Six students from Park Tudor School were among 314 delegates from 16 schools who attended the 65th Annual Indiana Junior Classical League State Convention March 9-10 at Indiana University in Bloomington. Students participated in academic, creative arts, and graphic arts contests as well as certamen, a Jeopardy-like competition. All contests involved competitors at the same level of Latin. Delegates also displayed their classical spirit during four general assemblies and attendance at a Roman banquet dressed in traditional Roman garb.
As the top school in the small-chapter division, Park Tudor earned the overall sweepstakes ribbon and trophy, earning over 200 points more than the closest competitor. Team awards also included a 5th place finish in novice certamen as well as 1st place finishes in both intermediate and advanced certamen. As a whole, the chapter earned 6th place for the Helen Wampler Spirit Award for events throughout the school year and 10th place in delegate spirit at the convention itself. Park Tudor students also swept the sight Latin reading competition for each of the three levels.
In individual contests, freshman Jade Thomas placed 1st at the Latin I level in sight Latin reading and 2nd in Latin oratory. For the academic tests, she placed 1st in reading comprehension; 2nd in vocabulary and pentathlon (a five-component "all-around" test); 3rd in grammar and mythology; and 6th in Roman history and mottoes, quotes, and abbreviations. In graphic arts, she placed 6th in jewelry. Junior Max Bott placed 4th in geography; 6th in mottoes, quotes, and abbreviations; 7th in sight Latin reading; and 9th in grammar and Roman life and customs. Despite competing as a team of two against teams of up to eight students, Jade and Max also placed 5th in the novice division of certamen and barely missed advancing to the final round.
At the Latin II level, sophomore Daniel Ehrlich placed 1st in both sight Latin reading and dramatic interpretation with a 2nd place finish in Latin oratory. For the academic tests, he placed 1st in grammar; 2nd in vocabulary and reading comprehension; and 3rd in geography and pentathlon. Due to his phenomenal performance in the first three categories, Daniel was also awarded a trophy for individual achievement in creative arts. Despite competing as a team of one against teams of up to eight students, Daniel also won the intermediate division of certamen and earned a trophy.
At the Latin III level, junior Cy Orentlicher placed 1st in vocabulary, grammar, Roman history, mythology, derivatives, geography, reading comprehension for advanced poetry, sight Latin reading, pentathlon, and mottoes, quotes, and abbreviations; 2nd in reading comprehension for advanced prose; 5th in Roman life and customs; and 8th in constructed charts. Due to his phenomenal performance on the academic tests, Cy was also awarded a trophy for individual achievement in academics. Sophomore Nermeen Rahman placed 1st in vocabulary (tied with Cy); 2nd in grammar and reading comprehension for advanced poetry; 3rd in mythology; 4th in reading comprehension for advanced prose; 5th in derivatives; 6th in drawn charts; and 7th in pentathlon and mottoes, quotes, and abbreviations. In addition, Nermeen was elected as IJCL State Secretary with a majority vote of all chapters and will hold her term of office from June 1 until the end of May 2019.
At the Latin IV level, senior Graham Fisher placed 1st in vocabulary, grammar, reading comprehension for advanced prose, and dramatic interpretation; 2nd in reading comprehension for advanced poetry and mottoes, quotes, and abbreviations; 4th in pentathlon; and 7th in sight Latin reading. Due to his phenomenal performance on the academic tests, Graham was also awarded a trophy for individual achievement in academics.
Together, Cy, Nermeen, and Graham also earned a trophy for their 1st place finish in advanced certamen. As the winning team at the advanced level, they then competed in a heated battle of certamen against a team of Senior Classical League members as well as a team of teachers in the World Series of Certamen. This proved to be a highly enjoyable experience for competitors and spectators alike.
Several of these students, in addition to some who could not attend State Convention, are looking forward to the JCL National Convention hosted by Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, from July 22 to 28. This will be an extended competition at the national level involving many of the same contests with the addition of athletic events and other activities. Interested students should see Latin Club and JCL sponsor Sarah McDaniels.