Longtime Jesuit disciplinarian Top Abshire carries the “J” flag into the Holy Cross Gymnasium and brings it to the Jesuit student section for the Jesuit-Holy Cross district basketball game. The Jesuit student section, known as The Gizzard, was unlike any other away-game student section, truly making a difference in the game’s hype, noise level, and spirit. The hype started during the Winter Sports Pep Rally (view photos) earlier that day. “Wasn’t that a great game and a great crowd,’’ Jesuit coach Chris Jennings told The Advocate. Yes, Coach Jennings, it was, indeed. 

Carl Smith, a member of Jesuit’s maintenance and facilities team, and Fr. Christopher Fronk, S.J., school president, strike the same pose during Wrestling Senior Night in the gymnasium. Crossing their arms, Smith and Fr. Fronk were two of many in attendance for the event. Jesuit’s gym, known affectionately among Blue Jays as the Birdcage, will be packed on Friday for the school-wide Winter Sports Pep Rally. This means that every student, teacher, Smith, and Fr. Fronk are once again “Birdcage-Bound.”

After their mock job interview for Mrs. Kate Arthurs-Goldberg‘s public speaking class, guidance counselor Aurora Daigle and senior Will Newell look to the audience for comments and critiques. The mock interview assignment is not possible without faculty volunteers. Each semester when Mrs. Arthurs-Goldberg expresses her need for interviewers, members of the faculty and staff offer to help with the class assignment. Public speaking students submitted résumés and came to class prepared to hear their names called to the front. They were graded on presence, attention to detail, eye contact, posture, and other qualities necessary for good interviewing.

While the sun shines on Max Daly’s face as he watches the game at hand, Donald Webster (left) makes his move in the friendly chess match against his brother, Donald Webster (right). All three of these Chess Club members also compete on Jesuit’s Chess Team, which is moderated by math teacher Mr. Larry Dagate. The Chess Team is currently in the middle of a tournament, tied for first place after the opening weekend, and will finish the event this weekend at Arden Cahill Academy. If students are too busy for the Chess Team, they can keep up with Chess Club by listening to the announcements. Sometimes, the Chess Club announcements start with a play on words, like the most recent one: “Don’t be square — join the bishops and be diagonal at this afternoon’s Chess Club meeting after school in Room 332.”

Just before 4:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon, this quartet of Blue Jay freshmen—Logan Hargrave, Nate Jackson, Declan Altikriti, and Owen Thibodaux—enjoy the sunny weather in Traditions Courtyard. Hargrave and Altikriti took advantage of Blue and White Day, when students are allowed to wear a blue, white, or blue-and-white collared shirt or Jesuit-imprinted t-shirt to show their Blue Jay Spirit. Most students who participated in the day of spirit plan on staying in their attire for the basketball tailgate. The Student Council hosted a tailgate on Will Clark Field before the 7 p.m. varsity basketball game.

Sophomore Tripp Haddad spots the Wild Photographer in the second-floor hallway towards the end of Ms. Mika’s Algebra II class. The class is currently working on polynomial equations and radical expressions. As the second full week of the spring semester is underway, underclassmen are reminded that teachers offer free after-school tutoring for pre-freshmen and freshmen in need of extra help in Math, Science, Spanish, and English courses. Students of all grade-levels can receive tutoring before school. Visit the Academic Tutoring page for more info.

Senior Davis Edwards, holding nachos he bought from the John Ryan Stadium concessions, walks in front of the student section during the Jesuit-Catholic soccer game. Blue Jays did not let the cold weather affect their Friday night plans or prevent them from supporting their classmates on the pitch. Jesuit’s student council forecasts large crowds for athletic events this semester, especially as the soccer, basketball, and wrestling teams move into the final stretches of their respective seasons. Go Jays!

Sophomore Henry Vo and senior Braden Bent compete against each other in a game of foosball as junior Jordan Diliberto watches. The Foosball Club meets on Thursdays during the second half of lunch outside Room 329. The club is moderated by math teacher Leslie Merritt.

Blue Jay alumnus Chris Ross ’18, who graduated last May, is introduced before giving a moving talk to the Junior Sodality of Blessed Rupert Mayer. Junior Sodalists met in Room 231 during lunch to hear Ross, who served as president of the Sodality during his time at Jesuit. The Notre Dame undergraduate entitled his talk, “Journey Through the Sodality and Into College,” and explained how crucial it is for Sodalists to keep their commitments. Jesuit thanks Chris for his continued leadership as a young alumnus.

Thirteen Jesuit young alumni gather in the Indiana Convention Center’s lobby during the SEEK conference presented by FOCUS. The Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) is a Catholic outreach whose mission is to share the gospel with the world.  The SEEK conference lasts five days (Jan. 3-7) and includes 60-plus keynote speakers, daily Mass, and 17,000 attendees. These Blue Jays are among the 17,000 who attended the conference in downtown Indianapolis with the goal to encounter something more. 

Twenty members of the Class of 2015 attended their class leadership meeting on Dec. 27 in St. Ignatius Hall. The purpose of the meeting was to get the class organized prior to its first reunion in the summer of 2020. It’s also an exciting time to see who emerges as consistent leaders of the group. Blue Jays who graduated in 2014 and 2015 are also reminded that the deadline (Feb. 1) is approaching to apply for the Alumni Service Corps (ASC). The ASC program gives young alumni the opportunity to devote a year of their lives to their alma mater between completing college and moving on to graduate school or a career.

Freshmen Caleb Tolbert and Trey Theriot take their penultimate saunter across the 2nd-floor balcony to the classroom for Mrs. Bondi’s Latin II Honors exam. Thursday’s exams were Mathematics, Latin, Study Skills, AP Computer Science. Before taking exams, students were reminded that dismissal on Jan. 4 will take place at 12:15 p.m. (not at 1:04 p.m. as previously scheduled). Merry Christmas, Blue Jays!

Jesuit’s MCJROTC cadets enjoy their White Elephant gift exchange during Christmas Week. The MCJROTC took a break from their busy week to celebrate a Christmas gift exchange. The group, led by LtCol. Tim Huete ’87 and MGySgt J.R. Piseno, just completed its annual inspection and will close out the semester by counting the final results of the Marines’ Toys for Tots drive. 

In Tuesday’s Christmas Week Event, seniors Jacob Kieff and Donovan Reynolds compete in the Santa Showdown to earn the right to be called “Santa Clause” for the remainder of the week. To find out who won the event, and to follow all the action from the week, click here.

AP Biology students John Bendernagel, Christopher Vuong, and Evan Tizzard load DNA samples into gels as part of Mrs. Tassin’s class activity. Kyle Happel, M.D. ’89 has been teaching this activity for Jesuit students since 2011. AP Biology students used the PCR procedure (polymerase chain reaction) to amplify copies of DNA samples from four different suspects plus a sample taken from a crime scene. The students were shown the micropippetting technique. The samples of DNA were then separated with gel electrophoresis, and then each gel was examined under UV lighting. The illuminated DNA fragments were compared to the crime scene fragments. Thanks again for the visit, Dr. Happel!

Kent Broussard and Sidney Gleason, sometimes called “Kidney” when the two men are together, add a fresh coat of paint to the balusters that support the railing of the 3rd-floor balcony. Broussard and Gleason have a combined 57 years of service to Jesuit High School as members of the maintenance and facilities staff. Jesuit thanks all members of the maintenance team for their excellent work in preserving Jesuit’s 92-year-old complex on the corner of Carrollton and Banks.