News

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. 

The Clavius Jamboree was celebrated on Saturday, and had 300 elementary and middle school students in attendance. The jamboree was founded nine years ago by Jr. Bills in the Robotics Club who wanted to take STEM to grade schools through robotics. They used LEGO Spike Prime kits which the kids were able to make simple block code to complete difficult tasks. At its peak, in 2019, Jr. Bills in Clavius even went down to Belize to help kids learn robotics. Before the pandemic, 45 schools made up the Clavius project; during the pandemic, that number diminished greatly, but now the amount is almost back to where it was before, still growing rapidly.

Arts Week at St. Louis U. High began last Tuesday, marking a full seven days of vocal, instrumental, artistic, and performative skills. The celebration began with the Jazz Concert, covered in last week’s Prep News, and resumed this week with the second Choir and Dance Concert of the year on Sunday and a Visual Arts exhibit, and Band and Orchestra Concert on Tuesday. 

In a show of remarkable ingenuity and aptitude, freshmen Luke Nolan and Ryan Safar and juniors Peter Kramer and Evan Russell from the Saint Louis U. High’s Medical Careers Club claimed second place in the Washington University Biomedical Engineering Competition on Monday, April 28. 

The St. Louis U. High Community gathered in the SI commons on Tuesday to welcome 11 students into the Catholic church as part of the annual Mass of Praise and Gratitude.

Life at St. Louis U. High can sometimes be as precarious as a Jr. Billiken on the roof. Fortunately, the seniors this year banded together yet again to make the final academic crunch a little more enjoyable through their annual Senior Follies, hosted Sunday, April 27 in the Schulte Theatre.

The aisles of the Joseph Schulte Theatre were filled as families and friends gathered this past Tuesday to watch the final jazz concert of the school year. The night saw spectacular performances from St. Louis U. High’s Fun Band, Lab Band, three Jazz Combos, and two Jazz Bands.

It all begins with medieval history. Once used to impress sterling silver engravings into melted wax, rings are used to display the identity of the wearer, to allow authentication through the bearing of a particular seal. Today, the Class of 2026 displays the identity and bears the seal of the St. Louis U. High identity. 

Known around the hallways of St. Louis U. High as Team Tech Boy, SLUH sophomore DeJuan Strickland has been at the forefront of creativity, entrepreneurship, and philanthropy. On March 25, he was awarded The Youth Service Award from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society (CMOHS), which recognizes young Americans who show a commitment to service and leadership. 

The Backer Award is the highest award one can receive from St. Louis University High School. It recognizes a lifetime’s work dedicated to the Grad at Grad values—being religious, loving, committed to justice, intellectually competent, and open to growth. At the awards ceremony last Thursday, three men were selected as recipients of the award: Leo Mitchell ’53, Fr. Bob O’Toole, SJ, ’54, and Terry Wittenberg ’56. 

Spanish teacher Magdalena Alvarado will retire at the end of the school year after receiving the Faculty Appreciation Award last week on behalf of the senior Class of 2025, as she looks to spend more time gardening and being with family.

Vincent Van Gogh said, “there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.” In her 34 years at St. Louis U. High, Visual Arts teacher Joan Bugnitz has helped nurture and inspire generations of young artists, while also providing passionate support to the community at large. Bugnitz’s devotion to Ignatian values and her variety of projects at SLUH paint a vivid picture of a life of humility and service.

The AP Biology Jr. Bills, led by biology teacher Nhan Pham, toured the Dantas Lab at the medical campus of Washington University in St. Louis on Thursday, April 10 to get exposure to the field of medical research and working in a laboratory setting. 

‘Thank you.’ These were the official recorded last words of Pope Francis before he passed away on Easter Monday, April 21. They are words that the St. Louis U. High community, and the universal Catholic Church, return to Francis as they honor the Pope’s life and mourn his death.

St. Louis U. High school welcomed the second visiting group of Taiwanese exchange students from the Global Education program last week. The nine students left Hsinchu, Taiwan on April 14, arriving in San Francisco after a 20-hour flight. From There, the group waited another four hours before eventually flying to St. Louis. 

Novitiate, First Studies, Regency, Theological Studies, and Tertianship. Each of these five stages of Jesuit formation are meant to prepare one for a life of service and devotion to the church. The third stage, Regency, calls for three years of active ministry. For River Simpson, S.J., this was completed by teaching at St. Louis U. High.