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.”

Pre-freshmen Matt Fanguy and Devin McCartney and sophomore Matthew O’Neill practice card tricks in a lunchtime meeting of the Magic Club. Members meet to trade tips about their flourishes and sleights of hand hoping to master the art of illusion. The club is one of over 50 co-curricular clubs and organizations at Jesuit that caters to the diverse interests of the students. Meeting dates are typically posted in the daily announcements.

Members of The Blue Jay newspaper staff meet to finalize story assignments for the upcoming edition. Moderator Mr. Ted Mahne (far left) guides the group discussion, while Editor-in-Chief Patrick Fine (center) assigns writers to cover various stories. The Blue Jay is published several times a year and offers students an opportunity to develop their journalistic, photographic, and artistic skills. The upcoming issue will focus on current school events and give a preview of the Mardi Gras season.

Senior Tim Tabthong and sophomore Blake Brown joined fellow members of the Philelectic Society in a work crew after school to repaint the auditorium stage floor. They are preparing for the production of one-act shows, including Huck Finn, that will take place Jan. 22-24. General admission will be $5 or 5 can goods at the door. The Phils are also getting ready to hold auditions for the spring musical, The Music Man, on Jan. 19.

It’s been six weeks since Jesuit’s football team capped the 2014 season by winning the Division 1 state championship. In a sense, there is no off-season. Underclassmen who will return to play on the 2015 Blue Jay team — such as sophomore quarterback Denny McGinnis (left) and junior defensive end Seth Pohlmann — are expected to follow a strict weight training program. McGinnis and Pohlmann had just finished Friday’s workout with other Blue Jay football players and were ready to head home. It struck the Wild Photographer that the old joke about how does one get to Carnegie Hall could easily be adapted to, “How does one get to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome?” The punch line, of course, is “Practice, practice, practice!”

Blue Jays crossing Carrollton Avenue walk by a utility box that recently received a face-lift fitting for its location. The utility box, located at the intersection of Carrollton Avenue and Banks Street, is now adorned with a mural of stately oaks and lively blue jays painted by the artist Karel Sloan Bookbinder. The art is part of the New Orleans Street Gallery, a project of Community Visions Unlimited. CVU is a nonprofit dedicated to revitalizing New Orleans neighborhoods through community beautification and business development. CVU hopes to have each of the 400 utility boxes in the city of New Orleans painted within the next two years.