NATIONAL NEWS · Torch:U.S. · Summer 2015
7
TEXAS
On March 27 and March 28, the TSJCL held its annual state convention in Amarillo, Texas. Thousands of avid classics students from across Texas traveled by plane, bus, and all in between in anticipation of one of the best conventions yet. Taking inspiration from the words of Lucan -- nil actum credens, cum quid superesset agendum -- Texans spent hours at every event and festivity possible. Highlights included the talent show, catapult finals, and, of course, the Certamen finals. The TSJCL was also very honored to have the attendance of the wonderful Narayan Sundararajan, NJCL Second Vice President, and the beloved Ruiqi He, NJCL President. Both not only assisted in the running of a massive convention, but also gave inspirational speeches about the upcoming nationals convention and the JCL. Also, Cass Plowman was named Latin Student of the Year. The state convention concluded with the election of the 2015-2016 TSJCL student officers. Congratulations to the Texas State Junior Classical League on another wonderful year, as we look forward to many more!
Gabby Sagun, Texas JCL Editor
National News
Spring Planning Meeting Update
The Spring Planning Meeting was held from April 18-20 in Nashville, Tenn., to make final preparations for NJCL Convention 2015. On the first day, the committee and officers flew in, and a few of the officers visited the Parthenon and attempted to find Taylor Swift's apartment and airport hangar. The official business began the next day with officer reports and finalizing the convention schedule, including officer General Assembly duties, opening and closing remarks speakers, and colloquia assignments.
The officers eventually broke off into a separate meeting while the committee discussed budget matters and the ACL Institute. In the officer meeting, the board chose the Toy Story series to be the movies featured at convention. In addition, they discussed the mysterious officer skit and officer gear for convention, along with the scavenger hunt and Snapchat geofilter they will be inaugurating. That night, after a meal accompanied by lively music at an Irish pub, the board filmed their Taylor Swift lip sync to kick off National Classics Week.
Amol Punjabi, NJCL Editor
Above: The officers and committee performed this lipsync of Taylor Swift's song "Shake It Off" at Spring Planning Meeting to kickoff National Classics Week.
KENTUCKY
The Kentucky Junior Classical League has had a great amount of fun since convention. We have had two service projects so far including a recycling campaign and a state wide collection of socks for the homeless. Many local chapters had parties for National Classics Week which featured chariot races, cake, and lovely singing. Some Latin lovelies even made their own Latin parody of “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga. Who sang it better, you might ask? Obviously the ever so spirited Du Pont Manual Latin Club. Behind the scenes, the state officers have been planning for nationals for some time now figuring out transportation and crunching the numbers. The delegate of the Kentucky JCL plan to have a get together some time before nationals, but there has been no official dates set.
Holly Blades, Kentucky JCL Editor
A Thank You to State Editors!
For submitting state updates throughout the year and working so hard on your publications!