By Torben Heinbockel ’26
One St. Paul’s Day celebrated what makes our campus special. From student-led speeches and music to classic games, an extraordinary fall day turned into a shared celebration of campus community.
As a general rule, you can probably determine what type of day it will be on the hill before you’ve even heard it. There are days when it is quiet with students sitting in their Adirondack chairs, eating their lunches. And there are days when it is merely a route across campus to get to where you need to go, a walkway across campus that you use without much thought. On Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025, the hill transformed into the one spot on the campus of St. Paul’s that every division could come together.
St. Paul’s campus community unites on the hill for the first One St. Paul’s Day to celebrate the coming together of students from every division of the campus.
One St. Paul’s Day is a new tradition on campus. This is the very reason it is so meaningful. It started when the schools returned as one campus community in 2019. Since then, it has evolved into an annual reminder that we are a single campus community and that it is worthwhile to practice that connection intentionally.
The “SPIRIT” theme for the 2025 One St. Paul’s Day celebration felt obvious from the moment that the students were arriving and bundling up against the cold weather. Following a normal start to the morning schedule, the campus moved together as a single unit after F-Block and made its way to the hill for a short, fast-paced program. The cold weather seemed to help create a sense of camaraderie, rather than dividing students who were all experiencing the same wind, laughter, and looking in the same direction.
Student-Led Program
One of the best aspects of One St. Paul’s Day is that it is led by the students. When students take control of the tone, it doesn’t feel like an assembly; it feels like a campus experience.
Captains from each team provided speeches that had the intended effect of setting the tone, drawing the audience in, and creating the feeling that the large crowd of students was a single unit rather than several groups of students separated by grade levels sitting close to each other.
The all-school presidents speak to the campus community and help set the tone for a celebration focused on unity and spirit.
The music established the tone for the program, beginning with the younger voices of the school that helped to bring the concept of “one campus” to life in a way that no slogan could.
Lower School singers perform on the hill and add younger voices to a tradition that was created for the entire campus.
The Boys’ Middle School choir followed with additional energy and reminded everyone that this celebration belonged to all ages and divisions of the campus.
The Boys’ Middle School choir performs for the campus, adds to the excitement and noise, and keeps the energy up throughout the celebration.
Between musical performances and the jazz band keeping the energy up throughout the event, the spirit leaders and Cheer Team continued to keep the crowd excited and engaged, and transformed the hill into a form of pep rally.
The St. Paul’s School for Girls Cheer Team and SP-SPSG Spirit Leaders lead cheers on the hill and continue to keep the energy up and the crowd engaged throughout the celebration.
Finally, because St. Paul’s finds ways to make tradition feel human, the program included a simple element: a three-legged race. It was chaotic, humorous, and truly wonderful. You do not win a three-legged race based on speed. You win by listening, coordinating, and making adjustments as you go through the race. That is a great metaphor for a reunified campus.
Students participate in the three-legged race, one of the highlights of the day and a unique example of teamwork.
Why the hill is significant
There is a reason that the hill is chosen every year for the One St. Paul’s Day celebration. The hill is one of the few areas on campus that is common ground for all students. It is not associated with any particular building or division. It is shared ground both physically and socially.
One St. Paul’s Day takes that natural overlap of daily life on campus and creates it as an intentional act. For a brief period of time, the entire campus comes together in the same location and listens to the same voices, laughs at the same moments, and cheers for the same reasons.
Another view of the crowd on the hill demonstrates what One St. Paul’s Day is ultimately about: a single campus coming together.
What endures beyond the cheers
It is easy to dismiss school spirit as simply noise, colors, or a distraction from your classes. However, the best traditions provide a function beyond entertainment. They assist with belonging.
Since One St. Paul’s Day is relatively new, it is not encumbered by the expectation of doing things “the way they have been done.” Therefore, it is actively evolving into the role that the campus requires of it. Currently, it serves an essential function: it transforms a large and busy campus into a single community that is tangible enough to observe, listen to, and feel.
For 25 minutes on a cold October morning, the hill was not merely a hill. It represented the clearest demonstration of what the reunification of the campus was meant to represent.
Photo Credit: St. Paul’s Communications Team.
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