As the new school yearbegins, Jesuit welcomes sevennew faculty members toCarrollton and Banks.

Jason Britsch and JordanHolmer are this year’s membersof the Alumni Service Corps.Each are members of the BlueJay Class of 2012. In addition totheir teaching duties, each alsowill participate in student retreatsand such events as dances andgym nights.

Britsch, a graduate of theUniversity of Dallas, joins theEnglish Department, teachingEnglish I. He said he also looksforward to being involved withsuch groups as the Pro-Life Cluband the Sodalities, as well asshowing Blue Jay spirit from thestands at various sporting events.

Most especially, he said hehopes to get to know his studentsand help them in their journey to

become men for others.After leaving Carrollton and

Banks, Holmer continued hisJesuit education at MarquetteUniversity, where he earned hisdegree in computer engineering.Now back at Jesuit, he will beteaching Computer Literacy.

Holmer said he also looksforward to working with theAcademic Games team, theMCJROTC, and the LegoRobotics League.

The new director of CampusMinistry, Peter Flores, is a gradu-ate of the University of NotreDame, where he studied philoso-phy and theology. A member ofthe Blue Jay Class of 2009,Flores returns to Carrollton andBanks after teaching at JesuitTampa and Mount CarmelAcademy. At those schools, he

As the new school yearbegins, the Student CouncilExecutive Board has been work-ing full steam ahead throughoutthe summer.

Under the supervision ofnew Student Council moderatorsKhanh Nguyen and JustinGenovese, the Executive Board,class level officers, and severalhomeroom representatives met inJune to discuss affairs headinginto the 2016-17 school year.Looking forward, the dedicatedBlue Jay leaders set goals, plan-ning grade-by-grade events aswell as schoolwide activities, andimproving upon homeroom spiriton each grade level.

“We are really trying tograsp what’s best for the home-room by learning from the home-room masters,” PresidentWilliam Fine said.

Later in the summer, Fineand Vice President Guy Cressonreconvened the board to plan outthe year as a whole to maximizeparticipation. Their main focuswas to work together to plan afun and energetic first semesterin order to instill a strong senseof Blue Jay pride in all students,especially the incoming eighthgraders and new freshmen.

The first activities was theeffective Welcome Week, inwhich the eighth graders wereespecially invited to partake in acavalcade of games and other funlunchtime plans in order to make

The

JBlueay

Volume 89, No. 1

A. M. D. G.

Back to School 2016

Boostingspirit goalof Council

Welcome Week, Go!

New faculty members gathered outside the Carrollton Avenue entrance to the school fora groupphoto. Seated, from left: Jordan Holmer ’12, Monica Younger, and Jason Britsch ’12. Standing, fromleft: Todd Velianski, Christopher McCabe, PeterFlores ’09, and Andr ew Lade ’07.

Meet the new faculty members for 2016

By John Kling Staff Writer

See FACULTY, Page 2

The hunt for Pokemon,which has taken the countryby storm, has even invaded

the games of Welcome Weekas the school yearcommenced.

Pikachu, right photo, wasseen scurrying about theTraditions Courtyard all

week, and even made its wayinto the inflatable obstacle

course. Earlier in the week,a colorful take on a medieval

joust took place withpaintr ollers instead of lances.

Student Council Tr easurerEddie Redmann, above left,

scores a direct hit againstfellow junior Jack Chaney.

Staff photos by Richi Fernando (top) and

Matthew O’Neill (right)See COUNCIL, Page 3

Students worked allsummer to plan year

During junior year, all Jesuitstudents are required to complete100 hours of service for the com-munity. One way of completingthe required hours is a servicetrip. More than merely efficient,however, it can be a life-trans-forming experience.

Organized by Director ofCommunity Service KevinMurphy ’00, the junior servicetrip to Panama took us to themost remote location most of ushad ever visited. The trip waschaperoned by Social Studiesteacher Wade Trosclair ’07, andTheology teacher Susan deBoisblanc.

To arrive at our final destina-tion, we had to use four separatetypes of transportation. I believedthis to be odd, but I expected thetrip to be similar to previous tripsI had heard about. That quicklychanged!

Our boat was in the PacificOcean only about 300 yards fromthe coast of Panama, and sudden-ly, I heard chatter between thesoldiers driving the boat. Thenthe Peace Corps volunteerexclaimed, “We need to get out ofthe boat.” Next thing I realized,my classmates and I were kneedeep in the Pacific with all of ourluggage on our shoulders. Thiswas the moment I knew this tripwould not be like any other.

Reaching the shore, wegathered our belongings at thelocal army outpost. At this point,we split into two groups. Onegroup loaded onto a flatbed truckto take an hour and a half drivedown a bumpy one-lane roadaccommodating two-way traffic.

The others waited at the outpostfor five hours until the truckreturned to pick them up.

Once we regrouped inDayperu, the village we would bestaying in for the following week,we enjoyed a phenomenal pres-entation of native music anddance. As the music’s volumeincreased, we found ourselvesdancing with the locals under thesole light source, a small flores-cent light hanging from a wire inthe center of the roof.

Over the next four days, wehand mixed more than 1,500buckets of gravel to pour nearly300 square meters of concrete,using only wheelbarrows. Theresult would become a basketballcourt, but it was also much more.

“The purpose of the Courtsfor Kids organization is not sim-ply to build a basketball courtwhere the local kids can shoot afew hoops,”de Boisblanc said.“It is a place where the wholecommunity can gather togetherfor social events, traditionaldances and the buying and sellingof handmade goods.

“It is an economic boon forthe whole village because itallows the village to rent out thevenue for profit,”she noted.“For most of us though, the rela-tionships built working side byside with members of the villagewas, by far, the most rewardingaspect of our project.”

We really did get to know thepeople we were working with

throughout the experience. Afterevery day of work, the localswould challenge us to a soccermatch that would develop intothree matches before the call forsuppertime.

The food was unusual for aNew Orleanian. The diet includ-ed fried, mashed, or boiled plan-tains. The protein portion of themeal usually included fried fish,but not the fried fish we knowand love. We were served half ofa sea bass. To prepare it, thecooks would cut a fish in half andthen fry it, scales and all.

The way of life for the peo-ple of Dayperu is beyond diffi -cult. They only have electricity in

Volume 89, No. 1 Page 2NewsNewsFaculty

Continued from Page 1

Hard work, lifelong lessons

For their service project, a group of 18juniors headed to a remote village in Panama to build a basketball court, part of the Courts forKids group. More than just a playing area, however, the hard work resulted in a place forthe village to gather, and engage in economicactivity. The volunteers, meanwhile, learned more about anothercultur e, as well as how to overcome a variety of obstacles.

Panama service trip offersjuniors taste of new realityBy Wesley Bennett Faust

Assistant Photo Editor

also coached cross country andtrack.

In addition to his dutiescoordinating Campus Ministry,Flores will teach the seniorChristian Vocations course.

He said his wide-ranginghobbies include listening to rapmusic, paddleboarding and run-ning, and reading the works ofG.K. Chesterton.

Another Blue Jay alumnus,Andrew Lade, Class of 2007,joins the Science Department,where he will teachEnvironmental Science.

Lade has previously taughtat Tulane and Loyola universi-ties. He received his bachelor’sdegree from Tulane, and laterearned his master’s in geosciencefrom the University of NorthCarolina at Wilmington.

The Science Departmentalso welcomes Monica Younger,who will be teaching ChemistryI. Younger is a 1993 graduate ofUrsuline Academy, and earnedher bachelor of science degreefrom the University of Louisianaat Monroe in 1997, and a mas-ter’s in education from Our Ladyof Holy Cross College in 2014.

She has taught chemistry forthe past 13 years at Belle ChasseHigh School. She and her hus-band, Paul, have two sons, Evanand Max, each of whom are cur-rently Blue Jays.

Christopher McCabe, a NewOrleans native, also has returnedhome to teach in the TheologyDepartment, where he’ll behelming five sections of theMorality course for juniors.

McCabe spent the past fiveyears teaching theology asXavier High School inManhattan, and said he and hiswife are glad to be back home toraise their daughter aroundfriends, family and the culturethey love.

Well versed in Jesuit educa-tion, McCabe earned his degreein theology and philosophy fromSpring Hill College, and his mas-ter’s from Boston College.

When not teaching, he saidhe enjoys traveling, playingboard games, camping and hik-ing. He also has a passion forcommunity service and servicetrips.

Todd Velianski also comesfrom the Northeast to join theTheology Department, A nativeof Phillipsburg, N.J., he studiedtheology at the University ofNotre Dame and Boston College.His particular areas of focusincluded sacred scripture andliturgy.

Other interests include clas-sical languages, medieval litera-ture and folklore studies. In highschool, Velianski participated inpublic forum debate, which hesaid he considers one of the bestco-curricular activities to engageyoung minds.

Outside of the classroom, hesaid he enjoys exploring his newcity. Other hobbies include read-ing, boxing, weight training, andsitting in coffee shops until clos-ing time.See PANAMA, Page 4

Bucket by bucket, the Blue Jay volunteers and members of the community dug gravel to mix intoconcrete. Hard work was usually followed by play and relaxing socializing with the people.

For generations of readers,sportswriter Peter Finney pro-vided the last word on all sports.

Through nearly 15,000columns that he wrote in acareer spanning 68 years, Mr.Finney truly covered the wideworld of sports.

He died at his home in NewOrleans on Aug. 13. Mr. Finneywas 88.

The seed of that journalismcareer began when he was a stu-dent at Jesuit High School,where he was sports editor ofThe Blue Jay.

Shortly after graduating in1945, he began freelancing forthe old New Orleans States.

Soon after earning his jour-nalism degree from LoyolaUniversity in 1949, he joinedthe paper’s staff, eventuallybecoming sports editor as thevarious local dailies mergedinto The Times-Picayune.

His career spanned changesin the newspaper world fromthe days of manual typewritersand hot type to posting reports

on websites from laptops in thepressbox.

He was named Jesuit’sAlumnus of the Year in 1971.

That was just one of themany awards and honors Mr.Finney received, with custom-ary quiet humility, throughouthis career.

Having covered the NewOrleans Saints from the team’sinception 1966 to its winningthe Super Bowl in 2010, he washonored by the Saints Hall of

Fame in 2013.Earlier this year, many of

his favorite columns were com-piled for a book, “The Best ofPeter Finney, Legendary NewOrleans Sportswriter.”

A most fitting title, indeed.Peter Finney will be

remembered not only as thegreatest sportswriter this cityhas ever known, but as a kindand generous man who lovedhis work, his town, and most ofall, his family.

News/FeaturesNews/Features Page 3Volume 89, No. 1

ModeratorTheodore P. Mahne

The Blue JayEditorial Board

Managing EditorRichi Fernando ’17

Sports Editor

Ian Fogarty ’17

Layout EditorTommy Curry ’18

Chief Photo EditorMatthew O’Neill ’17

Assistant Photo

EditorWesley Bennett Faust ’17

News Editor

Jonathan LeBrun ’20

Features Editor

Philip Hourgettes ’17

Entertainment EditorPeyton Toups ’19

Opinions EditorJohn Howell ’18

Editor-in-ChiefDonald Barrett ’18

their first few weeks of highschool enjoyable and lightheart-ed, since it can be a daunting andintimidating experience for anynew student.

Other events will keep thatincreased sense of school spiritflourishing throughout the year.

“We hope to improve peprallies and have more of them tomake Blue Jay spirit really comealive this year,” Fine said.

“We also made a point to dothings differently from last year,”Cresson added, “staying on top

of duties such as keeping theCoke machines filled as well asmake the courtyard come aliveduring lunch and assembly peprallies.”

The rest of the ExecutiveBoard, which was sworn in atone of the first morning assem-blies of the year, includesTreasurer Eddie Redmann,Secretary Leo John Arnett, JacobMarshall as senior class presi-dent, Henry McAloon as juniorclass president, and executiveaides Jandon Briscoe, KarlHoefer, and Andrew Stahl. Theyall said that they look forward toserving the Jesuit community tothe best of their ability thisschool year.

CouncilContinued from Page 1

There is often a question in every student’s lifeof who will he take to the next dance. There is aneasy answer for all students with this dilemma asthe first school dance of the year rolls around.

Saturday’s Back to School Dance is a sock-hopstyle dance where students can come without a dateand interact with plenty of girls invited from areahigh schools.

Girls from several area high schools will beinvited to the dance in the Student Commons, lead-ing to a favorable ratio for Jesuit students. Thedance also is a great opportunity, especially for the

eighth graders, to meet other Jesuit students.Though informal, the dance, which will likely

spill out into the courtyard, has a dress code. Thetheme is a Hawaiian Luau meaning that one shoulddon a Hawaiian shirt and a lei. Not only is this inkeeping with the theme but it is also one of the moststylish outfits of modern times.

The dance will feature a mixture of pop music,line dances, and oldies-but-goodies. It is also arather early dance starting at 7 and ending at 10p.m.

With almost 1,300 people attending last year,this year’s Back to School Dance is the place to be.It kills two birds with one stone as well: a studentwho might come to the dance without date mightwell find himself a date for the next big celebration,the Homecoming dance at the Superdome.

By William Fine Staff Writer

This weekend’s dance is socialhighlight of school year’s startIt might be one of Jesuit’s

newest teams, but it proved to beoff to a strong start this summer.

The newly formedMCJROTC Academic Team trav-eled to Washington, D.C., in Juneto compete in the nationalJROTC Leadership andAcademic Bowl, a contest estab-lished by the College OptionsFoundation.

The team brought home asecond-place trophy, quite anaccomplishment for a team in itsinfancy.

“The Foundation is angled toimprove the academic scores andscholarship options for ROTCcadets,” said John Crowson, lastyear’s Academic Team captain.

JLAB is held annually eachJune in the nation’s capital. Itinvolves Junior ROTCs from allbranches of the U.S. ArmedForces, as they compete for thenational title. Similar to QuizBowl, each team competesanswering a series of academic

related questions.“The questions were invig-

orating and really tough,”Crowson said. Unlike QuizBowl, however, questions fromthe ROTC curriculum must alsobe answered. There are two pre-liminary rounds in which teamscompete online before the JLAB.The cadets complete tests onJROTC and high school curricu-lum before the national champi-onship.

Seniors John Crowson andTravis Kieff and juniors DonaldBarrett, Matthew Richards, andGiovanni Lorusso made up lastyear’s team.

“It was a great experiencefor the ROTC Academic Team tocompete against teams fromthroughout the nation, and it wasa great chance to tour our natio-n’s capital,” said LtCol. TimHuete, director of Jesuit’sMCJROTC program.

Competing out of thousandsacross the nation in the prelimi-nary rounds, and about 100 inWashington, MCJROTCAcademic Team is off to a prom-ising start with such a strongshowing this year.

By Peyton Toups Entertainment Editor

Peter Finney, Class of ’45,sportswriting legend, dies

Fr. RaymondFitzgerald,S.J., greetedsportswriterPeter Finneywhen hisgrandson, Fr.Peter FinneyIII, celebratedMass here in2012. Joiningthem wasPeter FinneyJr., editor ofThe ClarionHerald.

Academic drillsscore for teamfr om MCJROTC

The MCJROTC Academic team, in just its first year, earned asecond-place finish in the national tournament in Washington,D.C. The members of the team also had a chance to tourthenation’s capital earlier this summer. They are, from left, seniorJohn Crowson, juniors Donald Barrett and Giovanni Lorusso,seniorTravis Kieff, and junior Matthew Richards.

Sports/FeaturesSports/Features

Jesuit’s instructions on procedure areusually superb; however, the best knowledgeabout surviving Jesuit High School is notfound in a handbook or planner.

As we begin the new school year, hereare some tips for reaching success at Jesuit.

One of the most important things toremember while at Jesuit is to walk on theright side of every stairwell and hallway.

This is especially true for the younger,smaller students as a senior may look uponyour mistake of walking on the left and use itas an opportunity to scold or even manhandleyou over to the correct side.

Another rule of grave importance isavoiding inopportune moments at Jesuit.

For example: if a student is aware of hisincredulous long hair, he should be sure toavoid the discipline stairwell as well as thegaze of his homeroom teacher.

Oftentimes walking in a crowd can helpthe student blend in.

Sitting in the middle row on the side of aclassroom without answering any questions

can keep a student in the shadows of authori-ty’s gaze.

If the student can strategically avoid aP.H. throughout a day, he has time to get his

hair cut that afternoon and be back on the pathto success at Jesuit.

The best advice any veteran at Jesuit cangive a younger student is become friends witheveryone.

Meet and have a connection with everystudent in the school that you can.

Those students may one day be mastersat Calculus, the best paper editors, and fantas-tic advice-givers.

Becoming friends with teachers canprove to be beneficial as well.

In fact, it is more important to becomefriends with the teachers in the classes you donot do as well in, rather than the classes youexcel in.

That friendship can open up doors toadvice and tricks to solve problems or usebetter word choice in papers.

Lastly, do not forget to have fun.Get involved in co-curricular activities.

There’s a club or activity out there that willsuit absolutely anyone’s interest!

Jesuit is challenging, and in order to keepthe mental state afloat, the student mustsearch out joy in all his activities.

Good luck and have a great academicyear.

When the ancient Greeksheld the first Olympic Games,they could not have possiblyimaged that it would become theinternational spectacle it is today.Since 1904, when medals werefirst awarded in the modernOlympics, athletes from aroundthe world have competed to winbronze, silver and gold medals.

One those athletes includesan alumnus from right here atJesuit High School, who repre-sented our country on the world’sbiggest stage.

Martin Emmett Toppino,Class of 1927, was his class pres-ident, captain of the baseballteam, member of Sodality, andassistant editor of The Blue Jaynewspaper during his time atJesuit.

His true gift, however, wastrack and field. He completed the100-meter dash during his senioryear, with an amazing time of 9.8seconds – a world record at thetime.

After graduating from Jesuit,Toppino enrolled at LoyolaUniversity in New Orleans. As amember of the Loyola track andfield team, Toppino broke hisown record in the 100 meter dashwith a new time of 9.6 seconds,establishing him as one of thegreatest sprinters worldwide. TadGormley, track coach of Loyola,even proclaimed Toppino “thebest sprinter he had ever seen.”

In 1932, his record times

lead him to compete in theNational Amateur Athletic UnionChampionships (AAU), in whichthe top four finisherswouldclinch a spot to compete in theOlympics. Toppino placed fifth in

the trials, but fortunately, theAAU decided, for the first time inhistory at a national meet, to usethe automatic camera for allphoto finishes.

The officials saw the photo

depicting that he truly finished infourth place, not fifth. With thatfinish, Toppino earned a spot onthe American 4x100 Meter RelayTeam and the chance to win agold medal in the 1932 LosAngeles Olympics along withRobert Kiesel, Hector Dyer, andFrank Wykoff.

The U.S. team won goldwith the Olympic-record time of40 seconds.

“We won because we hadfour men who could tie theworld’s record in the 100-yarddash consistently,” teammateDyer said in an interview with theAmateur Athletic Association ofLos Angeles. “The other teams,Germany and Italy, only had oneman that could do that on eachteam. So, we were yards ahead of

them.”In 1971, at the age of 61,

Toppino died. He was inductedinto the Louisiana Sports Hall ofFame 10 years later.

As the Olympic Gamesmove on from Rio 2016 to Tokyo2020, we can only imagine whatthe future holds. Perhaps some-one you see playing ping pong onthe fourth floor or intramuralsports on the field or simply sit-ting right next to you in class maycapture the world’s attention inthose astonishing two weeks.

If you don’t believe me, nexttime you walk the second floorhallway, look at the pictures onthe walls and stop and see theClass of 1927 with Jesuit’s ownworld-class Olympian, MartinEmmett Toppino.

Page 4Volume 89, No. 1

BLUE JAY GOLD

By Jonathan LeBrunNews Editor

Thoughts of a Blue Jay

Rio Olympics stir memories of a Jesuit athletewho set world record at ’32 Los Angeles Games

A plaque commemorating Emmett Toppino’s Olympic achieve-ments hangs in the Birdcage with his portrait.

In his senioryear at Jesuit in 1927, Martin Emmett Toppino set aworld r ecord in the 100-meterdash. He would go on to win goldand silver medals in the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

By Palmer MontalbanoStaff Writer

A new Blue Jay’s guide to survivalthree buildings. Grass is cutusing only machetes. The villagejust recently received runningwater but we could only drinkfrom the five-gallon jugs webrought with us.

The final day of the trip con-sisted of a three-hour hike to thesource of the river that broughtfresh water to the village. We fol-lowed the local guide down pathssix inches wide that ended with astunning waterfall that cascadesdown the side of a mountain.

This trip allowed me to grabhold of reality of the world I callhome. After the flood of new cul-ture, food, landscape, and peo-ple, it seems that I have seen lifethrough a drastically differentlens.

If anyone is considering aservice trip, I couldn’t recom-mend it more. My high schoolcareer would not have been thesame without the opportunityJesuit provided me through theservice trip program.

PanamaContinued from Page 2

Lastly, do notforget to have fun.

Get involved inco-curricular

activities.There’s a club or

activity out there thatwill suit absolutelyanyone’s interest!