Upper School Latin students traveled this summer to compete in the national Junior Classical League (JCL) convention.
15 students traveled by bus to Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, to compete in events that exhibited their artistic, academic and athletic abilities. In addition, they were able to interact with Latin students from across the nation.
“There are so many different interests that kids hook onto, and so many different fandoms within taking Latin that students can connect over,” Upper School Latin teacher Jason Gajderowicz said.
Each year, JCL begins with a local competition, and students who place well go on to state. If students succeed at the state level, they then advanced to nationals which was hosted this year in Atlanta.
Freshmen Lydia Kerridge and Rebekah Miranda, sophomores Sarah Koshy and James Gary, junior Owen Meschertson and senior Natalie Stachowiak all placed first in various events.
Second place winners included Stachowiak and sophomore Samantha Herrmann.
Students balanced these competitions with friendly events such as volleyball. Gary and Meschertson both competed in a JCL volleyball tournament during their time at Emory. The team included five players from Texas and one from Ohio, resulting in the team name “Tex-Ohio.”
“Although the focus is often on the academic competitions at JCL, the sports should not be ignored either, as it brings Latin students together and is also a great opportunity for some competitive fun,” Gary said.
Tex-Ohio played teams from various states, eventually facing off against Wisconsin in the finals. They won that game and were crowned first place in the tournament.
While Greenhill has always been a contender at JCL, this summer’s National competition was one of the best performances from Greenhill Latin in the past decade.
Greenhill not only placed well in the athletic competitions but also in the artistic competitions. Stachowiak was in several art competitions at Nationals, such as the overall creative arts category, where they create drawings or paintings that relate to Latin. Stachowiak ended up scoring the second highest of all students at JCL collectively in the art category.
“This is an incredible thing for her because she has always been very serious about the art part of JCL, so it was super neat to see her hard work pay off,” Gajderowicz said.
