Valparaiso High School Students Earn Awards at State Latin Convention

Valparaiso-High-School-Students-Earn-Awards-at-State-Latin-Convention-2017 Twenty-four students from Valparaiso High School were among 324 high school and college Latin students who attended the Indiana Junior Classical League Convention March 10-11 at Indiana University in Bloomington.

Students from sixteen Indiana schools participated in academic, creative arts and graphic arts contests, and competed in certamen, a quiz-bowl like competition, publicity and membership contests. The students also participated in general assemblies and attended a Roman banquet dressed in traditional Roman garb.

Individually, students earned dozens of 1st-3rd places ribbons in different contests and over 150 top ten certificates. Three students earned Individual Achievement awards for their outstanding accomplishments: Jacob Mathews in Academics, Larissa Chavarria in Graphic Arts, and Elli Bezotte in Creative Arts.

In the Certamen competition, the Novice team placed 4th while the Intermediate team placed 6th. The Advanced Certamen team of Blake Hightshoe, Emily McGuire, Jacob Mathews, and captain Abby Wester placed 2nd in the final round.

As a whole, the club earned the Effie Douglas Membership award for their 560% increase in Latin Club members this year. VHS Latin teacher, Brittany Krowiarz, was also honored for sponsoring one of the three Century Clubs in the state of Indiana. Century Clubs are clubs which have more than 100 students.

The club also placed 2nd in T-shirts (designed by Abby Wester), Publicity (compiled by Blake Hightshoe), and Publications (edited by Larissa Chavarria). They earned 3rd in the Helen Wampler Spirit Award, which honors clubs that involve students in year-round activities and service projects. The club placed 5th in scrapbooks (created by Emily McGuire) and 6th in Delegate Spirit. Overall, the club earned 6th place in Sweepstakes for Large schools.

This summer teacher Brittany Krowiarz will be taking four students to their first National Junior Classical League Convention at Troy University in Troy, Alabama in order to compete at the national level.