Written by: Kate J. '32
Edited by: Meredith Y. '30
People rarely think about the classics in their daily lives. Learning about dead languages or traditions that faded thousands of years ago would probably seem useless to almost everyone. However, the students who went to state and regional Latin Forums disagree.
On February 7, 2026, 12 students traveled to St. Stephen’s Episcopal School in Bradenton. The reason: to compete in the Regional FJCL Competition. FJCL stands for Florida Junior Classical League, and the people who attended this competition were composed of Latin and non-Latin students. All the students who came had previously taken one or two academic tests the day before. During this competition, students participated in Olympica, Certamen (Latin trivia), or both.
The day started out with Olympica, a sporting, Latin-themed event. Zach B. ’30 placed second in the Friscus and fourth in the IV Square. Jack W. ’31 placed fourth in the Friscus and fifth in the IV Square. Miles A. ’30 placed fifth in the Friscus. Vivian G. ’31 placed third in the IV Square.
Next, the Certamen teams assembled to channel their inner Latin skills! The Latin ½ team of Kate J. ’32, Preston D. ’32, Kuan H. ’31, and Vivian G. ’31 placed 6th. For Latin I, the team of Everett O. ’31, Chloe E. ’31, Maverick L. ’31, and Kate J. ’32 got 5th place. Last but definitely not least, the Latin II team of Zach B. ’30, Miles A. ’30, Meredith Y. ’30, and Jack W. ‘31 placed 1st. Congratulations to all students who participated!
After a quick pizza lunch, the awards ceremony began. The event organizers gave out prizes for the topic tests, Olympica, and Certamen. Preston D.’32 got 5th place on Mythology ½ and 4th on his maps project. Kate J. ’32 got 1st place on Vocabulary ½ and also 1st on Latin Derivatives ½. Kuan H. ’31 got 3rd place on Mythology ½ and 1st for his Digital Art project. Vivian G. ’31 placed 1st on her Drawing project. Chloe E. ’31 got 1st for Vocabulary I, and 3rd place for Latin Derivatives I. Maverick L. ’31 placed second in his Audio/Visual project. Jack W. ’31 got 2nd place for Latin Derivatives I, and 4th for Vocabulary I. McRae S. ’31 also got 3rd place for his Modern Myth story. Meredith Y. ’30 placed 1st in Mythology I, and 4th in her Modern Myth story. Miles A. ’30 got 3rd in Latin Derivatives II, and 1st in Mythology II. Finally, Zach B. ’30 placed 1st in both Latin Grammar II and Vocabulary II.
During the event, students met new people and had a lot of fun with their friends! “I enjoyed hanging out and meeting new people,” says Vivian G.’31. Most of the Latin students also went to the States competition, which took place on April 9 through 11.
On April 16, 2026, the Latin team went to the State competition! The 12 Berkeley MD students who attended also did exceptionally well, out of almost 1000 students from all around Florida. Overall, Berkeley placed in many events. The Middle Division Berkeley Team won 6th place in Creatives Sweepstakes, 6th for Project Sweepstakes, and 6th for the Ludi & Olympica events. Additionally, they got 7th place overall for middle school!
The students also did well when they played Certamen rounds. Berkeley had their first Competitive Certamen team in many years. This team consisted of Meredith Y.’30, Zach B.’30, Miles A.’30, and Jack W.’31. They placed 7th overall. The rest of the students took an Open Certamen Seeding Test and were randomly placed into teams. In this way, everyone had the challenge of working together with students from other schools. Kate Juld’s team, Team Saturn placed first, an incredible achievement, for before this night, her teammates were strangers.
In conclusion, Berkeley did amazing in both the Latin Regional and State competitions. But is Latin really a dead language? Not to these people! In their eyes, Latin is a mystery yet to be unraveled.