Tongue-Twisting Tradition: Two Teens Turn Tuesday Into Theater

A pizza order, a tongue twister, and a tradition that's been delivered fresh for nearly a quarter century.

Every Tuesday, Henry Bird '27 and Bo Worth '27 hold court at lunch. There's a skit. There's a tongue twister built entirely (or close enough) from words that start with "T." There's adrenaline—the kind that comes from doing something absolutely absurd in front of 300 of your friends—all for the sake of teenage fun (and pizza).

But it works, and has for almost a quarter century.

St. Andrew's is no stranger to out-of-step traditions—packing the whole school on buses to descend upon Wendy's throughout Delaware comes to mind—but Two for Tuesday might be one of the more bizarre.

St. Andrew's Director of Technology Michael Amos '10 remembers the tradition beginning with his brother, Dave Amos '03, and his friend, Colin Congo '03, their senior year. "They started buying Domino's Two for Tuesday pizzas," Amos says, "which turned into a tradition of junior and senior boys buying tons of pizzas every Tuesday night." Within months, Amos says, "Domino's stayed open later to accommodate the Baum dorm parent, who would fill a minivan floor to ceiling with pizza." As the years went on, the alliteration grew almost mythological, spinning off lunchtime announcements tailored to a T. Domino's gave way to Nino's—now called Cuzino's—and large pizzas were $6. "Those were the days," Amos says.

Decades later, the job, which gets passed down to Founders residential leaders, belongs to Bird and Worth. Neither takes it lightly. "It's fun, but we work really hard on writing," Bird says.

Buying pizza on Tuesday is a rite of passage for juniors and seniors—freshmen and sophomores have to bide their time. That's part of the appeal. "It's something you earn," Worth says, a rule nobody wrote down but everybody understands.

This year, the two added new flavor. "We were not satisfied with the past couple years of pizza," Worth says. "We wanted a change."

So on a Wednesday afternoon during fall preseason, with a few hours to spare, they approached cross-country coach and science teacher Alex Horgan '18—a former Tuesday troubadour himself—to ask if he'd take them on a pizza tour around town. Naturally, Horgan said "yes."

The trio traversed town to try tasty triangles. They hit Caruso's, Roma Pizza, Season's, Pat's, and Lorenzo's. Their first choice won on taste, but price negotiations stalled. "We were trying to get a few dollars off each pizza," Worth says. "We called the owner, and he was like, 'We can do 10 percent off the total order.'" That discount worked on a big sales night, Worth explains, "but when it's a slow day—maybe eight pizzas—that's not going to work in terms of tipping the driver, paying the delivery fee, and having enough margin." Roma Pizza won: the best pizza they could find at a price that worked.

The two find some practical real-world skills baked into an otherwise silly tradition. "We're managing expenses, negotiating, compromising, and forming relationships with local businesses," says Bird. It is, in miniature, a small business: cheese runs $12, pepperoni $13, with enough margin built in that they can set money aside for a Tuesday when they can't tip the driver as well as they'd like. Whatever's left over at the end of the year gets donated. "We'll put it toward the school in some way—we're still thinking about that," Bird says.

It's also just another way for Saints to build community. After pizzas arrive around 7 p.m., juniors and seniors cluster to share and chat. "It's a good way to bring people together," Worth says.

They say they enjoy the business side, but their energy is most reserved for their two minutes of weekly glory. Every Tuesday announcement requires them to tell the story of the week in four to six sentences, using words that start with T—every now and then, a necessary non-T preposition creeps in.

It's harder than it sounds, Bird says. That's when he thinks like a writer. "You have to ask, 'How do you tell the story—and how do you use as few lines and words, and ensure that verbs hold significant weight?'" he says. "We really consider weight and economy." It's not exactly prose. "We think like poets,” he adds. And the announcement must be tied to recent events.

Their take on the Frosty Run and dance: "Three turns ago, traveling together, teens tasted traditional treats by the thousands, then twirled til twilight."

On football's season opener, with shoutouts to fellow seniors Tejas Pailla, Julian Toomey, and Michael Tansy: "This Thursday, Tejas and ten tacklers take to the turf. With the tenacious tailback Toomey, and Tansey tackling, these teammates test their touchdown talents."

The pair co-writes on weekends. "Once we have the words down, we'll practice to lock in, and we'll do a couple more runs before lunch," Bird says. All that rehearsal is for 120 seconds—because, of course, none of it was ever about the pizza.

"It's fun thinking about what's going on at school, and how we're going to condense it and put on a show," Worth says. Adds Bird, "It's a rush. You're memorizing, you get up there, the adrenaline's pumping, and you have to deliver." Neither suggests the performance is polished. "We're not exactly doing backflips," Bird says—though he notes past Tuesday leads have added their own twists, acrobatics included.

"This is really just another example of how Saints continue tradition, and how we buy into the lightheartedness of our school," Bird says.

That, more than the pizza itself, might be the actual tradition: the teenaged tales that take to this triumphant turf to thrive—and the chance, every year, to write your name next to it.

Two new names for the record: Bird, a cross-country star, is "The Tireless Trotter." Worth, a licensed private pilot, is "The Turbine Trainee." Together, as tradition tells, they "transmit this tale on Tuesday."