Actor Jarod Larriviere ’17, tech crew member Blake Brown ’17, and actor Ben Schaubhut ’20 load Philelectic Society moderator Kate Arthurs’ van with canned goods from last weekend’s senior-directed One Act Plays and Improv Comedy Festival. The festival raised about $1,800 in proceeds and 194 lbs. of food, all benefiting Second Harvest Food Bank of New Orleans. From the monetary proceeds raised, about 5,400 meals will be provided to those in need. The Phils Society turns 100 this year and recently cast over 70 student-actors from across New Orleans area schools for the spring performance of Les Misérables. Tickets for the upcoming show and a full cast list can be found here.

There’s never a dull moment at Jesuit, but — with a particularly packed week ahead — the Student Council made sure students knew how they could support their school. To boost Blue Jay spirit, the group sponsored an inspired Friday lunchtime event in Traditions Courtyard: students wearing wrestling singlets and heavy camouflage backpacks raced to the third floor in an effort to shoot soccer balls into a basketball goal with the quickest time. The context? On Saturday, Blue Jay soccer faces Brother Martin at Tad Gormley Stadium, and the MCJROTC hosts its 29th annual drill meet.  Next Tuesday, Jesuit basketball meets Holy Cross in the Birdcage and hosts an alumni homecoming event. Then on Wednesday, the wrestling team faces off against Holy Cross in an important dual meet for district standings. Pictured here, students react to senior Jacob Baxter’s amazing shot, which cleared the net on his first attempt.

American government and politics teacher Dan DiRosa is known for his completely neutral stance in the classroom, but — nonetheless — students are always trying to figure out his political ideology. Hoping to help them assess their own understanding of party systems, DiRosa assigned students quizzes to help gauge their ideological leanings. However, this served only to further pique their interest in his personal beliefs, and — over the course of several weeks — they sneaked in questions during class and filled out a test as they believed their social studies teacher might. Pictured here, senior Davis Martin (left) and junior Ryan Guillot (right) present DiRosa with “his” test as he insists that there is no hard evidence and that the “results” are all speculation.

On Tuesday, Jan. 24, Jesuit’s Academic Games Club competed in a first for Louisiana teams: the “Current Events” game. Joining club members were not only competitors from Dominican and Ben Franklin, but also Blue Jay civics students playing for fun. Pictured here, students grade each other’s answers on questions that ranged in topic from the Rio Olympics to pharmaceutical company cost hikes — if it happened in 2016, it was fair game.

Jesuit juniors Will Hite and Blaise Bonura, along with Ursulines students Sydney Worthy and Bryce Leonhard, act out a scene from Law & Order: Fairy Tale Unit, by Jonathan Larson. The show was part of The Philelectic Society’s senior-directed One Act Plays and Improv Comedy Festival. In this scene, Pinocchio (Will Hite) describes to Detectives H.D. (Blaise Bonura), Cindy (Sydney Worthy), and Gold (Bryce Leonhard) the crime he witnessed. The festival took in about $1,800 in proceeds, all benefiting Second Harvest Food Bank of New Orleans. Audience members also had the option to donate five canned goods in lieu of cash for admission to the festival. The Phils Society turns 100 this year and recently cast over 70 student actors from across New Orleans area high schools for the upcoming Spring performance of Les Misérables. More info on the upcoming show can be found here.

Backstage in Jesuit’s Auditorium, The Philelectic Society has amassed a number of wigs over the years. The styles range from caveman to contemporary, illustrating every period in time from the stone age to now. The Phils turn 100 this year and is celebrating by performing their biggest show to date, Les Misérables (School Edition). You can see a variety of nineteenth century wigs and costumes this weekend, as the show continues Friday, April 7 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, April 8 with two showings at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased here.

Pictured here (left to right) sophomore Harrison LeBlanc (cross country), freshman Brennan Kernion (swimming), and junior Michael Torry (football) pose with their brand-new letterman jackets. Blue Jay athletes who play on one or more of Jesuit’s teams are eligible for the jackets, earning stripes on the “J” for each year of active participation.

On Thursday, MGySgt. J.R. Piseno’s MCJROTC students tried their hands in the kitchen… kind of. Blue Jays gathered in Traditions Courtyard and cooked up MREs, or Meals Ready-to-Eat, which are individually-packaged rations provided by the U.S. military to its service members without access to food facilities. Luckily, Blue Jays didn’t need much by way of tools or appliances — the packages contained entrees, including a water-based heating mechanism, side dishes, and desserts. Pictured here, freshman Evan Malbrough sorts through the contents of his MRE and prepares to heat his main course.

On Wednesday the Sodality sponsored a lunch time talk as part of its ongoing Winter Clothing Drive, donations from which will benefit the Harry Tompson Center (HTC). Regi Reyes of the HTC spoke on the center’s mission, thanking the students for their hard work and explaining how the items they gather will be used to serve the local homeless population. Following her presentation, senior Jacob Acosta (pictured here) speaks on his volunteer experiences with HTC. In addition to new socks and underwear, gently-used winter coats and gloves, shoes, warm hats, belts, and backpacks, click here for other items on the HTC’s wish list. Donations can be placed in bins across campus before the drive ends on Friday, Jan. 20.

Jesuit’s Philelectic Society, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary, ends an extraordinary season with its spring musical Les Miserables. Fifty-seven students auditioned on Monday, the first night of tryouts, for director Kate Arthurs-Goldberg and her creative team. Pictured here, junior and regular Phils actor Thomas Sagona assists Ursulines Academy sophomore Diana Ledet in filling out an audition form. Today, young ladies from other schools are invited to audition and fill female roles. In earlier days, all roles were played by Jesuit students. Les Miserables runs March 30–April 1 and April 7–8. Click here for tickets.

On Monday, nine Blue Jays volunteered their time as part of the 8th Annual MLK Day On, Not Off call for service sponsored by the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Working alongside students from other schools, the group helped with property maintenance at St. Mary’s Academy in New Orleans East. Pictured here (back row from left) are senior Samy Amkieh, junior Emory Ducote, senior Michael Elvir, senior Andrew Stapp, senior Todd Crabtree, senior Luke Navarro, sophomore Alex Stapp, assistant director of community service Charles Bourg ’10, (front row from left) senior Christian Gonzalez, Sister Claire, and sophomore Dylan Davidson.

Throughout the week, all members of the junior class attended meetings on a very important topic: their senior schedule. Pictured here, director of student affairs Helen Swan answers questions as students review materials and information that will help make important decisions for next year.

In preparation for Jesuit’s prime-time wrestling dual meet against Brother Martin in the Birdcage, coaches Sheridan Moran and Tim Falter ’02 put on an exhibition of their own during lunch in Traditions Courtyard. Hopefully foreshadowing many of tonight’s match-ups, Moran (sporting Jesuit wrestling duds) pinned a Crusader-clad Falter to the raucous applause of the many student and faculty onlookers. After the bout, both coaches encouraged the crowd to come support Blue Jay wrestlers as they face some of their most challenging opponents of the season in the meet. Click here for The Advocate’s preview of the match.

Oscar Rabensteiner’s (1936) enormous painting of St. Ignatius Loyola was returned to campus today after being removed last June for cleaning and restoration of flaking paint. Rabensteiner painted the mural of St. Ignatius in 1939. The painting depicts the soldier Ignatius recovering from a serious injury to his knee sustained in battle. Shown with Ignatius are two of the books brought to him when he asked for reading material – The Life of Christ and The Lives of the Saints. The iconic painting  graces the back wall of St. Ignatius Hall.

As the Christmas season closes with Epiphany, Profesora Nilda Rivera’s Spanish classes celebrated… Puerto Rican-style. On Thursday students put out boxes filled with grass to feed the Wise Men’s camels in honor of Día de los Reyes Magos, or Three Kings Day. Upon returning to class Friday, they discovered small toys and candy gifted in exchange. Sharing this tradition from home, Profesora Rivera could not help but infuse it with a little local flavor — students also enjoyed king cake, the New Orleans way. Pictured here, freshman Stewart Talbot shows Profesora Rivera the gifts of candy the Wise Men left for him and his deskmate, Peter Vernaci.

After a long holiday break, Jesuit’s Sodality kicked off the third quarter with a talk by Fr. David Brown, S.J., on his experience of faith and science. Fr. Brown, who formerly taught at Jesuit as a scholastic, is now a priest at the Vatican Observatory and returns to Rome tomorrow. Sharing stories from his journey to faith, to the priesthood, to the Society of Jesus, and eventually to the Vatican observatory, Fr. Brown remarked, “Most people think that science points in the direction of doubt, but I have found in my years of studying physics that the more I learn about the universe through science, the more I come to wonder at the creator of the universe, whose wisdom and power are responsible for all the beauty we see around us.”