On February 3rd, a large group of Saint Stephen’s Latin students from both the Upper School and the Middle School traveled to Tampa to compete in the Regional Latin Forum, the first of the three most important annual Latin competitions.

When it came to certamen, the highly competitive buzzer game, our teams crushed the competition. The middle school teams both placed very highly in their respective levels. The intermediate (Latin 2) team, made up of freshmen, won first place, as did the advanced (Latin 3, 4, and above) A team, which was made up of Senior Jack Berry, Juniors Carter Beckstein and Sidney Knowles, and Sophomore Maria Erquiaga.

Our students also did extremely well in testing, with almost every student placing in the top five for one or both of their tests and many of them placing first.

Another aspect of the Regional Latin Forum that many people don’t think about is the “creatives.” Students who attend have the chance to submit a classical-themed piece of artwork, such as a painting or model instead of taking one of the tests. Many students took this option. Some middle schoolers placed in their creative while Freshman Tony Rappold’s board game won first place.

All in all, Saint Stephen’s did very well with both its junior division (Latin 1) and senior division (Latin 2, 3, 4, and above) placing second in the overall sweepstakes. Even more importantly, all of the students who attended had a great time and had the opportunity to show off their Latin knowledge.