WOODSTOCK
Nic Franco
WALKER
Randy Fields
The Woodstock High School JCL chapter prepared for the school’s annual Electives’ Fair in which upcoming freshmen students discover a variety of classes available to them throughout their high school careers. These students currently attend Freedom or Woodstock Middle School and will be attending Woodstock High this fall. Seeking to grow the Latin program, our chapter worked diligently to not only encourage new students to take Latin but also join our Latin Club. This was accomplished by the creation of trifold displays and an assortment of flyers which informed parents and students alike about the benefits of the Latin class and its club counterpart.
The officers of our JCL chapter met to plan and create these displays. We also sought to share our excitement and passion and simultaneously did so as we conducted our meeting at our local coffee shop, Copper Coin, in downtown Woodstock. We were able to utilize the community room and even extend the friendly hand of JCL as another group asked to accompany us in the room we reserved.
After our productive meeting, the displays were printed and we were able to present our information to eager and curious students, some of whom had begun their Latin journey earlier that year as eighth graders at Freedom Middle School. This class has been a new addition to the Cherokee County School District and is successfully yielding results. As of now, the Woodstock High School Latin Program has had over seventy freshmen register for Latin I and over sixty students register for Latin II. These numbers are very exciting for WHS as we have historically had a smaller Latin program than most other schools; even as we have seen the population of Latin-studying students increasing steadily in the past four years, the excitement for Latin as demonstrated by the current number of young registrants so early in the elective-choosing season is a very promising sign. Woodstock High School is very proud to share these results and celebrate future growth that is guaranteed by a few more weeks in the registration window!
SODĀLITĀS, The Winona Robuck Chapter of the Georgia Junior Classical League, kicked off the new year at its monthly Third Thursday chapter meeting. Its theme, Murder at the Domus Aurea, featured a classical whodunit at which a member of Nero’s praetorian guard was ruthlessly slaughtered. Suspects included the emperor’s cook, a renowned poet, and a virulent gladiator. Guests enjoyed a repast of “stuff on a stick” including kebobs from a local Greek restaurant and skewered melon and grapes as they collaborated to solve the mystery. Former chapter cōnsul and current pontifex maximus, James Grindstaff, played the role of Nero and organized the guests to solve the crime. Current cōnsul, Zoey Brown, served as his trusted advisor. Most guests were convinced that Nero’s doctor was the culprit, but in the end they were shocked to discover that Iulius, an ambitious general, committed the dastardly deed.
This meeting also served as the start of Sodālitās’ annual carnation sale. Led by quaestor, Hunter Nourzad, this philanthropic endeavor is working to support charity: water, a non-profit organization whose mission is to bring clean drinking water to people in need. The fund-raiser encourages students to send flowers to each other on Valentine’s Day. Red carnations express love; pink, friendship; and white, secret admiration. Furthermore, each flower will bear a corresponding message in Latin. Among the various quotations are: omnia vincit amor; nōs et cēdāmus amōrī (in red); amīcitiae nostrae memōriam spērō sempiternam fōre (in pink); oculīs nostrīs congressīs cor meum micat (in white). Each carnation sells for one dollar, all of the profits of which will go directly to charity: water. Zoey Brown, third-year Latin student and current cōnsul, selected this organization from the host of many higly regarded non-profits featured on Charity Navigator (www.charitynavigator.org) which rates the efficacy of charitable organizations. Sodālitās members will deliver the carnations on Friday, February 11th, just hours before they leave for Athens, Greece for a winterlude study tour.