A quintet of Blue Jays relax under the oak trees of the Traditions Courtyard Monday afternoon. Pictured from left are sophomores Graham Buck, Troy Broussard, Matt Nguyen, Gary Zeringue, and Hanson Chokr.

Why, they’re in the Traditions Courtyard, playing Four Square, a fast-paced variation of handball, racquetball, and volleyball. On any given day in the Courtyard at lunch, groups of Blue Jays will be playing Four Square, including (clockwise, from left) junior Andrew Nguyen, pre-freshman Ben Willis, and juniors Brady LeBlanc and David Zazulak. According to the website squarefour.org, “The object of the game of four square is to eliminate players in higher squares so that you can advance to the highest square yourself. Four square is played with a rubber playground ball on a square court with four players, each occupying a quarter of the court. The ball is bounced between players in squares until someone makes an error and is eliminated. Eliminated players leave the court, all players advance to fill the empty squares, and a new player joins at the lowest ranked square.” Basically, that’s saying the ball can’t hit the courtyard bricks twice in a square or the player is bounced. Next time someone invites you to join in the fun, don’t be a square. Get in the square and play the game!

Juniors Charles Glass (left) and Joshua West turn the phrase “thinking outside of the box” inside out as they gather recyclable materials for pickup. Members of the Green Club regularly conduct school-wide collections of recyclables as part of the club’s mission to promote awareness of a variety of environmental issues. The club is moderated by environmental science teacher Ms. Lori Fasone.

Senior Mako Giordano and junior Andrew Cerise engage junior Mayank Mardia and senior Rishab Chimmanamada in a cross-fire debate after presenting opposing views to this week’s Debate Team topic. The team meets after school to practice for local to national competitions held throughout the year.

Juniors Kyle Sullivan and Wolfe Waguespack are lost in conversation as they make their way down Banks Street Monday after school.

Harrison Bond, who is senior class president, is one cool dude and a live wire on the Assembly podium. Along with senior Mako Giordano, Bond donned one of his Hawaiian shirts and climbed the podium to promote a couple of weekend activities, including Friday night’s football game against St. Paul’s on the Northshore and Saturday evening’s Back to School Luau in the Traditions Courtyard. What else can you say about a dude whose first and last names evoke those of two well-known actors of action movies, Ford and James, as in Indiana Jones and 007? Now that is cool, dude!

In an afternoon workshop, College Counselor Elizabeth Hoodless advises senior Francis Weller about his Common Application to submit for college admissions. Jesuit has two college counselors, Hoodless and Allie Timberlake, who meet individually with juniors and seniors to discuss the college admissions process. They post general information on the College Planning page and further details in JAYSON.

Seniors in David Wright’s AP Calculus class listen intently as he explains the “chain rule” for derivatives. The chain rule is a formula for computing the derivative of the composition of two or more functions. In addition to AP Calculus, Jesuit offers 10 other advanced placement courses, plus 26 honors courses for Blue Jays. Learn more about Jesuit’s departments and curriculum.

US Navy Capt. Patrick Huete ’84, along with other Naval ROTC representatives, spoke to MCJROTC cadets about scholarship opportunities in the Navy ROTC program. Pictured from left are senior Josh de Boisblanc, Capt. Huete, senior Westley West, Cmdr. Christian Stover, Lt. Trey Souder, and Lt. Andrew Gillaspie. Capt. Huete is commanding officer of the Naval ROTC Unit at Tulane University and the brother of retired Marine Corps Lt. Col. Tim Huete ’76, Jesuit’s MCJROTC senior Marine instructor.

Sophomores Jordan Kelley and Chris Szeszycki work on building the set for the upcoming Philelectic Society production of “The Odd Couple.” The production begins on Thursday, Sept. 18 with a 6:30 p.m. preview performance. Visit the Phils’ page for the full list of show times and dates. The Philelectic Society—the oldest co-curricular organization at Jesuit—is the school’s drama department. It presents the public with musical theatre as well as comedy and dramatic pieces in Jesuit’s 894-seat auditorium.

The start of Jesuit football, with all of its weekly hoopla, fun, and excitement, also heralds the quiet celebration of a Mass for the Blue Jay players. Usually this Mass is held in the Holy Name of Jesus Chapel on the second floor of the Banks Street administration building. Believe it or not, all of the roughly 95 members of the team have successfully squeezed into the small Chapel, which is currently undergoing an extensive renovation, although definitely not from being overcrowded. When completed in 2015, the renovation should substantially increase the amount of available elbow room in the Holy Name Chapel. In the meantime, when the football game falls on a Friday (such as it does with Ponchatoula on Friday, and for most of the upcoming season), the players gather for Mass at 7:10 in the morning in the relatively spacious St. Ignatius Hall, an oasis of sorts with its beautiful arched windows overlooking the live oaks on Banks Street and the hustle and bustle going on in the school yard below. St. Ignatius Hall is an appropriate setting for the Mass since it once served as the Chapel for the numerous Jesuits in residence, and offers an intimate and cozy atmosphere for prayer and reflection, even sans pews. Having the Mass for athletes in St. Ignatius Hall also does not interfere with the daily Mass for students that is celebrated each morning at 7:15 on the other side of the yard in the Chapel of the North American Martyrs — a distance equivalent to maybe one nice run or a long pass from our spiritually fortified Blue Jays.

Rev. Tony Corcoran, S.J. speaks to Blue Jays gathered in the Chapel of the North American Martyrs during lunch. Hosted by the Sodality, Fr. Corcoran’s presentation on his missionary work in Russia following the collapse of the Soviet regime attracted a large number of students, faculty, and staff to the large chapel. Fr. Corcoran shared personal stories of his ministry and spoke about the persecution many Catholics in eastern Europe face on a daily basis. A native of Texas, Fr. Corcoran taught here at Jesuit in the early 1990s. He has been working in Russia for more than 17 years and is currently the superior of Jesuits serving in Russia.

Pre-freshmen John Bendernagel, Sam Gibson, and Neal Hebert get a kick out of buying frozen treats from Br. William Dardis, S.J. ’58. Proceeds are split to support the Thanksgiving Drive, the cheerleaders, and the Mission Drive.

Following Mass of the Holy Spirit on Friday morning, students are dismissed from school. People are usually surprised when they see for the first time how quickly students leave Carrollton & Banks in a deserted state. Some of the younger Blue Jays — like freshmen Tyler Mire (left) and Patrick Calhoun — are not as mobile and hang in the Traditions Courtyard while waiting for their ride home. The Wild Photographer happened to be laboring nearby (well, it is Labor Day weekend) and coaxed Messieurs Mire and Calhoun, and Fr. McGinn, to allow the snapping of this presidential memento of sorts.

Junior Joey Bongiovanni talks with campus ministry Director Jeremy Reuther about his ushering duties for Friday morning’s Mass of the Holy Spirit.  Students will arrive on campus in coat and tie to celebrate this Mass which has been a Jesuit tradition for decades and helps to set the spiritual tone for the new school year. More information about school Masses is detailed on the Liturgy & Worship page.

Prefect of Discipline “Top” Abshire met with pre-freshmen in their computer literacy class. Top gave the class some tips on how to navigate Jesuit and encouraged them to be Men of Faith and Men for Others. He discussed with them the importance of keeping up with their school work and shared with the new Jays his mantra for the school year: “Do what you have to do before you do what you want to do.”