Features

To the editors:

Andrew Hunt ends his account of his long walk to SLUH from Kirkwood (Issue of May 9, 2025) by wondering if any other Jr. Bills have made such treks. I can attest to at least two who completed an even longer journey: on Tuesday, April 24, 2007, Charlie Landis and Ryan Kotaska, '07, walked to SLUH from Des Peres. I know, because Charlie invited me along. He and I were co-news editors of the Prep News that year, and we often carpooled together. Deterred by the prospect of a predawn departure (I valued my sleep), I declined. 

Prep News moderator Steve Missey holds court in the spacious, modern Heithaus Media Center, overseeing the production of one of the nation’s few weekly high school newspapers. Missey is insistent that the newspaper be fully student run, but his dedication, knowledge, and demeanor is a key factor in keeping these hot-headed staffers in check. Over his 25 years, Missey is remembered in so many different ways and by countless students whom he has made an impact on. Prep News 89 would like to acknowledge some of the ways Missey has touched our hearts. Thank you for a great ride, Steve!

25 years ago, Joe Palazzolo ’00 was walking the halls of Oakland Ave. as a Jr. Billiken. Now, he’s receiving his third Pulitzer prize as a national investigative reporter for The Wall Street Journal, uncovering scandal and corruption with a commitment to journalistic integrity.

Between their last goodbyes and final memories at SLUH, the seniors have also been hard at work this semester in their various capstone courses, which they have wrapped up in the last couple of weeks, producing notable works and sharing in the inspiring work of others.

In this day and age, it seems as if almost every high school student is on some sort of social media platform. Social media can be a great way to communicate and spread info quickly, and many seniors at St. Louis U. High are very eager to share their recent college decisions. SLUH senior Mason Morris has used social media to spread news of senior’s college decisions via his Instagram account, @sluhseniors2025

The three of us walked to SLUH from the faraway lands of Kirkwood yesterday morning. With energy drinks and coffee in our system, a dying JBL speaker, and a subpar umbrella, we made it through the nine-mile journey across a barren landscape. 

After white smoke was spotted by an eager crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square in Rome yesterday afternoon, Cardinal Protodeacon Dominique Mamberti emerged on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica and announced Robert Francis Prevos as pope, a native of Chicago and the first Pope from North America. He will take the name of Leo XIV. 

The Class of 2025 aren’t the only ones graduating from Russian IV this year! English teacher Chuck Hussung has studied alongside them for four years, and now he is officially “graduating” from the program at the end of the week, concluding his most recent deep dive into the world of Russian language and culture.

To the editors:

In light of Pope Francis’ recent passing, I’m compelled to recognize another remarkable Jesuit in our midst: the “Most Reverend” Father Ralph Houlihan. At three years older than the late Pope, Father Houlihan like Francis, is the living embodiment of what it means when we say, “we dedicate all of our thoughts, words, and actions to the greater glory of God.” – AMDG. We see AMDG everywhere on campus - on Drury Plaza, the Danis Field House, the Si Commons, and the theater entrance. We hashtag it on every social media post, but do we truly understand what it means to dedicate our thoughts, words, and actions to the greater glory of God? The lives of men like Pope Francis and Father Houlihan exemplify this in a profound way. 

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam—for the greater glory of God. This motto is everywhere around the halls of St. Louis U. High: on its merchandise, walls, and spoken aloud several times a day. However, a common inconsistency exists within the phrase itself. Should the third letter of ‘majorem’ be an ‘i’ or a ‘j’? 

As graduation rolls around, we, the Class of 2025, are filled with a sense of pride. We’ve survived our four years at SLUH and become models to future classes. We’ve made lasting impacts on the school, and added our stories, laughter, talent, successes, and failures to the collective memory of this building. And, of course, we will soon be the 100th class to graduate from the Backer Memorial.

In a time when digital media has made the spread of news quicker than ever, we are becoming further and further disconnected from the principles of good journalism. It's now easier than ever to “tune out” and stay misinformed, or to find news places that fit your specific agenda. For some students of St. Louis U. High, their only interaction with journalism is through the Prep News every Friday. This needs to change.

As an underclassman at St. Louis U. High, current junior Myles Tatum experimented with photography, shooting sports photos with school cameras. Now, he runs a five-figure business in lifestyle photography.

If you ask any St. Louis U. High students what they think of sustainability, there's a pretty strong chance you’ll be met with shrugs, rolled eyes, or groans. How has a school so focused on Jesuit ideals seemingly have a student body so against it? And what can we do as a community to reverse this? 

When senior Petro Filimonov awoke in the early hours of Friday, Feb. 24, 2022 to the sound of bombings in Kyiv, Ukraine, he mistook it for thunder. 

Stepping into my grandmother’s house, yellow paint giving way to the concrete grey walls, I could hear the crackle of fire she used to cook, crackling alongside a metal cauldron-like pot boiling rice. The rice that sat inside the pot, she had rinsed and washed three times and waited for it to cook. She would scoop up the watery porridge with a ladle onto round metal plates, or banana leaves for the rest of the family to eat. My grandmother would place a piece of dried unripe mango, yogurt covered fried peppers, or an appalam on the side. 

It’s that time of year again… the ice is slippy, the coats are drippy, and the schedules are quickly being selected by all grade levels in preparation for next school year. But what classes to choose? Up on the roster are some exciting new options for all grade levels—here are a few standouts: