Stay tuned for coverage throughout the year from our 2018/2019 class of JRNOLA writers, photographers, and all-round great kids.
Ava Josephine “AJ” Nicol, was born on a sunny, magnificent day on January 14, 2003 to her amazing mother Elizabeth. She is 15 years old and goes to Riverdale High school, and she is a freshman and is an all A student. Ava is an only child and is a “your everyday princess Moana”. She loves the ocean and scuba diving is one of her many passions. Her greatest escapes from her everyday troubles would be a trip to the beach; she loves being free and sailing boats. Don’t let her free spirit fool you though, she is also interested in teaching kids how to swim and is in a group called Eco Crew. In Eco Crew she gets to enjoy her dream by teaching kids about marine animals and even some land animals. Ava is a huge advocate for Feminism, and she believes everyone should be given the opportunity to be equal. She also thinks that everyone should be a feminist and should appreciate each other.
Chris Joseph Taylor is the longest tenured journalist on our crew. He is 15 years old, born on July 27, 2003. He was adamant in saying that he would not be here without his parents Terri, and Enoch Frazier. He is currently a Sophomore at St. John the Baptist Parish STEM Magnet High program. When asked why he joined the program he said, “because I love sports, and expressing my opinion with others.” His favorite sport of course is basketball with football as a close second. In his freetime he does just that, plays basketball and works on his craft. When asked what his dream job is, he replied with, “Stephen A. Smith’s job.” Another dream of his is attending TCU, or the university of Texas. When asked about why he prefers to leave the state he said that, “people in Louisiana are stuck in a box, and I want to see things outside of the state.”
Jacklyn Leo was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on October 12, 2003 making her 15 years old and is one of the newest members of our program. She currently is a Freshman at Lusher Charter High School where she is a great student getting mostly A’s and B’s. When asked why she joined the program she said, “I love to write at school, so I wanted to write for a purpose. I love writing about pop culture, movies and video games are my favorite. My favorite video game is Fallout 4, it’s awesome.” Although she doesn’t have a favorite movie it is clear that she loves watching them. When asked what she wants to be when she gets older she said that she would love to be anything, and is sure to be a great asset for the program.
Jayia Baham was born on October 31, 2003. She’s a freshman at West Jefferson High School coming from Marrero Middle School. Baham plans on attending either Tulane University for the quality of education or Xavier University because of its rich heritage. In her spare time, Baham is very active, she plays basketball, soccer, cross country, volleyball, softball, and is part of her school’s key club. Her favorite topics to write about are slice of life stories and sports. She joined JRNOLA because she enjoys writing and wants to refine her skills.
Phillip Petty III was born on March 22, 2003. He was born and raised in New Orleans, LA and attends St. Augustine High School as a sophomore. He is 15 years old and has mostly As and Bs. He has two siblings, named Isaiah and Patricia who he enjoys spending time with. Two of the most important people in his life would be his mother, Kisha Petty and his father, Phillip Petty Jr. because they inspire him to be an ambitious and hard work African-American man. In middle school, he was MVP of his school’s basketball team and was Altar Server of the year. Phillip found the program JRNOLA at a preseason Saints game when his father pointed out the advertisement on the Jumbotron. He is very open and willing to try new things. Some of his hobbies include playing video games and training with his basketball program ELEVATE. A few words he uses to describe himself would be smart, funny, ambitious, and fun. His dream career would be to play in the NBA but he would much rather have a quieter life as a future film director.
Taylor Pittman was born on December 14, 2002. She is 15 years old and has four siblings; 3 brothers and 1 sister (Leslie, Eian, David and Barry). Taylor attends McDonogh 35 High School and she maintains a 4.0 GPA. She participates in many things such as choir, student council (as president), and softball. She also loves to travel and her favorite place she ever traveled to was Tennessee because she loved to see the outdoors and she also slept in a cabin. Her role model is her older sister because she encourages her to be the best person she can be. In the future she wants to be a famous director. Some words to describe her are intelligent, beautiful, goofy, and ambitious.
Wyatt William Vaughn was born on May 23, 2001 in Metairie, LA. His parents are Billy and Becca Vaughn. Seventeen year old Wyatt is a senior at Holy Cross High School in New Orleans, LA. Wyatt will begin his first year of JRNOLA working alongside Chris Taylor and Phillip Petty III, to bring you coverage on the multiple sporting events across the city of New Orleans. When asked what motivated him to join JRNOLA Wyatt said, “I love sports. If I could write about it for a job, it would be sick.” Wyatt enjoys to write about football and basketball and said that his favorite sport usually depends on the season. “Ask me during football season and its football, ask me during basketball season and it’s basketball. ”Wyatt is an A-B student who aspires to attend LSU, in the hopes that he will one day be a college football analyst. He dreams to follow in the footsteps of Kirk Herbstreit, who’s known for starring on ESPN’s College GameDay. He enjoys spending his spare time watching old and new football highlights to expand his knowledge of the game. Wyatt dedicates his success and the person who he is today to his parents and his grandfather JD.
Elijah Morgan (picture pending) was born to his ecstatic parents Crystal and Ernest. Since the age of 3 Elijah has been holding his basketball in his hand just waiting to shoot his shot. Now he’s 17 years old and he is a senior at Jesuit, loving his high school status of the team’s star point guard. Elijah is an all A student and takes his education seriously, because he has two brothers; Ethan who’s 15 and Evan who’s 9 looking up to him. His dream job is to play in the NBA, and play alongside his role model Stephen Curry. He has been keeping up with Curry since his early days in college and has been following him on the Warriors to this day. Outside of school for summers he plays with a travel team called Hustle Hard Elite. Even though his focus is on basketball, he is also a proud member of student council and in the National Honor Society. He loves to travel to out of state and to visit his family in Puerto Rico. Elijah would describe himself as social, athletic, funny, smart, and caring. He joined JRNOLA because he believed it would be a great way to go further in his sports career.