Schools

UDHS Students Place 1st at State Latin Convention

Written by Alan Yang, student at Upper Dublin High School

From May 17 to 19, 25 students from Upper Dublin High School’s Latin Club celebrated the classics at the 72nd annual PA Junior Classical League Latin Convention, held at Penn State University. The motto of this year’s Convention was a quote from the Roman poet Horace: “quem fors dierum cumque dabit, lucro appone,” meaning “take as a gift whatever the day brings forth.” The student delegates certainly captured the spirit of this motto with their dedication and hard work. After a year of preparation under the guidance of Magistra Moller and Magistra Koons, the students excelled in a variety of academic, artistic, and athletic contests against other schools in PA to take home the coveted first-place trophy.

In the academic contests, UDHS’s Latin scholars garnered many accolades. Freshman Emily Wu won 5th places in Latin Vocabulary and Roman Life and also a 3rd place in Latin Grammar. Linda Wu picked up a 4th place in Daily Life while Hannah Dorsey earned a 3rd place in Vocabulary, 2nd place in Mythology, and a 1st place in Roman History. William Raynor won two 5th places, and Caroline Simon placed 4th in two contests. Robert Liu was awarded 3rd places in Roman Life and Latin Derivatives and a 2nd place in Roman History while Alan Yang earned 1st place in Grammar and 2nd places in Mythology and Derivatives. Additionally, James Liu was awarded 1st place in Mythology and 2nd place in Vocabulary.

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In addition to performing excellently in academics, UD Latin students also excelled in the arts. In the graphic arts, junior Julie Baldassano won 5th place in Photography while sophomore Michael Deng placed 1st. Emily Wu took home a 4th place for her beautiful ink sketch, and Robert Liu placed 2nd in the Charts category. In the creative arts, junior Alan Yang won two 1st places in Dramatic Interpretation (DI) and a 2nd place in Latin Oratory. William Raynor was awarded a 3rd place in Oratory and a 4th place in DI. Furthermore, Robert Liu won 1st place in Oratory while Caroline Simon won 1st place in Oratory and 3rd place in DI.

In track, UD's delegates Emily Wu, Robert Liu and Ian Synder contributed to th team winning by placing in the top 3 in various events. 

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A highlight of every convention are the spirit competitions where schools show off their enthusiasm for the classics by dressing up in various themed costumes and cheering excitedly.  Thanks to the planning and preparation of Catherine Liu and Dana Russell, UD placed 1st and 2nd respectively. During the Entertainment Show, Catherine Liu along with her partner Jasmine Porter dazzled the audience with their breathtaking color guard performance for which they won a cash prize. Moreover, two delegates from Upper Dublin were elected to the 2013-2014 PAJCL Executive Board, namely Alan Yang as Treasurer and Michael Deng as Editor. UD also had the distinction of sending one of the two Senior Classical Delegates to the convention—Ryan Zeitzer, a UD alumnus who is now studying the classics at Ursinus College.

The hard work of all the students throughout the year certainly paid off at the state Latin convention. Each student contributed his or her talents in a wide range of contests so that in the end, Upper Dublin clinched the first place title.


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