2022 Grande Project

The Grande Project St. Louis University High Class of 2022 “When the Gospel grows little feet.”

THE GRANDE PROJECT The Grande Project was borne in 2020 from a moment of necessity. Faced with shuttered service agencies around St. Louis during the COVID-19 pandemic, Campus Ministry faced a choice: cancel Senior Project, or design an alternative. We chose the latter. Knowing the power of direct service in disturbing a self-centered aura among our students, we created an alternative project that challenged seniors to safely engage with an outside, marginalized population, in a time when so many students were forced to isolate or withdraw. It is a project generated and sustained by a spirit of hopeful trust and optimism. Then in 2021, with service agencies still not ready to welcome a critical mass of volunteers, Campus Ministry revised and renewed the Grande Project for the Class of 2022.

Anchoring this year’s project was a two-week intensive period in January 2022, where senior classes were cancelled, presentations and seminars were organized, and full attention could be given to the project. Named after Saint Rutilio Grande, SJ, friend and inspiration of Archbishop Oscar Romero, the Grande Project is an advocacy project with four goals:

We are once again proud of how our seniors adapted to some challenging circumstances. This issue highlights 12 medal-winning projects that emerged after two rounds of adjudication: first from faculty & staff project advisors, then by the Campus Ministry Grande Project organizers.

To the many adult project advisors and presenters, we send our humble thanks for so generously working with the seniors on the ground level.

Before we present the ten medal-winning projects, we’d also like to commend the 14 other “Honorable Mention” projects.

Honorable Mention Projects • Charlie Bieg

• Danny Phillips

• Luke Brown

• Zach Renner

• Demonstrate care and concern for a marginalized population;

• Jack DuMont

• Nathan Sewell

• Listen to those living the experience, to those on the frontline, to Catholic Tradition, to their heart, to their conscience, and to their own experience;

• Sam French

• Will Shorey & Richard Taylor

• Exercise their God-given privilege (gifts, talents, and opportunities) to give voice to the voiceless by becoming an engaged advocate in today’s world; with the ultimate goal of:

• Andrew Kessler

• Mac Southern

• Baker Pashea

• Charlie Stewart

• John Peretz

• Alex Wentz

• Awakening seniors’ God-given ability to bring about a more loving and equitable world.

St. Rutilio Grande, pray for us.

GRANDE PROJECT MEDAL WINNER

Elias Dernlan

GRANDE PROJECT MEDAL WINNER

Tanner Dougherty

Topic: Mental Health

Topic: LGBTQ+ Issues

Audience: SLUH Students

Audience: SLUH Faculty & Staff

Format: Rhetorical Essay

Format: Persuasive Video

“My biggest takeaway from my project is that in order to change anything bigger than you, you must first change the biases and struggles within yourself. It is important to change what you are dealing with before telling others to change themselves. Take the log out of your eye before taking the speck out of someone else’s.”

Click here to read to Eli’s essay, “Creating a Tolerant Future: How We Can Combat Toxic Masculinity Early”

“This project changed me because it taught me what it truly was like to advocate. I’ve never done deep research on a topic in order to present to those who are in control of my community. This experience really opened my eyes and advocacy is a lot more appealing to me than what it was before.”

Click here to view Tanner’s video

GRANDE PROJECT MEDAL WINNER

Jack Figge

GRANDE PROJECT MEDAL WINNER

Jude Fucetola

Topic: Pornography

Topic: Gender Equality

Audience: Your Faith Community

Audience: SLUH Students

Format: Editorial

Format: Podcast

“My biggest takeaway is that this project left me feeling very inspired and passionate to do more with this topic, but also with Catholic media. This was the first time I had tried writing on something for a strictly Catholic media source, and I loved it. I feel that God may be calling me to work on Catholic media and evangelize through that medium.”

Click here to read Jack’s editorial

“My biggest takeaway from the project is that the most damaging issue facing women in music in terms of gender inequity and sexism is race and ethnicity bias. I was surprised to hear that the issue of misrepresentation of race was so closely linked with sexism and gender inequity. It made me think about how my project was related with projects about racial justice and how I can draw connections between the two to better advocate for my group.”

Click here to listen to Jude’s podcast

GRANDE PROJECT MEDAL WINNER

George Henken

GRANDE PROJECT MEDAL WINNER

Nicholas La Presta

Topic: Human Trafficking

Topic: Mental Health

Audience: SLUH Faculty & Staff

Audience: SLUH Faculty & Staff

Format: Website

Format: Podcast

“I see God in those that I advocated for in their vulnerability. God is all about being with those who are vulnerable and need his help. Since the victims of human trafficking are often in the most vulnerable of situations, I see God working in them and being with them through their times of challenge.”

“My biggest takeaway from the project is that we need a lot more education about mental health at all levels of schooling, but especially in high school because that is the time in which these issues most often emerge.”

Click here to view George’s website, “Child Sex Trafficking in the St. Louis Area”

Click here to listen to Nick’s podcast, “What SLUH can do better to help their students with mental health”

GRANDE PROJECT MEDAL WINNER

Gavin Lawhorn

GRANDE PROJECT MEDAL WINNER

Peter Mueller

Topic: Mental Health

Topic: Ecological Justice

Audience: SLUH Students

Audience: Elected Officials

Format: Persuasive Video

Format: Letter

“My biggest takeaway was that for the rest of my life social media will pose a threat to my mental health, but there are ways to use social media in a way that builds my character instead of degrading my mental health.”

“ This project changed me by making me recognize the struggles and worries of poor communities who have little to no help when they’re struggling. Before it was almost as though I would say “thankfully that flood wasn’t me” but now its been converted to “what can I do to help”.

Click here to view Gavin’s video on mental health and social media

Click here to read Peter’s letter on protecting and defending low-income communities in St. Louis against floods

GRANDE PROJECT MEDAL WINNER

Tucker Thomas

GRANDE PROJECT MEDAL WINNER

AJ Thompson & Gus Tettamble

Topic: Mental Health

Topic: Homelessness

Audience: SLUH Students

Audience: Faith Community

Format: Podcast

Format: Podcast AJ Thompson

“ I had a suspicion going into the project about the amount of students dealing with anxiety but by seeing my survey results that suspicion was proven true and even surpassed by the feedback that I received.”

Gus Tettamble

“This project changed my perspective on homelessness. Living in St. Louis City, I have seen homelessness as something that has been a daily part of my life, but it was not something that I had given much thought. This project educated me and made me realize how complex this issue really is. There is more going on behind the scenes of homelessness, and every other issue, than we realize.” -Gus “My biggest takeaway is that even the smallest of actions can have a loving impact on a homeless person. I also learned that my voice has more power than I thought it did.” -A.J.

Click here to listen to Tucker’s podcast

Click here to listen to AJ and Gus’s podcast

GRANDE PROJECT MEDAL WINNER

J.P. Torack

GRANDE PROJECT MEDAL WINNER

Matt Windler & Niko Nadreau

Topic: Migration Justice

Topic: Mental Health

Audience: SLUH Students

Audience: SLUH Students

Format: Persuasive Video

Format: Website Matt Windler

“This project inspired me to pursue outside advocacy after this project. I have done some advocacy through IFTJ (Ignatian Family Teach-In) and other things, but this project has inspired me to take what I’ve learned about doing research and find a human story & what I can do to help.”

Niko Nadreau

“My biggest takeaway is to show compassion, love, and empathy to each person you encounter. A simple smile, wave, or “how are you” can completely change someone’s day. You never know what someone is struggling with, so be aware of that, and just show others your love and care for them. Live love and spread it into our world.” -Matt “It has opened my eyes to the truth about why most people who battle mental health conditions don’t seek the help they need. I have started to understand how prominent stigma plays in keeping people quiet and how necessary it is to break it down. I believe that Matt and I created a very useful source for people and it has shown me how helpful I can be to people using my skills. ” -Niko

Click here to view JP’s video

Click here to view Matt and Niko’s website

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.

The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.

Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.

No prayer fully expresses our faith.

No confession brings perfection.

No pastoral visit brings wholeness.

No program accomplishes the Church’s mission.

No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.

We plant the seeds that one day will grow.

We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.

We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.

It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future that is not our own.

Amen.