Satire: Greetings, ladies and gentlemen! Hesitantly, I admit that I have become a little bit carried away with the Bean Boozled challenge for Mardi Gras. After consuming the entirety of the dish of gourmet jellies, I have acquired quite a few opinions of the flavors, both scrumptious and repulsive. As we pivot into this blessed Lenten season, I would like to share with you my humble reactions to the contrasting flavors of the Bean Boozled Game. 

- Fr. Ian Gibbons

Last Wednesday, Feb. 23, Russia launched a seemingly unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. As the week has progressed, stories have been emerging about life in these warring countries. Prep News Web Editor Luke Duffy sat down with SLUH teachers Marina Chura, a native of Russia, and her husband Rob to better understand the complexity of the war in Ukraine and its impact on various populations. 

The St. Louis U. High administration announced two weeks ago that the school would be transitioning to Condition II, most notably signifying that masks were no longer mandated but recommended. On Tuesday, the administration determined that the school could transition to Condition I of its safety plan, marking the first time since the beginning of the pandemic that SLUH has gone below Condition II.

During last week’s weather freeze, a group of SLUH students still made the effort to collaborate with DeSmet Jesuit and Loyola Academy students and parents to do an annual cleanup of the historic Greenwood Cemetery located in North St. Louis. 

Presidents’ Day weekend is a time to remember and celebrate George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, two of the greatest presidents in U.S. History. It was also a time for ten Jr. Bills to travel to the nation’s capital to learn about careers in politics, law, and journalism and consider how they can shape the future of the United States.

Following the release of next year’s schedule two weeks ago, students had a lot of questions, most of them about the removal of the homeroom period and the switching up of the lunch periods.

During the extended President’s Day weekend, a group of 15 Jr. Bills from SLUH’s Outdoor Adventure Club embarked on their annual voyage to the Rocky Mountains. Being able to go gliding down the slopes of Vail, Keystone, and Breckinridge in a full “Tour de Colorado,'' the boys had an eventful, and exhausting, three and a half days at altitudes that sometimes reached 10,000 feet high. Navigating icy slopes and plane difficulties, this motley crew of skiers and snowboarders was led by history teacher Bob O’Connell, ASC volunteer Chris Stahl, and PE teacher Patrick Zarrick, the faculty leader of SLUH OAC. 

40-22, it wasn’t even close. STUCO never stood a chance. A demolition, an expedition, whatever you’re gonna call it, Prep News easily won against STUCO at this year's annual Prep News vs STUCO basketball game. Held on Feb. 22 in the Danis Field House, the stands were packed with students and teachers excited to see the biggest rivalry in St. Louis. 

SLUH’s Mock Trial team took to Zoom this past week for a late-season competition and finished eighth out of sixteen schools, good enough for a bid to regionals in early March. 

If you’ve taken Sophomore English, you know every hero in literature follows a common template known as the hero’s journey. The same is true for the biannual journey of the SLUH weather balloon—it feels a call to venture into the unknown, but always makes it home. Last week, chemistry and Environmental STEM teacher Bill Anderson and his Environmental STEM class launched the balloon, which collects data that the class can then analyze.