The latest AHN Junior Classical League (JCL) club t-shirt features the statement “Latin is like an opossum, you only think it’s dead.”

Hundreds of Latin students from across the bay area recently proved this phrase to be true at the Region VII Latin Forum hosted by Tampa Prep and St. John’s Episcopal Day School on Saturday, February 2.

From the crack of dawn until late afternoon, Academy Latin students engaged in a plethora of academic, athletic, and creative contests, eventually finishing as third place overall winners. Each year at Latin Forum, Academy consistently places in the Top 3 schools, especially in Academics.

Senior Karen Cornett relished every moment of her last Latin Forum. “I always look forward to Latin Forum each year. It’s a bit sad to think I won’t be doing this again, but I know I will remember all the good memories I’ve made at these Latin Forums.”

To start off the day, Academy and thirteen other schools, including Berkeley Prep, St. Stephen’s, and Plant, enthusiastically assembled into Tampa Prep’s gym for an opening ceremony.

Immediately following the ceremony, every student took either one or two academic tests related to the classical subjects. The categories of these tests ranged from vocabulary and derivatives to history, art and literature.  AHN students had been well prepared by Latin teacher Mrs. Amy Kafantaris.

Certamen, Olympika, and Creatives filled the rest of the day. Certamen is a trivia game, which tests the knowledge of four teams with four members each about the Latin language, Roman & Greek mythology, and Roman life & history (and literature for advanced levels).

Creatives includes the judging of pre-made art projects, dramatic interpretations and recitations, and costume contests. Olympika operates like the Olympics with track and field events.  Some unique events include catapult launches, human chariot races, and egg tosses.