After the ringing of the afternoon dismissal bell, Jesuit’s campus is still bustling with the cadence of the Blue Jay Marching Band. With the football season in full swing, members of the Blue Jay Marching Band and the Jayettes practice their routines on Will Clark Field. The school’s official marching unit is probably best noted for its elaborate routines, unique shows, intricate maneuvers, and the “Blue Jay Sound.” Be on the lookout for their group performances at Jesuit Football halftime shows and at pep rallies, home basketball games, and Mardi Gras parades.

Pictured is the Jesuit Medical Society (JMS), a newly formed organization for students interested in any healthcare career. JMS held an informational meeting on Friday during the second half of lunch in Room 329 and also met after school in Room 329. The after-school meeting was for those interested in joining the HOSA Future Health Professionals organization. HOSA is an acronym for the Health Occupations Students of America.

This week, juniors and seniors of Mrs. Kate Arthurs-Goldberg’s public speaking class put their communications skills to the test during mock evaluative interviews. With a brief, formalized session of Q&A, Fr. Christopher Fronk, S.J. played the role of a college admissions interviewer, assessing student body president Dowen Fife’s high school experiences and college goals as a candidate for Spring Hill College. After the interview, Fr. Fronk, as well as the rest of the class, gave feedback on Fife’s performance. These practice sessions better acquaint students with interviewing basics such as making eye contact, smiling, and shaking hands. It was a chance for them to learn about their strengths and ways to improve their interview process.

Of all the options at the after-school ice cream stand, freshman John Luke Arbour chose the ice cream sandwich to satiate his Monday afternoon sweet tooth. Brother Billy Dardis, S.J. sells a variety of frozen treats on Monday through Thursday from 3 to 3:15 p.m. Students can enjoy a drumstick (vanilla, fudge, or caramel), nutty buddy, fudge bar, Klondike bar, flavor icee, or an ice cream sandwich before going home from school. 

As if sweltering humidity at the Jesuit football game against St. Paul’s was not enough to drench fans, the Blue Jay student section created their own water works while celebrating the thrilling victory. Students enjoyed a chance to release energy after a tropical warning closed school two days this week. Although the storm brought no precipitation to the area, Jays rained down school spirit at Tad Gormely in a sea of blue and white.

On Wednesday morning Blue Jay basketball players Zach Deblieux, Kyle Haupt, Nick Artigues, Kylan Steele, and Nick Brewster served breakfast to the homeless at the Living Witness Church in Central City. The breakfast program is run by Grace at the Greenlight, a nonprofit organization that serves a morning meal to between 70 and 100 homeless men and women every day. This group of Blue Jays were the first of many, as Jesuit is planning to bring students to serve breakfast on the first and third Wednesday of every month. Students interested in participating should see Mr. Murphy in Room 225 to sign up.

Sophomores Jacob D’Amico and Malcom Baldwin take advantage of the free after school tutoring offered here at Jesuit. Teachers offer free after school tutoring for students in need of extra instruction in Math, Science, Spanish, and English courses. Also, several student groups offer tutoring intermittently throughout the school year including the National Honor Society. The National Honor Society will begin before school and lunchtime turtoring after Labor Day. Click here for the tutoring schedule.

Channeling the TV series, “Survivor,” seniors Ashton Perkins and Gavin Skipper prove that going through the main entrance of the obstacle course is not the only way. Testing their agility and determination, the duo successfully jumped over the main entrance to start the competition. View the ongoing story of Welcome Week activities, which continue through Thursday and culminate with Mass of the Holy Spirit on Friday.

Student body president Dowen Fife, after being sworn in by Jesuit president Fr. Christopher Fronk, administers the Oath of Office for the remainder of the Executive Board. Pictured in front of Fife (from left), are Gavin Skipper (Executive Aide), Charles Korndorffer (Executive Aide), Max Bond (Executive Aide), Carter Montalbano (Junior Class President), Marc Dougherty (Secretary), Neehar Desai (Treasurer), and Josef Ernst (Vice President). Langston Goldenberg, the senior Class President, was not present and will be sworn in at another date. The Oath of Office is as follows: “I, (name), affirm that I will faithfully execute my office on the Jesuit Student Council, and I will, to the best of my ability, act as a positive example in all that I do, foster Blue Jay spirit in our community, preserve the Student Council Constitution, and live up to the ideals and norms of Jesuit High School.”

Welcoming new and old cadets back to Carrollton and Banks, MGySgt J.R. Piseno and LtCol Tim Huete ’76 cooked up two spicy potfuls of jambalaya for lunch. There was plenty of jambalaya to go around, and after the 141 hungry MCJROTC members had their fill, cadets like senior Marseyas Fernandez came back for seconds. Speaking of jambalaya, the Big Brother-Little Brother Lunch is Friday in the Student Commons.  Big Brothers should meet their Little Brothers in the courtyard at the beginning of lunch and then proceed together into the Commons for a jambalaya lunch.

Student body president Dowen Fife dressed like a cow at the New Student Orientation Pep Rally. The pep rally was certainly wild, as new students and their big brothers participated in the “Roller-Coaster” cheer that brought everyone to their feet. The spirit in the auditorium showed new Blue Jays that there is more to Jesuit than just classes and homework. “Don’t have a cow.” In other words, there is no need to worry. You belong at Jesuit.

On the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, leaders of the Sodality meet for Mass in the Holy Name of Jesus Chapel. The Mass capped off a day of planning for the semester for the group committed to daily prayer and Christian service. Each grade level has a Sodality group that meets weekly to organize activities and build brotherhood. The Sodality is just one of the many co-curricular clubs and organizations that new students will be eager to learn about as they get to know their new school.

Even before Jesuit opens its doors to welcome students back to school, the hallways are bustling with people in action. One such group is the newly recruited MCJROTC cadets who attended orientation to learn more about the different extracurricular teams within the MCJROTC program. The newly-minted team commanders enthusiastically took on their leadership roles to  present on the unique attributes of each of their groups—PT (physical training), rifle, academic, and color guard. Senior Marseyas Fernandez encouraged the bright-eyed cadets to join their ranks and promised them a year they would not forget.

The 2nd-floor 1953 wing and the entire third floor have been off limits all summer for classroom renovations. After many weeks of hard work, student volunteers and young alumni helped Jesuit’s maintenance staff by setting up 480 new desks, around 30 in each classroom. Kian Badie, Jeremy Howat, and Jonathan Howat team up to throw away empty boxes that contained brand new desks for the 2018-19 school year. For their heavy lifting and determination, the maintenance staff thanks the other students and young alumni who helped with the moving process—Marco Lagos, Momin Asif, Ryan Castellon, Richard Montoya, Hunter Richardson, Wade Rogers, Gabe Dupuy ’18, Jacob Campos ’13, and Adam Naquin ’13.

While it wasn’t the first prep football game played in the Superdome, the 1978 title game between Jesuit and St. Augustine was the first state championship on Dome turf. The Louisiana Prep Classic on December 15, 1978, attracted nearly 45,000 spectators.

That Class 4A title, won by St. Augustine, 13-7, also attracted the eyes of LHSAA commissioner Tommy Henry and Superdome director of public relations Bill Curl. Three years later, negotiations between Superdome Management Group (SMG) and the LHSAA were settled. The Dome has been the home of the annual Prep Classic football game since 1981, except in 2005 following Hurricane Katrina damage.

Although the Jays, led by quarterback Tim Parenton ’80 (#12), were unable to pull off the historic victory, the game itself was historic. It started a conversation that led to a longstanding location, one in which prep football players around the state dream of playing.