Sage Hill’s Junior Classical League (JCL) chapter recently joined hundreds of students for the California Junior Classical League (CAJCL) Convention at Woodbridge High School. The annual event brings together Latin students from across the state to compete in academic, artistic, and athletic events that promote the study of Classical languages.
Students began the two-day convention on March 28 with an opening ceremony that featured a reading of the Pledge of Allegiance in Latin, followed by the JCL’s official song and creed. The ceremony was followed by academic testing, where Sage Latin students placed in events including Latin Derivatives, Mythology, Latin Daily Life, and Pentathlon.
Beyond testing, the convention included a variety of creative and collaborative social events. From Roman-themed “Project Runway” to “Roman Speed Dating,” where students were paired off by a host in a mock-style matchmaking game, students socialized and built connections in a fun and engaging atmosphere.
“It’s not a pressure-filled, need-to-be-perfect scenario,” said World Languages Department Chair and Latin teacher Jeffrey Feland. “There’s no requirements. You can do events that are more competitive, certainly, but it’s a way to engage with your learning in a different study and test it out and be creative with it.
Sage Hill earned recognition in the visual arts, earning first place in the digital scrapbook competition and third place in the T-shirt design contest. In Certamen, a buzzer-based quiz bowl where teams answer questions about classical history, mythology, language, and culture, Sage’s Latin 1 and 2 teams both secured second place in the finals.
“It was a very exciting experience,” said sophomore Chelsea Chen, a member of the Latin 2 Certamen team. “We learned a lot about teamwork and how to trust each other in the spirit of working together. And at the end, it was a really rewarding experience.”
The convention also gave students the ability to showcase their leadership skills by campaigning for the CAJCL Executive Board, which works to organize future conventions. Julia Ball, Vice President of Sage’s JCL chapter, was elected First Vice President of the CAJCL Executive Board by member schools across the state.
“Running for the CAJCL Board as First Vice-President was a truly amazing experience,” said Julia. “The whole Sage JCL chapter was incredibly supportive and all helped with campaigning, and I truly could not have done it without them. The candidate forum was a little scary, but it ended up being super fun and I was really glad that I got to share my plans for my campaign with schools from all over California. The whole process taught me a lot and made me even more excited to be part of CAJCL!”
