December 2020

1. The CAMWS Latin Translation Contest had previously been scheduled for December 1, but CAMWS has decided to move this competition to the spring. As of now, it is tentatively scheduled for late January / early February. 

2. The pandemic might have diminished the festive nature of the Latin Fall Festivus this year, but it certainly did NOT have a negative impact on the performance of the Bubones. Full results are posted here.

3. Thanks to our Latin Club officers for coming up with a plan to maintain the tradition of our annual Saturnalia celebration this year. Next year, we hope that we can have one of our more typical joyous holiday celebrations.

4. Semester exams for the language department are scheduled for Friday, December 18.

November 2020

1. The virtual Latin Fall Festivus is scheduled for Saturday, November 14. Information is posted here. There is no need for students to sign up ahead of time; they should simply follow the instructions in the information packet if they would like to participate. Non-Latin Club members may participate in testing and Certamen but not the creative arts competitions.

2. The Classical Association of the Middle West and South Latin Translation Contest is scheduled for Tuesday, December 1 during X-Block. This is open to students in Latin Two through Latin Five. Students who would like to participate should sign up with their teacher by Friday, November 6. Information about the contest is posted here. 

3. Latin Club officers are making tentative plans for an MUS Saturnalia celebration, to be held after school on Tuesday, December 1. More information will follow.

October 2020

1. We have 129 members of the Latin Club this year. T-shirts, hoodies, and magnets have been ordered. They should arrive between Fall Break and Halloween.

2. We are making plans for a virtual Latin Fall Festivus. The live events are tentatively scheduled for Saturday, November 14. More information will follow.

September 2020

1. Latin Club information for the 2020-2021 school year has been distributed to parents and students via email. Although it is impossible to say what sorts of activities will be feasible this year, we certainly hope to offer some sort of extracurricular program.

To sign up, students or parents should fill out the online form posted here. The sign-up deadline is September 15.

2. Two news items from the 2020 National Junior Classical League (Virtual) Convention, which took place over the summer:

(1) MUS alumnus Austin Chu was recognized for his many years of service to NJCL. Austin began attending these conventions when he attended MUS in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and he has never stopped. A tribute video is posted here.

(2) Congratulations to current MUS student Mark Hieatt for placing 4th on the Greek Language academic test. All NJCL contests - pandemic or no pandemic - are brutally competitive, so this is a noteworthy achievement.

June 2020

A bevy of contest results came in at the very end of the school year. As always, the Bubones performed at a very high level. Congratulations to all of these students for a job well done!

Also, the National Junior Classical League will be offering a "virtual convention" this summer. If anyone is interested in participating, please let me know.

1. Classical Association of the Middle West and South Latin Translation Contest

A total of 984 students across the vast 32-state CAMWS region participated in this year’s competition. Generally speaking, students who score in the top 2-3% of their peers receive Cash Awards, students in the top 5-6% receive Book Awards, and students who score within the top 20% receive Certificates of Commendation.

  

Latin Two:

Frederick Huang – Certificate of Commendation

Latin Three:

Kerry Zhao, Mark Hieatt, Simeon Betapudi, Coleman Whitehead – Certificates of Commendation

Latin Four:

Jack Jabbour, Max Shackelford – Book Awards

Cullen Lonergan, Ryan Peng, J.P. Wood, Hart Gowen – Certificates of Commendation

MUS had more winners than any other school in Tennessee.

2. Tennessee Junior Classical League State Convention

Although the traditional convention itself was cancelled, nevertheless, we did win a number of awards based on (1) the pre-convention contests that we submitted before Spring Break and (2) the “virtual convention” in which a small group of students participated.

School Awards

• Trajan Award (for having the largest membership total in the state)
• TJCL Community Service Award
• “Virtual Certamen” – Advanced Level – 2nd place (Mark Hieatt, Forest Rudd, Kerry Zhao, Noah Emmert, Collin Craft)

Individual Awards

Essay Contest:

8th grade: 4th place – Alan Zhou; 5th place – Harrison Goetze

9th grade: 1st place – Max Mascolino; 5th place – Lou Zhou

10th grade: 5th place – Christopher Yarbro

Poetry Contest:

8th grade: 2nd place – Will Hess; 4th place – Ihsan Omer; 5th place – Dannie Dong

9th grade: 1st place – Frederick Huang; 2nd place – Kevin Ma

10th grade: 5th place – Forest Rudd

11th grade: 2nd place – Hart Gowen; 4th place – Matthew Phillips

Advocacy Letter Contest:

9^th Grade: 2^nd place – Charles Hamlett

12th grade: 5th place – Arjun Puri

3. University of Memphis Language Fair

As with the TJCL State Convention, the fair was cancelled. However, pre-fair contest submissions were evaluated.

Latin Writing, Level 3:

Mark Hieatt, 1st place

Latin Writing, Level 4:

Ryan Peng, 1st place

Will Schuessler, 2nd place

Fawwaz Omer, 3rd place

4. National Junior Classical League Online Exams

National Latin Vocabulary Exam

Latin One:

Gabe Chen, Will Gramm, Everett Sego - Silver Medals

William Levy - Bronze Medal

Latin Two:

Varun Krishnamurthi, Kevin Ma - Gold Medals

Alyaan Salman, Lou Zhou - Silver Medals

Jack Knighton - Bronze Medal

Latin Three:

Mark Hieatt, Kerry Zhao - Gold Medals

Jack Zaptin - Bronze Medal

Latin Four:

Fawwaz Omer - Gold Medal

National Roman Civilization Exam

Novice Level:

Gabe Chen, Will Gramm, William Levy, Everett Sego - Silver Medals

Intermediate Level:

Kerry Zhao - Gold Medal

Varun Krishnamurthi, Forest Rudd, Mohid Saeed - Silver Medals

Hamza Janjua, Jack Knighton, Kevin Ma - Bronze Medals

Advanced Level:

Fawwaz Omer - Silver Medal

May 2020

1. National Latin Exam

We have received the results of the 2020 National Latin Exam:

81 Summa Cum Laude Gold Medals
44 Maxima Cum Laude Silver Medals
13 Magna Cum Laude 
12 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.

Special recognition goes to the 17 students who earned perfect scores this year:

Latin One: Dannie Dong, Tyler Dang, Wesley Caldwell, David Simpson, Charlie Treadwell, Gabe Chen, Eshaan Patnaik, Evan Wu, Alan Zhou

Latin Two: Varun Krishnamurthi, Kevin Ma, Frederick Huang

Latin Three: Forest Rudd, Simeon Betapudi, Mark Hieatt

Latin Four Poetry: Fawwaz Omer, Max Shackelford

2. Congratulations to Arjun Puri, Akbar Latif, and Matthew Phillips for receiving recognition for their work in the Bernice Fox Classics Writing Contest, an annual competition sponsored by Monmouth College (IL). Each year, this contest selects just one overall cash prize winner but also recognizes a small number of runners-up with the “Honorable Mention” designation. The theme of this year's contest: "Hindsight in 2020."

April 2020

1. Our biennial trip to Italy has been postponed, now tentatively rescheduled for October of 2020.

2. We had a small group of students preparing to attend the University of Memphis Language Fair on April 4. This event has been cancelled.

3. We had a much larger group - 53 Upper School and Lower School students - registered for the Tennessee Junior Classical League State Convention at the end of April. Unfortunately, this event has also been cancelled. 

4. In the coming weeks, we hope to receive the results from some other contests, including the CAMWS Latin Translation Contest and the National Latin Exam.

Stay healthy, everyone. And remember these inspirational words from Book One of Vergil's Aeneid:

'O socii—neque enim ignari sumus ante malorum—

O passi graviora, dabit deus his quoque finem.

Vos et Scyllaeam rabiem penitusque sonantis              

accestis scopulos, vos et Cyclopea saxa

experti: revocate animos, maestumque timorem

mittite: forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit.

Per varios casus, per tot discrimina rerum

tendimus in Latium; sedes ubi fata quietas               

ostendunt; illic fas regna resurgere Troiae.

Durate, et vosmet rebus servate secundis.'

‘O friends (well, we were not unknown to trouble before)

O you who’ve endured worse, the god will grant an end to this too.

You’ve faced rabid Scylla, and her deep-sounding cliffs:

and you’ve experienced the Cyclopes’s rocks:

remember your courage and chase away gloomy fears:

perhaps one day you’ll even delight in remembering this.

Through all these misfortunes, these dangerous times,

we head for Latium, where the fates hold peaceful lives

for us: there Troy’s kingdom can rise again. Endure,

and preserve yourselves for happier days.’

March 2020

1. The National Latin Exam has been moved to Tuesday, March 3. It is scheduled from 2:15 to 3:15 PM in Hyde Chapel. In addition to the review and preparation being done in class, students are encouraged to take advantage of the resources posted on the NLE website, including the NLE Online Practice App.

2. Seniors who took AP Latin last year are encouraged to apply for the Seal of Biliteracy, a new award offered by the MUS Department of Classical and Modern Languages. Applications are due March 20. More information is posted here.

3. We have a total of 53 Upper School and Lower School students registered for the Tennessee Junior Classical League State Convention in April. Information about convention exams and contests is posted here.

February 2020

1. For students who want to attend the Tennessee Junior Classical League State Convention in April, the sign-up deadline is Friday, February 14. "Sign-up" involves completing both permission slips and a pre-convention writing assignment. An information packet is posted on the Bulletin Board of onCampus.

2. The next two NJCL online exams are coming up soon - February 12 (Vocabulary) and February 26 (Roman Civilization). Contact Mr. Gagliano for more information.

3. All students should be preparing for the National Latin Exam. A useful practice app may be found here.

January 2020

1. As the new year begins, we will begin to turn our attention to our two major competitions of the spring semester:

National Latin Exam (Wednesday, March 4)
Tennessee Junior Classical League State Convention (Friday and Saturday, April 24-25)

2. Upper-Level Certamen

Certamen practice for students in Latin Three, Four, and Five will take place on Tuesday afternoons, from 3:30 to 4:00 PM in room S2. We will begin on Tuesday, January 21 and go through Tuesday, April 21. (Latin One students who are interested in playing Certamen should speak to Mr. Suddarth or Mr. Gagliano.)

3. National Language Week

The Department of Classical and Modern Languages at MUS will be celebrating National Language Week during the week of January 13. The main activity will be the MUS International Film Festival, which will take place in Hyde Chapel from 2:30 to 3:30 PM on Wednesday, January 15.