Tag Archives: regionals

News

OHS Latin Program Hosts Regionals

By Amelia Chen

All students enrolled in Middle and Upper School Latin courses at Oak Hall School are participating in the Latin Regionals tournament hosted on campus Saturday, Jan. 28. 

All Latin students compete at regionals in the hopes to be chosen for the state tournament. This year, about 86 students from Oak Hall School will be competing. In total, there are usually around 150 students competing from all the schools in the tournament. This year those schools include Oak Hall, St. Francis, Cornerstone, and Forest High School.

“I’m excited for all of the new students who haven’t been to regionals to experience it and for some of the veterans to be able to kind of show the ropes to the new generation of Latin students,” said Zachary Mair, one of Oak Hall’s Latin teachers.

Students participate in academic testing, Certamen (a Jeopardy-style competition), racing events ala Olympics-style, wear costumes, and participate in art. Minus the testing and Certamen, OHS Latin Club officers organized the regional competition. 

Oak Hall’s Latin Program, the Junior Classical League (JCL), has been competing at regionals for decades and is considered one of the biggest classics programs in the region and quite possibly the state. 

Oak Hall regularly has success in the regionals, as Oak Hall is designed to prepare students on a national level. Mair also noted his hope for the turnout of the competition.

“I hope [this is] a starting line for looking toward states… I’m hoping that students [really] put in that effort and get the award that they deserve for the input that they gave,” he said.

Features

“The Hall Hub”: Regional Sporting Events

Join Kaylee and Jennifer with special guest, cross country district champion Lauren Jones, on this week’s podcast! All three ladies advanced to regionals in their respective sports (Kaylee in diving, Jennifer in swimming, and Lauren in cross country). Hear how Lauren gets pumped for races, her outlook on regionals and state, and the closeness of her and her teammates.

News

OHS Junior Classical League Wins Big at Regionals

By Madison Gaston

Every year in late January and early February, the Florida Junior Classical League (FJCL) holds a Regional Latin Forum in each region in Florida. On Feb. 1, Oak Hall School hosted its region’s Latin forum, which qualifies students for the State Latin Forum. Cornerstone and St. Francis Latin students participated in the local event.

Latin students from seventh through 12th grade spent a month preparing for the forum, which Oak Hall students have participated in for more than 20 years. The time spent completing practice exams and study sessions paid off for the Oak Hall Latin students, as the group took home 124 Academic Ribbons and 12 Academic “Best of Show” Awards. 

The Regional Latin Forum includes various special categories such as Greek and Latin language, history, and mythology. All competitors must complete an academic test that covers the aforementioned subjects. Students got the chance to compete in the Certamen portion of the forum, which is a kind of jeopardy game to test the students knowledge in various categories. In addition to Certamen, the Regional Latin Forum includes a service project, a creative competition, and Olympika. For this year’s service project, Oak Hall students painted kindness rocks to place around the community. For the creative competition, Oak Hall senior Michelle Li competed in Impromptu Art. The Olympika competition includes athletics like track and field, discus throwing, and tug-of-war. 

Oak Hall seniors Keegan Hogan, Emma Anderson, Ethan Dixon, Maya Harris, Evie Kelly, Michelle Li, Elizabeth Olcese, Esha Patel, Veronika Schmalfuss, Zhai Smith, Rushee Soni, Kumail Zaidi, Matthew Citty, and Colby Curtis will attend their last State Latin Forum in April. “Looking back on my years studying Latin, I realize how important and meaningful Regionals has been to me and I’m excited to see where all the younger kids take it,” Hogan said. Oak Hall’s Latin will continue studying for the State Latin Forum and strives to make the top three in April.