On the weekend of March 27, Menlo School JCL traveled to Miramonte High School in Orinda California for the CJCL State Convention. There were 1,528 Latin students from 45 different schools, including public and private, middle and upper plus their sponsors and chaperones, and about 10 SCLers as well. In spite of some horrendous traffic on the way to Orinda, everyone had arrived by the time the convention actually started.
On Friday night, after the first general assembly of the convention, all of the students took academic tests. Later that night we competed in sports (dodge ball and volleyball), an essay contest, an instrumental competition, a dance competition, That’s Entertainment auditions, Certamen Semifinals, and a Latin Oratory competition. There were also non-competitive events, including Roman Speed Dating, and SCL mixer, and a dance.
On Saturday morning there was the second general assembly, which opened with the spirit competition, during which all of the students cheered for their schools. Menlo Upper School won first place for medium-sized high schools. After the competition, the candidates running for the state JCL board gave speeches. Voting took place later that day, and our own Grace Costello ’16 was elected Northern Representative.
After the assembly, there were chariot races and catapult contests on the fields. There were also more sporting events throughout the day, including soccer, swimming, basketball, Ultimate Frisbee, tennis, track, Capture the Flag, and Quidditch. Menlo’s basketball team won first place –defeating Miramonte High School. In addition to sports, there were other activities in the morning, including Competitive Certamen Finals, Latin Sight Reading, Impromptu art, Project Runway, Graphic Arts Viewing, That’s Entertainment callbacks, and the Selfie Game.
After lunch, there were various Classics workshops for the students to attend, including Art of the Roman Republic, Cicero: Eloquence Personified Then and Now, Romans Rest in Peace, Cybele and her Eunuch Priests, Miraculous Medicine: Galen’s Public Dissections, The Beats of Roman Poetry, The Wrath of the Saints: Medieval Vengeance Miracles and Liturgical Curses in Monastic Latin, and Roman Insults. There were also various art workshops, including Mosaics, Finger Puppets, and Edible Art as well as Aphrodite’s Booth of Love and Advice, the Costume Contest, Dramatic Interpretation, Open Certamen, and an Art Sketch Contest.
In the late afternoon we had our third and final general assembly, followed by dinner from 10 different food trucks. After dinner, the winners of the competitions were announced. Menlo won 1st overall for in the medium-sized high school category. The rest of the banquet included the That’s Entertainment performances, a Classics Carnival, a movie, a magician, human hamster balls, laser tag, a dance, a Smash Bros tournament, a Casino, jump houses, a bazaar, and Caricatures.
Menlo students returned home tired, but happy. We had placed in scrapbook, banner, both chariot contests, and spirit as well as a myriad of individual awards. Go Menlo!
Written by Kelly, Head of Menlo JCL Publicity.
Menlo JCL 