Secret Saturnalia

Although the MUS Saturnalia has now come and gone, a student at another school is organizing a "Secret Saturnalia" program. If any MUS students would like to participate, information is posted here.

Saturnalia

The annual Latin Club Saturnalia will take place Tuesday, December 4 in the Wunderlich Auditorium during OP. All Upper School and Lower School Latin Club members are encouraged to attend. Everyone should bring a cash donation (recommended amount = $5.00) for our Angel Tree project.

CAMWS Contest

Our next competition is the Classical Association of the Middle West and South Latin Translation Contest. This contest, a requirement for students in Latin Two through Latin Five, is scheduled to be administered in the Wunderlich Auditorium after school on Wednesday, November 28. (Latin One students are not eligible to participate.)

Unlike many of our other competitions, there's not a lot that students can do to prepare for this in advance, other than studying the vocabulary words on the Dickinson College list.

Festivus Results

Results of the Latin Fall Festivus are posted here. Thanks to everyone who came out on a cold Saturday morning to participate, and congratulations to all of the winners!

Victorious catapult team (medium division)

Finalists in the Mythology Spelling Bee

Picturae Recentes

Latin Club Co-Consuls Loyd Templeton and Ty Williams show off this year's merchandise.

As the sun went down over Stokes Stadium, "veterans" of the MUS Latin program attended the annual Latin Veterani Dinner. Here, the group is pictured with our guest speaker for the evening, Professor Susan Satterfield from Rhodes College.

Festivus Pro Ceteris

The Latin Fall Festivus will take place this Saturday, November 10. Students should report to the Lower School by 7:50 AM. The event will be finished by noon. We're expecting about 250 students from around the Memphis area. A detailed information packet is posted on onCampus (Bulletin Board > Information).

Festivus

A reminder that tomorrow is the deadline for MUS students to sign up for the Latin Fall Festivus. More information is posted here.

Also, if anyone would like to purchase a Festivus T-shirt, the cost is $12.00. Please bring cash or a check (made out to MUS) by tomorrow, as well.

SCRIBO Contest Results

We have received the results of the 2018 SCRIBO Latin Composition Contest, an international creative writing contest sponsored by the Ascanius Youth Classics Institute.

Senior Bailey Keel was recognized with both a medal for scoring in the top 20% of all students in the competition and the Fabula Optima ribbon for having the highest-scoring composition for MUS students.

MUS SCRIBO Participants (L to R): Call Ford, Bailey Keel, Ben Gilliland, Jack Dabov. (Not pictured: William Quinlen)

Festivus

An information packet about the upcoming Latin Fall Festivus has been posted to onCampus (Bulletin Board > Information). The payment deadline for MUS students is Friday, October 26. The cost is $5.00 (cash or a check made out to MUS).

This event is open to all Upper School and Lower School students who joined the Latin Club.

Latin Fall Festivus

The 11th Annual Latin Fall Festivus will be held Saturday, November 10 from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM. MUS will be hosting the event. This is open to all Latin Club members (Upper School and Lower School).

More information will follow. Thank you to Mr. Gagliano for volunteering to serve as the Festivus chairman this year.

Latin Club Membership List

I have posted the membership list on the bulletin board for each class page in onCampus. If any corrections need to be made, please let me know no later than the end of the day on Monday, September 24.

We have 128 members this year - a very strong number! All of the merchandise (with the exception of the TJCL magnets, which may not arrive until April) should be ready in about three weeks.

Latin Club Deadline

A reminder that the deadline to turn in club membership forms is Monday, September 17.

Here are the designs for the shirts and magnet this year. As you may have heard, the school is celebrating a special anniversary (CXXV) this year . . .

      

    
    

Back to School

Course syllabi and a Latin Club information packet are posted on the "Bulletin Board" of onCampus.

For students who would like to join the club, there is a form in this information packet for parents to fill out. This needs to be turned in by Monday, September 17.

We're looking forward to another successful year for the Bubones!

TFLTA Contest

The 2017-2018 school year may be over, but the accolades for MUS Latin students are still rolling in.

The Tennessee Foreign Language Teaching Association sponsors a student contest each year, a contest open to K-12 students of all languages across the state. This year's contest called for students to write an essay about the importance of language education. 

I am pleased to report that MUS Latin students swept the competition:

1st Place: Chang Yu
2nd Place: Ben Gilliland
3rd Place: Bailey Keel

Each student has received a monetary award, and their essays will be published in the official program of the TFLTA Annual Conference (to be held in November of 2018).

Banner

This banner is currently on display at the corner of Park and Massey. Thanks for another great year!

National Latin Exam

Some follow-up announcements about the the 2018 NLE:

Zuhair Somjee, Loyd Templeton, and Ty Williams all received a copy of the prestigious Oxford Classical Dictionary for earning four consecutive Summa Cum Laude Gold Medals on the National Latin Exam. Only 450 students in the nation qualified for this achievement this year.

Chang Yu also received a special book award for earning his fifth consecutive Summa Cum Laude Gold Medal. Only 101 students in the nation qualified for this achievement this year.

Congratulations to these students!

Trigon

The 6th annual MUS Roman Trigon Championship was held this week in Thomas Amphitheater. Ms. Crews, Ms. McFarlin, and Ms. Poag competed in the faculty undercard, and then Latin Club members William Gooch, Kevlar Singh, and Jacob Musicante donned their togas for the student competition. 

Trigon: An Ancient Roman Ball Game

William Gooch: 2018 Trigon Victor

Latin Convention Results

Approximately 600 students from 38 schools across the state gathered for the 62nd annual Tennessee Junior Classical State Convention at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville on Friday, April 20 and Saturday, April 21. I am pleased to report that MUS finished in 1st place overall for the 11th consecutive year. 

A total of 42 Upper School and Lower School students combined to score 1423 points for MUS. Some of the highlights:

Individual Points Leaders (out of the 600 students in the competition, MUS had 5 of the top 6):

6th place: Rob McFadden (87 points)

5th place: Ryan Peng (99)

4th place: Chang Yu (105)

3rd place: Max Shackelford (114)

1st place: Forest Rudd (147)

Certamen:

Novice - 1st place

Intermediate - 1st place

Advanced - 2nd place

Best of Show Awards (high score at the convention, regardless of level of Latin):

Derivates: Rob McFadden

Grammar, Level 1: Forest Rudd

Grammar, Advanced: Rob McFadden

Vocabulary: Chang Yu

Reading Comprehension, Level 1: Forest Rudd / Mark Hieatt (tie)

Reading Comprehension, Level 2: Fawwaz Omer

Mythology: announced as Chang Yu, later corrected to Will Schuessler

And, yes, we also won the Chariot Race.

We are very proud of our students for their perennial commitment to excellence. Congratulations to all of those who were a part of the team this year!

Imperium

MUS Latin Club members recently completed the 2017-2018 Latin Imperium tournament. Imperium is a customized board game, a Roman Empire-specific version of the traditional board game Risk. The game requires students to use their critical thinking skills and their knowledge of ancient Roman geography to defeat their opponents and claim imperium (the Latin word for “power”) over the entire world.

These four students advanced to the final round of the tournament. Here’s how the final match turned out:

1st: Henry Wood

2nd: Ethan Hurst

3rd: Zuhair Somjee

4th: William Quinlen

Henry Wood, 2018 Imperium Champion; Ethan Hurst, 2018 Imperium Runner-Up

NJCL Online Exam Results

Congratulations to these students for earning recognition in two recent online examinations administered by the National Junior Classical League. Each student's level of Latin is indicated in parentheses.

NJCL Latin Vocabulary Exam:

Gold – Mark Hieatt (1), Forest Rudd (1), George Zhang (1), Fawwaz Omer (2)

Silver – Collin Craft (1), Kerry Zhao (1), Cullen Lonergan (2), Ryan Peng (2), Will Schuessler (2), Loyd Templeton (4), Ty Williams (4)

NJCL Roman Civilization Exam:

Gold – Loyd Templeton (4)

Silver – Forest Rudd (1), Cooper Grinspun (2), Fawwaz Omer (2), Ryan Peng (2), Will Schuessler (2), Brandan Roachell (4)

Fox Contest Results

Congratulations to these Advanced Readings in Latin students for receiving recognition in the 2018 Bernice L. Fox Classics Writing Contest, an annual competition sponsored by the Department of Classics at Monmouth College (IL):

Chang Yu

William Quinlen

Jack Dabov

Call Ford

Ben Gilliland

The contest selects one overall winner and then recognizes a small number of honorable mentions. The topic of this year’s contest: “A Classical ‘Wonder Woman’ Appearing Out of Her Native Context to Save the Day.” Full results are posted on the contest website.

Latin Convention

All students who are going to the upcoming TJCL State Convention should have received a list of final instructions and reminders. There is a mandatory meeting for all of these students in the Wunderlich Auditorium during OP on Tuesday, April 17.

2018 National Latin Exam

We have received the results of the 2018 National Latin Exam. MUS students received the following awards:

64  Summa Cum Laude (Gold Medals)
35  Maxima Cum Laude (Silver Medals)
27  Magna Cum Laude
7    Cum Laude

Generally speaking, the top 10 to 15% of students nationwide earn Summa Cum Laude, the next 10 to 15% receive Maxima, and so forth. Everyone who scores above the national average qualifies for one of the four awards. This year, 99% of the students in the MUS Upper School scored above the national average. 

Special recognition goes to the students who earned perfect scores this year:

Latin One: Mark Hieatt, Forest Rudd
Latin Two: Hart Gowen, Ryan Peng, Will Schuessler
Latin Three: Rob McFadden


Congratulations to all of the students who placed in this year's competition!

Latin Language Appreciation Month

It's almost the month of April, which can only mean one thing . . . Latin Language Appreciation Month in the state of Tennessee. This marks the fifth consecutive year that the MUS Latin program has successfully petitioned Governor Haslam to make this proclamation.

Cooper Grinspun, Chang Yu, and Rob McFadden display the official proclamation

2018 Latin Language Appreciation Month

Upcoming Convention-Related Meetings

We have a number of meetings coming up for the students who will be attending the TJCL State Convention:

Room Request Meeting for Upper School Students:

Tuesday, March 27

OP

Mr. Sellers’s office

Olympika / Chariot Race Organizational Meeting:

Wednesday, March 28

2:20 PM

Coach Torrey’s office

This is for both US and LS students. 

Room Request Meeting for Lower School Students:

Thursday, March 29 – immediately after assembly

LS 106

Mythology Spelling Bee Tryout:

Wednesday, April 4

2:20 PM

US 216 with Mrs. Reinhardt

This is for both US and LS students.

Final Pre-Convention Meeting:

Tuesday, April 17

OP

Wunderlich Auditorium

This is mandatory for all US and LS students.

2018 CAMWS Latin Translation Contest

We have received the results of the 2018 Classical Association of the Middle West and South Latin Translation Contest.

1036 students from 56 schools in 19 states (and one European country) participated this year. Out of these 1036 students, there was a grand total of one perfect score, and it belonged to one of our students: Rob McFadden (Latin Three).

MUS had more students recognized than any other school in Tennessee. The full list of MUS winners:

Latin Two:

Book Award (given to top 3% of students at this level): Cooper Grinspun

Certificate of Commendation (top 20%): Max Shackelford, Fawwaz Omer, Warren Barry, Hart Gowen, Will Schuessler, Watts Miller

Latin Three:

Cash Award (top 2%): Rob McFadden (perfect score), Arjun Puri, Reid Chandler

Book Award: (top 4%): Kyle Koester

Certificate of Commendation (top 20%): Will Portera, Michael Gayoso, Charlie Eason, Jack Wellford, Jonathan Huang, Gregory Guo, Seth Richey

Latin Four:

Book Award (top 6%): Loyd Templeton, Ty Williams

Certificate of Commendation (top 20%): Ethan Lam, Henry Wood, Brandan Roachell, Warren Turner, Ethan Hurst, Zuhair Somjee

Latin Five: 

Certificate of Commendation (top 20%) - Chang Yu

Congratulations to all of these students!

National Latin Exam

The National Latin Exam will take place this Wednesday, March 7 from 2:15 to 3:15 PM in Hyde Chapel. This is required for all current Upper School and Lower School Latin students.

In addition to the review and practice being done in class, students should also take advantage of the NLE Practice App.

Italy Trip

The biennial MUS Latin trip to Italy begins next week. Let's hope the weather in Rome improves. Yesterday, the city was hit with a rare snowstorm.

Sledding and snowball fights on the Circus Maximus? Mirabile visu!

Latin Convention

A reminder that the sign-up deadline for the convention is this Friday, February 16. Students should turn in completed permission slips and at least one of the pre-convention writing contests.

TJCL State Convention

Students should have received information about the upcoming TJCL State Convention. This is open to both Lower School and Upper School students who have met these requirements:

1. Be a current Latin Club member.
2. Have at least a B+ average in Latin.
3. Have the Latin teacher's permission (no conduct issues or honor violations).

Paperwork (i.e., permission slips and at least one pre-convention writing contest) is due Friday, February 16.

More information about the convention is posted here.

NCEE Winners

Congratulations to the students who placed in the 2017-2018 National Classical Etymology Exam. This examination evaluates a student's knowledge of Greek and Latin derivatives and their usage in the English language.

The National Roman Civilization Exam and the National Latin Vocabulary Exam are coming up in February. Students who are interested in participating should contact Mr. Gagliano. These online exams are open to any Lower School or Upper School students who joined the Latin Club.

Novice Level, Latin One:

Gold Medal: Mark Hieatt, Talal Siddiq, Forest Rudd

Silver Medal: Simeon Betapudi

Bronze Medal: Jack Zaptin, Alex Li

Intermediate Level, Latin Two:

Gold Medal: Will Schuessler

Silver Medal: Cooper Grinspun, Fawwaz Omer, Samy Paul, Ryan Peng

Bronze Medal: Akbar Latif, Cullen Lonergan

Intermediate Level, Latin Three:

Silver Medal: Kyle Koester

Advanced Level, Latin Four:

Silver Medal: Brandan Roachell, Loyd Templeton

Bronze Medal: Ethan Hurst

Course Selection Sheets

All of my current Latin One and Latin Three students need to come by my office to pick up a course selection sheet for next year. This should be done by Wednesday, January 24. Completed sheets should be returned with a parent signature by Wednesday, January 31.

Certamen

Advanced Certamen practice will meet on Monday mornings this semester, from 7:30 - 8:00 AM in US 216. This is open to students in Latin Three, Latin Four, and Latin Five. 

We will begin on Monday, January 8 and continue through the middle of April.