Sporting fresh apparel from the Blue Jay Shop, seniors Will Hellmers and Wes Melito jump for the joy of the Christmas season and for the new merchandise on display at Jesuit’s Christmas Boutique on Saturday, Dec. 7. ‘Tis the season to Christmas shop, and there’s no better place to pick up your blue and white gifts than at the Christmas Boutique on Saturday between 8 a.m. and noon in the Student Commons. Shop an array of Boutique items — Jesuit-themed jewelry, towels, a limited number of yard signs, and more — to give to your favorite Blue Jay fans of all ages. During the Christmas Boutique, the Blue Jay Shop will also be selling T-shirts, baseball caps, long-sleeve shirts, jackets, and sweatshirts. Many items will be on sale.

Junior Luke Battaglia maintains his course of action in Mrs. Monica Younger’s Chemistry I class, keeping his distance while performing a reaction in which he mixes hydrochloric acid with magnesium ribbon. Studying chemical reactions throughout the week, Battaglia and his classmates just completed a section on predicting the products of reactions. In the lab, students predicted the products of the reaction to be magnesium chloride and hydrogen gas. Of course, one cannot distinguish hydrogen gas from air simply by looking at it, so when they generated the hydrogen gas, they captured it in a balloon. They then ignited the balloon to prove it was flammable gas hydrogen. The heat and flash of light generated by the mini “boom” provided the evidence students needed to know they had indeed generated hydrogen gas in the reaction. 

School chaplain Fr. Kevin Dyer, S.J., holds the basket of Holy Souls Intentions as we move from November, the month of Holy Souls, to December, the month of Advent and Christmas. Morning Mass in the Holy Name of Jesus Chapel is a great opportunity for students to start their days preparing for the coming of Jesus. Note that the 2020 liturgical year began on the First Sunday of Advent, December 1, 2019. 

The Class of 1983, who generously provides the turkeys for all of the families in the drive, and alumni of all classes gather on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning to provide meals for 200 families out of the 538. Individual alumni classes also sponsors groups of families in addition to the 200. Special thanks to ’83!

Alumni from the Classes of 1958, 2019, and everywhere in between gather together after they finished packing the 180-plus Thanksgiving Drive boxes to be delivered on Wednesday. After alumni director Mike Prados ’83 thanks the Blue Jays from different classes for devoting their time to the drive, they grouped up for the annual photo. The work does not stop here, though, as more alumni return to Jesuit on Tuesday evening to haul and store turkeys and other refrigerated items, pack 62 more boxes for families who will pick them up, and prepare the Student Commons for another successful Turkey Drive. 

Seniors George Contreras and Brock Hughes stand before the class to play different roles in Hamlet for Mr. Sam Ferguson‘s English IV class. Students have two full days of classes on Monday and Tuesday as they spend their free time and homeroom periods preparing for one of the best days at Jesuit High School—the Thanksgiving Drive. Wednesday is a Special Order: Delivery of Thanksgiving Baskets as the day begins for most students before 6 a.m. at Robért Fresh Market. Offices close at 12 p.m. on Wednesday.

The Jesuit swimming team loads the coach bus with Sulphur, La., as its destination. Last month, Jesuit swimmers swept the relays and scored multiple swimmers in each of the individual events to secure the team’s 36th consecutive metro title. The Blue Jays, who were fresh off winning their 36th straight district title, scored 433 points (more than 200 points higher than the second place scorer) at metro. However, the past is the past. None of that matters now. What’s on the road ahead of them is what matters…what counts. Follow JesuitNOLA Swimming (@JesuitSwimming) on Twitter for LHSAA Swimming State Tournament updates! Go Jays!

Freshman class president Manny Espinoza and Aidan Couvillon share a grin with freshman class rep-at-large William Waguespack as the trio listens to Top’s end-of-the-day announcement: “Wednesday is a faculty meeting day.” Faculty meeting days, or “8:50 days” as some students call them, allow students more time in the morning to arrive to school, well-rested and ready for a shortened day of learning.

Backstage at the Mahalia Jackson Theatre (pictured, back row left to right) are LSU Tiger Bandsmen Michael Plessala ’18 and Jacob McCaffery ’19, Jesuit band director Joe Caluda ’79, and LSU Bandsmen Phillip Gerarve ’16 and Kyle Richoux ’16 with (seated, left to right) Blue Jay Bandsmen Michael Melancon, Hunter Richardson, Michael Nair, and Jacob Tobler. The band alumni and current band members enjoyed this moment right before the “Tigerama” show started! Also before the show, the Blue Jay Band cooked for and fed over 400 LSU Tiger Band Members, the Golden Girls and their instructional staff. 

Senior Joel Guerra, Jayson, and events coordinator D.J. Galiano ’07 are ready to launch t-shirts at Thursday’s Jesuit-Shaw football playoff game. Be there for the 6:00 p.m. kickoff, and cheer on the Blue Jays as they start their quest towards a state title!

Science teacher Mr. Joseph Nolfe, who coaches football and baseball at Jesuit, could not help but notice the conservation of infrared radiation in this picture. As Coach Nolfe reports to duty in the freezing cold courtyard at lunch, a group of close-knit friends keep warm. John David Whitsell, Thomas Grady, Gabriel Cruz, James Bostick, Jackson Becker, John Paul Ciaccio, Mason Wolff, Christoper Valdes, and others came up with the idea.

Senior Milan Mardia, who recently earned a perfect score on the ACT, has a blast in the WGSO studio as he appears on the “Delta Dispatches” radio show of alumnus Jacques Hebert ’03, who served as last year’s Career Day speaker. Hebert had great things to say about Mardia in this tweet from @RestoreTheDelta: “Such an honor to have @JesuitNOLA senior Milan Mardia on to discuss his work (while in high school!) on coastal restoration. You’ll no doubt hear more from him in the future!” Listen to the episode here! Milan is the featured guest in the first 20 minutes of the episode led by Hebert and Simone Maloz, the Executive Director of Restore or Retreat.

Freshman Nick Kapusta demonstrates how to care for his hedgehog “Chewie” (Chewbacca) in Mrs. Kate Arthurs-Goldberg’s Speech I class. Throughout the week each freshman in Speech I developed public speaking and presentation skills by giving a demonstration speech, a form of informative speech where the speaker’s primary purpose is to teach the audience how to complete a task (or process) by demonstrating that task through a series of steps. Other examples of demonstration speeches were the following: Patrick Rowell on how to make a healthy veggie salad, Hunter Oufnac on how to make the perfect “pain perdu” or “lost bread,” and Bennett Ducasse on how to make his great-grandma’s chocolate chip cookies.

Blue Jay seniors Dylan Oliver and Sam Quinn take time during their free period to help set up the lights in the auditorium for Open House. #ExploreJesuit at Open House on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2019. Tours begin at 4:30, 5:30, and 6:30 in the auditorium. Read more about Blue & White Night by clicking this link: Blue & White Night Hosts Prospective Jays with Picture-Perfect Weather

Upperclassmen Jeremy Howat, Momin Asif, and Marcus Banks arrive early to the 4th-floor hallway and wait for the start of Mr. White’s Physics class. As the trio waits, one of them spots Jayson’s wild photographer on the 3rd-floor balcony. The rest is history.

Less than 62 days remain in Mission Homestretch, and winter sports teams are preparing for their seasons while appreciating their locker room upgrades. Find out what else the campaign is doing for Blue Jays today and tomorrow. Be part of it! Join the Mission! 

Those with interest in Minds & Heart Enlightened can find out more, pledge online, or reach out to the campaign coordinator Jason Britsch for more information about this exciting vision for Jesuit High School.