The St. Louis U. High community celebrated the annual StuCo-led Mission Week last week, which aims to inspire the generosity of students and faculty each winter. This year’s beneficiary, The Little Bit Foundation—an organization that aims to promote education in under-privelaged communities—received immense support from the SLUH community through a variety of different activities. 

By StuCo co-moderator Bradley Mueller’s estimate, the student body raised around $12,000 this year. In addition, the school supplies and hygiene products drive collected 1,658 items, an incredible number given that this was the drive’s first year at SLUH. For Mueller, this year’s total is especially impressive not just because of the surrounding pandemic, but because none of it was mandatory.

“I was very impressed with how our guys did. Our goal was high but we were hesitantly optimistic,” said Mueller. “A lot of the stuff was optional, if they wanted to donate they could donate, if they wanted to dress down they could dress down, there weren't any events that people had to come to. In that regard the fundraising part was really good because it was all donation based.”

Thanks to the pandemic and the block schedule, StuCo faced significant challenges involving times and locations for their fundraising events. With sports like basketball taking up the Field House after school and no activity period this year, StuCo had to be creative to plan events. However, the events of the week still continued as a testament to SLUH’s strong, generous spirit, and StuCo co-moderator Megan Menne was grateful for the continued student support.
“It’s kind of hard, just because of where we’re at right now with the pandemic and as a school having a block schedule and a lack of activity periods on two days. But we’ve had significant show-ups, guys showed up to the events they put on, especially the underclassmen,” said Menne.

“I think that, overall, the student body response has been positive. There have been times when it’s been difficult to motivate students to participate in certain events, but I attribute this to the pandemic. However, I think that the student body put their best foot forward in trying to support Little Bit by donating and participating in certain events,” said Senior Class President Grant Sussman. 

Last week got off to an especially difficult start, as the classic 8-Mile rap battle—an important source of donations—was forced to be canceled due to scheduling conflicts in the Commons. Instead, StuCo was forced to pivot to the PIVOT activities, which included opportunities to play chess, basketball, and Super Smash Bros. in various locations throughout the school. 

After Monday, students got the chance to experience a new Mission Week event, yoga, which took place in the Field House on Tuesday and Thursday. The new event was a large success, as dozens of students found their inner peace on the yoga mat. 

“You always think like ‘oh yoga, I’m not going to do that,’ and even I wasn’t going to do it, but I ended up going and it was amazing,” said junior AJ Thompson. “It really just slows you down and puts you in the right frame of mind. I could very well see this being done in the future.”

On Tuesday evening, a group of artistic students gathered to share their talents in the Commons during the Open Mic Night. Over ten performers took to the stage to perform improv, karaoke and even original songs. Thompson, who performed a rendition of Kenny Rogers’ The Gambler, noted that even though the event was of a smaller scale, it was still important for students.

“It’s nice to see a community that you don’t often see come together to support each other. It’s one of the few times that the musicians get to perform for their classmates,” Thompson reflected.

“Open Mic Night was awesome,” said Sussman. “Lots of guys got up there and showed off talents I didn’t even know they had. It was a very chill event.”

Wednesday marked the most significant day of Mission Week, as the age-old rivalry between the Prep News and StuCo came to the forefront on the basketball court during 8th period. Warm weather ensured that the tailgate beforehand and the game itself were well attended. Proceeds from ticket sales went towards the Little Bit Foundation.

“I really enjoyed the basketball game and the tailgate,” said Menne. “It was fun to see people cheering. There was a feeling of what it felt like before COVID, which is kind of nice. Every time you get glimpses of normalcy it's a really nice feeling.” 

“The game was hard fought and competitive. It was great to know that even though there was a rivalry, we were all in it for a great cause,” agreed Carter Fortman, Editor in Chief of the Prep News. “StuCo may have won the game, but obviously the Little Bit Foundation is a huge winner as well.”

“I really enjoyed the basketball game and the tailgate, it was fun to see people cheering. There was a feeling of what it felt like before COVID, which is kind of nice. Every time you get glimpses of normalcy it's a really nice feeling.”

Megan Menne, StuCo Moderator

“The game was really one of my favorite experiences during my time at SLUH,” said Sussman. “Hopefully it can become a tradition and we can have like 500 students roaring in the stands some day. It was so much fun to play against the Prep News guys and also raise some money.”

Thursday, after another round of yoga during Academic Lab, featured another new event for Mission Week: a partnership with Pi Pizzeria. Twenty percent of the proceeds from orders placed by SLUH families on Thursday night went towards the Little Bit Foundation. Support for Thursday night’s event was so strong that the Pi Pizzeria location in Delmar was forced to stop taking orders.

“The restaurant night was really cool not only because we shut Pi Pizza down, but also because it included the whole community. If students wanted to go, if parents wanted to go, if alums wanted to go, they could all go,” said Mueller.

Food was another important theme for Friday, which featured a fish fry put on by Campus Ministry to help raise money for the Little Bit Foundation.

 “I think this year we've done a good job of collaborating with different organizations within our own community, we did the fish fry with Campus Ministry, for example. And so, that's also been really awesome to see,” said Menne. 

After a full week of successful events, Mission Week this year proved different, but just as exciting as in years past and for Sussman and Mueller, that owes a lot of credit to the SLUH community.

“Most importantly, StuCo could not have pulled off this week without help from so many faculty and staff members,” said Sussman. “They were always in the background helping with whatever we needed, so a big shout out to everyone who had a hand in making sure we could raise money for the Little Bit Foundation.”

“I think whether people realize it or not, students want to help other students out who aren't in the same circumstances,” reflected Mueller. “I think it shows that the SLUH community cares about all of St. Louis’s education.”