Episcopal Latin Students Awarded for Language Skills

Episcopal students recently attended the Annual Louisiana Junior Classical League Convention.  The Lower Latin certamen team (think quiz-bowl for the Classically-minded) was captained by eighth grader, Justin Dynes, and ninth grader, Jacob Hart.  Certamen teams usually field teams of four players.  Even against those odds, Dynes and Hart placed third in the state for Lower Latin Certamen.  The team easily won its first match and picked up second place in the second finals.  However, the points earned during the two matches placed Episcopal in third place.   
 
Episcopal individual students awards included:
Jacob Hart -- First place: Marathon.
Justin Dynes -- Fourth place in Latin Derivatives and second place in Latin vocabulary
 
Episcopal’s small delegation, which also included Eason Guirard and John Pojman, co-chairs of the Episcopal Chapter of the Junior Classical League, also placed second in the Spirit Contest during the opening assembly.
 
At the LJCL Convention, students participated in academic, creative and graphic arts contests as well as seminars, workshops, a Roman banquet, dance and karaoke.
 
“In short, it was fun, but also very exhausting,” said Mr. Micheal Posey, convention chaperone and this year’s chair of the Louisiana Classical Association (LCA).     

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What English adjective derived from a Latin word for "heel of the foot," is synonymous with "stubborn?”  If you were one of the three Episcopal students that medaled on this year’s examination of the National Classical Etymology Exam (NCEE), this was probably one of the easier questions you faced. The answer:  recalcitrant.  
 
Administered in October 2017, the NCEE is based on English vocabulary words that are derived from Latin and Greek, with emphasis on academic and SAT vocabulary words.
 
The exam, organized by the National Junior Classical League, tests a student’s ability to handle both Latin and Greek derivatives and their usage in the English language.  This is the eighth year of the exam and over 5,400+ students from around the country participated.
 
This year’s winners Megan MacMillan (Gold-Advanced Level), Lauren Reed (Bronze-Advanced Level) and Hudson Graham (Bronze-Intermediate Level) are also members of Episcopal’s Junior Classical League chapter.  Graham also merited an award on the 2017 NCEE Assessment.  She earned a silver medal on the Intermediate Level. 

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