Prep Volume 78, Special Issue
St. Louis University High School | Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Commentary This special issue of the Prep News outlines the nine executive STUCO positions. Today, juniors will vote in a primary that will lead to a final election tomorrow. These nine juniors, along with our class President and Vice President, will lead our class into our final year at SLUH. They will be in charge of planning and shaping many of the defining events of our senior year. By electing these juniors, we’re making a tangible decision—a decision to elect people who will take our individual voices and make them heard in the greater congress of our school. We ask, then, that you not only vote but make an informed vote. Keep in mind our motto: “Together
SPECIAL ELECTION ISSUE
we will lift the world.” If we are to lift the world, then we each have a responsibility to make an informed decision, to weigh each candidate based on their positions and their intention to represent the class as a whole. St. Ignatius’ approach to decision-making emphasizes freedom. Ignationspirituality.com puts it nicely: “Making a free decision means that we set aside our own preferences and preconceptions and strive to be free of social pressures and psychological strains. We carefully examine our motives and desires.” Each candidate has answered questions detailing their intentions for next year. We ask that you read their responses and keep those in mind when you head to vote today.
President
Tommy Espenschied
running unopposed 1. As far as characterisitcs go, I’ve always kind of been a leader type. I’m not afraid to present my ideas and listen to others, as well as creating an atmosphere where we can be successful. My experiences as a stuco member in the past, are what will best prepare me for the upcoming year. I have developed a good understanding of how stuco works and the behind-thescenes work required to prepare a successful event. 2. I do not think there are immediate changes that need to be made, as we had a pretty successful year last year. However, I hope to help create a more exciting atmosphere. I want Stuco and the rest of the school to be excited about upcoming events. I want it to be a fun year and it will be. 3. I think the biggest problem every year that I’ve been here is the discomfort between the upperclassmen and underclassmen within the school and at event like sporting events. I hope to just make our senior class conscious of the issue, as they might recall
“If nothing else, value the truth”
News
their freshman and sophomore years here. I think as long the upperclassmen are aware of the impact they can make, they will be considerate and make an honest effort at being an example for the underclassmen. So to the answer the question, I will bring up the issue at events such as the opening senior class meeting, and reiterate it throughout the year. 4. As President, a big job of mine will be to set the agenda for our meetings and sort of get the meetings flowing. I plan on opening up and presenting some ideas and then letting everybody bring up any points they have. However, while our meetings and events are a group effort, I will discuss with individual members how what their part will be in executing the final plan. We will need to have a structured agenda for each member if we want to create the best results possible. The ideas of other students always seem to make it to the meeting one way or another, but as far as seeing to the individual, my email is always open. I hope to receive ideas, as well as plans in my email. Students are free to send me an idea or set up a meeting where they can talk to me as well as other members of Stuco. Other than that, I always have an open ear to new ideas. Thank You for the opportunity.
sluh.org/prepnews
Candidates President Tommy Espenschied Vice President Matt Barron Parker Pence
Publicity/Communication Matthew Bates Matias Grignola Matthew Hennessey Peter Lynas Patrick Skrivan
Pastoral Rep Thomas Lally Kevin Murphy Andrew Postol Kevin Thomas Peter Volmert
Technology Sam Sextro
Sustainability Andrew Harper
Spirit Henry Konzen Brian Smith Jordan Sosa
Secretary Nick Perryman John Ratermann Rocco Vienhage Intramural Gabe Horas Michael LaDriere Donald Stolz Spencer Chipley
Questions 1. What characteristics and experiences qualify you to serve on STUCO? 2. What changes do you hope to make to STUCO and its overall role in the school? Or, why do you think STUCO should be run the same way as last year? 3. What is the most important issue facing students that you hope to address next year, and how do you plan to deal with it? President: How do you plan to coordinate other STUCO members in order to make STUCO more effective? How do you plan to bring students with different interests together to support their classmates? Vice President: How do you plan to facilitate communication between students, faculty, and the administration so that student ideas are easily heard by the administration? Publicity/Communications: How will you ensure that the student body is always well-informed of STUCO’s progress and upcoming activities? Secretary/Treasurer: How do you plan to manage the STUCO budget and keep information regarding STUCO organized and available to the student body? Pastoral: How will you encourage student enthusiasm for the school’s spiritual life and community service? School Spirit: What steps would you take to encourage school spirit at sporting and other extracurricular and co-curricular events? Intramurals: What steps will you take to help ensure that all intramurals take place and are as devoid of conflicts as possible?
Vice President Parker Pence
1. My qualifications for Student Body Vice President include my involvement in SLUH sports (Football, Hockey and Lacrosse) two of which I have been named team captain in by both my peers and coaches. I also was elected as a Public Relations captain for the SLUH Robotics team this past year. This past year I was also elected by my classmates as a Homeroom Representative. I have a great relationship with underclassman that I have met through these various sports, clubs and my younger brother, Chunky Pat, as well. 2. There is always room for improvement in STUCO. Even if it isn’t fundamentally flawed, it is my opinion that there is a fundamental need for fresh ideas and new perspectives. I think more than anything,
STUCO can be more transparent in the information it gives to the student body as well as being more open to the opinions of non-STUCO students. 3. In my opinion the most important issue facing SLUH next year is, in the face of so much imminent change, with regard to things such as Imagining 18, is what traditions from throughout our almost two hundred year history are proud ones that we wish to maintain because SLUH is a better place as a result of them, which ways in which we do things need to be adapted, or gotten rid of because they no longer push us towards that goal and which new traditions do we need to start to make our own mark on SLUH. 4. There are two relatively simple ways in which we can we can improve on the transparency I referred to in question two, as well as inspire school-wide discussion that come to me right away. I would like to re-implement the use of the Prep News to communicate with the student body directly and keep the up to date with current discussions going on STUCO as well as extending the use of
Homeroom Reps in quarterly forums in order to hear the ideas of a broader group of students. I pride myself on my approachability and creativity, two qualities that regardless of the issue, with your help, will allow me to come up with ways to improve the experience for everyone in the SLUH community.
Matt Barron
1. As a three-time member of STUCO I consider myself the most experienced candidate. I think that I have good leadership skills and have good relationships with all my classmates so I can easily spread my ideas and gain suggestions from everybody. 2. As a member of Student Council my senior year I hope to help give my class the best year yet at
SLUH. I hope to work well with my classmates, especially others on STUCO, to come up with fun and creative events that everyone in the school will enjoy. I think that this past years STUCO was extremely well run, but I think that we can make some adjustments that will make this upcoming year even more successful and fun. 3. I think that this past year there was an issue in school spirit. I hope to excite all students about school events such as sporting events or mission week activities. Although we had many students in attendance at sporting events and many participants throughout mission week, I think that we can do more to spread the word of these events and get everyone to participate. 4. I plan to utilize word of mouth for communication mostly, but also things such as posters and social media to spread the ideas of Student Council to the students, faculty, and administration. I will be working with the President as well as the rest of the STUCO members to spread current news and events to the entire school.
2 Publicity/Communications Prep News
Volume 78, Special Issue
Patrick Skrivan
1. Growing up in a large family where each member had a different opinion on nearly every topic has taught me how to cooperate with people I disagree with. Listening is key, and from there it is easy to establish an open and communicative relationship. This ideology is something I will apply to my position as Communications Officer. This ability I have to cooperate and get along great with all kinds of people will translate over into the Communications position by being a good middleman between Student Council and the general assembly of students and faculty. My enthusiasm for everyday life will contribute to Student Council because
I offer a unique outlook on issues that have a lot of controversy around them. 2. I want to make STUCO a much more accessible organization. I plan to interact with the student body a significant amount to find out what they want, instead of making them participate in things that they have no desire to participate in. I want Student Council to be approachable and open to the ideas of every student, not close minded and stubborn. Yes, it’s important to have structure and things we have to do; it’s also important that we have flexibility so that we know what works and what doesn’t work so we can expand on that feedback for future events. 3. Next year, I don’t want students to be in the dark on key plans as much as they are, especially with the information regarding school dances being sent out only a few days in advance this year. It seems that a lot of information is being withheld from students and that decisions are being made without getting any feedback from the gen-
eral student population. As Communications Officer, I would change that and make sure that the students always know what Student Council is planning and that there is an open line for suggestions and critiques. A proposition I have for this is that STUCO and the Prep News could work together and have a section on what is going on in Student Council each week so that no one feels blindsided by any events. 4. As Communications Officer, I would hold weekly meetings with all Homeroom Representatives from each grade to inform them of the Student Council updates on what is in the works at the executive level. I will make sure that there is constant communication between Student Council and the student population via announcements throughout the day, information I would send to the Prep News detailing upcoming events, and weekly Homeroom Rep. meetings so that they can pass the information along to their homerooms.
we want our senior year to be. I was also class president freshman year, so I know what it’s like to be in STUCO and how to get things done. 2. I like what STUCO has done this year, but I feel that they do the same events every year. Next year I’d like to make more events even if they are not as large scale as things like mixers or dances. I’d also like to make it easier for students who are not in STUCO to be able to help organize things of their own and make contribute to the other events done by
STUCO. 3. The most important thing I’ll try to address next year is making sure that all students are informed about what STUCO is doing at that time and making sure that they have an input on the things STUCO does. 4. STUCO has a wide range of tools to spread news about upcoming events, like Twitter, Facebook, email, and school announcements, which I plan to take full advantage of. I especially want to straighten out the announcements after school and make them more informative.
Peter Lynas
1. I have a very laidback personality which I think makes me more approachable for my peers. I think that is very important in order to get the wide range of opinions throughout our class about how
Matias Grignola
1. I have been an admissions ambassador for the past two years and I have learned and cultivated the skills necessary to ‘sell the school’ and show the best qualities that sluh has to offer. Having lived abroad I have learned that communication isn’t easy and I am willing to put in the work to that will make for a successful stuco - stu-
dent body relationship. I am also outgoing, personable, and simply enjoy talking to people so I can voice stuco’s opinions and and talk to people about their wishes for the school. 2. I would like to have the homeroom reps more involved in stuco so that they can better inform homerooms of the goings on of stuco and events that are being planned. Other than that I think that stuco could better publicize events other than big sporting events so that we can get a bigger crowd to support the lesser attended events. 3. The biggest issue I see is that the students would like to have a bigger impact on stuco’s decisions,
so I would have the homeroom reps have a unanimous stuco suggestion box of some sort where students write suggestions or complaints for stuco to make sure their voices are heard. 4. I belive that the homeroom reps are crucial to getting news accross to the rest of our students so I propose to have homeroom reps be notified more frequently of stuco’s progress through regular group meetings either every week or every two weeks to ensure that they’re in the know and can properly inform the student body and not just be informed through a simple email or a fleeting conversation in te hall by one of the stuco reps.
The Prep News chose not to publish responses from candidates for the Technology and Sustainability positions, as candidates running for those positions are unopposed and space was tight.
April 9, 2014
Matthew Hennessey ideas to announcements and flyers. I designed our sophomore dance flyer and co-designed some Staycation club advertising. These experiences give me expertise in the design and publication process. 2. One change that I hope to make to STUCO is a greater sense of communication. Sometimes I honestly 1. I have a lot of prior do not feel that I am clear STUCO experience, and on STUCO’s overall goals I believe that this experi- and achievements, so as ence has prepped me for a your communications rep greater role of leadership at I would attempt to greater SLUH. I have been a home- publicize STUCO’s misroom rep for the past two sions. I would also like to years, and I was my grade foster a greater sense of unischool STUCO secretary. ty and communication beSpecifically, my position as tween the student body and secretary will be beneficial STUCO. I will seek to hold in prepping me for this op- more meetings with homeportunity because many of room reps and open forums the characteristics of that with interested students. job description coincide Oftentimes I hear passing with characteristics of the comments after events (ex: SLUH publicity rep posi- I didn’t like the DJ, I liked tion. As secretary I was in the venue, etc.) but I don’t charge of communicating see STUCO being fully inagendas to fellow students formed and modifications and STUCO leaders, and being made in response. also of co-planning school In order to combat this I events. In regards to SLUH would seek out random, school events, such as danc- interested, individual stues and mixers, I can say that dents to get their feedback. I have attended as many as I would then record their (anonymousI can, so finding inspiration responses ly) into a log for future and reference shouldn’t be STUCO reference. This too hard for me. I am also would help us coordinate a very creative person, so I will be able to bring fresh the best events possible. perspective and fun design With this implement, I feel
Matthew Bates
1. I’m a determined fellow. When I joined the rifle club freshman year, I wouldn’t quit until I earned my letter, and even after that I knew that I wasn’t going to stop practicing, I want to be the best at what I choose to do. And I know I’d try my best to live up to the people who’ve held this position before me. Also, I’m a natural leader, especially with Rifle and SLUH SoIL. When I formed SLUH SoIL this year, we didn’t think we would be getting very far. However, now we have a mixer with ACES, a BBQ at the end of the year, and a welcome ceremony for the incoming frosh from IL. All of those are creations of mine, and with the right people to help, those things have all become a reality in a very short time, which no one really expected from the organization. A lot of what the position I’m running for has to do with consists of videos, flyers, and logo design. I’ve designed the new Rifle team logo, the
SLUH SoIL logos, and I’m designing the all new SLUH Street Dance Club’s logo. I’ve also made some videos, with a lot of help from Will Morris ‘13 (for those of you who don’t remember, he directed a lot of the trailers for the 2012-2013 chapter of STUCO), who has taught me nearly everything he knows about film editing. I’ve also created flyers for the upcoming end of the year mixer to put in the all girls’ school to help with the turnout. Lastly, I’m always open to suggestions, if someone has an idea in anything i’m involved in, I always take it into full consideration. 2. I have no problem with how STUCO is ran. I think a lot of the guys whom are elected to it are very fair decision makers, and are good at executing the things they plan to do. I do have a problem with why they’re elected however. I can’t help but feel like people only get elected because they’re well liked. I don’t think that’s what STUCO should be about. Candidates should be elected based on their skill and merit. That’s a principle I stand by within SLUH SoIL, where officers are chosen on merit, what they’ve done for the club. I’m running so that way my class has that option for this election. 3. The most important issue for next year to me
that we could have a greatly supportive and supported 2014-2015 STUCO! 3. One issue that I think STUCO needs to address is (some) dwindling student enthusiasm for events. By holding homeroom rep meetings and student forums we can really get the student body more involved in planning their own events. Once this happens, I believe that we will all feel more pumped about STUCO events because everybody (who wants to) will have had greater input in the factors comprising an event. Everybody can look forward to seeing the effect their voices have on shaping school life. They can feel the satisfaction of “[being] the change they wish to see...” -Gandhi (publicity) As aforementioned, I hope to hold informative meetings and forums. I can guarantee that I will not let this be an empty promise, as it so often is; I will really work to see this change made. I will also use my creativity and others’ feedback to create explanatory and engaging flyers, advertisements, and trailers. Please vote Hennessey for publicity! I would really appreciate your vote, and I will work to deserve it if you elect me.
would be participation. I hope to be an officer who can get people excited about FallFest, mixers, and everything else STUCO offers us. I know that in Illinois, my friends don’t have nearly as many neat opportunities as we do at SLUH for special events, so I’d really like people to take more advantage of these events. These events are a huge part of the SLUH experience, the things that help distinguish a SLUH guy from any other guy. 4. I will use the facebook and twitter feeds to show information about the upcoming events, and I’ll also send out weekly emails to the student body, as well planning more frequent Belly Brigades (which I feel like were a lot less present this year). I also want to help produce some of the best trailers SLUH has ever seen. I plan to approach this issue with a personal touch. When I see a freshman in the hallways, ask them if they’re going to whatever events going on that weekend. And always, and I mean ALWAYS, get on the loud speaker in the afternoon and wake people up, let them know that we’ve got some great stuff going on! If people feel like I should be doing more than that, I’ll happily take their ideas and incorporate them.
Prep News
April 9, 2014
Secretary
Rocco Vienhage
1. As a Freshman Retreat Leader, Student Ambassador, Open House Tour Guide, older brother, and Jr. Bill, I believe that I am well-equipped for a leading role in Student Council as Treasurer/Secretary. I am very involved with SLUH and this Spring break, I also went to Mission Appalachia, where I helped repair houses in the impoverished town of Grundy, Virginia. I have played soccer for SLUH the past three years and am expecting to next year. I am very interested in the Treasurer position because I am thinking about majoring in Economics, Business, or Finance; three fields that fit well with treasury. This position is something that I am very excited about and something that fits me perfectly, so I hope that others see my interest, too. 2. Over the past few years, the Treasurers/Secretaries have done a really great job and I hope to continue their ways. I hope to make everything a bit more organized and to order tshirts that students will want to buy and wear. I also hope to make SLUH a more enjoyable and fun place and I believe that I will be able to do that easily. 3. One of the main issues facing students is the restricting new rules of rebranding. I believe that some of the new adjustments are unfair and go against the desires of the students. I believe that the students should decide how they are to be viewed and the rebranding just makes us look like another face in the crowd. I hope to address this issue and shrink its restrictions on us. 4. I plan on managing the STUCO budget by saving and spending money wisely. I will not spend any money unless there is to be a profit to come from my spending. I hope to keep Student Council’s information private when necessary and to publish any information that is wanted to be put out in the public. I will do this either through announcements or Prep News’ articles. I will make sure that all information regarding Student Council reach the students when necessary at all times. The following candidate for Pastoral did not respond: Thomas Lally
Nick Perryman
1. All my life I have regarded myself as a leader. This is a trait of which I am very proud. Other characteristics that I think qualify me for the job are: integrity, honesty, and hard work. I also have experience with the Treasury position, as I served as my grade school Student Council Treasurer. I am involved in an array of student clubs and organizations such as Cross Country, Model UN, Meme Club, and I do service at St. Cecilia’s sometimes. I also founded and I am currently the head coach for the South City CYC lacrosse Team, which takes a lot of leadership skills. At SLUH, I have led Homeroom 216C for the past year and I can say as a homeroom we have had a lot of fun together. We’ve introduced new events, such as a homeroom Christmas card and most importantly the 216C Olympiad. I spearheaded both and they have both been great successes. Also, Findley 2013 was led by me and other colleagues of mine who wanted to cre-
ate a great event for everyone to enjoy. If there is one thing I have learned from my experiences, it is that I am a good leader and that great events take good leaders and hard work. 2. I think STUCO has done a lot of good this year. But there area few things, in which, my position hopefully we can change. As Secretary/Treasurer, I would like to make STUCO more transparent. Maybe it means publishing a the minutes from the meeting in the Prep News, along with the budget? STUCO seems to the school as kind of a separate organization from the school that puts on events. Some people think they don’t work hard, but really they do. Talk to any guy and they will tell you all of the work that goes into the events we take for granted. Publishing minutes and the budget would hopefully stop the perception. i think it would allow the school to put more faith in Student Council. Also, more outreach to students with suggestion boxes might be another idea. Hopefully next year STUCO will be an organization that is more transparent, with the weekly minutes and budget and more open to the school. 3. I think the most important issue facing students is the top-down decisions that have been made by the administration this past year. The uniforms and technology decisions
John Ratermann and gathering ideas.
1. I think I’m prepared for secretary/treasurer because a strength of mine is listening to what everyone’s viewpoints and trying to combine them all in a graceful way that makes sense. I like listening to people voice their opinions
Peter Volmert
(candidate for Pastoral) 1. Having been a member of my class’s Pastoral Team for three years, I know the inner workings of SLUH’s Campus Ministry very well. I have helped organize SLUH’s charity drives, put on prayer services, and plan class and all-school Masses. More importantly, I have a deep desire to help others find their calling from God. I am not new to giving this
have a lot of students angry and feeling like their opinion doesn’t matter. I would like to use Student Council as a way of dialogue with the administration. Even though the decisions might have been for the best, they could have used more student input. Creating dialogue with the administration is something that a lot of students don’t know is possible, but I believe that STUCO could be an an avenue for dialogue with the administration, so hopefully students can offer more input on major decisions of the school. I think this issue is such an important issue as a student body because calls to mind the “student ownership” we have in the school. Most of these issues deal almost totally, directly with us. I think if the administration knew the school’s opinions there might have been a different outcome for these two scenarios. 4. As I said before, I plan on sending the STUCO budget and minutes to the Prep News. In addition to the minutes and the budget, I think it would be a good idea to explain the rationality behind some STUCO purchases. Another tool would be to create a google drive to create a budget and minutes folder so any student can access it for reference. Also, I hope on working with class homeroom representatives as another tool of dispatching information.
2. I think stuco’s mission should be to get everyone excited about events and activities, from freshmen to seniors. A problem that can be fixed is the ordering of t-shirts for events by: making the process cleaner, and getting students excited for the event. T-shirts can go a long way in school spirit. 3. The idea that stuco doesn’t do much for the school is an issue I feel needs to be corrected. I want to be a part of a stuco team that everyone can see
our progress in planning events and listening to the all the students in what is best for the school. 4. As secretary/treasurer, I want to communicate with the school on the progress stuco is making throughout the year, whether that be on twitter or email. I want to steer stuco in beneficial ways of using the budget and spending money on good causes that help others and the school. I think I can use my discipline and organization to help keep stuco on the ball from start to finish.
type of help, as I was a Freshman Retreat Leader this year and have for the past two years been a counselor for Kenrick Glennon Days, a vocational retreat for middle school boys. 2. I feel the STUCO did not have much of a driving presence in the school during my first two years at SLUH. This year, though, I feel that STUCO has worked to forge more connected relationships with the student body and has worked to become more personally involved in the life of the school. I hope to strengthen the bonds made this year and bring the SLUH Community into a deeper relationship with itself. 3. I think the most important issue facing
students next year will be keeping interest in their own spiritual lives. The lack of such interest is most potently seen in students’ attitude toward both class and all-school Masses and weekly prayer services. The dilemma of lack of student interest in Masses has plagued Campus Ministry for years. In regards to weekly prayer services, I recently overheard a fellow student saying, “If there were one thing I would change about SLUH, there would be no prayer services.” That is a frightening statement. I do not have the answers as to why these attitudes exist, but being elected to Pastoral Officer will allow me to lead an effort that promotes the Holy Mass and prayer services
Volume 78, Special Issue
Spirit Henry Konzen
1. I believe I am qualified for STUCO because I am full of great ideas and I will get more students involved with bigger roles than before. 2. I want STUCO to give other students more say and more power, so as a STUCO member I will try
Brian Smith
1. I believe I have the charisma, character, social skills, and overall desire to be on STUCO. I want to be more involved within SLUH and I want to make 2014-2015 a great year for not only the seniors but for everybody in the school, including the incoming freshmen. The experiences that I believe I have are being a homeroom rep two out of the three years I’ve been at SLUH, being a leader on the freshman retreat, being a part of the Diversity Awareness Program with Mr. Sterling Brown going out and discussing real world problems with students from other schools, and being a leader in ACES. 2. I think STUCO should be run much the same way as this past year because I feel like all the events that were taking place at SLUH were very well run; mixers, fundraisers, blood drives, and other major events at SLUH were very well organized and successful from my perspective. 3. I believe the biggest issue at SLUH is a sense of unity. When I look around SLUH I feel I see a lot of kids who say they get along
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to bring ideas from more students. 3. I believe a big issue in the school is that we lack a solid fan base at sporting events. We have a handful of hardcore fans, then after that attendance is not as high as it should be. As spirit leader, I am going to schedule more tailgating and other ways to get people to games. Each big game will have a different twist to it to bring fans to the game. I will also let other students help out as co-spirit leaders and get more creative ideas from other students. with everybody and are friendly with everybody but aren’t meaning it or acting like it. I see little “clicks” of different people always together and who never seem to interact with other people that much outside of their group unless they are forced to in a class room setting or on a sports team. I look to address this issue first within STUCO and then by getting people more excited about interacting with people who they might not hang out with as much or even at all. I know it is easier said than done, but I am willing to put in the work to try to mold our school into a more united community. 4. From this past year I’ve noticed that we only mention sporting events on the announcements, after school on that day. The only other time you hear or read about these events are on the monitors around school, which people barely look at, or in the prep news. I plan on promoting the sporting events a couple days in advance to help people plan ahead or also making it more exciting for students to come to sporting events, with themes for sporting events, discounts to get into games for students besides buying a season pass, events at half time where a student or somebody in the crowd maybe could win a small prize, or even bringing kids myself if I have to. I am willing to try new things and take ideas from people as much as possible.
The following candidate for Spirit did not respond: Jordan Sosa not as hindrances, but as opportunities. 4. One potential way to boost students’ enthusiasm about their faith is to get the entire student body more active in community service. I believe that spiritual zeal and service to others are inexplicably tied together. As it says in the Letter of James, “So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” The “works,” or service, we do are what make our faith come alive. Over the years, many seniors returning from Senior Project con-
sistently state that they wished they had done more service during the Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior years. Thus, the freshman service program was instituted. However, I do not think this program is enough to kindle interest in community service in everyone. I would like to see everyone, myself included, doing community service at least two to three times a semester. That is an ambitious goal, but it is what we must do if we are to have any school wide zeal for the message of Christ.
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Prep News Volume 78, Special Issue
Gabe Horas
1. I think the key thing I bring for the intramural position on STUCO is my passion. I always take charge of organizing my homeroom for intramural bashball and basketball, everyone in my homeroom can attest to that. That passion was even seen in this year’s bashball finals, despite my homeroom losing early on, I was asked to coach another homeroom’s team. I also feel like I hit every qualification of an intramural leader known to man. I ref basketball, scorekeep volleyball, and play all kinds of sports. If you don’t think those are enough, I also organized my CYC basketball team. 2. I plan on revolutionizing the way intramural sports are ran by STUCO. Although this change may seem small, it is important to me. I plan on making intramural sports a much bigger part of SLUH’s identity. In the past, intramural sports have been forgotten, but I plan on bringing
April 9, 2014
Intramurals Donald Stolz
them to the forefront. I will go to the homerooms and remind the teams of games and be in attendance during every bash and every jump ball. I also plan on organizing a 3v3 intramural basketball tournament during March Madness for the whole school, bringing back the music trivia from freshman year, and maybe even a little intramural wiffle ball during the spring. 3. I think the biggest issue is the lack of interest in intramural sports. It just seems like intramural sports at SLUH are cool for a quarter and then everyone forgets about them. I will do my best to fix this problem, whether it is setting up some kind of point system to crown a homeroom champ at the end of the year or organizing different intramural led tournaments. 4. To avoid conflicts for intramural games, I will talk to Mr. Rittenhouse and knock out a schedule for the field house early on. Then when it comes time for the games, I will email the brackets out to the participating homerooms and stop by the morning before the game to remind the squads of the upcoming activity period match. If this plan isn’t working properly, I will be flexible on developing a different arrangement.
Michael LaDriere
1. I am capable of being a member of stuco because I am very involved here at sluh. I am a part of nhs, admissions ambassador committee, the baseball team, and the JV soccer team (represent). I work hard in everything that I do, and I am committed to making inteamurals much more prevelant here. 2. I plan to use stuco to get the students more excited about school events. Students should be proud to watch their friends play under the Friday night lights or perform on stage in front
Kevin Thomas (candidate for Pastoral)
of hundreds of fans. I hope to get students much more excited for these activities including intramurals. 3. Because I am running for intramurals, the most important issue facing students that I am interested in is intramural participation. Intramurals run best when everyone participates. By increasing the participation, we build a stronger sluh community. The more events students partake in, the closer the community becomes. 4. I will meet frequently with Mr. Rittenhouse so that intramurals are important throughout the year. I also will post schedules of intramurals a week before so that students know when games are. By telling students dates of the games, they can do all of their homework the night before freeing them to compete during activity period. 1. I’m a very extroverted person and faith plays a massive part in my life. I came into SLUH an atheist, but throughout the years I have evolved into a Catholic who finds peace in mass and spiritual reflection. I would like to thank you guys, my fellow students, for helping me to find my faith and the fact that I found my faith through you is an important characteristic in a spiritual leader. I
1. I think that being a two time homeroom bashball champion and JV lacrosse captain are some of the main experiences that will help me serve as Intramurals 2. I’m not really looking to change STUCO that much, as intramurals I am hoping to get more kids involved by making trailers to pump kids up, having
brackets with game schedules readily available, and maybe adding basketball or some other sports to the intramural schedule. 3. I think the most important issue facing students is scheduling problems with inramurals and participation in general. I plan to deal with scheduling by better taking into account class masses, meetings, english extra credit, and making myself easily available. I also hope to increase participation by promoting more hype and competition for the games with sports trailers. 4. I think I answered the specific intramural question in my third question.
Spencer Chipley
1. The things that qualify me to serve on STUCO are my abilities to understand and compromise as well as my connection to my classmates. I am well known in my class and the school as a whole. As a member of STUCO, I think it is important for people to recognize you, to know something about you, and be someone your classmates respect. I’m involved with the school through sports, as an admissions ambassador and other school events. I have been involved with the school since my brother, Evan ’12, went here. I think my experience and familiarity with the school and my classmates qualifies me to serve on STUCO. 2. From my experiences, I don’t think many changes should be made with STUCO and its interaction with the school. Of course minor changes might come here or there but STUCO in general has done a great job of making itself known as a group of students who are likeable, funny, smart and well connected to the interests and issues of the student body. I do not wish to change the have been a member of the pastoral team since the beginning of freshman year, so I have a lot of experience with the whole pastoral side. I have also helped out on every retreat I have been able to, from working as a sophomore helper on the freshman to retreat to leading it, I have been a part of many faith journeys, and I would like to be a part of my class’s. 2. Honestly I think
role of STUCO at SLUH but rather join in that role and promoting it. 3. One issue I see today is SLUH moving away from what its always been known for, a historic Tradition of academics and brotherhood. I want to do all I can to uphold to academic excellence here. The day where students stop bragging and rejoicing about a B+ on an English essay is a day I don’t want to see. Our academics is what separates us from the other Catholic all-boy schools and I think we all want to keep it that way. Also, I think SLUH should always be adding on to an already strong sense of brotherhood here. WE should always be working to promote school spirit and some of that is starting to fade. I want to see more people excited about school events, like dances and mixers, as well as sporting events. 4. The best thing to do is to be well prepared. The earlier we can schedule games and email or send out schedules the more chances we have of being notified of possible conflicts and more time to plan accordingly. Having meetings early and getting scheduling done early is going to be key in keeping intramural sports prominent in the SLUH community. I will not let intramurals be put aside and forgotten about. I wish to promote them and make them more interesting, in hopes to improve involvement. STUCO has been run wonderfully. I don’t really know how I would change it, I think it’s been doing a wonderful job, but that is primarily as a view from someone who has not participated in it. 3. The lack of service people do. Everyone says they want to do more service but they just don’t have the time. The teachers have a faculty in-service day, so why shouldn’t the
Pastoral Andrew Postol
1. I am qualified to be the pastoral rep for STUCO because I have been on the pastoral team for three years now and have been heavily involved there volunteering to help whenever I can. I have been on Kairos and understand the effect that that can have on someone’s life. Most importantly, I am a practicing Roman Catholic who takes his faith very spiritually and on a daily basis take time out of my day to talk to God about my life and his plans for me. I hope to use my position on STUCO to help foster the community of brotherhood that I have felt throughout my time here at SLUH. I think this is the most important thing that STUCO does because our
Kevin Murphy
1. My involvement in various sports teams and clubs at SLUH such as Cross Country, Tennis, Chinese Club, and most importantly for Pastoral officer, clubs like the Cannonball club, Sodality of Our Lady, and the Junior Pastoral team. Participation in these clubs, especially the last three, has allowed me to create new relationships with a wide variety of people and deepen my relationship with God. 2. I hope to make STUCO a more influential part of our school. Throughout my time at SLUH, I haven’t seen many STUCO sponsored events, and I think they could and should be more prominent of our daily life at SLUH. I know people look up to the people students? I think it would be a neat initiative to have a student body day of service, or maybe a class day of service where the entire class spreads out across the city on one day and serves the entire city. I think that would be neat. 4. I would like to refer to the answer I gave above about helping encourage student enthusiasm in community service,but I would also like more trail-
community is what sets us apart from every other school and I hope to make it the main focus of STUCO next year. 2. The most important issue that is affecting our school is a lack of interest. I see many people in our school not caring about mass or prayer service, goofing around during them, or doing homework instead of paying attention. 3. I plan on dealing with it by making the masses more lively and fun and by making prayer a more central point of everyone’s daily routines here at SLUH. 4. I will encourage student enthusiasm for community service and their spiritual life by trying to get everyone involved in our spiritual community and having more people take on active roles. I will do this through trying to get students other than myself to lead prayers, reaching out to people not on the pastoral team for their opinions on masses and prayer services, and trying to get everyone in our grade to go on a retreat. on STUCO, and that they could raise a lot of money or have good participation in various events. I think we could change this by offering more STUCO sponsored events, whether it be fundraisers or more structured intramural sports. 3. An important issue students are facing is the technology issue. The planned institution of tablets or laptops into the SLUH community is one that should be carefully thought through, and although STUCO might not have much say on the issue, the student body might be able to influence the administrations decision. 4. Pastoral Question: I plan on making the spiritual aspect of SLUH more present in everyday life through reminders of God everywhere. I also want to better publicize events like Activity Period Adoration and Rosaries. I think that many people are unaware of the endless possibilities of growing in their relationship with God, and if I could change that, I think it would greatly influence the SLUH society as a whole. ers for service. Trailers are fun. So are posters. People like em, so I would like to possibly get more trailers or posters out about service opportunities if that would be possible. I believe that the school is already enthusiastic about spiritual life in so many ways. I would work my hardest to encourage that to keep on moving strong through the prayer at the end of the day.