Are you a fan of Seinfeld? Join the Seinfeld club. Do you enjoy surprising people? There’s a club for that, too. At St. Louis University High School, students can tap into their interests to form almost any club they can imagine. Labeled as “co-curriculars,” these extracurricular activities are meant to be a part of the educational progress of students, explains Brock Kesterson, assistant principal for students and student activities.
“It’s all about keeping the guys active and engaged and fulfilling the side of our mission of building them as a whole person,” Kesterson says.
SLUH makes it easy for students to take the initiative to start their own clubs with few requirements, allowing students to take ownership of the process. With more than 50 co-curriculars currently offered, there are many opportunities to build camaraderie within the student body and between students and faculty.
“It’s neat to see the students—and even the faculty moderators—get involved in something they really have a genuine interest in, like NASCAR, for example,” explains Kesterson.
Although the school has some offbeat co-curriculars, it also offers the traditional clubs you would have seen 20 years ago, like student council, the school newspaper, and mock trial. Kesterson sees the expansion of co-curricular activities at the school in the past couple of decades as a product, in part, of students wanting to do more résumé-building for a more competitive collegiate application process.
“Students are feeling more pressure to have a long list of activities on their résumé when they’re applying to colleges, and our approach now gives them the opportunity to think outside the box from the standard clubs,” he explains. “Some of the clubs are more enduring than others, but it’s a great way to make the guys feel like they are part of the process in building what the school has to offer.”
