St. Thomas finishes the first quarter with a blast starting in early August and is coming to a close this week. This is the first “regular” first quarter that many St. Thomas students have had, with only the seniors being able to look back at their freshman year as a “regular” first. There were many exciting events like fish week and walkathon that made a reappearance in the first quarter.

St. Thomas kicked off the first quarter by going all out during fish week. The week started with the dress your fish day. The seniors went all out and every freshman had a great costume for the day. Later on in the week, many other events transpired like the frozen t-shirt contest. The freshmen this year were able to break through the frozen t-shirts in record time this year. Next was the whipped cream pie eating contest. Any freshman who participated was sure to have a faceful of whipped cream all over them as a result. Finally, there was a mystery food challenge where the freshman tried an assortment of tasteful food and then raced across a slip n slide to the donut on a string contest. This event had a huge turnout and really brought the St. Thomas community together.

“This was by far the best fish week that I have been a part of,” said senior Logan DuPlantis. This week was a great way to kick off the year and definitely the highlight of the first quarter.

Walkathon made a return to St. Thomas in which it was the first time that any student at St. Thomas had actually walked off campus to participate in. In previous years floods and Covid had caused walkathons to either be done only on campus or not at all. This year, the students participated by walking with their communio’s to the parking garage off of Jackson Hill and back in order to help raise money for other student activities.

This was a huge success and ran flawlessly as staff and students walked side by side to help support the cause. After the walk, there was a huge celebration in which the entire school participated. There was an assortment of snacks and beverages in which the students feasted upon. Many students also took this time to relax with their friends and catch up on how their first quarters had gone.

“It was nice to finally have a walkathon that was done off campus. The celebration at the end of it all really made it seem like this is what a walkathon is supposed to be” said Ryan McGuire. 

With things finally getting back to normal, many students are excited for the rest of the year. With student life coming back in full swing, many students are looking forward to enhancing the bond with their fellow brothers. If the first quarter is any indication for the way the school year will go, it will be a fantastic year.