By Colleen Sparks
Managing Editor
Several students at Chandler schools proved their prowess in Latin and Greek grammar, history and culture at a recent state competition.
The teams participated in the Lemuria Certamen Tournament hosted by the BASIS Tucson North Junior Classical League Oct. 21.
Certamen is a fast-paced, Latin quiz bowl that measures students’ knowledge of Latin grammar, reading comprehension and vocabulary, as well as what they know about Greek and Roman history, mythology and culture, according to Sarah Palumbo, Latin teacher and Arizona Junior Classical League state chairwoman.
The team Palumbo coached, Domus Linguarum, which has one student from Chandler, took first place overall in the advanced division of the competition.
The team members are Adrian Palumbo, Sarah’s son, a sophomore at BASIS Chandler and a Chandler resident; Vishnu Kotta, a junior at Gilbert Classical Academy and Gilbert resident; and Ariana Van der Geest, an eighth-grader at Kyrene del Pueblo Middle School in Chandler and a Tempe resident.
Adrian also earned second-place individually and Kotta earned third-place individually when answering toss-up questions.
With toss-up questions, a moderator reads a question and the first person who answers it first and correctly, wins a point and the bonus questions. Students have to know about all aspects of Latin, mythology, culture and other areas.
Seton Catholic Preparatory High School earned third place as a team in the advanced category of the competition. The novice team at Seton took third-place in the novice category.
The members of the Seton advanced team were sophomore Abby Whitlock and juniors Cara Self, Heather Braun and Jackie Schisler. Seton’s novice Latin team members are freshmen Rachael Martinez, Lexi Whitlock and Jalyn Gryskiewicz. The students are in Latin classes and Latin Club.
“I’m very happy for them,” Seton Latin teacher Lindley Henson said. “The Novice Team, it was their first experience in a Certamen Tournament. The Advanced Team are all in Latin 2 and 3.
They were up against eight other teams whose members could be in any level of Latin up to and after AP. Latin is a language that will help them throughout their lives. If you don’t know Greek and Latin history and culture, you are missing the basic information to understand western civilization and how we got to where we are today.”
