Beginning next year, math teacher Nicholas Ehlman ’99 will serve as the new Director for the Clavius Project program.

Shakespeare famously said “Sweet lovers love the Spring,” but the gardeners of St. Louis U. High love it just as much! Through the efforts of a generous benefactor and lots of hard work from faculty and student leaders, the Backer community garden has gotten a recent facelift, with entirely new garden beds, fences, fruit trees, and bees. 

It’s official—this year’s summer reading book has been announced! Very soon, St. Louis U. High students of all grades will be grabbing their very own copies of Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion by Greg Boyle, SJ, which promises to keep the community educated and entertained as summer break kicks off. 

Between prolonged Snapchat prank debates and barefoot fiascos, the seniors have been enjoying their final week as full-time SLUH students. Who knows what they’re doing at this very moment? They could be sliding more noisemakers into ceiling panels, spreading birdseed around parts of the building that will not be disclosed, or leading a cow up the stairs onto the second floor. Time will tell. But while you wait to see what else the seniors have gotten up to, it’s only right to fill yourself in on what’s happened so far.

Happy birthday 4970! The St. Louis U. High Student Centennial Celebration brought the community together last Friday for one final celebration of the 100-year anniversary of the campus. The event included food trucks, a Blues playoff watch party, and a dramatic display of the fireworks that were rained out last fall.

The IBL club and more students gathered in the Ignatian Conference room after school on Thursday, April 24 to hear from Mark Chipman, CEO and owner of the Winnipeg Jets NHL team. This was an opportunity for students pursuing a possible career in business to understand the business and ownership side of a professional sports team.

1933 was a dark year, to say the least. The atrocities of the Holocaust were just beginning, and throughout these egregious events, practically all Jewish people in Germany at the time were either killed or forced to leave Germany. One Jewish man, the father of Holocaust Museum educator Kent Hirschfelder, survived to tell the atrocities to his son.  At the request of sophomore A.P. World History teacher Mr. Tim O’Neil, these horrible events and stories were retold by Hirschfelder last Thursday at St. Louis U. High’s Schulte Theater to the SLUH sophomore class as he came to speak about his family story and the museum’s work.

“Depth.” 

This is the word that many St. Louis U. High faculty and staff have used to describe the approach Assistant Principal for Mission Jim Linhares has taken to educational, athletic, and administrative pursuits over his last 42 years on Oakland Ave. A beloved educator, coach, mentor, and even podcast host, Linhares transformed the Theology department as a new teacher and department chair, won 6 state championships in his 26 years as a Cross Country coach, and revamped the faculty hiring process as Assistant Principal for Mission. 

Get in the Hole! This week’s Athlete of the Week is standout Freshman Ivan Kennedy. Kennedy has been a crucial part of the Jr. Bills team success this year, which has included placing top three at every event with their varsity starting five. As SLUH’s “five guy”, Kennedy posted a 74 at Dalhousie country club, his best score of the year, followed by a 76 at districts. The highlight of districts, and the year perhaps, came on the 12th hole, a 180 yard par 3, where Kennedy dribbled in a hole in one to send the Jr. Bills to state for the first time since 2017.

The grounds of Oakland are renowned for St. Louis U. High student’s dedication to academics, arts, and faith. These splendid virtues are all accompanied by an athletics program that gratefully accepted its fourth straight all sports Metro Catholic Conference (MCC) trophy yesterday.

The St. Louis U. High varsity lacrosse team began its playoff run in the MSLA Class 2 state tournament this past Tuesday. After being named the No. 6 seed in the bracket, the Jr. Bills were matched against a Kirkwood team filled with explosive offense. After the Jr. Bills claimed an 11-4 victory over the Pioneers, they went on to face off against the Chaminade Red Devils last night, capturing an explosive 8-5 victory to move on to the semifinals of the playoffs.

The St. Louis U. High baseball team has hit its stride again. After some disappointing losses last week, the SLUH baseball team came back with a win against Freeburg on Tuesday, and a walk-off victory against Rockwood Summit. 

“It ain’t a thing without the ring.” These words, uttered by team manager Martin Miller during a huddle, became the mantra for the St. Louis U. High rugby team in the state final and semifinal matches. This past Saturday, the team defeated both Eureka and the St. Louis Jets to become the 2025 Missouri rugby state champions.

The Saint Louis U. High varsity volleyball squad took to the Danis Field House court on Wednesday for the Class One District Three semifinal game against the Collegiate School of Med-Bio Science Owls, and then the district final yesterday. Coming off of a solid season, they took a win, propelling them to the district championship.

Following a cancellation due to rain last Thursday, the top five golfers of St. Louis U. High traveled to Crescent Farms Golf Course on Monday to compete in the Class Five District One District Tournament. A hole-in-one from freshman Ivan Kennedy and top ten performances from juniors Harrison Zipfel and Nick Vilela led to a second place playoff win that will send the entire squad to the state tournament for the first time in eight years, marking a turning point for the program.

This week’s Athlete of the Week is record breaking senior distance runner Alex Bendaña. Bendaña is a standout star on the track team and is committed to the University of Dayton next year for Cross Country and Track and Field. The superstar has broken the SLUH record and is currently ranked at 3rd in the 3200 in the state, and 11th in the 1600. Last Wednesday, the runner won the 1600 and 3200 at MCC championships adding to his tally of gold medals.