Latin Scholars Shine, Renew Leadership Roles at TSJCL Convention

Jennie Luongo, US Latin Teacher
The Texas State Junior Classical League (TSJCL) Convention this year was held at Naaman Forest in Garland, Texas on April 13-14. The state convention brings together JCLers from across Texas to network and to compete in various competitions related to the Classics. Before heading to the convention, the group enjoyed some time at the Dallas Museum of Art. On the 13th all students took the academic pentathlon and the certamen teams played preliminary rounds, while the rest of the contests took place on the 14th, including the election of the 2018-2019 TSJCL board.
Certamen is a buzzer- style game of quickly recalling facts related to the topics of: Latin Grammar, Roman History, Mythology, and occasionally Roman Life. At the State level of Certamen, each area is allowed one team to represent them. The team can comprise of students from different schools or all one school within the Austin area, depending on the results of the Area convention. St. Andrew’s students played in both the Intermediate and Advanced Certamen levels of competition. Our Intermediate team consisted of Bering Edwards, Emma Schmidt and captain Lorelei Ing, while Will Snider played on the Advanced team with fellow JCLers from Westlake High School. After one preliminary round both teams went to the consolation match and from there made it to finals. Both teams played well in the finals, with our Intermediate and Advanced teams from Austin getting third place and second place, respectively. This is an immense achievement for both of these teams and is the result of months of hard work and practice.

Every year at the State Convention students elect positions for the 2018-2019 board of officers. One of the jobs of these student officers is to help run the State Convention along with the help of the State Chairs and numerous volunteers. Both Lauren Dill (State Chair) and Will Snider (207-2018 TSJCL Secretary) had a huge hand in making sure the convention ran smoothly. Will Snider was also elected as the 2018-2019 Outreach Coordinator after a very successful campaign in which almost every member of the St. Andrew’s delegation took part. The position of Outreach Coordinator is brand new, therefore Will makes TSJCL history as the first Outreach Coordinator. He will be responsible for leading spirit and running service projects as well as overseeing social media for the organization. Lauren Dill was reelected for a five-year term as State Chair by the Latin teachers in attendance and will continue mentoring the State officers for the TSJCL.

Our school had a great turnout in academic and classical civilization contests, leading us to get 10th overall sweepstakes in the Upper Division. Below you can view the results of the academic contests.  

First Place
Carolyn Christian Classical Art, Level 1
Bering Edwards Decathlon, Mythology
TJ Jobe Reading Comprehension
Jill Pewitt Classical Art, Level 5
Jackie Smith Dramatic Interpretation
Maria Tobias Vocal Solo

Second Place
Jasmine Aghazadeh Dramatic Interpretation
Emma Erben Latin Derivatives
Lorelei Ing Digital Scrapbook
Bering Edwards Mythology, level 1/2 B
Will Snider Decathlon
Eleanor Venditti Classical Geography
Zach Okayli-Masaryk Talent Show

Third Place
Jasmine Aghazadeh Greek Derivatives, level 5
Truman Cunningham Vocal Ensemble
Avery Duncan Catapult
Andrew Farmer Greek Derivatives, level 1/2 A
Sofia Gonzalez Vocal Ensemble
Jill Pewitt Latin Literature
Maria Tobias Vocal Ensemble
Matthew Tobias Catapult, Vocal Ensemble

Fourth Place
Parker BrandtGreek History, level 3
Avery Duncan Greek History, level 4
Emma Erben Decathlon
Sabrina Kalmans Classical Art
Sina Mohammadi Sight Recitation
Jackie Smith Mottoes
Matthew Tobias Roman Life
 
Fifth Place
Jack Cowan Latin Literature
Lorelei Ing Roman History
TJ Jobe Vocabulary
Eleanor Venditti Latin Derivatives

Sixth  Place
Truman Cunningham State T-shirt Design
Laney Goodrum Latin Derivatives, Reading Comprehension
Henry Erlinger Dramatic Interpretation
Emma Schmidt Mottoes, Abbreviations, and Quotations, Advanced Grammar
Allyssa Weiss Classical Art
Camden Werner Roman History

Seventh Place
Parker Brandt Roman History
John Fontenot Models
Sofia Gonzalez Sight Recitation, level 2
Hudson Kalmans Sight Recitation, level ½ A
Emma Schmidt Club T-shirt Design
William Sykes Grammar
Maria Tobias Sight Recitation, level 1

Eighth Place
Everett BradleyElectronic Artwork
Sabrina KalmansRoman Life
Zach Okayli Masaryk Classical Art
Maria Tobias Mottoes, Abbreviations, and Quotations

Ninth Place
Lorelei IngLatin Derivatives, level 2
Zach Okayli Masaryk   Latin Derivatives, level 3
Grayson McKinney Classical Art
Luke Weaver Grammar

Tenth Place
Truman CunninghamSculpture
Zach Okayli Masaryk   Advanced Poetry Reading Comprehension
Sina Mohammadi Vocabulary
William Sykes Roman Life


Pentathlon Awards:

Summa cum laude: Parker Brandt, Jack Cowan, Bering Edwards,  Emma Erben, Emma Schmidt, Will Snider, William Sykes

Maxima cum laude:  Avery Duncan, Sofia Gonzalez, Lorelei Ing, Hudson Kalmans, Sina Mohammadi, Matthew Tobias

Magna cum laude:   Squeaky Buentipo, Andrew Buller, Tristram Coffin, Henry Erlinger, John Fontenot, Laney Goodrum, Ben Jackson, Gray McKinnerney, Allyssa Weiss, Camden Werner

Cum Laude:  Everett Bradley, Carolyn Christian, Maddy Clark, Truman Cunningham, Andrew Farmer, Becker Jackson, Sabrina Kalmans, Zachary Okayli-Masaryk, Maria Tobias, Jacquelyn Smith, Eleanor Venditti, Luke Weaver, Niclos Zarafshani

Many thanks to alumni William McKinnerney ‘17, Katherine Salinas ‘17, and Walton Schmidt ‘17 for presenting colloquia at the convention and helping our group out in so many ways!  Thanks also to all the parents who sent snacks to sustain us on the trip. Many in this group will be representing St. Andrew’s at the National JCL convention at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio at the end of July.
 
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