St. Luke’s Episcopal School Latin Students Impress at State Competition

FOUR SEVENTH AND EIGHTH GRADERS WIN FIRST PLACE AT 2019 TEXAS STATE JUNIOR CLASSICAL LEAGUE CONVENTION

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – April 15, 2019 – St. Luke’s Episcopal School announces four first place winners at the 2019 Texas State Junior Classical League Convention. All seventh and eighth grade students enrolled in Latin at St. Luke’s attended the statewide convention in Austin, Texas on April 5 and 6. The Texas State Junior Classical League (TSJCL) is a branch of the National Junior Classical League, an organization of over 45,000 middle and high school students dedicated to the study of Latin, Greek, and classical antiquity.  Every year, thousands of Latin students from all across Texas convene for the TSJCL convention, a two-day competition over all things related to the classical world. Students compete against their peers in a wide range of academic and creative categories that include Roman history, Latin and Greek derivatives, Latin sight recitation, dramatic interpretation, catapult construction, mosaics, and many more. For those new to convention, it is quite the spectacle to see crowds of students dressed in full togas and t-shirts with Latin slogans.St. Luke’s has had a long and successful tradition of participation in TSJCL. This year’s state convention, hosted by Anderson High School in Austin was no exception. Four SLES students won first place in their individual events, including Miley Hamilton in Roman Life, Mia Miller in Classical Art, Allison Poulter in Latin Vocabulary, and Charlotte Stevens in Costume. “My favorite part of learning Latin is seeing the similarities with English words and the connections between Roman culture and our own,” says eighth grader Miley Hamilton, two-time TSJCL champion in the Roman Life contest. “I love going to JCL every year because there are so many different activities to experience and so many Latin students to meet. There is something for everyone.” In addition to these four first place winners, every SLES student who attended the convention won an award for their performance in their individual academic and creative arts contents. “Not many people understand the value of learning a language such as Latin, which is not spoken today,” says SLES Latin teacher Amanda Kimura. “I am fortunate to teach at a school where there is a lot of support and advocacy not only for Latin, but also language learning in general. Our students have a passion for learning, which shows in their excitement for and success at the TSJCL convention each year.”