PrintSpring 2

Vol. 28, No. 3 St. Louis, Missouri - Spring 2019-2020 sjathevoice.org
Balancing
the
Busyness

the
VOICE
The Voice is published quarterly during the school year. All articles and
photographs can only be reprinted with the permission of The Voice.
The Voice welcomes letters to the editor, but will not print letters submited
anonymously. We are also online at sjathevoice.org.
Mission Statement
The duty and mission of The Voice is to share news with the St.
Joseph’s Academy community through honest, unbiased and
entertaining reporting. The Voice strives to give St. Joe students
a voice through the publication of student-produced articles and
seeks to serve as a forum for free discussion among students. The
Voice fosters the development of students into values-driven women
leaders by providing them with opportunities to discern their own
views on issues facing both the school and the larger community.
Editor-in-Chief
Mary Hayes
News Editor
Allison Leahy
Digital Editorial Manager
Parker Lewellen
Digital Editor
Megan Wilcutt
Sports Editor
Grace Becker
Photo Editor
Claire Price
Layout Editor
Lauren Bowers
Art Directors
Haley Pruett and Megan Tung
Social Media Editor
Rosie Johnson
Moderator
Mrs. Amy Summers
2

Table of Contents
Letter from the editor...................................................................................................4
How Acdemics Find their Way into Extracurriculars..................................................5
Sophie Maniscalco: Integrating Passion into Learning................................................6
Balancing on Ice...........................................................................................................7
Tips to Success: Finding a Balance...........................................................................8-9
Mrs. Sudekum Suggests Balance..........................................................................10-11
5 Lessons for a Balanced Life, from your Favorite Disney Channel Shows........12-13
Got Stress?............................................................................................................14-15
Article: Living Out Core Value “A Balanced Approach to the Whole Woman”........16
3

Remembering the Loves of Your Life
A life of balance is not easy to maintain. On a surfboard, when you lean too heavily on one side, you
fall off! In life, it’s easy to neglect certain aspects of your life in order to accel in another. However, balance
is so critical to a healthy and happy life. As one of the core values of our community, balance keeps our lives
steady and sane. With balance, you are encouraged to pursue more than one interest. Although it creates more
responsibility, it also brightens up each day because you made the conscious effort to embrace your gifts in
multiple aspects of your life, never limiting yourself. It is commitment that extends far beyond one club,
sport, or extracurricular. St. Joe girls are unique in their tireless commitment to so many different activities.
Stereotypes fly out the door as you walk the hallways and see an artist, athlete, and scholar in just one
individual.
Throughout life, we, as individuals, just want to get to know ourselves. In times of uncertainty, it feels
easy to label who you are. When I entered high school, I felt scared and unsure of the person I was and wanted
to be. I labeled myself “theater kid.” Of course, that is an accurate label, but it limited me from exploring what
other labels I might have. I closed myself off from the possibility of being something more.
However, after a few months, I saw that the upperclassmen who I admired, and who really knew who
they were, constantly did things I wouldn’t expect. They were involved all over the school, not restricting
themselves to only one or two activities or areas of interests. They were busy upperclassmen, constantly
buzzing from one place to another. One friend in particular, had rehearsal on a Tuesday, followed by racquetball,
followed by a poetry slam. I looked at her puzzled, asking, “Why would you do that? That is too much!” She
laughed and agreed, but I remember her saying “It’s not hard to make time for the things you love. It’s just
about balance.”
Those upperclassmen guided me to take risks, try new activities, follow my passions, and embrace
balance. I pride myself as a newspaper, campus ministry, steminist, theater kid, and I couldn’t imagine it any
other way. Balance is the embracement of each thing our heart desires (or as I call them, “the many loves of my
life”). Do not wait to start embracing.
Wishing you the best with the many loves of your life,
Mary Hayes
Editor in Chief ‘20
4

How Academics Find Their
Way Into Extracurriculars
By Sophie Gloriod
Art by Haley Pruett
St. Joe is filled with exciting clubs and
extracurriculars, many of which help with
academics. Beta Chi Pi, National English
Honors Society (NEHS), Rho Kappa, Mu
Alpha Theta, The Voice, Writing Club,
Language Honor Societies, JoeBotics, Speech,
and Youth and Government are just a few.
NEHS is one example of a club that
encourages growth in academics, all while
being fun and interactive for the members.
Junior Megan Tung has been a member for
two semesters and has loved every meeting.
“I love how NEHS allows me to have
an opportunity to casually write and not feel
pressured to write in perfect grammar and
MLA format,” Megan said.
Another club that promotes both
academics and entertainment is JoeBotics.
Girls on the JoeBotics team meet on Tuesdays
to build and program a robot. This year, the
team attended a qualifier and received second
place for the Inspire Award, allowing them
to advance to state, and first place for the
Control Award! The team is also second place
for winning alliance finals. Madison Weishaar
has been on the team for three years and has
loved it since freshman year.
“Joebotics really makes my day a lot
better. I like being able to focus on something
and getting to see my friends after a long day
of school work,” Weishaar explained.
JoeBotics has improved Weishaar’s
engineering skills and prepared her for new
college experiences.
Senior Sydney Hilker has been a part
of JoeBotics for four years.
“JoeBotics has helped grow in my
STEM skills but also has helped me become
a better teammate. I will truly miss it next
year,” Sydney said.
Youth and Government is the club for
all things politics. Students meet Wednesday
mornings for several weeks to prepare for
the convention in early November. Students
are given the opportunity to create a bill and
present it to the student chosen to be governor
and the rest of the student judges.
Senior Abby Koch has been a part
of Youth and Government (YAG) for two
years. This year, she was a part of the Judicial
branch this year, and had a wonderful
experience.
“YAG teaches me to get involved in
current events and politics, and I know I will
forever be interested thanks to the opportunity
by St. Joe,” Abby said.
St. Joe has many clubs that help fit
academics into extracurriculars. These clubs
are just one way St. Joe helps promote a
balanced lifestyle and creates balanced
women.
5

Sophie
Maniscalco:
Integrating
Passion
into Learning
By Haley Pruett
Sophie Maniscalco, a junior at St. Joseph’s Academy, dedicates multitudes of her
time to coding each week. Working as a coding school teacher in her free time, Sophie
exemplifies what it means to integrate her passions into learning. Sophie’s coding journey
began the summer she participated in the camp, Kode with Klossy.The camp made her
realize how much she loved coding, because she had never done it before.
“I literally could not have told you what ‘code’ meant. But after those two weeks,
my life was forever changed. It was the first time I discovered something I was truly
passionate about - and I loved it. It was my first real hobby,” Sophie said.
Through Kode with Klossy, she finds herself able to have extreme enjoyment
in her new passion for learning to code.Coding, an activity that requires many different
skills, can be easily learned when one acts with dedication. Through coding, Sophie
remarks that she has learned how to put her ideas into action.
“I thought of an idea for an app for my phone, and then I coded it and built the
app,” Sophie said. “It’s so cool because you learn how to bring your ideas to life through
technology.”
This app that Sophie created has recently won an award, and it will be displayed
on Capitol Hill. Not only has Sophie made great coding achievements, but she has also
made new achievements in leadership and teamwork. Sophie says coding has shown her
how to work with others.
“With coding comes a lot of teamwork, because most of the time a project
cannot be completed by just one person... You have to know how to work together and
bring new solutions to the table, especially when you find a bug in your code,” Sophie
remarked.
This new sense of leadership helps Sophie excel in her passion for coding. One
of Sophie’s newest ventures in her passion for learning through coding includes teaching
young students at her old grade school how to code in an after-school program each
week.
“I was driven to do this after noticing the lack of women within technology. I
knew that there needed to be a solution to this,” Sophie said.
She contacted a friend of hers from Marquette High School who co-founded
Super Girls Code (SGC), which offers coding programs for all ages.
“We thought it was important to have high school girls as teachers because we knew
kids are more engaged hearing from someone new that they can look up to,”
Sophie said they introduce women in STEM “because it’s important to recognize
the women past and present whose achievements go unnoticed - we always just learn
about the men in the textbooks.”
Then, students participate in an ice breaker so the girls get to know each other,
then Sophie teaches a coding lesson, and then the girls do a coding project using the info
they learned in the lesson.
Clearly, Sophie’s passion provokes learning for both her and her students in all
that she does. Sophie encourages all those who are wanting to pursue a passion to do so,
because the outcomes could be life changing.
6

Wake up. Go to school. Come home. Do homework. Eat.
Sleep. Repeat. This is the typical chain of events for the day of a
high school student. A constant cycle of stress, school, and sleep
plagues so many teenages. After seven hours of sitting at a desk,
students come home, backpacks full of books, with the realization
they will eventually have to sit down for additional hours of
schoolwork on their own time. Many barely manage to get through
the day without a cloud of stress and to-do lists billowing over their
heads. The overwhelming amount of activities students need to
accomplish arouses the question, how can students manage it all?
Over her past four years of high school, senior Natalie
Mispagel has become an expert on all things time management.
Natalie is a dedicated synchronized ice skater, skating before and
after school, traveling for competitions over the weekend, and
constantly balancing both on the ice and balancing her activities in
life.
“On Mondays, I skate before school from 6am to 7am
and then after school from 3:30 till 5pm. I skate six days a week
and average about eighteen hours a week of practice time,” she
explained.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, she goes straight from school
to babysitting and then again to skate for
four additional hours. And amid this craziness, she also
manages to drive a carpool to school.
Beyond her rigorous schedule, Natalie not only finds a
way to manage her skating practices, but she also excels in classes,
maintains a social life, works a job, and stays involved in a myriad
of extra-curriculars.
“I admire Natalie’s constant drive. She works rigorously day
in and day out, juggling more activities than the average student. On
top of it all, she still finds time to encourage, help, and support her
classmates,” senior Allison Leahy said.
An important step for time management is having passion
behind each of your activities. Mispagel loves her activities, so she
makes time for them. Of course, this type of lifestyle comes with its
challenges. She spends many long nights, spends weekends catching
up or getting ahead on school work, and works productively and
quickly on each task set in front of her. However, these hardships
are lightened by the result: embracing all of her interests.
Balancing on Ice
by Megan Wilcut 7

Tips to Success: Finding a Balance
by Sophia Gabriele
Photos by Lauren Bowers
As the end of the school year approches, school can start to feel very stressful.
In this article, you’ll find 10 helpful tips to succeed in your classes, as well as keeping a
balance between school and your outside life.
Review new information learned the day of
Instead of stressing out the night before a test because you have to learn weeks
of content, study a little bit every night. This will prevent you from forgetting the
information quickly as well. If you review every night, the night before the test will be
much less stressful!
Get enough sleep
Sleep is so important for success. Without sleep, you will not be able to focus,
study, or retain information. Finish your homework as soon as you can, so you can go
to sleep early!
Don’t procrastinate
Procrastination is the enemy of many. Procrastinators oftentimes have to rush
at the last minute to complete their work, resulting in more stress. When you finish
work at the last minute, it is also more likely to be less quality work. So, put down your
phone, finish your assignments early, and be grateful later: :)
Write down all of your assignments
Writing down your homework, upcoming tests, quizzes, and projects will help
you remember to complete them. There is no worse stress when you forget to finish an
assignment. Get a planner or simply a piece of paper to write everything down so you
won’t forget! It is very satisfying to cross something off your list.
8

Study the days prior to your test
Attempting to study weeks of information at once proves to be very difficult. Divide up
concepts you wish to understand the days before the test, so the night before can be
simply review. This also allows for you to find concepts you don’t understand and come
up with questions to ask your teacher in class.
Break big tasks into small tasks
Big projects and assignments can feel very overwhelming. Divide up each part of the
assignment to be completed on different nights. This will help relieve stress, and will
also assure you get the assignment finished!
Stay organized
Being organized is super helpful when studying or completing an assignment. Use
binder dividers to organize your binder by section, topic, or anything you want!
Keeping your coursework organized will relieve lots of stress!
Put away distractions
Having distractions around when trying to finish schoolwork is what causes stress later.
Phones, TV’s, and other electronics will keep you from finishing school work efficiently.
Set timers on your phone, requiring you to work for certain amounts of time. Then,
reward yourself with some phone time once you complete everything:).
Submit assignments once you finish
Submitting assignments as soon as you finish will relieve the stress of turning in an
assignment two minutes before it’s due on Canvas. Turning in assignments early also
allows you to no longer worry about the assignments and move on to the next task.
TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF
None of the above steps are applicable unless you take care of yourself first! Eat
healthy, get a good night’s sleep, exercise, spend time with your friends, take naps, and
remember self care is so important to succeed in your everyday encounters:)
9

10
St. Joe is full of hard working,
determined young girls. Every Angel
wants to do her best and succeed in her
highschool career. However, sometimes
school seems like the number one
thing. Finding balance between school,
extracurriculars, service, creating
strong friendships, and working is an
important part of high school.
Principal Jennifer Sudekum, who
is also a St. Joe alumna, agrees that
balance is crucial to developing the full
woman.
“Balance allows students to
develop time management skills that
they can use throughout their lives,”
Mrs. Sudekum said.
Many girls devote all their time to
one aspect of their life, like school,
work, or social media. This can cause
the girls to have trouble focusing on the
more boring parts of their days.
“It is not healthy in general.
Making sure you set aside time during
your day for work and fun is crucial
to finding balance and success,” Mrs.
Sudekum said.
Many Angels think that perfection
is needed for success. This is not true!
Part of our job as humans is to embrace
our imperfections, letting them guide us
to become better. Overworking oneself
until a breakdown is not the way to go.
Mrs.
Sudekum

Suggests
Balance
By Sophie Gloriod
Art by Haley Pruett
“A little stress isn’t a bad thing,
but when it builds up is when it gets
unhealthy. You have to prioritize,” Mrs.
Sudekum said.
St. Joe is filled with values-driven
leaders with many different talents
and hobbies. Finding an activity you
love and making time during your day
to explore those interests is essential
to relieving stress. This creates the
opportunity to relax and enjoy the task
at hand.
“Participating in an activity
that you love gives you the ability to
develop new skills and find a way to
relax, ” Mrs. Sudekum agreed.
Although St. Joe pushes each
Angel to her best potential, St. Joe
also stresses the importance of finding
balance in life. St. Joe is a loving
community full of faculty and staff who
truly love the students, wanting nothing
but the best for them.
Mrs. Sudekum continued: “Time
management is a skill you will use
your entire life. Especially as women
it is important to make time for all the
important things in our lives.”
By following the advice of Mrs.
Sudekum way, the Angels of St. Joe are
able to grow in a new way, embracing
their many talents and living happier,
healthier lives.
11

Hannah Montana
No, you may not be
struggling to juggle your
life as a teen popstar and
student, but chances are you
feel overwhelmed every so
often. Hannah taught us that
even when you’re feeling
stressed in a situation,
life needs balance. It’s
important to make your
friendships, relationships,
and your passion a priority,
but most importantly, you
have to do what’s best for
you and focus on your own
well-being. Remember that
“life’s a climb”, and, in
order to make it, you have
to stay true to yourself and
who you are to make it.
Jessie Prescott
The character of Jessie
taught us the importance
of risk-taking in our lives.
Jessie took a chance as a
nanny to family in New
York, and ended up with
some of the best memories
and years of her life. To
achieve happiness in life,
sometimes you will have
to rely on judgement and
take risks. Remember that
nothing is ever just “too
far” out of your comfort
zone for you (the words of
the beloved Bertram), and
remember that anything is
possible!
The Russo Family
Whenever Alex found
herself in trouble, she
taught us to rely on the
support of family. No one
will ever know you the
way that your family, or
anyone who has become
like family, does. The
Russo family is a perfect
description of how friends
may come and go, but
family is forever. Whether
you’re in trouble, feeling
overwhelmed, or in need of
some advice, it’s important
to go to the people closest
to you and ask for help.
12

Written by Mary Dill
Art by Lauren Bowers
As children and young teenagers, many of us recall the time we spent watching some of Disney
Channel’s most iconic shows. Many argued that this time spent in front of the TV was overwhelming
and unhealthy, but regardless we learned some of our most valuable lessons from these shows that
ran throughout our childhood. Shows like Hannah Montana, Jessie, Wizards of Waverly Place, That’s
So Raven, and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody often had deeper messages that taught us profound
things about the philosophy of life.
Raven Baxter
Raven spent her entire life
being able to see the future
and receiving visions. She
would often become so
obsessed with her visions
that she ended up planning
a lot of her life. But
sometimes, even when we
create a plan for ourselves,
things just don’t work out
the way we hoped. Life
should be about living in
the moment and taking
baby steps towards a
better future. A path to a
balanced life shouldn’t be
about tedious planning,
it should be about doing
what makes you happy,
even if it means not
knowing what will happen
next.
Esteban Ramirez
At first glance, Esteban’s
character may not seem
to impart the most
wisdom, but his quotes,
though humorous, teach
us a lot about having a
positive outlook on life.
Sometimes life can be
full of misfortunes, and
no character knows that
better than Esteban, who
experienced tragedy on
a daily basis. Though
sometimes it may
seem like the worst has
happened and you can’t
recover, but part of living
a healthy life is learning
to pick yourself up again.
Remember that there
is always hope for a
“deesaster” no matter how
difficult it may be.
13

got STRESS?
Advice and concrete
tips to battle the
stresses of
highschool and life
14
Quiz and art by
Lauren Bowers
What stresses
you the most?
Grades/commitments/
work
Relationsships
Bad health habits
affecting daily life
What about it
worries you?
Keeping up good
grades/ too many
extracurriculars
Feel like you need to get
grades up, take harder
classes, fill up resume
Friend drama
Family troubles
Spending too much time
on electronics
Feel generally unhealthy
(bad sleep schedule, out of
shape, need to eat better)

How are you
handling it?
Surviving (barely) with a
lot of hard work
Not really doing
anything (no motivation)
Trying but
‘falling short’
Having trouble finding
the right people
Fighting and drama
Not very close
Advice and Tips:
You most likely find little to no time between school, homework, and
extracurriculars. The few minutes during carrides or before bed you
spend trying to be somewhat social on snapchat. Little do you know, face to face
interactions will leave you more satisfied and happier.
Try taking advantage of any ‘free-time’ you have. Talk to a family
member on your drive home from school, or socialize with members of your
team or club during short breaks. Don’t think of this as another task on your
long to-do list, but more as a gift to yourself.
Watching shows or scrolling through apps for hours on end, or bingeing,
often actually makes us cranky, tired, and behind instead of feeling
relaxed. While self-care icludes relaxing, self-love requires you doing things that
will make you feel better about yourself now and in the future. Replacing binging
with a limited amount of screen time will not only allow more time for studying
and productivity, but you might start to enjoy the shows or apps more.
If you have an iPhone, set a screen time that requires a passwword
that all of your friends and family know except you.
One of the biggest goals of a highschooler is getting into college. While
we usually think of grades being the first and only thing colleges look at,
colleges would rather have a hard worker than a burnt out student who only got
good grades in high school.
Find ways to use your talents to impress colleges while having fun.
Join interesting clubs and do service with friends, and your resume will be
that much longer. Impress your favorite teacher and get close to them, and
they can write an amazing reccomendation letter.
High school friendships are easy for no one. Everyone feels either lost for
a while or a little awkward now and then. You could have a ton of friends
at school and practices, but every person wants close friends that make them feel
happy and loved. Those connections aren’t going to be made right away though.
Stop making excuses that keep you from reaching out to people who
make you happy. No one will be annoyed by you, and friendships between
different friend groups or schools happen all the time. Just remeber that every
conversation makes the next one easier.
Open communication is a crucial step to building and maintaining
relationships, but the baby steps in between are just as important.
Everyone wants to feel appreciated. Even if it doesn’t solve the problem, giving
someone appreciation or a light laugh can help mend relationships.
Go through your camera roll or photo album and find a picture of a
happy memory with someone you wish you were talking to more. You can
also find a funny picture or video online that will make them smile. Send or
give it to them out of the blue.
While we usually consider not sleeping as a result of stress and
studying, late nights and unhealthy habits can lead to more stress too.
You’ll see people around you on strict diets, three hours of sleep, or eating only
junk, but it doesn’t mean you should.
Put your phone in a different room when your body says your tired,
not when your friends stop texting you. Eat what makes you feel good, which
might mean eating less greasy foods that give you headaches or eating more
carbs and proteins for energy.
15

16
Article: Living Out Core Value “A Balanced
Approach to the Whole Woman”
By: Maggie Mays
Art by Megan Tung
As exciting as it is that we have recently
reached the halfway mark for the semester, this
can be a time where stress and a variety of mental
and physical obstacles begin to kick in. However,
there is luckily a plethora of tactics to improve your
overall well-being.
We have all heard that exercise can improve
our physical state of being; however, it can have
an abundance of positive effects on mental health
as well. Exercise releases endorphins, which can
lift your spirits and make you feel more at ease. In
addition to this, it relaxes your muscles and takes
away the built-up tension in your body. Because the
mind and body are heavily
connected, when our body feels good
oftentimes so does our mind. This can
help with a multitude of mental illnesses.
A study at Harvard found that running
for fifteen minutes a day or walking for an hour a
day can decrease depression rates by twenty-six
percent. It can ease anxiety and stress, and the
levels of dopamine and serotonin that are increased
during exercises can help those with ADHD.
An article labeled “The Mental Health Benefits
of Exercise” goes on to say, “Exercise works in
much the same way as ADHD medications such as
Ritalin and Adderall.”
Members from our St. Joe community are
already reaping the benefits of exercise. Sophomore
Alyssa Yelton plays field hockey and is on the
swim team at St. Joe. Alyssa said, “I truly believe
that playing sports and exercising help relieve
my stress because each time I jump in the pool or
play field hockey I don’t think about any of my
worries.” Her mother, Mrs. Smith-Yelton, who
is the PE coach at SJA, agrees that exercise is,
indeed, an excellent outlet to control stress levels.
Allison Jansen, also a sophomore at St.
Joe, plays basketball, volleyball and runs track and
field. Allison said, “Exercising clears my mind of
all the stress I carry around with me throughout the
day.”
It sounds like there are all benefits and no
consequences when it comes to physical activity.
Not only does our physical
state affect our mental
health, but studies have
shown that an excess
amount of stress can have
detrimental effects on our bodies. The Journal of
Occupational and Environmental Medicine found
that, “Health care expenditures are nearly 50
percent greater for workers who report high levels
of stress.” This means that people who are dealing
with an overload of stress experience a greater
amount of medical-related issues.
One way to cope with stress is to break
up your day-to-day routine a bit. Yes, routines
can often have a variety of positive effects on
people, but it is also healthy to mix things up
occasionally. When you break your routine,
it stimulates your brain activity and gives it
something to almost “wake it up.”
As an article titled “Why Breaking Your
Routine is Vital for Your Brain Function” by
psychologist Serena Simmons puts it, “Think of it
as keeping your brain on its toes if you will. This
could be as simple as taking a different route to
school, trying out new food options during lunch,
or even sitting in a different spot in the cafeteria
than usual. This goes to show that you don’t have
to re-arrange your entire lifestyle to improve your
mental health.”
It is never too late to start a routine of
exercise or change up your daily rituals. As we
are starting the second semester, it reminds us to
prioritize our well being. In short, let us stress the
importance of not stressing!