About 1400 students from 72 Texas schools attended the Junior Classical League’s Texas JCL State Convention at Bellaire on April 4-5.

Two Bellaire students advanced to the national JCL convention for their performance at the state level: sophomore and JCL member Alessandro Nardi, who placed second in Sight Latin reading, and sophomore and JCL officer Ishani Kaushik, who placed fifth in original English oratory. Nardi, a native Italian speaker, said that his language background is what allowed him to succeed in his competition.

“I definitely did good on vowel pronunciation,” Nardi said. “Since it’s a Romance language, I have a bit more experience in knowing how certain vowels and vowels with consonants are pronounced. It helps a lot with the pronunciation in terms of switching from English to a Romance language.”

JCL members competed in over 50 different contests at the convention. This event was the first of its size to be hosted at Bellaire, but JCL sponsor, AP Seminar teacher and Latin teacher Andrew Hamilton said that Bellaire’s chapter rose to the task.
“It was very successful in that we had not been quite as active at the state level before, and now all of a sudden, we’re hosting a state convention,” Hamilton said. “It’s a huge jump, but the kids took it in stride. They did a great job. There were dozens of volunteers that helped us throughout the weekend, putting in each up to or upwards of 20 hours over two days. It was a huge deal.”

According to Hamilton, hosting the convention gave the JCL chapter the opportunity to show what makes Bellaire and the city of Houston unique. The event featured dance performances from clubs such as Latin Student League, Arabic Club and Bollywood Club. Although hosting the tournament benefited JCL, it also presented some challenges. Hamilton had to adapt to the task of managing the event and dealing with unexpected problems.

“There’s always something you didn’t think of,” Hamilton said. “You have to be ready for the unexpected. I personally was, you know, running, walking around the campus that whole time, just putting out small fires. Specifically, we forgot that we didn’t have enough pencils, and so we had to order 1000 more pencils with one week to go.”

Senior, JCL President and TSJCL convention coordinator Catherine Mackin was responsible for helping organize the event. She had to address all kinds of different challenges and obstacles as JCL prepared to host the convention in the fall semester.

“Right before the convention started, the tables were locked in the closet,” Mackin said. “So we didn’t have any tables, and we didn’t know how to get them out. We were scared everything wasn’t gonna run smoothly because then it was like, if one thing went wrong, then the entire schedule would get [ruined]. But everything worked out.”

Despite the behind the scenes stress, Bellaire students and volunteers like junior and JCL officer Trey Coursey found the experience “deeply rewarding.” Students from JCL and National Honor Society volunteered to help run the event, balancing their own competitions with the added responsibility of hosting hundreds of students from across the state.

“It felt like I was helping keep the Latin language alive,” Coursey said.

According to Mackin, the event also gave a spotlight to classical studies in modern education. Latin is often considered to be a dead language, but JCL aims to increase Latin’s cultural presence by boosting the club’s visibility and raising awareness among students about its significance.

“[Latin] reaches a very niche audience, and it’s really small,” Mackin said. “You have to be enrolled in a Latin class to take it, and there’s so many language options at Bellaire, there’s more of a chance you’re gonna [choose another language] than Latin.”

For Mackin and Hamilton, hosting the convention wasn’t just a way to give the club more exposure. It also represents a big step forward for JCL, proving that they are capable of hosting the event and sending more members to compete than in previous years.

“For Bellaire JCL to host such a big convention, it really shows off our chapter and the strengths of all of us,” Mackin said. “I was just really proud because last year I was in JCL and there were four people that went to the convention. And then this year, we had so many, and I was just so proud. I’m so proud to leave Bellaire knowing that JCL is in good hands now. I’m really proud of all my officers and all the people in my club.”

Hamilton said that although the convention was successful in giving JCL more attention, having to tackle all of the logistical challenges made him uncertain if he wants Bellaire to host again when the JCL state convention returns to Houston.

“I still have PTSD from it,” Hamilton said. “Maybe in four years I’ll be ready again. It’s an accomplishment. It’s good for the club. I’m glad that we did it. But would I do it again? Ask me [again in a] couple years.”

Students who qualified for nationals will compete at Miami University in Ohio on July 21-26.