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A group of Rockbridge County High School Latin students traveled to the Richmond Nov. 19-20 to take part in the Virginia Junior Classical League Latin convention.
These 24 students - accompanied by chaperones Brittany Kessinger and Joshua Fitz, and Latin teacher Patrick Bradley were the largest contingent of RCHS students to take part in the Latin Convention in the past 20 years, moving RCHS from the medium to large-size school category for the first time.
The Virginia Junior Classical League (VJCL) is an organization of junior and senior high school students dedicated to the study of the ancient world. The convention was held at the Greater Richmond Convention Center, and was attended by over 1,000 students from over 60 schools in Virginia.
Grants from the Committee for the Promotion of Latin and Greek of the Classical Association of the Middle West and South, as well as from the Rockbridge County Public Schools Gifted and Talented program, helped defray the costs to make the trip possible. “The RCHS Latin Club thanks both organizations for their support in helping them attend this enriching and fun activity,” said Bradley.
The students took part in a variety of academic, performance, and graphic arts activities and competitions, as well social events such as the Latin banquet (togas required), educational sessions, and Roman-themed games.
The students fared well in their competitions, with threequarters of them scoring at least top 10 finishes in their various competitions.
There were a number of highlights. Steven Nguyen won first prize in the oil painting category, while receiving a special Best in Show recognition. Ashley Kauffman placed first in board game design, as did Dahlia Obiedat in watercolor painting. Roman Stanley in black pencil drawing and Claire Crossman in mosaics each placed third. Bella Wright placed sixth in mixed media drawing. James Baker won over the crowd in the talent competition, taking second place with his saxophone playing. Sammy Eastwood, Will Gibbs, Claire Simon, Chase Lowney, Ashley Kauffman, Dahlia Obeidat, Claire Crossman all scored multiply top five finishes on their academic tests.
The team of Chase Lowney, Kalu Abah, Liam Courtney-Collins, Dahlia Obiedat, Sammy Eastwood, Will Gibbs, and Corinna Allen came in second out of 25 teams in the Latin Scholastic Bowl Certamen. Will Gibbs and Malia Fitz wowed the crowd at the roll call of schools, performing the school’s introduction skit, while Venus Slagle and the senior contingent led the group in the cheer competition.
RCHS students from all levels of Latin and all grade levels took part, with seniors Kalu Abah, Claire Crossman, Malia Fitz, Will Gibbs, Chase Lowney, and James Baker attending their second or third Latin conventions.
The RCHS students were impressed with the level of enthusiasm for Latin in Virginia as numbers at the convention have rebounded since the pandemic, said Bradley. They are already planning for a bigger and better showing at the 2024 convention.
