Filled with laughter, seniors Frank Sclafani and Wilder Maguire head to their first class of the day. Students enjoyed all of last week away from school after their two-day Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday was extended due to inclement weather. Blue Jay Spirit was evident at Monday’s morning assembly as students prepare for upcoming events.

Junior William Mentz, sophomore William Hellmers, and junior Peter James join seniors David Hart, Clayton Merwin, Michael Plessala, and Luke Pertuit in saying hello to former Spanish teacher and Jayette moderator Nilda Rivera. Profe Rivera stopped by her old workplace from Puerto Rico to catch up with students and faculty. Rivera is always one to reminisce about the good times at Carrollton and Banks and stays connected with campus news and activities. Her love for Jesuit and her former students is so great that she was sure to tune in to the livestream of the Christmas Concert in December!

An immersion trip to eastern Asia may not be feasible to the average Jesuit student, but roughly 70 members of the Sodality from all grade levels were treated to a fascinating piece of Japanese culture. Fr. Bill Farge, S.J., who spent nearly 20 years of his Jesuit life in Japan, presented to the Sodality during lunch about “the Catholic samurai,” the Japanese warrior whose way of life synthesized well with the Catholic faith in the time prior to (and even during) the Christian persecution of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Fr. Farge now lives in the Jesuit residence on campus and gives spiritual direction to diocesan seminarians at St. Joseph’s Abbey in Covington.

Former Jesuit basketball players Cody Castle ’13, Tomi Akingbola ’12, Jay Pyburn ’12, Alex Yacoubian ’12, Josh DeBlieux ’12, Cameron Dobbins ’12, and Rob Brock exchange laughs after Friday night’s Jesuit-St. Augustine district opener that ended in the Blue Jays’ favor. Many basketball alumni, parents, and friends stuck around after the game to greet the 12-3 team and congratulate them on a great start to the new year. Basketball alumni and their families are also planning ahead for the 2018 Basketball Homecoming event, which is set for Friday, Jan. 26 when the Jays take on Warren Easton.

For the 17th year in a row, Jesuit’s MCJROTC program sponsored a holiday toy collection for the Toys for Tots Foundation. Homerooms collected a whopping of 1407 toys, the majority of which will go to “Christmas Angels”— a program run by the Louisiana National Guard. The rest will be distributed to Children’s Hospital and the New Orleans Police Department’s District 4 Headquarters.

Mr. Jason Giaccone and sophomore Marc Munoz shop at the same store, apparently! Both Mr. Giaccone and Munoz wore the same sweater for the 2nd annual Ugly Christmas Sweater contest last week. Follow Jesuit High School (@jesuitnola) on Instagram to see more great photos from Christmas Week.

The Student Council hosted the second annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest on Friday during second half of lunch. While many entered, only few made it to the list of finalists. Of the 100-plus students who participated, honorable mentions went to (from left) Ben Hunn, Trey Aucoin, Patrick Bandi, Dowen Fife, and Garrett Derbes for the various designs and colors on their ugly Christmas sweaters.

…of Christmas Week, the Student Council prepared a brown-bag concert in the courtyard. Throughout lunch, the Jesuit Jazz Band performed a combination of jazz music and classic Christmas songs, including a guest appearance by Br. Terry Todd, S.J. Christmas cookies and hot chocolate were provided to all students in attendance. On Friday, the Student Council holds an ugly sweater contest during lunch in the Commons. Students are allowed to wear their Christmas sweaters throughout the school day. Khaki shirts must be worn underneath, but name tags are not required on the outside of the sweater.

On the third day of the annual Student Council Christmas Week, the Gingerbread House Building Competition took place during lunch in the Student Commons. Anyone brave enough to get a little messy was encouraged to compete. Decorating pre-packaged houses, teams battled it out with gumdrops, icing, and other assorted candies, while a sneaky few tried to bribe judges (seniors) with cash. Spectators were encouraged to attend this frosty contest of candy and architecture. Left to right: Lucas Deane, Ashton Stevens, Adam Francis, Byron Washington, Remy Lavie, and Michael Buisson desperately try to finish their gingerbread house before time is up!

Senior Cooper Arnold strolls up to the celebrity-Santa table to purchase the top-selling CD of the winter season. A Very Terry Christmas, a Christmas album starring Bro. Terry Todd S.J. (left) and Coach Terry Ursin (right), is on sale throughout the week during lunch in the Commons. The cost is $5 each, and all proceeds will go toward the Jesuit Toys for Tots Drive and the spring Mission Drive.

Jesuit is no stranger to new clubs and activities on campus. The newly-formed Fishing Club has these students – Brady Smith, Trevor Chase, Carter Morris, Joseph Finger, and Jacob Reinhardt – taking their co-curricular interests even off campus. Last weekend the club traveled to Shell Beach for an adventure, which was in addition to a freshwater outing for bass in City Park a few weeks earlier. The club is moderated by Mrs. Helen Swan and is open to any students interested in fishing.

When Coach Terry Ursin gets into the Christmas spirit with a host of carols and cheer, Blue Jays can be assured that they will have a Terry Christmas indeed. Add to that the musical stylings of Br. Terry Todd, S.J., and now it’s a Very Terry Christmas. Students are producing the first-of-its-kind Christmas album, A Very Terry Christmas, set to drop on the Monday of Christmas Week, Dec. 11-15. Proceeds will go to Jesuit’s Toys for Tots drive and the annual Mission Drive in the spring.

The Resource Center debuted a new laptop cart with 23 Lenovo computers this week to facilitate group work among students. Pictured are pre-freshmen Holden Hess, Egan Trahant, Connor Cuccia, and Louis Bercaw, who are working on a national parks project in Mr. Jay Combe’s geography class. Groups are playing the role of travel agencies, “pitching” the 8th-grade class on a visit to their assigned park (Banff, Grand Canyon, Olympic, Redwoods, Yellowstone, or Yosemite). Groups will ultimately give 15-minute presentations to the class outlining proposed three-day itineraries. The group with the highest rating from their peers will be awarded additional points on their overall grade. “The laptops are a game-changer for group work,” says Combe. “They allow the groups to spread out at a big table and multitask as they put their projects together.”

The familiar sounds of a gym buzzer and referee’s whistle, the crisp feel of November air, and the slowed pace of pre-holiday excitement all mean that winter sports are in full swing. After massive crowds at the home openers for wrestling and basketball, a small but faithful showing of seniors was on hand for the Jesuit soccer game against Grace King. A change in schedule after the holiday break accounted for smaller crowds at the game, but Logan Barrios and Aubert Waguespack braved the chill at John Ryan Stadium to keep momentum going for the winter sports edition of the Gizzard.

Back from the Thanksgiving break, state championship swimming coach Bret Hanemann ’85 congratulates his Blue Jay swimmers for their great accomplishments in mid-November. Morning Assembly allowed Coach Hanemann the opportunity to present the state championship team, and it allowed the swimmers to present the first place trophy in front of the student body. Standing in front of the podium are swimmers Austin Carter (holding trophy), Andrew Dufour, Michael Foley, Connor Schwartz and Joel Guerra. The hardware is back home at Carrollton and Banks! Congratulations to the Jesuit swimming team, the 2017 State Champions.

Check out the full coverage from the state meet: Jesuit Swimming Takes State Title Back to Carrollton and Banks

The Biotechnology Club met Thursday afternoon for several demonstrations in chemical chain reactions. Travis Kieff ’17, a freshman at UNO majoring in mechanical engineering, returned to his alma mater to help out Biotechnology Club moderator Mrs. Amy Tassin. In his first demonstration, Kieff explained how and why vinegar mixed with baking soda releases carbon dioxide gas, which can be used in chemical volcanoes and other projects. Kieff filled a beaker with baking soda, added the vinegar, and let the CO2 fill a balloon. Here, freshman Garrison Trahant gets a close up of the chemical effects of the experiment.