Latin Prepares For Second Semester Activities

The Latin program’s second semester agenda is filled with events such as the National Latin Exam, KJCL convention and the Gladatorial games.

Lead by Latin teacher Dr. Worley, the Latin club was engaged in in several activities last semester. The advanced Latin students collected a dollar from each student in the program to send a group of ducks to a village through the Heifer Program. This program gives a selected village an opportunity to make money through the feathers and meat taken from the ducks.
Every semester, Latin students participate in a specific event. In the first semester, students competed in ultimate discus, a game similar to ultimate frisbee.

Students from each level of Latin will be preparing for the national Latin exam by studying exams taken in previous years online. They will be competing against 1500 students around the country. Scoring well on the exam and will help their college resume. According to Dr. Worley only 30 percent of students from East participate and if the school funded the exam, more students would get involved. This would help bring more awards home.

This year, the SME Junior Classical League will be competing at the Kansas Junior Classical League in Lawrence, for the Latin state competition. In order to compete, students are required to take an exam three weeks prior. Students can take up to three exams to compete in with topics ranging from Greek mythology to Latin vocabulary. At the competition, the whole delegation is dressed like ancient Romans. While other schools like SM North West have around 70 contestants, East only has about 12 competitors making it difficult for them to place.

Certificates and medals are rewarded to students who score above a 32 on the exam Silver and gold medals can only awarded to students who are in the highest levels of Latin. East brings home about 10 medals each year.
All Latin students will compete in the Gladitorial Games, where they will joust against each other with foam swoards and duck tape sheilds. Not only will students be participating in ancient Roman activities, they will also be facing each other in games of quidditch.