Over the past year, Jesuit Junior Classical League (JCL) has participated in the Area C Convention and the TSJCL State Convention. Sponsored by Latin teachers Ms. Vanessa Jones and Mrs. Laura Hudec, the club has seen many students this year receive several different accolades and achievements. What makes this year’s JCL so remarkable is the increase in participation, as well as the biggest group in Jesuit history that competed at state.
Area C Convention
On Saturday, February 21, JCL students arrived at Fort Worth Country Day School, eager to begin the day of fun and intense competition. The day began with a quick General Assembly, followed by a series of academic tests. As JCL students slowly finished all their academic tests in the given time period, they began to have more time to explore the campus and participate in fun activities. These included Ludi sports, Certamen (Quiz Bowl), colloquia, movies, and a variety of games. The day came to an end with the long anticipated awards ceremony. Jesuit was represented well as students received multiple awards. For a full list of award winners, please click here.
“The freshmen really showed up and performed higher than my expectations. A lot of them got first place in many contests. this class of freshmen is destined for success.” – Ms. Jones
TSJCL State Competition
Arriving
Over the course of two days, from Friday, April 17 to Saturday, April 18, a group of 29 Jesuit students drove to San Antonio for the Texas JCL State Competition. The venue, Sandra Day O’Connor High School, was a huge campus, allowing students time to explore before the first General Assembly on Friday night. After the General Assembly, students took and finished the mandatory Pentathlon competition. As the night winded down, students joined in the fun of all the games, Talent Show tryouts, open sports in the gyms, and much more. Eventually, the Jesuit JCL group went to their hotel, Hampton Inn, to get sleep for the more eventful Saturday.
Saturday – The Big Day
On Saturday, students started off with their academic contests, all of varying difficulty. Soon after, students quickly ate lunch, and went to their respective friend groups to explore the various activities on campus. While some students went to attend multiple colloquia covering Latin/Greek literature and culture, others went to participate in sports, Olympika, Certamen finals, and the Talent Show.
The second General Assembly started around 2:45 p.m., and it was one that was filled with duty and expectation. The time to choose new candidates for the student-led Executive Board had come, and our very own Adam Jackson ’28 ran for Outreach Coordinator with a very inspiring campaign. The format of the assembly was for the candidate speeches to be first, then a meet-and-greet. For the speeches, they allowed a friend of the candidate to do a one-minute introduction of the candidate, and then the candidate would come up and give a speech for three minutes. When it came to Adam’s speech, Charlie Tighe ’28 walked up, highlighted all of Adam’s strengths with enthusiasm, and then let Adam give his candidate speech. Adam gave a very strongly coordinated speech, with a non-faltering tone. Soon after the candidate speeches were finished, the Meet-and-Greet started. The format was for current officers to ask the candidates questions, while the general crowd would sit behind the current officers and listen to their answers. This would provide them enough information to vote.
Awards Session – Third General Assembly
Not long after this set of campaigns was the third General Assembly, or the awards session. As more and more people filed into the bleachers, the atmosphere was tense and full of excitement to see who would be top 10 in each event. Indeed, there were many restless and nervous students. The ceremony started off with a speech from Luke Nettune ’26, the TSJCL President. It was a great symbol of Jesuit pride and representation and his speech surely got things rolling.
To keep things quick, the main results of each contest were compiled into a document. Time was reserved for students to check the results before the ceremony continued. The top five places in each event were recognized briefly. The remaining time was reserved for Sweepstakes trophies, regional celebrations, and some other formalities. One of these game-changing formalities is the annual announcement of the new student-led Executive Board and the swearing-in of the new president. Luke Nettune swiftly controlled this process, making sure all new executives were recognized, as well as did the honors of swearing the new president in. As the day concluded, most students left with gratitude for the JCL organization, hoping to return the following year to repeat Jesuit’s success and enjoy more JCL.
“I thought the overall convention was a success, and I am looking forward to seeing all the amazing things that the new board accomplishes under [next year’s leadership].” -Luke Nettune ’26
Conclusion
Overall, the experience was an immense success for most students. Click this link for a full list of Jesuit award winners, and this link for the general results. Nationals will happen from July 21-26 at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.
Tune into The Roundup for more Junior Classical League coverage!
