the class after that has a couple players who are really talented. SLUH tennis is definitely on the upswing and has a lot of potential going into the future. I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t have some state runs in the near future,” said Patritti.
Ice to inline has learning curve (continued from page 6)
Junior Liam Gallagher, a forward, is optimistic for the varsity team. “This team is the best sports team SLUH has ever had, whether our record reflects that or not,” said Gallagher. Coaches Matt Spaeth and Chris LePage also commented on the team’s effort so far. “This team has the most heart of any I’ve seen. They
refuse to roll over when down. With more hard work and team building, they will continue to make SLUH proud,” said Spaeth. Many of the varsity team’s skaters are new to high school inline but have played many years of ice hockey. “I think there’s still a learning curve that you can see taking place with guys learning to transition from ice hockey to inline,” said
BY Daniel REPORTER
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McMurran
ails never fails,” said head track coach Joe Porter as he won the coin flip against Lafayette High School. The St. Louis U. High track team got its first victory royale at the Lindbergh Boys Flyer Classic by breaking a tie with Lafayette High School with the winning coin toss. Ten Jr. Bills received medals at the meet by placing top four in their event. The squad of sophomores Adam Mittendorf, Cameron Clay, Noah Scott, and Lucas Rackers also set a new meet record in the distance medley relay. Sophomore Lazarus Williams and senior Daniel McMurran were the two athletes on the team who won gold medals at the meet. Williams was able to overcome the other 16 athletes in the 800-meter, beating the second place finisher by seven seconds. McMurran, also against 16 other athletes in long jump, beat the second place finisher from Lindbergh High School by three and a half inches. “Lafayette beat us by 43
Prep News Volume 82, Issue 24
points the week before, so for us to come back from that and tie them with some very good teams and some that are in our district with Marquette and Eureka, that was a very good day for us,” said Porter. While the last two meets were both rainy with sub 50-degree temperatures, the runners were happy with their results. “We had some guys who haven’t raced in big meets yet but were able to compete hard and earn our team points,” said senior captain Evan Kilgore. Senior Paul Burka competed in three events Saturday and was able to score points in all of them. “I was pretty tired at the end of the day but I came away with a new PR and I was happy our team was able to perform so well. Our team had a lot of energy before the meet started and everyone was willing to put their bodies on the line to help the team,” said Burka. The SLUH track team will be participate in the All-Catholic this Saturday at Chaminade High School starting at 9 a.m.
LePage. “But overall this can be one of the most dangerous teams in the league.” Sophomore goalie Peter Lally kept it simple when asked what the team needs to improve on as they enter the heart of their season. “Defense,” Lally said. The varsity team plays tonight at 8:00, against Northwest High School, on Saturday against Oakville, and on Sunday against Fort (continued from page 6) disciplined volleyball in the Zumwalt North. Cross collected a hand- first set with Andrew Cross ful of kills, hitting around the leading the way. Ryan and shorter Lindbergh block and Andrew were executing the reasserting the Jr. Bill domi- fast tempo we have been pracnance. Senior libero Kyle Co- ticing very well,” said Cheak. han also went on a run imme- “In addition to Cross’ play, situation that we weren’t able “In the last few weeks to play anywhere because of JV has improved a lot,” said the rain,” said Quinlan. sophomore scrumhalf Gunnar The junior varsity team Wurst. “Our defense has been also had three games. The first doing much better and we’ve game was against Chaminade’s been practicing our team core B-side varsity. A brutal game value of discipline.” resulting in multiple injuries SLUH rugby will be paron the SLUH side allowed ticipating in Ruggerfest this Chaminade to win 25-19. weekend and playing some The second game was good programs that will give against La Salette’s junior varsi- the team plenty of experience. ty, which featured many expe“I think we have a lot of rienced juniors. The game was potential to win at Ruggerfest,” photo | Jonel Olar a valiant effort for SLUH’s JV, said Quinlan. “It’s traditionally Varsity volleyball against Parkway Central. but La Salette won 79-0. been a pretty difficult tournaThe final game for JV ment, but I think the boys have diately after Ennis, getting five our serve receive and serving was against Lindbergh High been really thirsty for a big dub serves of his own to put SLUH were much more aggressive School’s first year team. SLUH after the last couple games, so up 22-11. and took Lindbergh out of the held their ground in the cold we’re gonna go all out to get it The Jr. Bills struggled to match early. This was a good and rain but lost 15-7. this weekend.” close the game though, al- win, but it is still early in the lowing a short Lindbergh run year. We have to continue to before finally ending the game build to improve for our ulti25-14. mate goal a state final run.” “Lindbergh is in our SLUH plays Parkway district and I was curious to South on Friday in the Danis see how we would match up Field House at 5:30 and conAll-Metro Player of the Year against them. We played very tinues to prepare for the Park-
Jr. Bills act as air traffic control against Flyers
Ruggerfest this weekend with tough competition (continued from page 6)
“That was a tough one,” said head coach Joe Muller. “That team is an absolute program and they were top notch. I think coming off of spring break was kind of tough on us mentally. I would like to play them again at the end of the year if we could, but what can you do?” SLUH’s varsity was supposed to play Chaminade on March 28, but due to bad rain, the teams were unable to find a suitable playing spot, forcing the game to be called off. “I’m disappointed that we weren’t able to play Chaminade, and honestly it was just a highly unusual and unlucky
Sports Briefs
Hockey Awards
VARSITY INLINE HOCKEY SLUH
4/2
Ft. Zumwalt West
Joe Winkelmann
9
1st Team All-Metro Christian Berger Henry Wagner
6
VARSITY BASEBALL SLUH 1
3/31
McCluer North
2nd Team All-Metro Kevin Einig
6
VARSITY VOLLEYBALL SLUH 25 25
3/20
CBC
VARSITY LACROSSE
10 16
VARSITY VOLLEYBALL SLUH 25 25
3/28
3/22
Parkway Central
14 19
VARSITY VOLLEYBALL
3/27
SLUH Mehlville
25 25 12 15
SLUH
13
Chaminade
7
VARSITY LACROSSE SLUH 12
4/3
Vianney
4
VARSITY WATER POLO SLUH 10
4/3
Lindbergh
4
VARSITY INLINE HOCKEY 5 SLUH
4/3
Northwest (Cedar Hill) 10
-compiled by Nathan Langhauser
Junior goalie John McCabe against De Smet. photo | Louis Barnes
7
Mattingly named PostDispatch player of the week (continued from page 6)
strong performance from the previous game, being named Player of the Game yet again and racking up four goals. “I felt like a tadpole finally growing legs, becoming a frog, the king of the swamp,” said Mattingly. The team faced a potentially tournament-ending deficit, however, when Jellinek was rolled in the middle of the third quarter, excluding him from the remainder of the tournament, and when Lyons scored a last-minute shot. But Mattingly responded by drawing a penalty shot and a last shot to tie the game. Fields was called to take the shot and converted it smoothly, forcing the game into overtime, where Moore scored a fantastic bar-down shot from outside to win the game, 7-6 . Moving to the finals for the first time since 2014, the Jr. Bills prepared for a game against their Jesuit brothers from Loyola Chicago. Finding themselves trailing 2-0 once again, SLUH struggled to find their footing until Mattingly found the back of the net for a 2-1 score at halftime. Despite the efforts of McCabe, who was named Player of the Game for a stunning 14 saves, Loyola won 4-3. “We were gassed from two earlier games, and exhaustion came back to bite us,” said McCabe. “ We played our game, and I feel like that’s what benefited us most of all against these teams.” But that was not the end, as Lyons and Loyola Chicago still had to play each other in the championship block, where a Lyons victory would mean a three-way tie for first place. In the event of a tie, the tournament rules dictate that the winner of the tournament be the team with the fewest goals allowed, which happened to be SLUH, having let in just 10 goals against their fellow championship teams. The team was already on the bus heading home when they learned of their victory, and the mood in the bus quickly turned celebratory. After a snow delay of over two hours and a pit stop at Culver’s, the Jr. Bills arrived back at SLUH early Sunday morning, but there was still more to come. When word reached St. Louis of Mattingly’s stellar playing in Chicago, he was nominated, and subsequently won, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Athlete of the Week. We played with a lot of heart and passion,” said Mattingly. “I’m proud of what we could do against high level competition, and it has me really excited to see what we can do the rest of the year.” The team returned to regular season play with a win against Fort Zumwalt West, and plays Friday, April 6 at Lafayette.
8
Prep News
THE PURGE Wednesday, April 4
Volume 82, Issue 24
Around the Hallways Stations of the Cross The Senior Pastoral Team, in conjunction with the Junior Pastoral Team, put on a prayer service for the Stations of the Cross, a Lenten tradition in the Catholic Church involving reflection on Jesus’ path towards death. The service was during activity period last Monday and lasted for about 20 minutes. Seniors John Burke, Rob Garner, and Charlie McGroarty read passages from the gospels about Jesus’ path. Juniors Reed Milnor and Zach Szatkowski walked through the stations for the participants. The service prompted the idea to include the stations of the cross in prayer services that week. KMOX/ SEMO Award Junior Liam John was selected as a KMOX/Southeast Missouri State Student of Achievement; he appeared on KMOX radio to
discuss it in December. The award—presented to one junior from each high school that is invited to participate— is sponsored by KMOX and SEMO. It is given to 30 dedicated Juniors who excel not in academic achievement and service to their school and the community. The award comes with a ceremony on April 20 and a scholarship to SEMO if the recipient chooses to attend. Liam—a participant in various activities such as Prep News, SLUH Crew, and
Late Start Schedule Junior Kairos Cashbah Setup Lunch Special—Chicken Breast Vegetarian—Black Bean Burger DePaul University 3:00PM Wilderness Retreat Sophomore Retreat 6:30PM C Baseball vs. CBC Thursday, April 5 No School—Retreats Wilderness Retreat Sophomore Retreat Junior Kairos Cashbah Setup 9:00AM JV Golf @ Fox 3:30PM V Golf vs. Ladue 4:00PM JV Track & Field @Webster 4:15PM V Tennis @ Westminster JV Tennis vs. Westminster B Baseball @ Lindbergh Friday, April 6 No School—Retreats Wilderness Retreat Sophomore Retreat Junior Kairos Cashbah Setup 3:30PM JV Golf vs. Vianney 4:00PM V Tennis vs. Lindbergh JV Tennis @ Lindbergh 4:15PM C Baseball vs. De Smet 4:30PM JV/V Water Polo @ Lafayette C/JV/V Volleyball vs. Parkway South V Baseball vs. Loyola
Mom Prom Senior students and their mothers danced the night away on March 27 in the Si Commons. The evening featured dinner, music by Doctor Zhivegas, and really good doughnuts. Plenty of students had fun decking themselves out in glow sticks and other props for pictures. Finally, the evening was highlighted by a surprise flash dance mob by Racquetball—was nomi- the mothers. nated by counselor David Mouldon. Formal Attire Yesterday, many stuParent-Teacher confer- dents had to come to school ences wearing formal attire for the Last Tuesday, some par- day. These students had to ents set up appointments to do so because of a random meet with their son’s teach- full school check on shoes ers. The meetings took place the previous Wednesday. If in the Si Commons and a student was caught wearRobinson Library. It was an ing non-dress code shoes, opportunity for the parents they were doomed to don to check in to see how their formal yesterday. Saturday, April 7 sons have been doing sec-compiled by Jake ond semester. Hennes, Riley McEnery, Cashbah Handley Hicks, and Carter 9:00AM V2 All-Catholic Track & Field V Baseball vs. Loyola Fortman
Clavius hopes to establish program in Belize (continued from page 1)
here at SLUH in St. Louis in Belize,” said Pitts. “By establishing a robotics program at SJC (similar to the one SLUH has), they in turn will do community outreach and help middle schools like St. Martin’s bring robotics to their students.” Pitts visited Belize with his wife for a retreat. “My wife and I visited Belize as a part of a Belize2020 retreat in Janu-
ary, and just meeting the students and good people of St. Martin’s and SJC, the dedicated educators and volunteers in general, and the commitment the Jesuits have to the city, the country and the people of Belize, we decided to give it a try,” said Pitts. Pitts hopes that the trip is successful in bringing robotics to Belize and having Clavius at SLUH continue to work with Belize in the future.
“After we establish the robotics program at SJC high school, we hope to continue to help and support their efforts to grow their program, and help the students of St. Martin’s grow their understanding, interest and involvement in robotics and STEM,” said Pitts. “Wouldn’t it be cool if our students at SLUH could someday do service work in Belize, through the Clavius Project at SLUH, to help the students at SJC high school
and St. Martin’s school?” Fundrasing for the trip has come from the Rev. Paul Sheridan, S.J., who has been an advocate for the project since he first heard about it last year. The group plans to get to Belize the week of July 2 and hopes to conduct camps the weeks of July 9 and July 16 with a minijamboree tentatively scheduled for July 21.
First ever Cashbah after-party spells excitement (continued from page 1)
their individual tickets were sold, they received a t-shirt. The t-shirt this year had a classy black and white tuxedo printed on it to fit this year’s ball theme. The items up for auction will be available in the Commons, Danis Lobby, and throughout the choir and band rooms. The co-chairs of this year’s Cashbah, Amy Hannah and Aura Quinn, worked to divide volunteers into different committees to tackle the hefty amount of planning necessary for the auction. Some subcommittees include live auction volunteers, silent auction volunteers, overhead volunteers, sports committee, Billiken Boutique, student art, painted treasures, student volunteer coordinators, adult volunteer coordinators, ads and catelogue volunteers, and sponsorship volunteers. Saturday night, the Bicentennial Ball will have the live auctions take place. A hot bidding item, or animal, as in past years, is the Cashbah puppy. This year there are three puppies, and two of the three are twins from the same litter. Following the auction dinner, which will conclude around ten, will be the first
after-party for the event, in the theater. The area, including the theater loge, will be open for dancing and interacting, and the band Mirage, featuring SLUH alum Craig Roeckle on bass, will be performing there. Cashbah also has a wall of sponsors to honor those that donate large sums of money—including well known companies like AON, Wells Fargo, and Ameren. These donations, as well as other previously received donations, highlight to Vice President of Institutional Advacement Melissa Jones the SLUH spirit of generosity, one of the founding principles of the school. This year there have been almost double the number of sponsors than in past years. “It’s exceptional, the commitment of our donors, volunteers, and alumni. This truly is a unique event in that not every school can claim such generosity,” said Jones. “It’s a beautiful thing, that people are giving their time, talent, and treasure to support the scholarships.” One individual, however, has outdone them all. Tom Schilli, ’64, a successful businessman and head of a transportation company based in Fenton, has donated one million dollars to
April 4, 2018
the SLUH scholarship fund. Well, partly. Schilli made the gift a challenge. He will match every dollar raised at the auction up to the million dollar goal. According to Jones, there is no estimate as of now on the expected revenue. The group will wait until a few days after the event, and then release the amount in a statement from the school. “Through sponsorships and the live auction we hope that we can match (Schilli’s) generosity,” said Jones. The total goal then for this year’s Cashbah is two million dollars raised. The SLUH SustainaBills and moderator Anne Marie Lodholz will also play a role in this year’s auction through their “Waste Not Want Not” art projects, made of recycled and reused materials from around the school. The artwork will be showcased in the art section of the event. Another keynote piece in the art section is a gold medallion piece of jewelery designed by alum Jack Potter for sale in the auction. Although the main focus of the auction is for the generous sponsors and the future boys who will have their lives changed, current students have just as many opportunities to be involved
in the process. There are many jobs offering service, some which have been filled, and others which still need more students to fill those slots. Among some of the jobs for current students are servers, BidBills (the men who stand by the tables and point out the numbers of the people who have bid during the live auction), and washers. This is a great opportunity or any student who still needs to get some service hours done. For service opportunities, students and/or parents can contact Amy Hannah or Aura Quinn, the Cashbah 2018 Co-Chairs, at cashbah@sluh.org. “We are humbled by the generosity of the SLUH community, from donors to sponsors to alumni to past and present families,” said Quinn. “Everybody is so supportive, and they are every year, but especially this year just with the incredible celebration of the bicenntennial. Everybody wants to be a part of the celebration.”
12:00PMUltimate Frisbee vs. Chaminade
Sunday, April 8
Cashbah Clean-Up 10:00AMCashbah Clean-Up Mass 3:00PM Ultimate Frisbee vs. Marquette
Monday, April 9
Regular Schedule AP Freshman Liturgical Choir Rehearsal AP English Boot Camp Snack—Mini Corn Dogs Lunch Special—Chick-Fil-A Vegetarian—Burrito 3:30PM V Golf Bulldog Battle JV Golf vs. Westminster 4:15PM V Tennis vs. Clayton JV Tennis @ Clayton C Baseball vs. Clayton 4:30PM B Baseball @ Oakville C/JV/V Volleyball vs. Ft. Zumwalt South
Tuesday, April 10
Regular Schedule AP Senior Class Meeting Snack—Mini Tacos Lunch Special—Taco Bar Vegetarian—Grilled Veggies 3:30PM JV Golf vs. Chaminade 4:00PM Ultimate Frisbee vs. FHS C/JV/V Volleyball @ De Smet 4:15PM B Baseball @ Ladue C Baseball vs. Seckman 4:30PM V Baseball vs. Ladue 6:30PM Senior Level Meeting
Wednesday, April 11
Regular Schedule AP Freshman Liturgical Choir Rehearsal Rising Senior Class Elections Snack—Chicken Bites Lunch Special—Chinese Vegetarian—Black Bean Burger 3:30PM V Golf Laker Tournament 4:00PM C/JV/V Volleyball @ Marquette C/JV Track & Field (@ SLUH) 4:30PM B Baseball vs. Belleville West 5:30PM USGBC Green Schools Quest Awards 7:00PM V Baseball vs. Belleville West
Thursday, April 12
Regular Schedule JV Water Polo De Smet Invitational AP AP Registration—Theater Freshman Liturgical Choir Rehearsal Snack—Chicken Rings Lunch Special—Domino’s Pizza Vegetarian—Grilled Cheese 3:30PM JV Golf vs. Ladue 4:00PM JV/V Tennis vs. CBC 4:30PM B Baseball @ St. Mary’s
Friday, April 13
Regular Schedule JV Water Polo De Smet Invitational V Baseball Kentucky Tournament V Volleyball Tournament @ Parkway Central AP Freshman Class Mass Snack—Bosco Stick Lunch Special—Meatball Sandwich Vegetarian—Garden Burger 3:30PM C Golf vs. Chaminade 4:00PM JV Tennis McKinley Classic V Track & Field Gary Parker Invitational calendar | Lebron John