MassachusettsJCLVolume I Issue I

Nationals2010Look at your subtitle,

now back at mine

SORT OF EXCLUSIVE

THIS ISSUE INCLUDESSCOOPS ON NJCL OFFICER POLYGAMYA EULOGY TO OUR MOSQUITO BITES

INTERVIEWS WITH MJCLERS YOUNG & OLD

VISIT MASSJCL.ORGSERIOUSLY

DO YOU DRAW?DO YOU LIKE MONEY?

Enter in the Massachusetts Graphic Arts Contest! Entries accepted from September 1st to November 15th.Visit massjcl.org/artcontest for the rules & prizes.

Artwork by Edgar Degas. He’s dead, so we can use it.

& KNOCKED OUT.

Voice Your School Day

Unpaid advertisement.

we’ll have you

JUMPING FOR JOY,

NOTE-TAKING LIKE THE SATS,& KNOCKED OUT.

Voice Your School DaySeptember 25th, Lunenburg High: Come learn about the MassJCL Offices. Visit MASSJCL.ORG/VYS

Unpaid advertisement.Photos by Ava Violich (BLS)

and Emily Lewis (FHS)

contentsTable of ContentsA Letter from the HistorianAbbreviations Found in this MMAGMeet the MassJCL Officers!Convention Overview Statistics, poll, awards, and highlights.Interview with Dylan, Emily, and Henry We interviewed Dylan Drolette (Lunenburg), sdfsMs. Emily Lewis (FHS), and Henry Tsang dddl(BLS), about their experiences at Nationals.Campaigning Nationally We talked to Zach Hall (former MJCL President and current NJCL 2nd VP) about his campaign during Nationals.A Eulogy to Our Mosquito BitesThe Dirt on NJCL Officer Polygamy Alyssa Tomkowicz (MJCL Editor) has the dirt onNJCLOfficerPolygamy.A Difficult Trivia QuizTwo-Month MJCL Calendar

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7

Non est ad astra mollis e terris via.Cover photo taken by Ava Violich (BLS Historian).

PUBLISHER & FOUNDER Emily ChangEXECUTIVE EDITOR Alyssa TomkowiczART DIRECTOR Emily ChangDESIGNER Emily Chang

STAFF WRITERSEmily Chang, Alyssa Tomkowicz

CONTRIBUTING WRITERSNo one. You all suck.

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERSEmily Lewis, Ava Violich

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Emily Chang

The Massachusetts Junior Classical League Magazine (or MMAG for short) is published four times throughout the year (August, November, February, and May.) It relies principally on reader contribution, so like, contribute: email MJCLMagazine@gmail.com with your article and/or photograph today.

HELLO THERE! Thank you so very much for picking up a copy of the Massachusetts Junior Classical League Magazine (MMAG for short). By way of introduction, allow me to quickly detail the birth of this publication.

On Thursday, August 5th, at approximately 4:42 p.m., yours truly decided to mess around in InDesign while coolling off from a long day of work at Continuum (a design consultancy; but I digress.) I stole a photo from the Flickr page of Ava Violich, who was totally cool with everything, and put together this magazine’s cover.

A few days later, I put the fake cover on Facebook, where it was met with enthusiasm from a few, crazy BLS JCLers (including the MassJCL Treasurer and Technical Coordinator.) Mrs. Miller, my Latin teacher, submitted a... request to see an actual magazine. So I thought, “well, why not? It might be fun.”

I teamed up with Alyssa Tomkowicz, the MassJCL Editor, to make our vision a reality. And with Eileithyia’s blessing, this magazine was born! Henceforth, we will try our best to be-guile you with outlandish stories from Nationals, VYS, Cata-pult, Classics Day, the Snowball, Certamen, States... whatev-er MJCL events may head our way (and the Forum Factorum doesn’t already cover). It is our job to entertain and to inform. If this magazine will save your life, then we will have done our job.A

Lette

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Did you know?Fargo’s motto is “City of Punks.”

E Corde,Emily Chang

Abbreviations Foundin This Issue

AMSA advanced math and science academyBLA boston latin academyBLS boston latin schoolFHS franklin high schoolMTG mt. greylockMJCL massachusetts junior classical leagueNDSU north dakota state universityNJCL national junior classical leagueVYS voice your school

II

convention overviewby Emily Chang

Above: (Sign-holders) Derek Booth (Lunenburg), Thomas Stoddard (BLA), Ned Kleiner (Mt. Greylock), Carolyn Chan (BLA), John Nguyen (BLA), Arivu Anukanth (BLS), and Melinda Wang (BLS). Photo by Emily Lewis (FHS).

Poll

How enjoyable was your convention experience?

Visit http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FWWS9QF to vote.

Very unenjoyable 12.5%Unenjoyable 0%Enjoyable 12.5%Very enjoyable 75%

For those of you who haven’t been to a single National Convention, now is the time to start saving up, because this is something you definitely want to experience before you die. If this imperative is not enough, I now give you seven highlights of the 2010 NJCL Convention.

I: Competitive CertamenThe 2010 National Certamen season was incredibly heated. All three Massa-chusetts levels had trained all summer long for a shot at just 80 questions of glory (that’s some serious commitment right there.) We competed fiercely, and though we didn’t win, we still did very well. Congratulations!

II: Just Meeting New PeopleMany folks describe the highlight of this National Convention as simply “meeting new people.” Indeed, there are beautiful friendships to be made here, and as Tai Tran (BLA) describes, “I went up to some people and said that I was looking for friends, and they let me play cards with them.” This year in particular, certain MJCLers (namely Sam Collette (Lunenburg), Chriso Hynds (BLA), and Alyssa Tomkowicz (MTG)) have befriended the small Mis-souri JCL delegation. Together, we are MOMAJCL.

III: Susan Schearer ...... was probably the sweetest, most

convention overview

Above: (Sign-holders) Derek Booth (Lunenburg), Thomas Stoddard (BLA), Ned Kleiner (Mt. Greylock), Carolyn Chan (BLA), John Nguyen (BLA), Arivu Anukanth (BLS), and Melinda Wang (BLS). Photo by Emily Lewis (FHS).

Statistics AwardsDates: July 27th to August 1st ’10Location: Fargo, NDNJCL Attendance: 1500 peopleMJCL Attendance: 43 peopleMJCL Chapters Present: Abby Kelley, AMSA, BLA, BLS, FHS, Lunenburg, MTG, __.Foreign Countries Present: Great Britain, CanadaElections 2010: 11 people running for 8 positionsCosmic Irregularities: Unum (1) tornado warning, rainstormsCommercial of the Week: Old Spice’s “Look at your (noun), now back at mine”Dance Move of the Week: The “Susan Schearer”

Scrapbook: 1st (Traditional)Spirit: 1st OverallCertamen (Novice): 6thCertamen (Intermediate): 9thCertamen (Advanced): 5thWebsite: N/APublications: Community Service:Membership:Notable MJCLers:Ned Kleiner (Mt. Greylock): 2nd in AcademicsHenry Tsang (BLS): 3rd in Creative ArtsOverall:For more, please visit njcl.org/ pages/2010-njcl-results

The cover of the 2010 NJCL Convention Brochure and Guide.

II: Just Meeting New PeopleMany folks describe the highlight of this National Convention as simply “meeting new people.” Indeed, there are beautiful friendships to be made here, and as Tai Tran (BLA) describes, “I went up to some people and said that I was looking for friends, and they let me play cards with them.” This year in particular, certain MJCLers (namely Sam Collette (Lunenburg), Chriso Hynds (BLA), and Alyssa Tomkowicz (MTG)) have befriended the small Mis-souri JCL delegation. Together, we are MOMAJCL.

III: Susan Schearer ...... was probably the sweetest, most

awesome lady who ever spake at an NJCL General Assembly. She’s been to 50 National Conventions, and met her husband of 40+ years at one of them. Ms. Schearer epitomizes “dedication.”

IV: Meeting the GovernorZach Hall (Abby Kelley Foster), among others, got a chance to like, shake Governor John Hoeven’s hand.

V: Winning SpiritMassachusetts hasn’t won Spirit at Nationals in over 6 years (I guess we’re too, like, cold and stuff). This year, though, Chriso Hynds (BLA), the MJCL 2nd VP, along with the rest of Massa-chusetts, really pulled through - and we

won first overall in spirit!!! WOO HOO!!!

VI: That’s EntertainmentIf you think “That’s Entertainment” at States is impressive, just wait till you see the show at Nationals! Massachu-setts actually had someone perform this year: Brian Mangilog (BLS) break-danced.

VII: World Series of CertamenThe World Series of Certamen is always a hilarious affair at Nationals; basically, it’s Certamen, but for old people--err, I mean, seniors. The questions range from whimsical to bone-crushingly dif-ficult; plus, it’s fun to watch your Latin teachers squirm.

Did you know?Governor John Hoeven of North Dakota is running for Senate!

IV

interviewsby Emily Chang

SEASONS PASS. PLANTS DIE. PEOPLE GROW OLD. But NJCL Conventions remain havens for young, old, and in-between classical enthusiasts. This month, we’ve interviewed three (tres) (3) (III) MJCLers about their experiences at this year’s NJCL Convention at North Da-kota State University in Fargo, North Dakota. We’ve asked them to introduce themselves for your reading pleasures.

Dude, we’re in a magazine!!

DYLAN DROLETTE has just graduated from Lunenburg High School. He is off to Boston University this fall.I’ve been a member of MAJCL and the NJCL since I was in seventh grade. Since the beginning I have loved being involved in the JCL at both the state and national level. The JCL saw me grow from the ner-vous little Latin 1/2 [student] to the somewhat larger, more confident Latin V [scholar].

MS. EMILY LEWIS matriculated from Boston University and taught at Franklin High School for a year. Now she teaches at the Advanced Math and Science Academy in Marlborough, Massachusetts.I’m a Latin teacher who was involved in Certamen in high school. How-ever, I didn’t get involved in JCL specifically until last year, when Ms. Fillion asked me to help at State Convention (the one in Barnstable). I loved it so much and had so much fun that I started a JCL chapter and Certamen team at my school. My students loved it and one of them was even on the Intermediate division team for NJCL!

A photo of the North Dakota State University campus, taken by Ava Violich (BLS Historian).

DYLAN DROLETTE has just graduated from Lunenburg High School. He is off to Boston University this fall.I’ve been a member of MAJCL and the NJCL since I was in seventh grade. Since the beginning I have loved being involved in the JCL at both the state and national level. The JCL saw me grow from the ner-vous little Latin 1/2 [student] to the somewhat larger, more confident Latin V [scholar].

HENRY TSANG is going into 9th grade at Boston Latin School.I joined the JCL in my eighth grade year (2009-2010) because my Latin teacher at the time, Ms. Hausey, explained to her students about the benefits of joining JCL, such as being able to being able to participate in many classical-related, fun events. She also mentioned being able to be admitted into the National Latin Honor Society, and it would give its members the privilege to attend MAJCL and NJCL conventions. I am a Latin lover and simply love the classics--every aspect of it!

MS. EMILY LEWIS matriculated from Boston University and taught at Franklin High School for a year. Now she teaches at the Advanced Math and Science Academy in Marlborough, Massachusetts.I’m a Latin teacher who was involved in Certamen in high school. How-ever, I didn’t get involved in JCL specifically until last year, when Ms. Fillion asked me to help at State Convention (the one in Barnstable). I loved it so much and had so much fun that I started a JCL chapter and Certamen team at my school. My students loved it and one of them was even on the Intermediate division team for NJCL!

interviewsEC: How many NJCL Conventions have you been to?DD: I have attended five National Conventions: Indiana,Tennessee, Ohio, California, and North Da-kota.[Emily nods her head, looking impressed.]EL: This was my first!HT: This year’s 2010 NJCL Convention in Fargo, ND was the first NJCL Convention I have ever at-tended.

EC: Why did you originally want to attend this NJCL Convention?DD: I wanted to play national level Certamen; I loved playing at states and I thought that I would be able to handle the challenge of both harder questions and increased pressure.EL: My friends and colleagues have always described it as “the most amazing experience ever,” so I’ve always wanted to go. However, it wasn’t until after this year’s State Convention that I decided I had to go. I really wanted to see what it was all about. And once my own student was on the Interme-diate team, I knew I had to go.[Emily clarifies: Who is this mysterious “Intermediate” student? The answer is Gabrielle Belisle, of Franklin High School.]HT: Originally, I did not want to attend the 2010 NJCL Convention because I thought it was rather expensive and that I should gain more experience at States before going. My teammates agreed the same. However, after a long discussion in a study hall about [the] benefits of going to the National Convention, we decided to go. It was also because of Ms. Hausey’s persuasion that the winning Cer-tamen team at States should (or should I say needs to?) go to the NJCL Convention.

EC: Did this year’s NJCL Convention live up to your expectations? Why or why not?DD: As this convention was my last as a JCLer, it was a mixed batch for me. It lived up to my expec-tations about the people I would meet and the the truly unique situations I would encounter. It sadly did not satisfy my desire to have one last chance at a National championship.EL: It completely exceeded my expectations! Yes, I had heard about how incredible it was, but I had the week of my life this year!HT: This year’s NJCL Convention was a blast! It was the most fun I’ve ever had in a single week! The people were nice, the food was great, and the events were organized very nicely. The only shortcom-ing was that the Weible North dorm could’ve used some air conditioning![Emily would like to mention here that the girls’ dorm had air conditioning. So much air con, in fact, that Melinda Wang (MJCL Treasurer) actually got sick.]Still, the other aspects of Convention more than made up for it. I enjoyed participating in the contests and activities.

EC: I understand that all three of you have some relationship to Certamen (which is, for those of you who don’t know, a quiz-bowl style Latin knowledge competition). Why are you involved in Certamen?DD: I can’t really explain how I first got involved in Certamen; It just kind of happened. I started play-ing in seventh grade on the recommendation of my Latin teacher. Thanks to the dedicated work of my coach Mr. Cox, I was hooked. The idea of a competition combined with my blossoming love of history was intoxicating to me and I just never looked back.EL: I think I’m a competitive person by nature. In high school, when my teacher asked if I wanted to join “a competitive, Jeopardy-style competition about Latin and Classical culture,” I didn’t think twice before saying “Sign me up!” I find that Certamen is an incredibly fulfilling experience, as one is able to

and must use all of one’s knowledge to reach the set goal. (Also, as a teacher and coach, it’s amazing to see what my students, and the students I coach, can do!)HT: I am involved in Certamen because my 8th grade Latin teacher, Ms. Hausey, introduced me and several other students of hers to it. It started as an in-class extra credit activity. The Thursday after Veteran’s Day, she put up a notice on the board saying if anyone wanted to join competitive Certa-men, they should come after school. I enjoyed playing it in class, and wanted to play more. That’s when my Certamen career started. Little did I know, down the road, my team and I would win States and place 6th at Nationals!avEC: NJCL Conventions are, among other things, excellent opportunities to meet new people and make new friends. Did you meet anyone especially memorable this year? Who?DD: I didn’t so much meet anyone new as I got to know better old friends, specifically other Certamen players. When all was said and done I had become fast friends with people who had been my certa-men rivals for almost my entire Certamen career; I have friends on both the upper teams of Florida and Texas.EL: I met so many incredible sponsors, chaperones, and students not only from Massachusetts, but from other states as well! I was incredibly honored to meet Susan Schearer, but John Hawley sticks also out in my mind, as I have used so many of his questions for Certamen practice.HT: I didn’t meet anyone memorable who was a complete stranger, but I got to know people better from the Massachusetts delegation. I especially admire Chriso Hynds and his determination during the General Assemblies to win spirit. Mr. Cox was also a great person that I met for the first time this convention after hearing so much praise about.[Emily thinks that someone should have mentioned herself. I mean come on.]

EC: Please complete the following analogy: NJCL Conventions are like ___.DD: NJCL conventions are like family reunions; whenever I go to Nationals I feel as if I know who everyone is, but I don’t necessarily know who they are; I’m always relieved to find out that everyone is nice and just as dedicated, if not more, than I am to the JCL.EL: NJCL Conventions are like Oz. An incredible new world, filled with amazing people, as well as a new set of challenges.HT: NJCL Convention is like naptime in high school. It’s too good to be true--unless you’re in kinder-garten!

EC: Are you coming back for next year’s convention?DD: If it is at all fiscally possible, I plan on attending many conventions to come as a SCLer.EL: Yes. End of story.HT: I am definitely coming to next year’s convention. See you in Kentucky!

caption contest

Think of one (1) (unum) (I) witty caption for the photo above, and send your entry (singu-lar) to MJCLMagazine@gmail.com. Include your name, JCL chapter, and state.