Matt Sciuto Tribute by Prep News

Conversation:

Sciuto reflects on his 39 years at SLUH

BY Handley Hicks and Liam John NEWS EDITORS

Editors’ note: News Editors

Handley Hicks and Liam John sat down with theology teacher Matt Sciuto on Tuesday May 7 for an hour and six minutes. They talked about Sciuto’s time at SLUH with sports, teaching, photography, and important aspects of the school Sciuto loves. Sciuto, while sad to retire, presents the reasons for why it is time to go. Below is a condensed version of the conversation.

Handley Hicks: There was a period of time between your graduation from St. Louis U. High and your working here. What happened during that period and how did you come to work for SLUH?

Matt Sciuto: I graduated from here in 1970. I was going to take a year off but it was the Vietnam War so my draft number came up. I went straight to Fr. Currigan’s office, who was our only counselor, and I said “get me into a school.” He got me into

Rockhurst College … And I spent four years there… After graduating from there, where I majored in psych, I thought I was going to be a counselor. But after all my studies in psychology, I didn’t find the answers in rats running through mazes and all that. It’s interesting. It’s worthwhile, but at Rockhurst, there was a thing called Humanistic Psychology. It’s kind of a combination of philosophy and theology. I said, “I think I’ll try to be a religion teacher.” I wanted to to do that and coach … When I sent the letter, Fr. Dressel was principal. He called me back and said, “Wanna come in for an interview?” I said, “Sure.” I talked with Fr. Burshek who was head of the (Theology) Department at the time, and he offered me a job ... I still feel, these 39 years years later, it was a whole bunch of coincidences and being unfortunate. If I hadn’t taken that gap year off after high school I probably wouldn’t have been here.

Liam John: Were you a footcontinued on page 6

State Champs! Rugby claims first State title

BY Thom Molen and John Mungenast CORE STAFF, REPORTER

Afterfive straight emptyhanded trips to the state finals, the Jr. Bills’ rugby team finally brought home the bacon after a grueling 14-10 win over the Kansas City Junior Blues Rugby Club for the state title.

On Saturday, the team

faced off against the Liberty Jays Rugby Club out of Kansas City in the semifinal match and started with their back up line. This lineup changed around halftime when the Bills realized that their state bid could be at stake and put in more experienced players.

The first half was a long, tough fight from both sides.

SLUH to discontinue all-school summer reading program

BY Johno Jackson CORE STAFF

Afteryears of slow decline, St. Louis U. High’s all-school summer reading program has been tabled in hopes of reintroducing a similar, revitalized program in the coming years.

The decision was made by the Instructional Council, a committee made up of academic department chairs, heads of the counselling departments, and other faculty leaders.

The decision will not impact academic course summer reading.

The Instructional Council reviewed the all-school summer reading program as part of a larger review of

school-wide projects. After examining the pros and cons, the group decided to suspend the project temporarily because of the lack of structured engagement and poorly developed assessment.

“I think there were a few elements of the project that were not really well structured,” said Principal Ian Gibbons, S.J. “As a result, there was a lot of ambiguity about what should happen with the book.”

Many students have grown dissatisfied with the summer reading program. Over 70 percent of students liked last year’s book, Bull in the Ring, less than previous summer reading books.

“All of the books have continued on page 4

Seaton and Lucier reflect upon their time as teachers at the SLUH; looking into the future with high hopes. Page 2

The Basebills pack in 10 games in a two-week span; bats come alive for the Bills in 6-2 centen-

Liberty scored early on and woke up the SLUH team to get ready for a hard game. Some substitutions were made and SLUH came back with a try scored by senior Miles Matyiko. When halftime began, the score was 7-5 Liberty.

“They took us by surprise,” said senior John Mersinger. “We did underestimate them and they hit us hard,

but that worked against them though. It brought us to our senses so we wanted nothing but to win. I remember binding for a scrum with Thom and looking at him. He had a nose filled with blood and some grass he shoved in it to stop the bleeding. I think that set the tone.” SLUH came out ready to

continued on page 11

Black Student Union

to focus on mentorship, action

BY Paul Gillam EDITOR IN CHIEF

St. Louis U. High’s newest club, the Black Student Union (BSU), will hold an inaugural meeting at activity period on Monday, May 13.

The BSU will be an offshoot of the Association for Cultural Enrichment at SLUH (ACES) and will primarily serve as a community for black students to find mentors, grow together, and discuss and act for the advancement of black students at SLUH. Although the club is geared towards and for black students, the club complies with administrative rules requiring clubs be open to all students by inviting students of any race.

Mentorship, according

Can they make it 8? The SLUH tennis team has won seven in a row, looking to cap off an incredible season with a state trophy.

to BSU president and founder junior Jordan Smith, will be a heavy emphasis. Recalling his underclassman years at SLUH, Smith felt alone, unsure of where he fit in. He hopes to combat his own experience by having upperclassmen BSU members give one-on-one mentorship to underclassman BSU members through their first two years at SLUH. Smith also said the club, which will be moderated by Assistent Director of Equity & Inclusion Erwin Claggett, will focus on action more so than discussion, complementing its parent club, ACES. Smith hopes to implement videos, alumni speakers, and group activities to bring action to SLUH.

continued on page 4

ball and baseball player when you were a student?

MS: Yeah, I loved football and intramurals. I was a big intramural football guy at school. I liked the game. I liked the thinking of the game. I played three years of football here and gave it up my senior year. I played three years of baseball here and one year of baseball in college, during high school I went back to my grade school and coached. I loved coaching and working with the kids.

HH: What have you enjoyed most about working in the SLUH Theology Department, and how have you seen the department evolve during your time here? MS: When I came here, people were doing whatever they wanted to do. It was right after Vatican II, and freshman theology was one thing and then sophomore theology. Then junior and senior theology was philosophy of literature. We were doing three days a week and we had five classes. It was like how the Social Studies Department does three days a week now for some classes. The changes happened in the lates 90’s, and it took us a long time to get there, to move from three days a week to five days a week. I was department chair at that time, and it was one of things I’m really happy with is that I and the department were able to move it from three to five days a week.

LJ: You’ve kind of created your own teaching style. You have the reputation for your style, especially with the theme of metanoia and paying attention so much that you take notes. What made you come up with these themes?

MS: The theme of metanoia comes from the Jesuit documents. The JSCA preamble says the ultimate goal of Jesuit education is to foster a real metanoia in its students. A lot of the way I teach comes from coaching. Right now we’re doing backwards curriculum development. I was doing that in the 1970’s. To me it was natural. I was just natural. When you coach you start with what? I know what I want my players to do at the end of the first week, at the end of the second week. When I’m coaching freshman football I know what I want my players to do; I have a goal in mind. I’m doing everything to get that goal. I just did the same thing in the classroom. I knew what I wanted my guys to do so I had my goals, and in football in order to begin you’ve gotta

teach them how to put on the equipment, how to get in the stance, how to hold the football, how to throw a football. Most kids don’t know how to do this stuff. You gotta get the basics down. The most important things about football, or any sport, isn’t the techniques, its paying attention, learning, being tough, disciplined, all of that kind of stuff. And it’s the

know, predict it. All the kinds of things that you guys know, if we can get in front of them and say, ‘these are things that are pretty predictable what’s going to happen.’ You know Adam Cruz’s prayer services last week, he talked about what’s probably going to happen freshman year, sophomore year, junior year, and senior year, and it’s not that

happened over the years that you have been either very proud of, certain experiences that you have been proud of? What are you proud of most about your experience at SLUH?

HH: Or moments in SLUH’s history while you’ve been here that have made you proud of SLUH as well?

MS: This is the thing about St.

same things in the classroom. If I can teach my kids how to be open, how to be organized, how to study, then we got a chance to teach them. You gotta have that at the beginning, and most freshman are not organized or they don’t know to be organized. They never had to. It’s not their fault. They never had to mark their book. They couldn’t mark their book in grade school, so we have to teach that. And they didn’t know how to study. They didn’t understand what real learning was. LJ: Is that why you zoned in on freshman theology especially? Because you used to teach juniors and freshman. MS: I love teaching freshmen and juniors or freshmen and seniors. I did that most of my career. There are two things that happened. Number one I think freshman year is the most fundamentally crucial year. Most people don’t want to teach freshmen. It’s a challenge let’s say… I want to do it because it’s not just freshman theology. I’ve worked with the freshmen, trying to organize the homeroom teachers. I think it is a really good time to help the freshmen do what needs to be done, which is make that transition, organize the lockers, work with senior advisers. Just tell them you know this is what is coming up. There’s going to be a second quarter slump. After three weeks you’re gonna have a bunch of tests. You

he’s so brilliant. He is very, very smart, but he just says look we’ve been here we can see this. And if you know that this is going to happen then you can be able to handle it better.

HH: Your son attended SLUH during your time here. How has working at SLUH before your son came, during your son’s time here, and after your son was here affected your perspective of your students’ experience?

MS: … It was nice to see him go through it. St. Louis U. High faculty took care of my son really well, but I think St. Louis U.High takes care of everybody. They try to take care of everybody really well. I just experienced it firsthand. The thing that happened is I always had this idea how good is St. Louis U High? Is it just that we get the best and the brightest from all the schools around and we don’t get in their way? I really thought that that was maybe a possibility. But then my son went through and I said he was smart. I knew he was smart, but he didn’t know to write, how to do calculus, he didn’t know physics. He didn’t know all this stuff. … He had great teachers, and he knew how to write.

St. Louis U. High is a tremendous place. It’s better academically than when I was here. It’s just different times. I think we’ve got better teachers.

LJ: Are there things that have

Louis U. High that I’m most proud of: it’s Jesuit. It’s not just Jesuit in name; it’s Jesuits, meaning there’s a commitment to the mind and to the spirit. I think that’s one of the unique things. Remember I said I left Aquinas? Aquinas didn’t understand co-curriculars. We don’t have extracurriculars (at SLUH) we have

“A lot of the way I teach comes from coaching. Right now, we’re doing backwards curriculum development. I was doing that in the 1980’s.”

-Matt Sciuto

co-curriculars. We believe baseball and sports is a way to teach and form a young man into being what we want, which is a man for others— open to growth, competent, religious, loving, all that. We believe that the Prep News is a way to serve, to build community ...

One of the biggest things our guys love is the diversity of St. Louis U. High, and I know that sounds weird because we don’t have girls and we’re mainly Catholic. But

what my classmates said is that the diversity they experienced was mainly economic and geographical. There are students from all over the bistate area. There are rich guys, and there are poor guys. You don’t know the difference between them most of the time. And this idea of need blind admission that SLUH has, that we’re committed to saying “If you can make into St. Louis U. High but your parents can’t afford it, we’ll work something out.” My guys love that because a lot of my guys, my classmates, their parents struggled to send them here. And there’s always a story about a kid. Tim O’Neil was a Post Dispatch writer, and he tells it like his dad lost his job and he went into Mr. Conway’s office, who was the assistant principal at the time. He said, “I think I’m going to have to transfer. My dad lost his job.” Mr. Conway got two erasers and asked him, “Can you do this?” (clean erasers). Tim said, “Yeah I can do that.” Conway said, “Come every day after school and clean the boards. Then we’ll take care of you.” I’m ready to cry because that’s not just one story… That’s the story, that St. Louis U.High and Jesuit education is committed not just to the wealthy, which would be easier, but they’re really committed to down here. My parents never went to high school. I’m the first one to go to college in my family. My sister graduated from high school and that was it. I don’t know where I’d be without St. Louis U. High. I might be in a better spot who knows, but I know my 39 years here has been a joy, a grace. In fact, my colleagues have been tremendous, really good. Tremendous is overstating it...

LJ: So have you been here all 39 years, except for the one semester you took a sabbatical? How does the day not get mundane for you? Is it that freshman challenge?

MS: The great thing about education is that there’s a sameness to it every year, and of course it’s every year. But that makes you comfortable; it’s makes you confident. I know how I’m going to feel at the end of the year because you guys feel that way. I’m going to feel that way. I’m excited and I’m sad at the same time. I’m apprehensive at the same time. I’m fearful at the same time, but you guys have been going through that all this time ... It’s the sameness of the course, but every class, every class is a challenge. I use the same material in four different classes, but every class is different because the kids are different, their questions are different, the way they read is different, and their emotions are different.

LJ: You went on sabbatical in ’09 right?

MS: Yes, there were two things I wanted to do. Number one, I wanted to visit Jesuit schools in the Midwest to see what they were doing in religion. I was doing photography at that time as well, so I wanted to see that… I wanted to go to Europe because I wanted to understand and see religious art especially. I learned a lot

“We won’t know all the things Something as little as the newspapers at 5:30 a.m. collecting the newspapers, walks the halls before the school truly one of the hidden people won’t truly realize how much As a teacher, you always know freshman year. You look at a who had him. It’s really cool way too immature to appreciate him freshman year first semester, favorite teacher. About four years teaching study skills, and there down and probably marked like Moran said, ‘the only person in off all of those is Matt Sciuto.’ He teaches guys how to be students, on what makes St. Louis U. High

“Within the first couple of weeks Sciuto had already ingrained that would carry me through high be grateful for that.”

“I think a lot of people probably to was probably one of the most Louis U. High. I still think he might winning percentages in baseball, coached for about four years and 3, and in football he was an outstanding years, he will walk out of this building time as a teacher. He will be as this building as the first day he higher compliment to a teacher.”

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“Mr. Sciuto is an institution model what it means to be a Jr. fine what it means. After 39 years huge part of what makes SLUH ble as he is, he’ll always give credit who came before him but we all place would be much different.”

“The effort Mr. Sciuto puts into grow is an invaluable asset to around him, including me, so to tell he really cares that people of-themselves. Mr. Sciuto has study skills. Everyday I use lessons how to take notes and so many lessons are from the first semester but he has also helped me in many three years as well.”

Sciuto’s Accomplishments:

Instrumental in creation

Chaired Theology Department

Started summer theology

Created the Photography Renegotiated Yearbook better cameras

Opened library daily

we’re missing until he’s gone. newspapers everyday. He’s here newspapers, getting them. He school day every single day. He is that makes this school go. We we’re missing until he’s gone. know the kids that had Mr. Sciuto kid’s notebook and you know because freshman are always appreciate it, but even guys who hated semester, by the spring he’s their years ago we had someone here there was a list of 100 items. I went like 20 something of them. Mr. in the building who can check He teaches guys how to learn. students, and he has a good grip High St. Louis U. High.”

-Mr. Adam Cruz English Teacher

weeks of my freshman year, Mr. inside of me the work ethic high school, and I will forever

-Joe Mantych SLUH Senior

probably don’t know that Mr. Sciumost successful coaches at St. might have one of the greatest baseball, of any coach, because he and went about 14-1, 15-4, 14outstanding coach also. After 39 building next week for the last as passionate as he walks out of he walked in. You cannot give a teacher.”

-Mr. Dick Wehner Ermeritus; Theology Teacher at SLU High. He doesn’t just Jr. Billiken, he has helped deyears of teaching, he has been a SLUH so inherently special. Humcredit to his mentors and those all know that without him, this different.”

-Mr. Stephen Deves Math Teacher

into helping those around him SLUH. He influences those naturally. I have been able people become the best-versionreally impacted me through lessons he has taught me about many other things. Most of the semester of my freshman year, many ways during the past

-Reed Milnor SLUH Senior

Accomplishments:

creation of the examen

Department

theology

Photography Club

Yearbook contract for

daily at 6:30

about religious art and what it means. I use it more and more now, especially with religious art from the Renaissance as a part of education. Why is there so much art in Europe and why is it religious art?

Number one, the money from the Catholic church, the second thing is that most people were illiterate, and the way the church taught was through stuff like the Sistine Chapel and religious art all over the place. People couldn’t read, but they could look at the art and interpret Biblical stories. So I said, “Hey I am going to use that more in my class” because I’m teaching people who are illiterate.

LJ: What were some specific things you brought back to SLUH?

MS: Well there was a lot of things, but it mainly boiled down to freshman theology and religious art.

LJ: You also talked about, on your website, how the mission statement in Jesuit schools wasn’t as vocally heard?

MS: Yeah that’s right… then we started doing that. I also visited St. Ignatius in Chicago, and they do a tremendous job, especially with retreats. They do a lot of outdoors type stuff and movie retreats, things like that, and we didn’t start doing stuff like that until recently.

HH: This year has kind of been your senior year so to speak and last year at SLUH so is there anything you’ve cherished this year being your last year?

MS: No, I have just enjoyed it maybe a little bit differently. I don’t count the days down. I am going to be sad leaving the classroom. I am going to be lost without this classroom. I mean this classroom has been my home for 20 years. They gave me this classroom and I’ve made a home out of it. I love this place. I am up here because I just like working here. I like putting on my music, quiet Saturday morning, Sunday mornings, things like that.

I hope I can still come back to the library even. I like quiet places. One of the biggest things I am really proud of, I’ve opened up the library for the last 20 years, and every morning including late starts and exam days because I really believe there’s an early morning group of guys here that need to be paid attention to. I was like that.

My aunt used to drop me off at six in the morning on her way to work, and Fr. Hagan would be here. That was when the Jesuits lived in this place so it would be easy to get in and out of. I would be home. Fr. Hagan would be there, it’d be warm. The rec room would be open, the library wouldn’t, but that came later. I have been committed to opening up the library for so long and I hope the library remains. I think Allen Boedeker is going to take it over at 6:30 every morning because I get guys that come in and want to get work done and they want quiet, and there’s not a lot of places in this school they can find quiet. …

LJ: Talking about photography and yearbook, how did you get into it?

MS: I like photography and

I would do a little bit of it on my own, but in 2003 I gave up football. When I gave up football, I started to see the need and I also saw that the people that were doing our yearbook weren’t really doing a good job with us. I went out to De Smet with Joe Klug out there. Well, I said, “our equipment isn’t good.” He said, “Well, aren’t you getting a camera every year from whoever is doing your yearbook? I said “No.” “They do the seniors portraits, are you getting a slice of that?”

I said “No. I didn’t know.” So I went back and we left that group which was Prestige and went to HRImaging. Now, with HRImaging, we renegotiated the contract. We got $10,000 a year that contributes to the general fund and we got $2,000 a year that we

“One of the things is that this place lets you be good. I don’t have to be competitive. It’s not a cutthroat situation.”

-Matt Sciuto

could use for equipment, so our equipment is top notch for any high school… I wanted to use photography as a way to help the yearbook, the Prep News. They had a little camera, and different guys would take different pictures with the camera and they didn’t have the equipment because you guys couldn’t afford many cameras ...

LJ: I was reading the Prep News and Yearbook and they were saying how you helped Mr. Mueller and Mr. Keefe with the yearbook in ’05 which came after the ’06 one which you helped with.

MS: Because what happened was there was a lady who works for Herth Jones named Leah Blase, and she’s been our yearbook editor for a long time. That yearbook in 2005 did not come out and she and one of her guys put it together. They did the yearbook by themselves. Then, Dick Keefe

and John Mueller and I were just really really upset that we didn’t have a yearbook for a full year and said we’d come together and let’s work together. Both those guys were easy to work with. They worked hard. They had the right ideas. They worked with kids well. That was a highlight probably of my career working with those guys and working with them to start it back up. They did it for a few years and then somebody else and then somebody else. Every year it seems the yearbook is looking for somebody else. It has been a challenge.

HH: Who have been some faculty member that have come and gone or ones that are still here that you really admired or really worked closely with in your department?

MS: I don’t even hardly know where to begin. … I thought Sheridan was nuts when he bought up all the stuff. I told him I think this is wrong. I think this is taking property from people. He saw things that had to happen. This campus is tremendously different because of what Paul Sheridan did.

This is a Sheridan story. It’s the late ’90’s and I am an alumni and he brings alumni into the Currigan Room and says with the straightest face behind a podium—this is how I remember it and memory can be hazy—he said, “You know we ought to think about moving out to west county. We are landlocked. We can’t do anything. We need more grounds. We need to move out to West County or St. Charles.” Then, the alumni said, No we can’t do that. St. Louis U. High is part of the … You can’t do that. And this is the way I remember it hon-

estly. This is Sheridan, “Okay, okay I hear you but you know if we stay here, I’m going to need about $20 million to buy the land to expand. And the alumni by this point are saying, “we will get you that money.” I mean he was setting them up. He was setting us up. All I know is he raised the money. From the money, they started buying up the factories and houses. I said, “there’s no way you could buy up all of this land” but he did and he got it. I mean I love Sheridan. He’s a tremendous man. … So there’s a lot of unsung heroes and Sheridan is one. I couldn’t even start to tell you all the names. … One of the things is that this place lets you be good. I don’t have to be competitive. It’s not a cutthroat situation. My administration, my department stands with me. The parents 90% of the time stand behind me, and that is tough when it

“It’s not just Jesuit in name; it’s Jesuit, meaning there’s a commitment to the mind and to the spirit. I think that’s one of the unique things.”

-Matt Sciuto

is your son. It’s been a joy to teach here. Now, I’m thinking about all these other people. I’m going to stop. I could go on for a long time. And you guys know this and my son knows this: you meet a lot of good people here. All we teachers want to do is help you. We don’t want anything from you. All we want to do is help you. Let us teach you math, study skills, how to keep God in your life. The biggest gift to give us is to write well, say you learned something, show you learned something. … That is one thing you learn: what’s important with life and what’s not important with life. Actually, I learned that from Buddhism when I learned world religions. Buddha says, ‘want to be happy? Stop wanting stuff.’

LJ: I am assuming there are a lot of pieces that made this the year, but what were some of your main decisions.

MS: You are right. There were a whole bunch of pieces that meant this was the right time.

First, I don’t know how effective I am to my students anymore. I see a gap, and I don’t know if it’s me or my students. I am getting more and more

students that aren’t religious, that aren’t Catholic. I thought I would bridge that real well because I teach salvation history and know who the patriarchs are. It’s not a religious thing, but I want something religious. They don’t seem to care about it. I think my students aren’t as disciplined, they can’t read as well, its tougher to get them to read, and retain anything. I’m not sure I am that effective. Part of it is that I would want to try it again, let me get it better next year. I like that. But, there’s another part of me that’s like, if guys like me don’t retire, then young teachers can’t come in and try their way. I had 45 years to be a good teacher. This is a plum job. This is a tremendous job. It’s time for me to retire and let someone else try at it. We have two great new teachers coming in next year I think. One, a really young woman, and one who is Jim Hubbman who has been on and off here for years and he’s going to be tremendous.

First, I think it’s time for me to retire. I’ve tried all my tricks, I’ve tried everything. Secondly, it’s the idea of let someone else.

The third thing is, I am really getting tired of learning new computer systems. No seriously. Before we were during curriculum development, and now we are doing understanding by design and spending so much time on things that are not directly related to teaching. We lost so many school days this year with a cleanup day, with a bicentennial day, and those are good things, but we lose class time and we had all these weather days. We lost a lot of class time this year. That’s been a factor.

Another thing is while I’m young and healthy enough, I want to travel. I want to visit other schools, other people. In the fall I hope to go up to New England and meander around and see former students and see classmates of mine and visit libraries and universities. I hope by next spring to go to Europe and live there for three weeks and see what it would be like to live in a different culture like that. Maybe learn the language maybe see if someone wants to go with me. My wife is going to continue working. She works at Meramec in the library and if I go up to New England for a month, she might come up for a week. If in the spring I go to Europe, I might take three weeks to a month and then she might come up for a little while … but I would like to do something like thatwhile I am still healthy enough to do it.