“Audentes Fortuna iuvat. Fortune favors the brave.”

  These words, a direct quote from book 10 of the Roman poet Publius Vergilius Maro’s (better known as Vergil) Aeneid, comprised the theme of the annual Ohio Junior Classical League’s (OJCL) convention, which was held March 9-11.

  Latin students, particularly those in Latin Club, worked with the ancient language and prepared for the convention for months leading up to the weekend.

  There are multiple parts of the convention.

  “OJCL is like a ‘comicon’ for Latin. Around 500 students from all over Ohio, though mostly from Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati, get together for the weekend to compete in various activities. These range from trivia to a talent show to a spirit competition,” said Mr. Sean Minion, Latin teacher and club sponsor.

  This year, 31 students from both the junior high and the high school participated at OJCL, more than double the 14 that went last year.

  “Aside from increased participation, I have found that there is more student-centered leadership. Everyone is more actively involved in participating and preparing for what they wish to get recognized for,” Minion said.

  They won a total of 39 individual awards for academics and graphic competitions.

  Five students were even finalists in the OJCL talent show: eight grader Claire Atkinson, seventh grader Maya Chamberlin, seventh grader Alexandra Leech, freshman Alex Ma, and freshman Ashna Prakash.

     Eight grader Matthew Silverstein and Prakash also performed first place roll call on the first night of convention.

  Junior Grant Bruner, apart from placing within the top seven in nine different academic categories, was elected OJCL President for the year 2018-2019.

  He currently is the state treasurer of OJCL, dealing with finances and the spirit conduct of the Ohio section of the National Junior Classical League (NJCL).

  “NJCL will be held at Miami Oxford this June, so Grant has to prepare for that. Aside from that, he will be helping direct the convention, get everything organized as seemlessly as possible,” Minion said.

  Freshmen Niyati Kanchan, Alicia Luo, and Ma along with junior Joshua Williams also won awards in academic categories.