The Gauntlet

06/03/2025

Only in Tampa will you find Tampa Pickleball Crew, a local club where pickleball enthusiasts gather in a revitalized warehouse space in Ybor city to play the game they love.

Vid staffers Yara Nimer, Adam Graf, Lark Rippy, Annette Logan and Luke Ribeiro de Sa featured the role this club plays in the local community.

This video was produced during the STN National Convention, in Tampa, Fl.

Link in bio for more news from today.

05/03/2025

STN 2025 is a wrap!

This past weekend, eight members of the Gauntlet staff headed to Tampa for School Television Network’s (STN) 2025 national convention, a fun-filled trip with workshops, speakers, expos, and competitions centered around video journalism and filmmaking

The video team honed their skills with industry experts and met like-minded students from as far away as Hawaii, Alaska, and Wales.

The team competed in two different contests— the “Arts and Culture Feature” and “an on the Street,” during which the teams hunted down stories around Tampa, filming and editing videos in just a few hours.

Our Man on the Streets prompt- brushes with fame led them to the Riverwalk, while our Arts and Culture team ventured to the Ybor City to visit the Tampa Pickleball Crew.

The team plans to travel to next year’s national convention, also in Tampa. Students are invited to join the Video Journalism elective next year (new).

Enjoy this highlight reel by videographer Adam Graff. Link in bio for more news from today.

03/03/2025

The Gauntlet video staff is hard at work at the Student Television Network National Convention in Tampa! Students have been competing and learning since Saturday, including participating in contests like the Arts & Culture Feature and Man on the Street video contests. Here are some sights and sounds from the convention so far. On Sunday, two teams competed in competitions to create full features in under five hours.

24/02/2025

Recently, the Gauntlet earned the high honor of being a “Sno Distinguished Site”. This was made possible by the hard work of our staff!

In order to achieve this title, a site must achieve the 6 following badges, “The Continuous Coverage Badge”, “The Site Excellence Badge”, “The Story Page Excellence Badge”, “The Excellence in Writing Badge”, “The Multimedia Badge”, and “The Engagement Badge”.

According to Sno, “The SNO Distinguished Sites recognition program gives news staffs six standards that will help their publications excel online. As each standard is met, that site will be awarded a badge on the SNO client list.”

Thank you to our readers for your support, it is with your help that we have achieved this honor!

Link in bio for more news from today.

14/02/2025

In Opinion piece "Don't Crumbl Your Health", by Co-Editor in Chief Laila Yavalar, Yavalar dives into the reality of Crumbl Cookies, and just how unhealthy they are.

After doing extensive research on the brand, Yavalar found that "At the heart of the Crumbl Craze— the component that makes these cookies so delicious, is sugar. Many of the brand’s treats contain an alarming amount of it. A single Crumbl cookie ranges anywhere from 30 to even 70 grams of sugar, which is equivalent to 2.4-5.6 tablespoons of sugar. "

Link in bio for the full scoop and more news from today. Art by Al Lombardi.

14/02/2025

Today, Saint Stephen’s hosted a Gauntlet for the Varsity Girl’s Weightlifting team, who is sending 5 lifters to States. Check out some photos of today’s event.

States will be hosted in Lakeland tomorrow, let’s cheer on our falcons!

Best of luck to Makaila, Annesley, Priscilla, Brooke, and Emily!

Photos by Lucy Preston, go check out the full photo gallery on the site. Link in bio for more news from today.

12/02/2025

“Varsity Boys Tops Admiral Farragut; Advances to Regional Semi-final." Story by Julie Harris

After a 3-1 win last night against Admiral Farragut in the regional quarter finals, the boys soccer team will face off against a foe in Canterbury of Fort Myers in the Regional Semifinals on Friday. According to players, last night wasone of the best games of the year.

“It was a great team effort,” junior Sanjay Dastidar said. “We were really cohesive as a team and everyone worked together really.”

The match was action-packed, with plenty of goal scoring chances throughout the game. The goals came from Gavin Winterhalter, David Rodgers, and Jackson Pakbaz.

The last time the Falcons played against Canterbury was two years ago in the Regional Semifinals, where the Falcons fell 3-0, but the team earnestly hopes to find success in Friday’s match.

Junior George Frano thinks the team is prepared, and that they’ve grown since the last match against Canterbury.

“The difference now is that we have a lot more older upperclassmen on the team, who are also club players which will really help us,” Frano said.

With players like Jackson Pakbaz, Kieran Cloutier, Gavin Winterhalter, and Austin Varga, this team has experience.

The match won’t be easy. Even though the team has a record of ten wins, six losses (from some of the hardest public schools in the area), and one tie, Frano says that this will be their “hardest game of the year.”

However, with “the best team chemistry” Frano has seen in his many years of soccer, the team has a chance.

Even though Canterbury is a two-hour drive, Frano thinks it’s well worth the trip.

“The fans should definitely go.”

Link in bio for more news from today.

https://www.ssesgauntlet.org/sports/2025/02/12/varsity-boys-tops-admiral-farragut-advances-to-regional-semis/

12/02/2025

"Getting to Know Our Sister School Visitors." Videographers Adam Graf and Yara Nimer, along with their team, caught up with our Argentinian friends to find out more about them in this fun, short vid.

The exchange students are set to leave tomorrow.

04/02/2025

Winter Formal is here. This Saturday. Head to the Gauntlet for Helen Carey's story, covering you need to know about this weekend's event.

On Saturday Feb. 8, the tradition of a Winter Formal will returning after a four year hiatus. The event’s theme is Winter Wonderland, and it will run from 6-8pm at the Oscura Café on Manatee Avenue. The event is organized by the Student Council, and Student Council President Victoria Neiva said t...

04/02/2025

Love is in the air... and there will be romantic tunes, too, if you purchase a "song" for your beau during StuCo's Candy Gram sale.

On sale now are lollipops, carnations, songs, and even bouquets, which will be distributed on Valentine's Day.

03/02/2025

The International Food Festival last Thursday was a total hit. Our Man-on-the-Street Sawyer Girgis was there with Jackson Pakbaz to capture the foods, the reactions, and the vibes of the event of the season.

03/02/2025

What were YOUR favorite memes of the 2024?

In “Top 5 Memes of 2024," Blake Lynch explains that Memes are more than just "wonky text-and-image" combinations. They can say a lot about a time and culture.

From the Tik Tok Rizz party, to “You are my Sunshine," check out Lynch's top five memes, along with his breakdown of each.

Memes are often thought of as text-and-images, combined for effect, to convey some form of message. But the true meaning of a meme but can also be bigger ideas like videos, songs, or even actions someone did. In this article, I’ll count down my top five favorites of this year and explain why they ...

02/02/2025

“Host Families Prepare as Argentinian Exchange Students to Arrive Monday." Story by Grace Baxendale and Kavi Riedi.

On Monday Feb. 3, exchange students from Colegio Nacional de Monsserat, one of our sister schools, will land in the nest as part of our global exchange program. The students will stay with host families for 10 days and attend classes and activities in the school community.

El Colegio and SSES have connected for over ten years, with exchanges happening in the last three, a relationship that has grown increasingly in the past years.

Exchange Program Coordinator Jennifer Hambrick worked intensely to create a successful experience for both the host families and the exchange students. What she’s most excited about is seeing the students converse in their second languages.

“The whole goal of it is the cross-cultural exchange in dialogue,” Hambrick said. “You can read about another culture in a book, you can watch a YouTube video, or listen to a podcast, but when you breathe, eat, sleep it 24/7, that’s when you can really learn.”

Hambrick planned many fun activities for the visitors, including kayaking along the bayou, spending time with Freddy Falcon, attending classes, and soaking in the sun at Manatee Public Beach.

Our hosts will also be accompanying their buddies on these excursions.

Freshman Apollo Rumpel is hosting an exchange student for the first time. Even though he didn’t get the chance to choose his buddy, in the pairing up process, he got someone he can relate to.

“I’m excited to share my country and daily life with them,” Rumpel said. “Just as I’ll experience theirs.”

The Argentinian students will be here until Feb 13, and they’ll be in many of our classes as well, so don’t be scared to say hola!

“Exchanges are magical,” Hambrick said. “I too experienced an exchange when I was younger. It was really transformational, and they are life changing.”

Link in bio for more news from today.

On Tuesday Feb. 3, exchange students from Colegio Nacional de Monsserat, one of our sister schools, will land in the nest as part of our global exchange program. The students will stay with host families for 10 days and attend classes and activities in the school community. El Colegio and SSES have....

31/01/2025

Yesterday, the International Food Festival was hosted in the Falcon Courtyard. This Falcon favorite tradition is enjoyed by all students, teachers, and parents, who experience a blending of cultures in the Palm Courtyard. From meringues to Adobo Chicken, each dish brought flavorful tastes to the festival.

Checkout some shots from yesterday's gathering, taken by Julie Harris. Stay tuned for a video featuring the International Food Festival!

Link in bio for more news from today.

31/01/2025

Bo Knows returns! On Sunday Feb 9, the Chiefs and the Eagles face off in the 2025 Super Bowl. In episode 3, Associate Editors Bode LaBelle and Jackson Pakbaz cover one of the most anticipated and hyped games of the year.

Check out this snippet from the podcast, and go to the Gauntlet to get the full scoop.

Link in bio for more news from today. Art by Lynn Minor.

Click here for the full podcast- https://www.ssesgauntlet.org/media/2025/01/31/bo-knows-podcast-episode-3/

30/01/2025

Have you ever wondered what the most popular stories of the Gauntlet are? In "Top 10 Most Read Gauntlet Stories of 2024", staff writer Luke Ribiero De Sa covers the most viewed stories.

Check out the full post to view the top 10.
Link bio for the full story and more news from today.

As the community begins 2025, now is a great time to look back at 2024. Here are the reader’s picks of 2024, based on views. 0

30/01/2025

Sawyer Girgis is our "Man on the Street," along with Kieran Cloutier. In this episode, they ask Falcons to rock their favorite dance moves. Watch on to see Mrs. Cotton do the worm, and Mr. Kraft the famous "wallflower."

Link in bio for more news from today https://www.ssesgauntlet.org/

29/01/2025

Today, Saint Stephen’s Falcons met up for yet another fun Falcon Friend Event. At the gathering, students met to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year, which was today.

With fun games like Chinese checkers and badminton, this was a great way for falcons to experience Chinese culture. Check out some photos from today’s festivities!

Upper School History Teacher Mr. Patrick Whelan is an avid supporter of the get-togethers. Whelan believes that “Falcons Friends tie different grade levels together” and that “they bring our school back to its traditions.”

Whelan was a member of the school in 1988 when Falcon Friends started, and he says that they have always been “a time to do activities- but mostly just have fun and talk to each other.”

There will be many other Falcon Friend events this year, so stay tuned for more information on the next one.

Link in bio for more news from today.