Io Saturnalia!

The annual JCL Saturnalia has been rescheduled from Thursday, December 5 to Tuesday, December 10.  We will meet in the Wunderlich Auditorium during OP.  All US and LS members are invited to attend.  Everyone should bring a small cash donation (1-5 dollars) for our Salvation Army Angel Tree adoptee.  Refreshments will be served.

Latin - The Lingua Franca of Europe?

Here's a link to an article that appeared in the Wall Street Journal a couple of days ago.  The article is about a push to declare Latin an official language within the European Union.  I hope the supporters of this initiative can pull it off.

Fall 2013 Semester Exams

It is time to start thinking about semester exams.

The exam study guide is posted here.

Festivus Results

Special thanks to all of the parent volunteers who helped make this event possible.  We appreciate your support!

Check the main MUS web page in a couple of days for photographs.

Contest results are posted here.

TJCL Membership Cards and Magnets

Have just arrived.  All Latin Club members should pick them up from Mr. Suddarth's office in the Fine Arts Wing.

Spelling Bee Tryout Update

Same day, same time, different location:

US 216

Mrs. Reinhardt will be the moderator.

Latin Helps

For the students and parents who use Facebook, check out the new TJCL publicity initiative here.

Festivus Mythology Spelling Bee Tryout

Wednesday, November 13
2:20 PM
LS 106

The top five students (regardless of level of Latin) will make the Festivus cut.

Final Festivus Reminders

Final instructions / reminders for MUS students attending the Festivus next weekend are posted here.

Festivus Lists

There are two lists posted below: (1) the list of MUS students who have signed up to attend the Festivus and (2) the list of specific events that students have signed up for.

We still have room in the Holiday Card Contest, Costume Contest, and Catapult Contest.  Since we have a large number of students interested in the Mythology Spelling Bee, we will have a qualifying round on Wednesday, November 13 at 2:20 PM in LS 106.  The top five spellers will make the Festivus cut.  The list of possible words (along with the study guides for the two academic tests) is posted here.

Shirts and Magnets Have Arrived

All Latin Club members should pick these up in Mr. Suddarth's office ASAP.

Thanks again to senior Stephen Pacheco for his work on the T-shirt design this year.

Festivus - Academic Testing Study Guides

The vocabulary test is still based on the official TJCL list, which is posted here.

The new test covers Latin phrases, and the study guide is posted here.

Everyone who wants to attend the Festivus needs to sign up by Thursday, October 31.  The event will be Saturday, November 16.

Festivus Sign-Up

It is time to sign up for the Latin Fall Festivus (information posted here).  This event is open to any student who has joined the Latin Club.

To sign up, a student should simply tell his Latin teacher that he will attend the event.  There is no money to pay or form to fill out.

All MUS students will be expected to take both academic tests at the Festivus.  Other competitive events at the Festivus are optional.

Please sign up by Thursday, October 31.

Pueri Togati

Some of Mr. Suddarth's toga-clad students pose for a photograph with Mr. Murphy in the Lower School last week.  

Updated JCL Roster

An updated and finalized membership list is posted here.

2013 Fall Festivus

Festivus is open to all students who have joined JCL.  Those who intend to participate will need to sign up after Fall Break.

The information packet is posted below.

We need some parents to help with a couple of aspects of the Festivus (the teacher hospitality room and the student game / snack room).  If you would like to volunteer, please contact Mrs. Reinhardt.

Appointed Officers

These appointed student officers will join the student Co-Consuls (Salman Haque and Richard Ouyang) who were elected by their peers back in the spring:

Praetor - Forest Colerick

Quaestor - Ramiz Somjee

Lower School Tribune - Jackson Howell

Thanks to all students who expressed an interest in serving as officers this year.

JCL Roster

I have posted the membership roster below (student name, level of Latin, shirt size).  Please notify me of any mistakes or omissions ASAP.

South Panola Interviews

If anyone missed the radio or video interviews with Mrs. Reinhardt and Mr. Gagliano during halftime of the South Panola game last week, they are posted here.

JCL Membership Update

Anyone who is interested in joining but who has not yet signed up needs to do so ASAP.  I would like to place the order for the T-shirts and magnets at the end of this week.

I will post the membership roster on the blog either tomorrow or Wednesday.  Please check it and notify me immediately of any mistakes or omissions.

There will be a general informational meeting for all US members on Thursday, September 26 during OP in the Wunderlich Auditorium.  We will have a similar meeting for all LS members next Thursday, October 3, during LS assembly time in LS 106.

JCL Deadline Reminder

A reminder that the deadline for signing up for JCL is tomorrow - Friday, September 20.  Please bring a check for $40 made out to MUS.

Instead of offering a new MUS Latin polo shirt (as the information sheet indicates), the officers are in favor of doing one T-shirt now and then a second T-shirt in the spring to coincide with the TJCL State Convention.

We are going to make an effort to give all Latin One students a leftover polo shirt from past years (as supplies last).

Proposed T-shirt design (by Stephen Pacheco)

MUS Latin vs. South Panola

Mr. Suddarth and I did a halftime interview about the MUS Latin program during an MUS football game a couple of years ago.  I am pleased to announce that Mrs. Reinhardt and Mr. Gagliano will be doing the same thing this week.

If you're attending the game against South Panola on Friday, September 20, be sure to catch their interview on the jumbotron in Stokes Stadium during halftime.  If you can't attend the game in person, you can catch a longer audio version of the same interview during halftime of the radio broadcast on AM 790.

In addition to talking about MUS Latin, Mrs. Reinhardt will probably offer some commentary on the first half of the game between the Owls and the University of South Panola, so be sure to listen for that, too.

Thanks to Coach Torrey for making these interviews possible.

JCL Deadline

A reminder that the deadline to sign up for JCL is next Friday, September 20.  Right now, we only have 12 members, so a lot of people obviously need to take care of this.  (We usually have between 125 and 150 members.)

Any Upper School student interested in serving as an appointed officer needs to e-mail me an application by this same deadline, too.  Any Lower School student interested in serving as an officer should talk to his Latin teacher.

Latin Club Information

JCL information for the 2013-2014 school year is posted here.

Dues may be paid to any Latin teacher at any time between now and Friday, September 20.

Italy Trip

We are now down to four spaces left for the spring break trip to Italy.

The trip is primarily aimed at students in Latin Two and Latin Three, but since we still have a few spaces open, we have decided to open it up this year to students in AP Latin, as well.

Trip information is posted here.  If you would like to sign up, see me or Mrs. Reinhardt.

Et tu, Disney?

Here is an interesting recent article that reminds us of how Latin "transcends both time and borders."

BTW: Students, thank you for subscribing to the blog.  You may turn in your e-mail notification of this announcement by the end of the school day on Tuesday, August 20 to receive five bonus quiz points.

Trip to Italy

A reminder that we still have about 5 spaces open for the spring break trip to Italy (March of 2014).  The trip is open to any student who takes either Latin Two or Latin Three this year.

Trip information is posted here.

Questions should be directed to Mrs. Reinhardt.  Mrs. Reinhardt is directing the trip; I will be going along as a chaperone.

Pig Latin

It's back-to-school time for everyone . . . even for porci. 

2013 AP Latin Scores

The AP scores have recently been released.

Out of the 13 guys we had taking the exam, 100% scored a 4 or a 5.  The average score was a 4.6.

Congratulations to all of these students for an excellent performance on a very difficult examination.

Volunteer needed

I have received a request from the Ascanius program.  They are looking for student volunteers to help with an outreach program on Thursday, June 27 at the University of Memphis.  If you would like to help teach elementary school children about Roman culture, please let me know ASAP.  We can only nominate one student, so I will nominate the first qualified person to e-mail me.

Details:

Ascanius: The Youth Classics Institute is a nonprofit educational
organization dedicated to the promotion of Latin and Classical Studies
in the elementary school. On Thursday, June 27, we will be conducting
a free outreach program for students in grades 2-6 on the campus of
the University of Memphis, in conjunction with the 2013 American
Classical League Annual Institute. Students who attend the program
will have the opportunity to explore ancient Rome through exciting
hands-on activities in language, art, mythology, and culture.

As we have done in the past, we are inviting high school and college
Latin students to join us as we conduct this outreach program! It will
be a unique experience for students to share their enthusiasm for
ancient Rome with younger students, as well as learn how they may
implement similar programs in local elementary schools.

Subscription Test

If you were previously subscribed to The Nuntii Latini Blog, then hopefully now you are subscribed to The Bubones Blog.

2013 Lower School Trigon Finals

Photos are posted here.

A video is posted here.  

I've already received an e-mail from a woman in England who is planning to reproduce our event for a festival this weekend.  (Seriously.)  I told you that this was going to be big.

Congratulations to Ben Mims, Micah Murdock, and Josh Gray for making it to the championship game.

2013 CAMWS Translation Contest

We finally have the results for the 2012-2013 Classical Association of the Middle West and South Latin Translation Contest, a competition for upper-level high school Latin students in the CAMWS region (Virginia to Utah, Florida to Canada).

Only three schools in Tennessee had winners in this year's contest: MBA had two, Hume-Fogg had three, and MUS had five. To the best of my knowledge, this is the most winners MUS has ever had in a single year. 

Richard Ouyang - letter of commendation 

Shivam Bhakta and Jared Ashkenaz - book prize winners 

Salman Haque and Matthew Gayoso - $250 cash prize winners (for finishing in the overall top ten)

Congratulations to all of these excellent students.

2013 National Latin Exam Results

82 Summa Cum Laude Gold Medals

35 Maxima Cum Laude Silver Medals

30 Magna Cum Laude

14 Cum Laude

Generally speaking, students who score in the top 10-15% nationwide receive gold, and then it scales down from there.

Perfect scores:

Jacob Suppiah (Latin One)

Patton Orr, Chandler Clayton, Dylan Echlin, Forest Colerick, Patrick Murphy, Saatvik Mohan, Will McAtee (Latin Two)

Griffin Wilson, Jack Gray (Latin Three)

William Lamb, Salman Haque, Nick Schwartz (Latin Four)

A special shout-out to Salman Haque for his 4th consecutive perfect score.  There are usually only 4 or 5 students in the nation to achieve this in any given year.  

Congratulations to all of our award recipients for a job well done.

2013 Latin Convention Results

Thirty schools attended the 2013 Tennessee Junior Classical League State Convention in Murfreesboro this weekend.  MUS survived a serious challenge from Hume-Fogg Academic High School to finish in 1^st place overall for the 6^th consecutive year.

We had a total of 45 Upper School and Lower School students take part in this competition, and all of them contributed something to this victory.  We were led by 6 students in particular, all of whom scored enough individual points to rank among the top 10 students in the state:
Will McAtee, Patton Orr, William Lamb, Salman Haque, Yunhua Zhao, and Richard Ouyang.

In any sort of competitive activity, it is difficult to be a defending champion.  It is especially difficult to be a five-time defending champion, as we were this year.  We are very proud of our students for working so hard to defend our title.  More importantly, we are also proud of them for behaving appropriately at the convention and for winning with modesty and class.

The Birth of a New Blog

The Bubones Blog is replacing The Nuntii Latini Blog.  The Nuntii Latini Blog began as an e-mail newsletter in the early 2000s before changing over to a blog in 2008.  It was named in honor of Nuntii Latini, a Latin news program produced since the late 1980s by Finland's equivalent of National Public Radio.

The purpose of this blog is to keep parents (and students) informed of things happening in the Memphis University School Latin program.