The April 21 Supporting Teens at Risk (STAR) meeting was held in the Theatre and was the last meeting of the year that was open to all students. The topic discussed was sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
The guest speaker was Robert A. Bergamini, M.D at Mercy Children’s Hospital. Bergamini’s presentation consisted of a slide show with different facts about STDs, along with pictures.
“I was shocked to hear the high percentage of people that walk around every day with an STI and don’t even know it,” freshman McKenley Meadows said.
This was hard to handle for a majority of the students that attended the meeting. Many groaned and had to look away.
“It was gross and I don’t want to get one [STD],” freshman Jordan Brewer said.
However, Bergamini helped lighten the mood with a couple of well-timed jokes, and constantly told students to take a deep breath to help them calm down.
The meeting was an overall success because Bergamini didn’t cushion the truth, but told the real facts about the dangers of STDs, and how they can affect everyone.
“Some of the pictures might have been a little much, but I know that they made me think twice about getting the HPV vaccine or partaking in actions with people I don’t know for sure are infection free,” Meadows said.

![Watching a small group scrimmage, Ben Lundt, St. Louis City SC goalkeeper and founder of Lundt Pro Soccer Training, shouts words of encouragement to players on Sunday, April 26 n the Lafayette grass soccer field. “The idea behind [the event] was to bring the professional soccer players closer to the community because usually people only get to see us on TV or in the stadium. [Families] actually having the opportunity to have their kids on the field with us is the most important aspect,” Ben Lundt said.](https://lancerfeed.press/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/IMG_6823-1200x800.jpg)















![In celebration of winning his second straight state title in the 215 weight class, junior Carter Brown backflips before leaving the mat. Brown won his bout against junior Kobe Rhymes of North Kansas City High School by fall in just 41 seconds. "Carter does what Carter does. We expect [success] out of him and his goals are bigger than the state championship," coach Sam Ritchie said.](https://lancerfeed.press/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/IMG_2784-1200x800.jpg)








