2009-2010 will begin our 7th year of award-winning Latin classes!
What is Convention?
Lone Pine students (Latin 100-400) are eligible to attend the Colorado Junior Classical League State Convention in Estes Park, Colorado. The convention is a Thursday morning to a Friday noon in mid/late April. Students have traveled from as far away as Michigan and Washington to attend! It is intended to be a fun, educational, and motivational day and a half.
What do students do there?
Students can choose to do as many or as few events as they wish. I do ask them to sign up for three academic tests, and encourage them to try a variety of other events. Events include:
Pre-Convention Contests (due in January) - Essay, T-shirt design, board game design, poetry, program cover design
Olympika: Any of four pool relay races, various track and field events (most silly, e.g. throwing a toothpick "javelin"). This is done first as an ice-breaker.
Arts and Handicrafts: Map, chart, poster, ink drawing, mosaic, pencil drawing, photography (traditional or computer-enhanced), jewelry, cartoon, greeting card, sculpture, pottery, charcoal, small or large models, watercolor, oil/acrylic, decorative stitching, mixed media, militaria, misc., pastels, dolls, other textiles
Academic Tests: reading, grammar, vocabulary, derivatives, myths, mottoes and proverbs, literature, Greek history, Roman history, Roman daily life, geography, decathlon (questions from all 10 areas)
Performing Arts: Dramatic interpretation, Latin oratory, English oratory, costume, drama, skit
CERTAMEN!!! Four students per division (Latin 100/200 are Lower Division, Latin 300/400 are Upper Division) are chosen to be our Certamen (quiz bowl) team. This is always a very fun and popular event!
There is also a catapult contest, but we usually do not enter due to travel considerations.
Pictures from 2009:
(Surprise blizzard!)
Pictures from 2007:
From Students - About CONVENTION:
I went to the Colorado convention last year. It was a lot of fun! I thought that the pre-convention contests were great. I entered a board game, which won a prize. I heard the pool events were great. Also, the "sporting" events were creative and fun. I did a javelin throw...with a blow up noodle. I was a part of the Certamen team, it was a real challenge, but it was fun! The academic tests were challenging as well, but it was rewarding to receive awards for the tests I took. I took Grammar, Daily Life, and Deca-something--which included questions from all the other ten tests. I would really encourage you to participate! I was really sad that we didn't go this year. If I had another year, I would soooo go! -- Caitlin (2008)
The state convention was fun. I'd go again, especially since we know what to expect this time. Last year was our first time going to the convention and it wasn't as fun as it could have been, since we were trying to figure out how things worked. It would have been much more fun this year if I had gone, and next year should be fun too. - 2008 Student
Most of the convention except for the Quiz Bowl Certamen wasn't as formal as it sounds. Most of the athletics were in a big open building, using paper plates, pool noodles, and other similar things. The Certamen wasn't even that big. The best part of the whole convention was getting to know and spend time with all our classmates, even though we didn't get quite enough unscheduled time to hang out. Still, it was fun. - Second 2008 Student
Please email Karen Karppinen with questions!