Staples of prior Youth and Government (YAG) conventions—the two-hour trek to Jefferson City, the tradition of brunch at the Kingdom City McDonalds, the memories at the hotel with over 600 Missouri students—were all undoable in this year’s virtual format. However, despite the strangest convention in the Missouri YMCA Youth and Government’s 72-year history, the St. Louis U. High delegation still had many successes, with several Jr. Bills elected to office, passing bills, and winning selective awards.

The convention kicked off on Wednesday, Nov. 18 with a brief introductory session given by presiding officers. Senior Connor Gunn, who served as a Speaker of the House, and junior Jack Rosenstengel, the Attorney General, both gave short speeches and then led breakout rooms in order for participants to become familiar with one another and Zoom protocol. The governor for the convention, Margaret Mathis from Cor Jesu’s delegation, gave an overview of the convention and the expectations of each participant.

For only the second time this year, the whole freshman class, along with their senior advisors, flooded onto the campus of St. Louis U. High last Monday to partake in the annual freshman retreat.

Freshman retreat has been a staple for welcoming and providing a bonding experience for the freshman class. The retreat serves as the culminating event for a freshman’s initiation into the world of SLUH,  building off of key themes established on Direction Days and Freshman Fun Day/the Running of the Bills. Like all of the other freshman events, the Freshman Retreat underwent minor changes to accommodate safety protocols put in place due to the Covid-19 pandemic, yet it proved to still provide freshmen with a transformative experience.  

“This retreat is important because it is a time where we can talk about God with just us students,” said freshman Ben Ortmann. “No teachers or family members, just students talking about their faith life.”

The St. Louis U. High hockey team laced up the skates for the first game of the season last Friday. Playing against the CBC Cadets at the Centene Center, the Jr. Bills looked to open their season with a win against the reigning runner-ups in Missouri’s Challenge Cup. Though the game would normally have featured the stands packed with sweatshirts, the teams took to the ice with only two attendants per player looking on due to COVID regulations. In a two-week delayed season, the Jr. Bills were unable to pull out a win against their MCC rival. Hanging around 1-0 through the first period, the Jr. Bills couldn’t close the gap in the final two periods, ending with a 6-2 loss, a score that does not do justice to the play of the Jr. Bills. 

“CBC is a tough opponent, they’re the team to beat this year,” said head coach Steve Walters. “It was a good gauge for us, it identified our strengths and weaknesses and we’re going to work on that at practice and hopefully be able to implement it in our back-to-back games against Oakville.”