Our Ancestry Quilt

by: Amelia Julian, second grader and social media intern for the day


Saint James second graders made quilts to represent our ancestry. Some of our ancestors immigrated to America from other countries. My relatives are mostly from Europe: like France, Ireland, Poland, Italy, and Germany. I also have relatives from Canada. Lots of students in my class have ancestors from all over the world. This project was fun because we could share about our families- my family is very important to me and I enjoyed learning about where they come from. I also enjoyed drawing and coloring my quilt. It was fun learning about my friends’ ancestors and telling them about mine. #wearesaintjamesschool

50 Years of The Odyssey- STJ's Student Newspaper

By : Dylan Oliver, editor 

Saint James School has provided the students, teachers, and faculty members with the school newspaper since December of 1970, when the first edition was published. The Odyssey is consisted of features in academic and athletic achievements, as well as current events and happenings. Up until March of 2020, the school newspaper was given out as a printed copy; however, when Covid-19 struck, The Odyssey was transferred to a digital copy. Although this change was a minor setback, it allowed the staff to include more pictures, information, and color to the newspaper. Ever since this change, The Odyssey has continued to improve with the help of the Journalism-Newspaper staff.

The Odyssey staff member Erin Waggoner and Ms. Cavanaugh reading an issue from the 1908s.

 The school’s newspaper is put together by the help of the current staff: Danielle Greene, Abbie Hubbard, Chelsea Johnson, Dylan Oliver, Haley Taylor, Kassidy Thompson, and Erin Waggoner. Students in grades 9-12 who choose to take Journalism-Newspaper, taught by Ms. Cavanaugh, must be A-B students with good skills in writing and English. Without the staff, The Odyssey would not be as successful as it is today. 

For each quarter of the school year, the newspaper staff publishes a new issue of The Odyssey. Each member of the staff selects two topics that are relevant to the quarter to contribute to the paper. Their topics can consist of college signings, holidays, sports achievements, academics, pep rallies, and other school related activities. Once the staff member completes their pages, they AirDrop them to The Odyssey editor to review for any mistakes.  Then, the pages are sent to Ms. Cavanaugh to be put in order for the paper. 

Members of The Odyssey staff pictured with vintage issues.

After the page topics have been chosen and completed, the page numbers are determined. The first page of The Odyssey is the cover page, which includes a table of contents and a welcoming message for the beginning of the quarter. The following pages would be the latest events and happenings around the school, and these pages are grouped based off of what “category” of the newspaper they would fit best in. For instance, all of the sports related pages would be grouped together, all of the academic related pages would be grouped together, and so on.  Once the pages have been organized in order, they are looked over one more time for final touches. Finally, the newspaper is released for the students, parents, and faculty to read.

Original issues of The Odyssey from the 1970s.

Since 1970, The Odyssey has been a lead contributor in the features of sports, academics, and events occurring around the school. With the setback due to the outbreak of Covid-19, the staff overcame adversity and was able to make The Odyssey greater than it has ever been.  This misfortune not only led to new learning opportunities for the staff, but it also allowed the newspaper to become more readily available to not just students and faculty, but to the community at large. Although the newspaper has undergone changes since the beginning, The Odyssey’s mission is to promote the core beliefs of character, commitment, courage, and community through highlighting school news. 

#wearesaintjamesschool

The Iliad: Saint James School's Yearbook

By: Erin Grigsby, senior and Iliad co-editor

Iliad Yearbook staff with issues from the 1980s.

Seeing the yearbook for the first time is very exciting at Saint James. The students look forward to it every year! However, a lot of hard work goes into the final book we all know and love.

Journalism Yearbook, one of the art electives at Saint James, requires a multitude of skills and familiarity in different areas. The class requires patience, organization, and creativity. Members of the yearbook staff use their writing skills to write the story and captions of their spreads and photography skills if they wish to capture moments around the school.

Iliad Yearbook staff working on digital spreads.

This year's Iliad is Volume Number 52, with “The STJ Life is Full of Color” as the central theme. It includes beautiful color splash templates.

I, along with my Co-Editor Dodge Prim, oversee all of the progress and work being done as the yearbook comes together. We organize pictures, create the year’s ladder, adjust layouts and templates, and proofread spreads when they are complete. We seek to include our student body on a variety of pages so everyone can be featured in the book of our school’s best memories.

Our class could not be possible without Mrs. Kimberly Ramsey, our yearbook sponsor. She works tirelessly to create a special book for our school year. Overall, this year’s staff working on the yearbook has done a tremendous job showing their creativity. The book is so close to being finished, and we cannot wait for everyone to enjoy the memories of the school year! We will debut the Iliad next fall on our annual Iliad Day, where students see the book for the first time and have it signed by teachers and friends.

Faculty Spotlight: Mr. Wes Smith

I teach: Honors algebra 2 and Pre-calculus

I've been teaching for: 3 years (1st year at STJ)

Hometown: Fultondale, AL

High school: Fultondale High School

College/degree: Huntingdon College with a bachelors in mathematics

Married to: Kennedy Smith, married for 3 years

Children: Bennett, age 17 months. He will be starting PreK2 at Saint James this fall.

STJ extracurricular: Assistant Trojans Wrestling coach

Favorite book: The Harry Potter series

Favorite movies: anything and all Marvel

Favorite food: chicken wings

Favorite thing about working at STJ: the fantastic community that STJ has built!

#wearesaintjamesschool

Prepare for Takeoff

by: Molly Phillips, 5th grade

Molly setting up her plane

One day in science class we constructed planes to measure how mass affects the distance the plane will fly. They were really cool to make, and it took almost two days. Next, we put up our flight line which was fishing line taped to chairs. We defined and tested the standard system multiple times. Then we started to test the variable, mass. We only changed one variable at a time. The mass we used was paperclips, and we added more in increments of two. I figured out that the more mass we added, the less distance the plane traveled. The fishing line was 400 cm long. We measured the distances the plane traveled and wrote it in our science journal. We also had to problem solve when our fishing line wasn’t cooperating. It was a really fun experiment. My favorite part was making the plane with my classmates.

Chalk It Up! 2022 MMFA Flimp Festival

Saint James School art students put their creativity to the test at this year’s Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts Flimp Festival. Our talented artists, grades 6-12, turned a simple parking space into a masterpiece. This year’s theme was inspired by the museum’s exhibition, Pairs and Partners: The Road Less Traveled. This year’s Flimp Festival featured traveling chalk artists who worked alongside students as they planned and executed their art. Each parking space took about six hours to complete from start to finish. Thank you to our visual arts teachers Ms. Shoults and Ms. Davis for their guidance on this endeavor.

#wearesaintjamesschool

Eighth Grade Career Week

By: Mrs. Sarah Moncrief, Middle School Counselor

A longtime flagship event of 8th grade at Saint James School has been Career Week.  This nationally recognized program is one our students have looked forward to each year since its inception over 30 years ago. 

During our first semester of 8th grade, students research careers that fit their interests. They learn how to construct a resume, write a cover letter, and fill out an employment application. Students discuss proper etiquette and practice professionalism through mock interviews.

In November, students participated in two zoom meetings. During these sessions, students heard from professionals why they chose their career, the path they traveled to arrive where they are now, and what their job entails. Students were given the chance to ask questions and hear real-life stories about these professions.

Afterward, students shadowed three professionals of their choice. When conducting their shadowing experience, they interviewed professionals in that career position and learned a great deal about all things related to the career they were shadowing. Students shadowed professionals in the medical field, architecture and construction, engineering, design, military personnel, law and the judicial system, first responders, accounting, veterinary medicine, information technology, and so many more.  

Saint James School’s Career Week Program allows students to explore careers they might be interested in; which in turn, helps students with course selections in high school and also college choices. Our students truly enjoy going out into the workforce and learning about life beyond middle and high school!

My College Search

by: Bandgi Patel, senior

Bandgi visiting Pace University in New York City

Applying to college can be a stressful process, but the counselors helped relieve a great deal of the stress by answering any questions I had about my applications. Thinking about what colleges I wanted to apply to was overwhelming, and I submitted applications to a lot of schools, including the University of Central Florida, the University of Alabama in Birmingham, and many others. Towards the end of junior year, rising seniors got a chance to have a one-on-one Zoom meeting with our counselors about what colleges we were interested in. I really think that this helped us and the counselors get an idea of where we really wanted to go and what we were interested in studying. I remember being extremely worried about the whole college process during the beginning of senior year, but in the end, all of it worked out.

I started applying to colleges in October and finished up during the beginning of January. My first college visit I went for was in November, which was for the University of Alabama in Birmingham. UAB made a great impression on me. The campus seemed very nice, and I already had friends that went there, which made it seem even more appealing. I wanted to keep my options open, so I did other college visits. The next college visit I went on was in February, which was for Pace University in New York City. I absolutely fell in love with the campus and the surrounding area. I decided right then and there that this was where I wanted to go. I’m both excited and nervous to be going out of state because, after all, it’s very far from home. As the school year is coming to end, however, I am becoming more and more excited for this new chapter in my life as I plan to attend Pace university starting Fall 2022. #wearesaintjamesschool

All State Choral Festival 2022

by: Dr. Sallye York, choir director and performing arts department chair

STJ students at the 2022 All-State Choral Festival in Birmingham, AL

This past weekend, several Saint James choral students attended the Alabama Vocal Association All State Choral Festival at the BJCC in Birmingham, Alabama. The All-State Choral Festival is a three-day event that culminates in a professionally recorded concert. The Festival is an opportunity for students with outstanding ability and initiative to receive public recognition, to sing under the direction of nationally recognized choral clinicians, and to perform choral literature of the highest quality. The students had tons of fun working in rehearsals with amazing conductors, attending and performing in wonderful concerts, and even had time for some fun at places like Cheesecake Factory at the Summit, Davenports Pizza Palace in Mountain Brook, Dave and Busters at the Galleria, and a late night cookie party! #wearesaintjamesschool