May 21, the Orange County Junior Classical League held its annual end of the year banquet, which featured games, art presentations, a potluck style dinner, and a presentation of awards both from the NC State Latin Convention and to induct members into the National Latin Honors Society.
The event, which was held from 5 to 7 pm, was set up on the patio between the 200 and 300 wings at OHS. This yearly tradition is held annually every May as it serves as a great way to wrap up the year and present the awards from the state convention, held in April.
The evening started off with a sacrifice, a piñata, as usual, to ask the ancient gods for their blessing. This year’s sacrifice was a Medusa head made by the Latin IV class. After the sacrifice was complete, Nicholas Mauriello, the OHS Latin teacher, auctioned off Latin I students in the traditional slave auction in which students and parents can purchase the use of a beginning student to get their food and stand as a placeholder in line. The money raised goes to a charity of Mauriello’s choice.
Dinner started at around 5:45 and featured barbequed pork that Mauriello grilled throughout the course of the day with help from volunteer Dave Golembiski. Vegetarian black bean burgers were also offered for the non-meat eaters as well as a variety of sides and desserts brought.
At 6:15, the awards ceremony started with Elizabeth Clark, the Cedar Ridge Latin teacher, giving her students awards based on accomplishment in their respective Latin levels. Mauriello followed suit, awarding about three certificates per level.
The North Carolina State Convention awards were next, as many OCJCL members received awards for their accomplishments at the convention. For a list of OHS awards, please click here.
After all OCJCLers received their awards, the inductees to the National Latin Honors Society gathered around the teachers and participated in the ceremony, in which they had to recite phrases in Latin.
0 comments