St. Louis U. High’s student media clubs have moved to and begun unpacking their belongings in their new home, the Claude Heithaus, SJ Media Center.

Consisting of major clubs such as Gadfly, SLUH Student Media, Photography, Yearbook, Prep News, and Sisyphus, the new media center offers individual office spaces for each club. 

In the last six months, the space has been converted from the former Main Office and receptionist area into an open main room with desks that will allow for members of these clubs and other students to collaborate in a new work space. 

“We wanted an area where we could invite all of the media groups into one area and make them comfortable and not feel like they had to sacrifice something by coming,” said English teacher and Gadfly moderator David Callon. “It was important for us that people felt like this was at the very least a horizontal move.”

Another benefit of the new media center is that it has allowed for clubs that previously worked out of classrooms or shared areas to have their own spaces. Instead of working out of Callon’s classroom, Gadfly now has a new space dedicated solely to their club. 

“I think there’s going to be a good opportunity for clubs to meet and hopefully entice more students to become involved now that Gadfly and student media have their own space,” said junior Jackson Dauska. 

Yearbook and Photography clubs, two groups that had previously shared one room in the J-Wing, now have their own offices to work out of in the media center. 

However, the most significant improvement to the work area for each of the clubs is the main space that connects them all. The communal area makes possible joint work between SLUH’s student media clubs. 

“The collaboration amongst the different media clubs throughout SLUH should hopefully increase not only because they are all closer, but they have a large main space to have face to face interactions instead of people just emailing us for photos,” said chemistry teacher and Photography Club moderator Kathy Chott.

The Prep News has recently made its move down from the J-Wing into the new media center. 

“The thing that (the Prep News) currently doesn’t really have is the proximity to people in other media or storytelling kinds of clubs,” said English teacher and Prep News moderator Steve Missey. 

The new media center gives several clubs access to a communal space with desks and chairs for students to study, relax, or talk with other clubs. It provides an opportunity for students to explore more clubs similar to their hobbies or interests. 

“The community of people who are interested in media and who like to tell different kinds of stories will hopefully be able to realize that there’s a larger community than the single one that they’ve been in,” said Missey. 

“I'm particularly excited to see what happens now when all these communities that were nested all over the building have a shared space,” said Callon. “The overlap of people coming and using the space together, there's a natural fit here.” 

The communal space will also help bring together clubs that have previously been scattered across the school, to form new connections. It allows for easier and quicker communication and teamwork amongst different clubs. 

 “What I’m looking forward to most is that main room where students who are in the photography club will feel welcome to hang out with Prep News, Yearbook, and other students to get ideas on what the photography needs are out there,” said Chott.

The new media center, having replaced the old main office, sits directly in the center of the main corridor, putting the media clubs on display and making them more accessible.

“It allows for these clubs that used to be shoved into the back of the school or in random classrooms to be much more productive and open,” said junior Trey Parker. “The move to the middle of the building also pushes the clubs moreso to the center of people's minds.”

One feature of the media center is the sound-proof recording room in Assistant Principal for Student Life Brock Kesterson’s former office. The introduction of a studio room is brand new and provides an opportunity even for students not in these clubs to experiment and create their own broadcasting. 

“I’m most excited for the production studio,” said Digital Media Specialist Ryan Doyle. “It can hopefully be used by a ton of different groups for broadcasting, journalism, interviews, or podcasts.”

As the final touches are being added to the media center, the media center continues to push for a more inviting environment for club members and other students. 

“We're planning a big kickoff like an open house,” said Callon. “Invite people here to just see what we offer. This place belongs to every student at the same time that it's designed to serve the students who work in these communities. We kind of hope that it gets more people excited to be part of those communities.”

As the media center begins to open its doors to clubs and students, the practicalities of the new space have emerged. The environment created has allowed for a much more approachable and inviting community for SLUH’s media clubs. 

“It will hopefully feel like a hub or hive of activity,” said Missey. “It’s a central location and it should be easier to sense that there’s a lot of activity buzzing around. When you walk by a place with a lot of people who are doing a lot of interesting things and feels inviting, people are more likely to want to go in there and see what it’s all about.”