Jonathan Unger ’14
MMXIII was a record-breaking year for the Knights of the Tiber. It began last summer when on July 25, a delegation of eleven Latin scholars, the largest in Knights’ history, trekked to Wake Forest University in North Carolina for the 59^th annual National Junior Classical League (NJCL) convention; a week of fun, Latin, and togas. For the first time since 2008, St. Edward represented the state of Ohio on the Novice Level Certamen Team. Certamen is Latin Academic Challenge and Knights William Beatrez ’15 and Maxwell Mehlman ’15 held two of the five seats on the team. Their hard work helped bring home gold for the Buckeye State, making both SEHS and Ohio history. This was the first of many awards at Nationals, as first through fifth place ribbons went to Connor Tomshack ’14, Matthew Maris ’14, Jonathan Unger ’14, Beatrez, and Mehlman. In addition academic performance, the Knights met many other Latin scholars from around the nation and showed Ohio spirit at rallies throughout the week.
On November 17, the Knights claimed gold again at the annual Case Western Reserve Dionysia, a theatre competition that challenges young playwrights to modernize classical works. Acting skills and weeks of practice came together on stage as the Knights performed The Social Network… and Some Other Stuff, a comedic adaptation of Sophocles’ tragedy Ajax into the social networking arena written by Unger.
On Friday, March 8, a delegation of 38 Latin scholars, the largest in Knights’ history, entered the Ramada Inn in Columbus for the 63^rd annual Ohio Junior Classical League (OJCL) convention. St. Edward placed fourth in Academic Per Capita and sixth in total sweepstakes, an award determined by a school’s overall success and participation at convention. Tomshack, Beatrez, and Unger combined to take home six of the nine Best in Show awards on academic tests by placing higher than any other individual. Tomshack received Best in Show for Derivatives, Roman Life, and Reading Comprehension; Beatrez for Vocabulary and Grammar, and Unger for Latin Literature. Academic awards also went to Mehlman for first place; Martis for second; and Gregory Pataky ’14, Nicholas Taylor ’16, and Kyle Tomshack ’16 for third. In addition to academic awards, the Latin scholars received a first place award for school spirit. Also, SEHS certamen teams for Novice, Intermediate, and Advanced each competed in the certamen semi-finals.
Also historic, is Beatrez’s position on the OJCL student board. In the spring, he was appointed to the office of Historian, responsible for documenting OJCL activities for the 2013-2014 year, preserving OJCL posterity, and submitting a scrapbook for the 2013 NJCL convention. This is the first time an Edwardian Latin scholar has held an office since Andrew Boudon ’11 in 2011.
With the 60^th annual NJCL convention at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas this summer fast approaching, the Knights look forward to another successful year and an even more historic MMXIV.