Features

On Tuesday morning, I walked into my second period classroom—for Latin IV with Mark Tychonievich—worrying about the previous night's translation homework, which I had yet to complete. The television's corner was brighter than usual: I was taken aback. As we filed in, Tychonievich told us to sit down. This was the day's lesson. You want to go to school? Tychonievich asked in a realistic tone his friends know well. This is it. The twin towers of the World Trade Center looked like smoke stacks, as Tychonievich later observed. 

The schedule at St. Louis U. High is demanding. That’s a major part of the SLUH experience, but it isn’t demanding for the sole purpose of being difficult. We are pushed hard to learn and grow to our fullest capabilities and our schedule should reflect that. The elimination of Studium from the first six full weeks of this year’s schedule hurts students' ability to learn and prevents them from establishing critical connections with teachers to start the year. 

What is one thing that every Saint Louis High School student wants? Craves even? More class time of course! This year, amid certain schedule changes, the appetite for more instructional hours has grown ravenous among the student body, causing some to call for the removal of all non-teaching portions of the day.

Hello SLUH!

Sand blew into my face from the shade of the Sahara desert night, and I pulled my yellow Khafiya across my nose and mouth. Looking into the darkness, I suddenly remembered the stories I had been told about Djinn spirits, and I quickly looked up at the sandy sky which had just parted to reveal the stars. It was 3:00 a.m. and I had spent a week in Morocco, and the past 14 hours in the back of a hot microbus.

When one thinks of the most thrilling time of the year to be a fan, they don’t think of March Madness, the Stanley Cup playoffs, or the Masters. They think of the AP Olympics. Scores. Grades. Futures. It’s all on the line, decided in three grueling hours of pen and paper, televised for spectators across the globe.

May is Mental Health Awareness month. Ever since its creation in 1949, the folks behind Mental Health Awareness month have sought to increase the awareness of mental illness in America and to decrease the stigma surrounding it. 

Over the past few decades, St. Louis U. High has grown significantly and will continue to grow. Could this growth be beyond just SLU High? Almost two months ago, De Smet Jesuit High School announced that they would begin a sixth, seventh, and eighth grade for the 2025-2026 school year. Will SLUH follow in De Smet’s footsteps and attempt to start a middle school as well? 

Studies show that 9/10 teachers at St. Louis U. High agree that you should avoid procrastinating your school work. But, the question remains, who is that one teacher that just plain doesn't care about their student's work ethic?  Sources have revealed this man to be none other than Timothy O’Neil. 

2024: the year of the grind.

  Less social media. More sleep. Better grades. As some of Gen Z begins to embrace the concepts of self-care and routine nationwide, the St. Louis U. High community—young and old—seems eager to use their New Year’s resolutions as a way to catch on.

Lights, Music, Action! Over Christmas break, SLUH alum and music editor Rudy Brynac, ’09 is set to be credited in his first film, The Color Purple. 

On Oct. 8, Israel declared war against the terrorist group Hamas, primarily located in Palestine. As military tensions continue to rise, with attacks and protests against Israelis reaching New York City, St. Louis U. High students have been able to reflect on the personal impact that the conflict has had as well as the impact it has had on the broader Jewish community.

I had the privilege of meeting with New York Jets safety Tony Adams ’17 last night after he spoke to the varsity football team at their weekly Thursday night meeting. Adams made the 53-man roster for the Jets last year, but this year he has solidified himself as a key member of the team. 

September is National Suicide Awareness Month

Steve Snodgrass ’65 recently published his book, The Murder of Angela Mischelle Lawless, highlighting his time working on the exoneration of Josh Kezer in a controversial trial. Snodgrass’s efforts to free Kezer underscores his lifelong devotion to repairing the criminal justice system.

The Sub Club of St. Louis U. High has created a movement. In the halls of the Backer Memorial and beyond, high school students across St. Louis are all too acquainted with the social media presence of Sub Club.

St. Louis U. High has been hard at work to adapt their schedule to the needs of the school community since the pandemic first began. Four iterations have passed since the start of the pandemic, with each one lasting a year. This means the Class of 2023 has experienced a different schedule for each of their years at SLUH.

On September 20th, 2022 senior Garrett Shearer announced his commitment to play Division I baseball at Northwestern University. 

Shearer, like most young athletes, grew up playing all the sports imaginable. From basketball to football to baseball, Shearer tried it all. While he found some success on the hardwood as the JV captain his sophomore year, his future was always on the baseball diamond.