On a cold Friday afternoon in a nearly silent first floor hallway, freshmen and pre-freshmen Debate Club hopefuls make their final preparations just before the start of tryouts. Devoted to debate, original oratory, extemporaneous speaking, dramatic interpretation, and humorous interpretation, the club gives its members an opportunity to participate in competitive interscholastic speech tournaments at the local, state, and national levels. The club is a member of the National Forensics League, the Catholic Forensics League, and the Louisiana High School Speech League and is composed of students from all grade levels. (See Debate Team News.)

The Phils choreographer, Mr. Kenny Beck ’79, directs students in some simple dance movements at auditions for the spring musical “On The Town” on Monday, Jan. 18 in the auditorium. Students are invited to the second and last night of auditions on Tuesday, Jan .19. Get more information and required forms online. Students must have their parents sign the forms to audition for the show.

Senior Cole Retif (standing center in gray pullover) serves as an usher to direct Blue Jays to their pews at January’s monthly Mass, celebrated Wednesday for the entire student body in the Chapel of the North American Martyrs. The principal celebrant was Jesuit president Fr. Anthony McGinn, S.J. ’66, who in his homily, spoke of the challenge we face in listening to God’s word and being open to God’s will in our lives: “We ask God for the grace, strength, and insight in our daily lives to see where He is leading us, the power He has given us, the power to heal. We all have power to heal, not physically, but we all have power to heal relationships… God gives us the strength to battle the forces of evil, the forces of evil that want to convince us that we are in charge; that ours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory; that force of evil that wants us to have our way always. The power of God, the power of the Spirit working in us enables us to respond as Jesus did… We ask God for grace and strength to make the right decisions in life.”

Freshman Tyler Lobitz (left) spins the 5×5 Rubik’s Cube while freshman Trevor Spinosa tries to understand the mechanics of the Skewb. The solutions to the both cubes are more than puzzling to most. By twisting and turning the pieces, each player hopes to match all the colors on one side of his 3D puzzle cube. The puzzles are so popular that hundreds of websites and videos are dedicated to helping players “solve the cube.”

Sophomore Kevin Gallagher checks the first floor bulletin board just outside the Student Commons for information about the upcoming intramural basketball season. Play in the first two rounds begins Wednesday in the gym and Roussel Building. The intramural sports program provides an opportunity for students of all grade levels to participate in recreational sports. Under faculty supervision, grade-level leagues are formed for touch football, basketball, and other sports throughout the year. In each sport, homeroom teams compete against each other in games held during the lunch period.

Freshman Freddie Washington goes airborne in a lunchtime slam dunk contest in the Traditions Courtyard. Blue Jays of all grade levels gathered to watch their classmates’ dunks, which ranged from awe-inspiring to downright comical. Members of the Blue Jay basketball team judged each dunk with large scorecards — to the delight of the audience gathered. The contest was all in good fun and to promote the Jay’s district-opening basketball game against Holy Cross on Friday night.

Seniors Evan Slattery (left) and Brady Stiller, along with Sodality Director Mr. Julio Minsal-Ruiz, S.J. and Director of Community Service Projects Mr. Kevin Murphy, place a box outside the Resource Center to collect collect cold weather items for the homeless. The box is one of several placed around campus to collect such items for the Harry Tompson Center, which serves the homeless in New Orleans. The Sodality and the Class of 1984 are working together to collect the items, including men’s coats, winter hats and gloves, and backpacks, underwear, and socks. (More info here.) Donations will be accepted through Friday, Jan. 15. In addition, on Wednesday, Jan. 13, a representative from the Harry Tompson Center will be on campus to speak to Blue Jays about homelessness in New Orleans. The talk will take place in Room 329 during lunch.

Junior Bennett Faust aims for the bullseye in a meeting of the new Darts Club. Faust recently started the recreational club along with a handful of juniors and a few pre-freshmen under the guidance of Ms. Holly Smith, who moderates the club. Members welcome friendly competition every Tuesday during the second half of lunch in Room 313. They hope to add more game boards throughout the year. Blue Jays who have an interest not currently available on the co-curricular list should complete a Club and Organization Proposal Form.

Senior co-drum major Dane Castillo leads the MCJROTC musicians to line up in the band room where they are practicing for upcoming performances. The band will perform later this month in the first of two Mardi Gras parades. (Yes, parades start in January this year; Fat Tuesday is Feb. 9.) Watch them in the Krewe of Sparta on Saturday, Jan. 30, and in the Krewe of Hermes on Friday, Feb. 5.

While most students are home for the holidays, members of the freshmen basketball team are working on their round ball game. The team, coached by alumni Tim Farrelly ’80 and Scott Thompson ’92, went 3-1 in a tournament they hosted at The Birdcage on Monday, Dec. 21. The Jays beat Archbishop Hannan, Brother Martin, and Archbishop Rummel before losing to Lusher in the championship game, 21-10.

Seniors Benji Creel, Evan Slattery, Matthew Miceli, Arjun Verma, Andrew Nguyen, and Ben Gillen were recently treated to a long-overdue lunch with the math department. The Blue Jays earned the meal after submitting the winning bid last spring in the Mission Drive Auction. They were finally able to coordinate their busy schedules and join the math department faculty for a delicious lunch.

Blue Jays in Ms. Nilda Rivera’s Spanish IV AP and Spanish V Honors classes had the opportunity to speak via teleconference with renowned Puerto Rican actress Magali Carrasquillo. The Skype session was the first in a series of lectures in which the students will meet via teleconference a diverse group of Hispanoamerican artists from different media ― theatre, television, film, visual arts, design, and music. The artists will each share their experiences as professionals and discuss how speaking Spanish has helped open doors for them internationally. Ms. Carrasquillo talked to the AP students about her 39-year career as an actress, her travels to Cuba earlier this year, and the experience of being Ms. Rivera’s teacher.

“Spice Thyme Continuum” played for Blue Jays during lunchtime in Traditions Courtyard for the year’s first Brown Bag Concert. The band is composed of seniors Tristan Killgore, Evan Palmisano, and Matthew Torres on drums. Killgore handled the vocals … and the joke-telling. Classmate Felix Rabito joined them to play a few songs as well.

Because Paris, France is hosting the COP21 about climate change, Mr. Patrick Benoit found a hands-on activity to relate his students’ learning to current events. A local artist, Ms. Allison Stewart, presented (in French) some of her work to students in Mr. Benoit’s French III Honors class. Many of Ms. Stewart’s pieces focus on how catastrophes affect the environment. Blue Jays were given watercolor pencils and instructed to create their own visions of environmental art. Pictured: Ms. Stewart is encouraging sophomore Eric-Michael Schorr in his artistic endeavor.

Classmates look on as freshman Neehar Desai takes a turn aiming his yellow paper airplane at the target below. Students in Mrs. Leslie Merritt’s freshmen honors geometry use their class studies to design a paper airplane to meet the specifications to fly for distance and aim.

Dr. Kyle Happel ’89  gets an enthusiastic answer from seniors Andrew Nguyen, Chance Melancon, and Jeremy Scheffler who have just completed a DNA gel electrophoresis to identify a fictitious crime suspect. Dr. Happel visited Mrs. Amy Tassin’s Biology II AP class to lead a two-day DNA electrophoresis lab yesterday and today. Students participating in the lab compared DNA samples similar to the way CSI labs use DNA fingerprints to help determine guilt or innocence. They ran a electrophoresis, separated the DNA fragments by size, and used a high intensity ultraviolet light source to view the results.