The Gauntlet

20/12/2024

Feature Video Drop! Annette Logan and Lark Rippy take a deep dive "Behind the Scenes With the Academic Team" to find out what fuels a team that has won the county championship ten years in a row.

Logan and Rippy interview members, faculty advisors, and cover the Commisioners Academic Challenge, a quiz-bowl event that the A-Team took first and second place in.

Link in bio to watch it in full effect.

20/12/2024

Sawyer Girgis seeks to change the world in his new piece "How to Max Out Your Aura."

Our noble staffer writes: "I’m here to tell you that not all brain rot is rot, specifically, the trend of maxxing out your aura."

From there, Girgis wisdom flows, as he outlines 3 steps reach the levels of aura-legends like James Dean. The steps are: Nonchalance, Strength and Humility, and Priority and Sacrifice.

This satire (sort of) is one you don't want to miss. Link in bio or more news from today.

*The following piece is satire, sort of. Many people think that brain rot is a funny topic. (Believe it or not, it’s Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year, defined as “low quality online internet content.”) And brain rot is taking social media by storm, becoming a part of teenager’s everyda...

19/12/2024

This weekend is going to be huuuuuge. In "Bo's Picks: College Football Playoffs" Associate Ed Bode LaBelle shares his quick-analysis and picks for this weekend's college ball playoff match-ups.

Friday and Saturday, teams ranked in the 5-12 spots square off, while seeds 1-4 have a bye week. The winners of the first-round games will face the 1-4 seeds in the quarterfinals as part of the first-ever 12-team tournament.

Bode, in expert fashion, breaks down all of the big matchups, shares his picks, and asks for your vote, so head to the link and cast yours.

The playoff kicks off with teams ranked in the 5-12 spots squaring off, while seeds 1-4 have a bye week. The winners of the first-round games will face the 1-4 seeds in the quarterfinals.   10 Indiana Hoosiers (11-1) at 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (11-1) Friday, 12/20, 8:00 PM, ABC Winner plays: 2 ...

18/12/2024

Check out this teaser for today's Gingerbread House Building Competition Photo Gallery by Lucy Preston.

As part of a Christmas-themed spirit competition, delegates from each grade (including 7th and 8th) competed in a 10-minute gingerbread house-making competition. The results: seniors in 1st, juniors 2nd, freshmen 3rd and sophomores in 4th. The MS teams finished in 5th and 6th places.

Link here for the whole gallery https://www.ssesgauntlet.org/photo-galleries/2024/12/18/gingerbread-house-contest-delights-us-and-ms-onlookers/ #

17/12/2024

Always a banger! Today's "Christmas Chapel Takeover" in Christ Church featured the tradition of the entire US singing 'The Twelve Days of Christmas," led by the Grady and Hoonhout advisories.

The chapel also entailed various sing-alongs with the US Band leading the way.

16/12/2024

Click here for the full video: https://www.ssesgauntlet.org/media/video/2024/12/13/honor-council-more-than-just-crime-and-punishment/
Taser: "The Honor Council is Much More than just Crime and Punishment". Head to the site for the full video by Adam Graf and Yara Nimer.

As the two videographers take a deep dive into the Honor Council, they find that the group encourages growth, fosters moral standards, and supplies leadership on campus.

13/12/2024

Click for the Weekly Roundup in sports!

Welcome to the newest addition to The Gauntlet’s sports section - the “Weekly Roundup” features bite-sized updates on every active team now in athletic action.

You’ll find news overviews, recent wins/losses, and interviews that will keep you up-to-date on sports here at Saint Stephen’s.

The Roundup will drop every Friday, so head to the site for the first edition, and every Friday after that.

Photo by Betsy Neal. Story by Sarah Black, Bode LaBelle, Sophia Azzopardi, and Blake Lynch. Edited by Sarah Black.

Girls Weightlifting— Story by Sarah Black The Girls Varsity Weightlifting Team, led by Head Coach Erik Schulz, currently boasts an undefeated 4-0 record. With only two more in-season meets left, the girls are already looking toward the postseason. Returning after a season-ending injury, Senior Cap...

12/12/2024

Here is a close look at some of the best decorated Christmas doors this year taken by Photographer Lucy Preston.

Link in bio for more news from today

12/12/2024

Know what's going on with Winter sports teams? If not, we got you. In "Fresh New Faces and Ambitious Expectations," you'll find a sports story that covers the season overviews, records, and recent wins/losses of our winter sports teams.

Writers Andrei Black, Laila Yavalar, and Kavi Riedi caught up with coaches and captains to discuss, with a focus on NEW FACES that are bringing the heat to winter sports.

The 2024-2025 varsity soccer team is off to a hot 6-1-1 start, led by Head Coach Oisin Crean. After a lackluster 23-24 season, where the Falcons finished 4-6-4, the team has already made key improvements.

11/12/2024

Which Saint Stephen’s team has won 9 of the last 10 county championships? Answer: The Academic Team!

Last night at the County Championships, hosted by Saint Stephens, the A- Team took home 1st and 2nd place for both the meet and the season. Check out some B-roll from last night's event, filmed by Videographer Annette Logan.

Saint Stephens also has the county’s 1st, 2nd, and 3rd leading scorers. Pearson Walters is the 1st leading scorer, Dylan Dam the 2nd, and Cooper Henry the 3rd. Congratulations to our top scorers!

The 2 leading supervisors, Mr. Seth Carlson and Mrs. Christina Pommer are thrilled by the performance of the A-Team. Mrs. Pommer said, “We have a ton of new members this year, so to continue and come in first and second place is fantastic. We have had the county trophy for 9 of the last 10 years.”

Another amazing A-Team stat is that “80 people hear all of the questions at the same time and our SSES team buzzed in before other teams at over one third of the questions last night.”

Next week, the Gauntlet is slated to release a Feature video, highlighting the team, so stay tuned.

Link in bio for more news from today.

10/12/2024

What was your last impulse buy online - Was it a Peloton roller? An engraved Selfie Stick? An iced out new phone case?

Are you really using these things? Or are they gathering dust in some corner of your room? If so, you may be the audience of "Swipe, Buy, Regret," Sophia Azzopardi's new Opinion about the perils of online over-consumption.

Azzopardi quotes Reshma Barnes in her story, which is all about how online shopping, addictive as it is, preys on all of us: “Yeah I’d say I am definitely addicted to online shopping,” Barnes said. “Once I open the app there’s so much I feel like I wanna buy everything. It’s like a trap.”

Head to the site now to read about the dangers of online shopping, and how to curb it in your own life. Art by Al Lombardi.

In the U.S alone, Amazon sells about 8,600 goods per minute. Every day, of every year. And Amazon is just one of many online shopping platforms selling in the US, an industry that is estimated to make over $1 trillion each year. Online shopping has reinvented retail, offering convenience and almost....

10/12/2024

It’s Door Decoration time!

The annual Advisory Door Decoration Contest will be held from now until Dec.12

The contest features upper school advisories, who decorate their advisor’s doors in holiday fashion in what has historically been a fierce competition for spirit points in the weeks leading up to the holiday break. Advisories are allowed to decorate their doors, wall area around the door, and their cubby area.

On Dec. 12th, class advisors of each grade will choose the strongest door in their grade level, to be judged against the other classes by a panel of art teacher judges on Dec 16.

1st place winners will win 50 spirit points, 2nd place 35, 3rd place 20, and 4th place will win 5. All advisories are encouraged to be creative and go all out!

Story by Sophia Azzopardi. Art by Lynn Minor

09/12/2024

True or False: Mrs. Conn grew up on military bases in the Philippines? Mrs. Conn moved to South Korea due to a volcano eruption? Mrs. Conn lived in Japan? Answer to all three? True!

Upper School Head Mrs. Conn has truly done it all, and in Blake Lynch's Feature, “The Journey of Mrs. Anna Conn,” he highlights the stories that make Mrs. Conn, Mrs. Conn.

Head to Lynch’s Feature, now on The Gauntlet. (Link in bio.)

From growing up on several different army bases in the Philippines to becoming the director of the Upper School here at Saint Stephen’s, Mrs. Anna Conn has been through a lot. Conn’s parents were both teachers overseas at Department of Defense schools, which meant that she and her brother moved ...

05/12/2024

In their Sports story "Varsity Swim Caps Stellar Season With 3 Top 20 Finishes," Sawyer Girgis and Haiel Suwaity profile the squads journey to the State Championship in mid-November.

Head to the story for coach and player interviews and a rundown of the epic swim season. Click the link below. Photo by Mikayla Hertzler.
https://www.ssesgauntlet.org/sports/2024/12/05/varsity-swim-caps-stellar-season-with-3-top-20-finishes/

05/12/2024

Before we left for Thanksgiving Break, Saint Stephen’s hosted the annual Grandparents Day event. On November 22nd, students got the chance to connect with their grandparents, in events like musical performances and dances. Check out this preview for the photo gallery on the Gauntlet website by Lucy Preston.

Click the link here for the full gallery https://www.ssesgauntlet.org/

04/12/2024

Lots of upcoming sport events this week, including tonight! Show up to support the Boy's and Girl's soccer teams and the Boy's Basketball team.

Link in bio for more news from today.

03/12/2024

A few weeks ago, Mrs. Conn and Mr. Moore were named as permanent Upper School Director and Assistant Upper School Director, respectively. Read all about the transition in Lark Rippy and Annette Logan's News story, now up on the site.

Following the departure of the Upper School Director Mr. Andrew Forrester from our administration last year, Mrs. Conn and Mr. Moore, already pillars in our school community, stepped in to hold down the fort as interim upper school directors. However, as of October 18, Conn and Moore were officially...

02/12/2024

Wow! Congratulations to Staff Writer Kavi Riedi for winning our third Best of SNO this year! In Riedi’s article is titled “Junior Matthew Christian is Ready to Take Flight”. He covers Saint Stephen’s Junior Matthew Christian’s journey to earning his private piloting license.

A journalist earns a Best of SNO publication by meeting the publication’s high standards. SNO will also post the story to their professional news site. A big thank you to our readers: Your support, following, and engagement of our articles and staff helps support our program and student journalism.

Link in bio for more news from today