Only 11 schools (out of 30) returned the official evaluation form. Two additional schools submitted evaluation letters, and a couple of others sent brief e-mails.

1. Spirit Contest -- This received the lowest marks out of all of our events. Of course, the student officers are in charge of this, but it is certainly true that I didn't do much to help them with it. It's probably no secret that this isn't one of my top priorities; nevertheless, we'll try to do a little better next year.

2. Academic Testing -- No one made this comment, but I made a mistake in overestimating the time needed for the spirit procession and the chariot race. Next year, we'll schedule the proctoring meeting immediately after the general assembly so that we can be ready to roll as soon as the chariot race is completed. Also, there weren't any complaints about reducing testing to one single session. (By the way, a grand total of two students actually needed the "bonus time.")

3. Roman Costume Requirement -- A few sponsors would like to see this requirement reinstated. My general impression, though, is that most of the students were happy just to wear their chapter T-shirts.

4. Thursday Night -- Only two sponsors said "YES" to bringing back this part of convention.

5. Olympika -- Five sponsors identified the Olympika situation as "DEVASTATING." I understand that this is a controversial subject, and I understand the concerns of these teachers. Personally, I would like to be able to offer Olympika, but I'm not sure that TJCL is really equipped to handle it.

6. Sweepstakes Policies -- There were a couple of complaints about the divisions, including one from someone who said in so many words, "We can win a school sweepstakes award much more easily if we compete in the two lower divisions. Don't I have an incentive, then, to bring fewer students to convention?" If your goal is simply to win a school trophy, yes. In my opinion, however, this convention is all about promoting our classical heritage, motivating students, and generating enthusiasm for the study of Latin, and as a teacher, I would want to share this kind of experience with as many students as possible. At any rate, I do realize that there is really no "fair" way to draw these divisions up, and I also realize that a school like MUS -- not to take anything away from our delegates -- has some very unfair advantages (e.g., a Latin requirement, combined middle school and high school programs, etc.) over some of the other delegations.

7. Overall Convention Experience -- In spite of the complaints, 10 of the 11 rated the overall experience as either "VERY GOOD" or borderline "VERY GOOD / GOOD." The other one rated it simply as "GOOD."

8. Level of Pain For Teachers -- In response to the question about whether the convention was, all things considered, well-organized and painless for teachers, only one person did not circle "YES." Instead, he / she wrote, "It is never painless for teachers, but it was still good." Amen.

All in all, I hope that the convention was a good experience for you and your students. If you have any other comments, concerns, or suggestions, please feel free to send them in, and we'll discuss them at our fall meeting.

No more nasty used purple and gold shirts.

Academic Testing and Individual Sweepstakes are Excel files. All others are PDFs.

Thanks to Mr. Jim Long, as always, for putting all of this together.

Academic Testing
Academics -- Best of Show
Creative Arts
Graphic Arts
Certamen
Chariot Race
Publicity
Individual Sweepstakes
School Sweepstakes

Fall Meeting for TJCL Executive Board Members:

Saturday, September 26, 2009

10:30 AM

Montgomery Bell State Park, Dickson, TN

I've posted individual sweepstakes, school sweepstakes, and election results here:

2009 Convention Results

Here's a link to a blurb about the 2009 TJCL Convention in the Commercial Appeal, the major daily newspaper in Memphis. I'm not sure I'd agree with their description of what our "main event" is, but hey -- I'm very happy to have the publicity!

These handouts are in the convention confirmation packet (arriving via US mail), but I'll post them here, too:

Announcements

Schedule of Events

Ah, yes. It's time for the annual "state of emergency" announcement.

Elected Offices:

President -- No candidates.
1st VP -- 2 candidates. This is now closed.
2nd VP -- 1 candidate.
Secretary -- 1 candidate.
Parliamentarian -- No candidates.

Appointed Offices:

Historian -- No applicants.
Torch Editor -- No applicants.
Webmaster -- Zach Bielak (West High School) has been reappointed.

Questions about how to go about running for elected office? E-mail TJCL Parliamentarian Wade Laycook.

Divisions are based solely on the number of students registered for the convention.

Class AAA:

Collierville, Germantown, Houston, Hume-Fogg, Hutchison, Meigs, MUS, SBEC, St. Mary's, White Station

Class AA:

Arlington, Bearden, Dobyns-Bennett, Knoxville Catholic, MLK, Northeast, Ravenwood, Siegel, Smyrna, St. George's

Class A:

Briarcrest, Clarksville, Madison Academic, Montgomery Central, Oakland, Riverdale, Rossview, Silverdale Baptist, Southside, West

Order of presentation:

1. St. Mary's
2. MUS
3. Siegel
4. Riverdale
5. Germantown
6. Dobyns-Bennett
7. Bearden
8. Collierville High
9. Knoxville Catholic

If you'd like to be #10, please let us know ASAP.

As the 2009 Convention Packet explains, we had intended to expand Certamen into a round-robin tournament. Based on the registration forms that we have received, however, we are not going to have enough buzzer machines or moderators to make this plan feasible. Therefore, Certamen will follow the same format as in previous years (i.e., preliminary testing, round one, round two).

This is certainly disappointing, but the reality is that TJCL has become a small organization with limited resources, and we can only offer so many convention activities. A multum non multa philosophy is perhaps the most sensible approach.

Oh, and if you noticed, we did not ask any Certamen team sponsors to submit questions this year. Please take the time to thank Ed Long for making this significant reduction in paperwork possible.

A clarification on a couple of issues:

1. There are no longer categories for pastels and textiles. Pastels may be entered as watercolors, pencils, or oils, and textiles may be entered as mixed media or miscellaneous. For oversized textile entries, we can be flexible on the size requirements.

2. Each school is limited to three entries per category. Any school discovered breaking this rule will be disqualified for that particular category.

If you need to add more members to your chapter roster, please use this form:

Additional Members Form

We have come up with the T-shirt design for this year! Click here to check it out! We also have a new poll!

There is a new and improved TJCL Gallery! Click here to check it out.

We have found our new Secretary: Tara Shen from White Station High School! Check it out on the Officers page.

We are currently lacking a TJCL Torch Editor and East Tennessee Sponsor!
If you have any interest in the above positions, please contact
ryangsellers@gmail.com.

1. Starting this year, each school may submit a maximum of 10 poems and a maximum of 10 essays. (This does not mean 10 per grade level -- it means 10 overall.) Why did we make this change? To make life easier for the poor people who actually have to judge these things!

If you usually require all of your students to enter one (or both) of these contests as a prerequisite for attending the convention, you can certainly still require them to complete the assignment. We are simply asking you to be the first link in the judging process by selecting the best 10 in each category to submit for competition. If a school exceeds the maximum number of submissions, all of that school's submissions will be disqualified. So, if you teach in a big program with multiple teachers, please communicate with each other to avoid any confusion.

2. There is no longer a three copy requirement. However, the cover sheet is still required. Any submission that does not have a cover page filled out properly will be disqualified.

3. Please send in all of your submissions together at the same time in the same envelope. "Stragglers" will not be accepted.

Thanks for your cooperation!

1. Student Positions -- Torch Editor and Secretary

Both positions are currently vacant. Terms would last through the remainder of the 2008-2009 school year.

2. Teacher Position -- East TN Sponsor

When his term expires in April, Mr. Sandy Hughes will not seek reappointment. We will need another East TN teacher to fill this three-year position.

If you would like to nominate someone for these positions, or if you would like to volunteer yourself, please e-mail one of the State Chairs.

For a complete chapter listing, click here:

TJCL Membership (2008-2009)