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.

Tuesday (July 31) was the feast of St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus. It marks the 462nd anniversary of his death.

Members of the Jesuit High School community gathered in the Holy Name of Jesus Chapel for a feast day Mass celebrated by chaplain Fr. Kevin Dyer, S.J. More than 60 people—including faculty, staff, students, and recent alumni—filled the 2nd-floor chapel at 11 a.m. to honor the patron saint of soldiers, education, and of course the Society of Jesus. After Mass, Fr. Dyer joined the students and young alumni for a photo in front of the three stained-glass windows of Ignatius.

Sporting all blue, the Jesuit Jayettes are ready to roll for the annual band camp at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux. Under the direction of coach Chloe Crosby and moderator Susan De Boisblanc, the Jayettes will spend the next five days learning and practicing their dance formations and routines for the upcoming season. They will also team up with the Blue Jay Band to coordinate the field performances that Blue Jay fans can enjoy this fall at Jesuit football halftime shows. Get ready to jive into the 2018-2019 school year with the Jesuit Jayettes!

Under the direction of the always-enthusiastic Coach Terry Ursin, Blue Jay football campers put their hands in before they head over to the water stations in Pontiff Pavilion at John Ryan Stadium. Staying active and hydrated, the boys were exposed to the same drills and fun activities that Jesuit football players take part in during their summer training.

Blue Jay football camp takes place from Monday, July 23 to Thursday, July 26 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. each day. With any questions about this year’s camp or upcoming camps next summer, contact assistant football coach Troy Baglio, who serves as director of Blue Jay Summer Camp.

Jesuit faculty members are more than just teachers; they are, themselves, lifelong learners. This week, new teachers from six New Orleans-area schools, including Brother Martin and St. Mary’s Dominican, are participating in the Research for Better Teaching (RBT) workshop.  New teachers at Jesuit are not only required to attend and complete this “pedagogical boot camp,” they are also assigned experienced mentors and participate in a three-year formation program. Malcolm Villarubia, Jr. ’66, Jesuit’s director of professional development who brought the workshop to Jesuit nine years ago, continues to organize and oversee faculty development on campus. At the start of the first session, the 27 participants directed their attention to Marcia Booth, the RBT consultant and master teacher. The training sessions add up to a total of 38 hours over six days, with four days this week, one day in the fall semester, and one in the spring.