Last week, Miramonte Latin took first place for Overall Large High School in the 69th California Junior Classical League (CAJCL) convention, with over 130 Matadors in attendance. 

On the weekend of April 12, CAJCL was hosted at the Menlo School in Atherton, welcoming 900 Latin students, teachers, and parents from 36 schools across California. After hosting California Regional Certamina Rounds (CARCER) or the semi-finals, and qualifying for the state convention February 24, Miramonte headed to the finals for the state competition: CAJCL. Students participated in academic, athletic, artistic, and social activities, and 53 Miramonte students won at least one award. Along with winning Overall Large High School, Miramonte as a school won first place for Scrapbook and Digital Scrapbook. 

For the academic events, students gave Latin and English speeches, took tests, and participated in the Certamen or Latin quiz bowl. The Certamen is a quick recall of facts about ancient civilizations and their languages, people, and cultures. There is both an Open Certamen and a Competitive Certamen.

Artistic and social activities for students included graphic art contests (photography, painting, cartoons, posters, charts), the escape room, and the Roman rap battle. In the escape room, students solved different puzzles using their Latin knowledge of translating, maps, and history. “Each puzzle we solved unlocked a lock on a briefcase, and this was all timed. It was the most fun because it gave an extremely rewarding feeling and actually tested us on Latin knowledge. It made us feel proud about learning Latin,” junior Maren Thorpe said.

Olympika events, or the athletic competitions for the convention, included catapults, chariot racing, chess, capture the flag, volleyball, track and field, tennis, basketball, ultimate frisbee, fugepilam (dodgeball), and swimming. 

Students completed community service activities along with the academic, artistic, and athletic events. Senior Nicole Guo participated in community service, edible mosaics, and dodgeball. “My favorite event was community service. My friend Oscar and I made tie blankets to donate. I also won first place with my Latin slogan,” Guo said.

The 71st National Junior Classical League (NJCL) Convention will be held at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, TN from July 22 to July 27. Latin students hope to participate, display their skills, and receive credit in this upcoming event.