Every year, Dallas Jesuit students participate in the Junior Classical League Club, or JCL. JCL is open only to students who take Latin, level 1 through level 4. However, this year was special. For the first time, Dallas Jesuit attended the Area C competition (the equivalent of Districts) at Austin College in Sherman, Texas, bringing home a total of 40 ribbons.
More than sixty contestants from all classes competed in three different areas of the competition: an academic portion, a creative arts portion, and a graphic arts portion. The academic section of the competition is primarily scantron which covers a wide range of information on Roman topics, from Latin vocabulary to Greek history. The second part of the contest involves events such as vocal contests were held. The third portion of the academic competition allows artists of all types express their love for Latin art and architecture freely. Here, contestants get to choose from a variety of categories that range from sculptures to mosaics and drawings.
Additionally, the Area C competition mixes academic challenges with athletic events, in an effort to test students’ Latin skills and to promote camaraderie among fellow Latin students. Events included basketball, ultimate frisbee, two-touch football, and swimming.
JCL Area C also hosted chess matches and a Jeopardy-type game called Certamen (pronounced Ker-Tah-Men). In Certamen, the Latin word for “contest”, three teams of four each compete against each other, buzzing in their answers to extremely difficult Latin-based questions asked by the game-show host. Jesuit students participating in Certamen compete against the different schools attending the Area C competition according to their level of expertise in Latin. The advanced Certamen team is composed of Timothy Jonas ’16, Zachary Schutze ’15, Caleb Blais ’15, and Tyler Schrakamp ’15 who have high hopes of winning at JCL State. Winners in each level advance to the next round.
Ms. Vanessa Jones, the Latin teacher, says that “Jesuit students have recently been playing Certamen with some serious, competitive edge,” playing in hopes of winning the coveted Certamen trophy. Ms. Jones also said that she is “really looking forward to see how our Novice, Intermediate, and Advanced Certamen teams do at State,” because “Jesuit is now becoming a formidable force at JCL Area and State competitions.” She describes how “Jesuit students place in everything from Ancient Geography competitions to Latin reading comprehension.” Twenty-eight Jesuit students placed either first, second, or third in their academic competitions. The first place winners were Matthew Boss ’14, Zach Schutze ’15, Gino Piamonte ’15, John Galindo ’16, Joe Vance ’17, Jack Schwab ’17, and Cameron Schutze ’17.
Among the many JCL club members, only four are voted and elected to serve as JCL Officers. This year’s elected officials are: Junior Patrick Miramontes and Sophomores John Sauer, Jack Mason, and Alex Motter. During the JCL Area C competition, these four officers helped Ms. Jones set up and take down all the materials used for the competition.
Additionally, Zachary Schutze was chosen to serve as the Area C chairman where he represents Dallas Jesuit at Texas State JCL meetings. Schutze’s leadership in this position was very important to the success of Area C. Schutze helped Ms. Jones plan for the convention held at Austin College and will again be helping Ms. Jones with the upcoming JCL State Competition at Westwood High School in Austin, Texas on April 11th. During the JCL Area C competition, Ms. Jones told me that “Zachary really stepped up to the plate and showed amazing leadership skills…and I couldn’t be prouder.” Some of Schutze’s responsibilities included conducting the opening ceremony and coordinating competition details with Ms. Jones. Furthermore, Schutze also registered the entire competition with Texas State JCL and ran the concluding award ceremony.
Looking back on the event, Ms. Jones said that “Hosting Area C went really well…It was a great experience for all of our students to be able to perform leadership positions.” Some of the many positions that members of the JCL club held were staffing the help desk, lost and found, directing people around campus, and runners for academic testing. With 800 students from all over the Dallas Area taking multiple academic tests, Ms. Jones welcomed all the help she could get. Jones praised her volunteers saying that they “were able to assess the situation, solve the problem, and find a solution. This showed a lot of leadership and I was really proud of that.”
When asked her favorite part of JCL Area C and State, Ms. Jones replied that “as a teacher, my favorite part of JCL is seeing the students feel accomplished because there are a lot of different competitions students can compete in.” Additionally, Ms. Jones enjoys “the fact that [JCL State] is two days which gives Jesuit students time to socialize and visit with kids from other schools in Texas.” Lastly, Ms. Jones said that attending JCL competitions is probably “the only chance students get to interact with other people who know Latin.”
On April 11, Jesuit students who were successful at Area C will travel to JCL State, and compete at an even higher level of competition. JCL State this year is being hosted by Westwood High School in Austin, Texas and is a two day event. In addition to everything that happens at JCL Area C, Ms. Jones says that at State there are “speakers who will present a colloquia (lecture) on various topics like Roman History or mythology and students/adults can attend, learning more about the ancient world.”
As of today, Jesuit’s JCL club is not receiving any funding from Jesuit, though Ms. Jones did apply for grant money from the Student Council and received some funds. Ms. Jones said that “Student Council gave JCL money because we are showing great results.” Ms. Jones also says that all donations received will be put towards transportation costs and supplies necessary for students to attend JCL competitions. Currently, the JCL club is grateful for any donations or sources of funding to help offset expenses. Please contact Ms. Jones if you are interested in helping.
