Junior defensive back Jakirai Wiley came up with a huge interception in the second quarter of the Jesuit – John Curtis Division 1 State Championship Game back on December 5, 2014 in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The play was voted as the “2014 Takeaway of the Year” in a contest sponsored by Nola.com/Times-Picayune. Initially, the ballots by readers produced a three-way tie. On Friday, Nola.com announced the final results: Wiley captured almost 64% of the votes submitted by readers to win the runoff, er, hands-up! Congratulations to Jakirai Wiley for this recognition!
Read more about the contest and watch a video of the interception.

Seniors Wyatt Comeaux, Bailey Graffagnini, and Sam Clutter dissect a fetal pig in Mrs. Amy Tassin’s Biology II class. The course explores details of human anatomy and physiology and the lab activity of dissecting a fetal pig helps students learn about mammalian anatomy.

The 1,422 Blue Jays who gathered Wednesday morning in the Chapel of the North American Martyrs for monthly Mass exit in an orderly fashion, in silence. The Feast of St. John De Brito is celebrated on Feb. 4. De Brito was born into a wealthy Portuguese family and entered the Society of Jesus at age 15. He spent most of his life in India ministering to the poor. De Brito died a martyr. In his homily, Jesuit president Fr. Anthony McGinn, S.J. ’66 encouraged Blue Jays to open their hearts and minds to the Holy Spirit as God has a plan for us all.

Mr. Nick Nolfe held his physical science class for freshmen and pre-freshmen on Will Clark Field because an inside classroom is a terrible place to launch a pneumatic rocket. From left, Roman Bankson, Nicholas Lacour, Beau Gibbons, Cameron Mazoue, D’Ante Conic, Will Cronvich, Nick Tanet, and Harrison LeBlanc watch as Mr. Nolfe pumps the lightweight rocket 12-15 times. With a sudden whoosh, the rocket shoots off its launching pad at a speed estimated to be more than 135 mph. As the rocket climbs skyward, Mr. Nolfe’s young charges take turns using stopwatches that will help determine the distance from the ground to the rocket’s apex, its highest point. The assignment requires knowledge of a special formula and understanding acceleration of gravity and the effects of air resistance. (The photo was taken with a Canon 7D using a Canon EFS 18-135mm lens at an exposure of 1/4000 sec at f/5:ISO2500).

At Assembly Monday, Jesuit head football coach Mark Songy accepted the national ranking trophy from representatives of MaxPreps and the Army National Guard in connection with the Blue Jay football team’s state championship. Joining Coach Songy are, from left MaxPreps Ken Myers, Sergeant First Class Haywood Harrison, and Staff Sergeant Rashaun Price of the Louisiana Army National Guard. MaxPreps announced that Jesuit’s football team finished No. 63 nationally (and No. 1 in Louisiana) for the 2014 season. Jesuit is one of 50 schools being honored on the 10th annual MaxPreps Football Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard. MaxPreps Computer Rankings are used to determine team rank for the Tour of Champions. More about the rankings system can be found on the company’s website: maxpreps.com.

In a meeting of the Vinyl Club, there’s no pause button, no fast-forward, no skipping of songs. Pre-freshman Bennet Pels, Mr. Jon Malax (moderator), pre-freshman Peter James, junior Cameron Armand, junior Will Hurley, and pre-freshman Cole Radetich gather to casually listen to music from just about any style or from any generation, so long as it’s on vinyl.

To promote the annual Winter Dance on Saturday, January 31 from 8 – 11 p.m. in the Traditions Courtyard , this trio of seniors — Chris Mills (at the podium), along with Harrison Bond (left) and Will Arnold — directed an appeal to all Blue Jays, telling them, “There are four things in a school dance that are considered compulsory, obligatory, indispensable, necessary, required, basic, mandatory, essential, vital, requisite, needed, crucial, key, critical, important, imperative, major, noteworthy, unavoidable, historic, meaningful, and desired. Those four things are: Right Judgment, Attractive Girls, Vibrant Colors, and Electric Music. If you also like these four things, or even if you don’t, you should attend JVEB, or Jayson’s Vengeance Electric Bugaloo. It will be Legen… wait for it… dary.”

Pre-freshman Gus Bongiovanni and junior Tyrus Norcise descend a staircase in the Traditions Courtyard while deep in conversation about tacos — a topic no doubt on many Blue Jay minds. The Wild Photographer happened upon the two students as they were dreaming of chowing down on their next meal amid the busy backdrop of the school yard. 

Mr. Bret Hanemann ’85 visited a Public Speaking class to assist Mrs. Arthurs-Goldberg’s students by conducting mock job interviews using their prepared resumes. In this photo, he grills senior Matt Suberveille about his undercover work with the State Police. 

Senior Chris Ainsworth (left) makes his move in a game of chess against junior Conrad Leonik (right), while senior Josh Duhon (center) looks on. Leonik, who is the president of the Chess Club, considers his counter play. The club welcomes all students, regardless of experience, who are interested in playing chess. Students have opportunities to learn about the game, play chess with peers, and participate in tournaments.

Blue Jays and faculty learned about stress management today in a presentation co-sponsored by Jesuit’s Student 2 Student group and Ochsner. Dr. Mollie Alarcon identified various pressures faced by high school students and provided helpful tips about how to manage anxiety associated with those stressors. Student 2 Student is a support group open to all grade levels, facilitated by Mrs. Mary Favalora, director of guidance. Students are welcome to join throughout the school year.

Pre-freshman Alex Doll has the Hall of Honors all to himself one hour after dismissal on Friday afternoon. During school hours, the Hall of Honors resembles a parade route as it is a major thoroughfare for Blue Jays going every which way. Doll had been studying in the nearby Resource Center and was heading to the yard to catch his ride home.

Sophomores Matthew O’Neill (left) and Blake Brown stain a coffin as part of last minute preparations for the Philelectic Society’s One Act Play and Improv Festival. The casket is a prop in Huck Finn, a show directed by Mr. D.J. Galiano ’07 and featuring a full cast of the newest Phils. The festival begins Thursday night and runs through Saturday, Jan. 24, with performances each night at 7:30 p.m. and a 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday. The festival also features shows directed by Philelectic Society seniors Kyla Zimmerman (Ursuline Academy), Ashley Busenlener (Benjamin Franklin High School), Alex Daigle (Jesuit), and Connor Hill (Jesuit) and performances by the J-Troupe. Admission is $5 per person or five canned goods per person. All proceeds will be donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans. For more information, click here.

Seniors Malcolm Ben, Chris Mills, and Chuck Jackson stopped running for just a few seconds to allow the Wild Photographer to snap this photo in the first floor hallway near the faculty lounge. The seniors were on their way to eat lunch at a secret spot on campus the WP promised not to reveal.

Once or twice each quarter, the 25 seniors in Mr. Mitch Chapoton’s Latin V class gather in the relaxed setting of the Student Commons where they enthusiastically partake of donuts and chocolate milk. The caloric intake and the nourishment produced by the camaraderie and social interaction work in mysterious ways, as they are essential ingredients for the seniors to scope out Quintus Horatius Flaccus, otherwise known as Horace, to gain a thorough understanding of, and appreciation for, his intricately constructed odes and writings that made him one of the preeminent poets of the Roman Empire. Mr. Chapoton’s class is equivalent to an intermediate college level Latin course and encompasses required readings in Horace for the AP Latin exam.

A group of Blue Jays gathered to visit and reminisce with Spanish teacher Ms. Nilda Rivera during lunch Thursday. The students were pre-freshmen in the 2010 – 2011 school year — Ms. Rivera’s first year teaching at Jesuit — and were in her Spanish I Honors class during their freshman year. Now seniors, the group decided they would meet with Ms. Rivera regularly throughout their final year at Jesuit. While the seniors assembled in her classroom, Ms. Rivera told them, “You’re a special group of young men and it has been an honor to watch you grow these past few years.”