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In early March, 468 Arlington students joined just under 130,000 students nationally and worldwide to take the National Latin Exam. This exam tests students on Latin vocabulary and grammar, Roman culture, history, and mythology.
Over 300 APS students earned awards on the exam: 85 of those earned the highest award, Summa Cum Laude —19 of whom had perfect papers (achieved by only 1% nationally); 63 students received a silver medal (Maxima Cum Laude), 29 earned a Magna Cum Laude certificate and 23 earned the Cum Laude certificate.
Perfect Scores
Latin I: Elijah Smith, Gunston Middle School; Ava George and Elise Rickard, Jefferson Middle School; and Alex Bakalov, Stephan Butaev, Nicolas Cecil, Christopher Edmondson, Spencer Johnson, Daisy Maxwell, Allison Lanier, Caleb Pennington, Eleonora Romani, Hunter Schmelling, John Smaragdis, Ellen Summers, Lyra Sword, and Amy Walsh, Swanson Middle School, all earned a perfect score.
Richard Chen and Lucy Turner Watts, also of Swanson, achieved a perfect score on the Level II Exam.
This year’s National Latin Exam awards, by school, are:
Arlington Tech at Arlington Career Center
Magna Cum Laude: Jackson Tahu, Marco Aleman, Antonia Jara Romero
Cum Laude: Naomi Lindsay, Claire Beasley
Dorothy Hamm Middle School
Summa Cum Laude – Gold: Katherine Brydges, Cora Jackson, Drake Williams, Alexander Bartl, Avery Park
Maxima Cum Laude – Silver: Susanna Caretti, Samantha Blaisdell, Dylan Levy, John Bowman, Jacob Bercik, Michael Servidio, Mason Ruger, Lisa Kim
Cum Laude: Dean Campos
Gunston Middle School
Summa Cum Laude – Gold: Elijah Smith, Zakaria Ahmad, Silas Lesperance, Mia Kim
Maxima Cum Laude – Silver: James Littlejohn, Morgan Rathjen
H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program
Summa Cum Laude – Gold: Max Burch, Jay Young, Felix Lehnert, Casey Pick, Lily Cheek, William Hickey, Joshua Huddleston, Miroslav Jungr, Camila Anderson
Maxima Cum Laude – Silver: Jack Sheahan, Owen Donohoe, Houston Burnside, Carter Jensen, Michael Joyce, Nikhil Sonil, Lily Bailor, Sofia Sherzai, Julia Brodsky, Abby Keady, Tobias Jaramillo, Mary Katherine Musick,
Magna Cum Laude: Benjamin Spande, Leo Falvo, Elizabeth Brown
Cum Laude: Will Savage, Anais Lowenthal, Ibby Morales-Talero,
Kenmore Middle School
Summa Cum Laude – Gold: Jason Jensby, Benson Derks
Maxima Cum Laude – Silver: Daniel Miranda Veizaga, Ian Kadera, Nickey Antezana, Sean Murphy
Magna Cum Laude: Harrison Weaver
Cum Laude: Myles Noble, Lily Woodworth
Swanson Middle School
Summa Cum Laude – Gold: Alex Bakalov, Ava Barnes, Stephan Butaev, Nicolas Cecil, William Draper, Christopher Edmondson, Nadia Hobbs, Spencer Johnson, Daisy Maxwell, Allison Lanier, Caleb Pennington, Eleonora Romani, Robert Russo, Hunter Schmelling, Gavin Simpson, John Smaragdis, Ellen Summers, Lyra Sword, Amy Walsh, Abraham Wisner, Haley Baasansukh, Darin Ballard, Cassidy Brown, Richard Chen, Solomon Galpern, David Pacheco, Myriam Perez-Sheldon, Ananya Sinha, Daniel Torg, Lucy Turner-Watts
Maxima Cum Laude – Silver: Emmett Cummings, Miles Douglas, Matthew Hamrick, Wyeth Hunt, Patrick Lowery, Isaac Tate, Theo Cirtain, Kaia Heiss, Riley Dennis, Abraham Tay, Abigail Wittig
Magna Cum Laude: Will Schindler, Luke Simolunas
Jefferson Middle School
Summa Cum Laude – Gold: Ava George, Elise Rickard, Julian Eichers, Bella Handler, Mae Seward, Jason Spitzak, Ellie Kisor, Mailynn Nguyen
Maxima Cum Laude – Silver: Fikir Reta, Andreas Chrysanthou, Jillian Reck, Nominjin Shinekhuu, Sarah McMahon, Robbie Rezabek-Castello, Kaleb Kinfe, Gabe Henneman
Magna Cum Laude: Violet Dellinger, Aria Merrill, Sami Stewart, Daniel Meyer, Moya Zouhon
Cum Laude: Ava Fischer, Lila Derr
Washington-Liberty High School
Summa Cum Laude – Gold: Evan Barrie, Savannah Thompson, Michael Robertson, Caroline LaPiana, Dilin Williams, Lara Schneidawind
Maxima Cum Laude – Silver: Natalie Cecil, Maximilian Morrison, Andrew Edmondson, Kieran Hizon, Amelia Puchalla, Luella Wallander
Magna Cum Laude: Juliana Lomas, Madison Goeke, Lauren Rylander, Julia Troppe, Kara Felker, Atalie Dempsey, Nicolas Wakeman
Cum Laude: Kimiko Reed, Sonia Friemel, Sofia Sosa-Olivares, Samuel Kiser, Daniel Belajic
Williamsburg Middle School
Summa Cum Laude – Gold: Peter Allen, Taylor Sartori, Megan Sartori, Cole Blocher, Nathan Cohen, Samuel Beall, Thomas Gabay, Roland B., Elena Reiser, Michael Discenza
Maxima Cum Laude – Silver: Tyler Chase, Esrin Aspinotis, Grayson McCarthy, Keegan Westhoff, Larson Grant, Aidan Reese, Bryan Slattery
Cum Laude: Ellie Grieco, Mary Granade, Nick Winters
Yorktown High School
Summa Cum Laude – Gold: Lara Sdik Mohammed, Edward Bare, Luke Mucchetti, Gillian Stoller, Lindsay Glaccum, Jack Purple, Caroline Coleman, Kevin Farrell, Emily Mucchetti, Grant Harris
Maxima Cum Laude – Silver: Caleb Ruger, Colin Sartori, Gasahn Chanikornpradit, Lucy Shoreman, Maria Soukup, Isabella Freeman-Moore,
Magna Cum Laude: Allison Kinzer, Natalie Hoisington, Amelia Stoller, Emery Davis,
Maeve Cantwell, Alexander Sheehey, Andrew Murray, Jim Sharkey
Cum Laude: Cecilia Harris, Liam Olcott, Ryan Mashie, Landon Burtle, Nathan Gehrke, Joseph Knight
In addition to the National Latin Exam, one of the things that makes the APS Latin program successful is the wealth of extracurricular opportunities offered to students. This year was no exception, with Arlington’s Latin students choosing to participate in—and earning awards in—numerous optional contests and events at the local, state, and national level: evidence of their true engagement with the subject. Here is a year-in-review look at their achievements.
In 2019-20, the APS Latin program had 218 entrants and 119 awards won in the following extra academic contests: the Classical Association of VA Latin Tournament, the National Etymology, National Latin Vocabulary, National Roman Civilization, National Greek, National Mythology, and Medusa Myth Exams.
Latin doesn’t only mean taking exams! In November, 132 APS students attended the Virginia Junior Classical League (VJCL) two-day convention in Richmond. They joined 1,400 other Latin and Greek students from all over Virginia for a two-day extravaganza of academic, oratorical, literary, costume, and art competitions. They also attended lectures and demonstrations on classical topics, and enjoyed a banquet, disco, karaoke, and a talent show. Arlington students earned 75 top five awards on their convention tests and projects.
At the VJCL Convention this year, two Arlington students were elected as state officers in the Virginia Junior Classical league. Savvy Thompson from Washington-Liberty now serves as VJCL President, and Jack Purple from Yorktown is 1st Vice President. These state officers are responsible for organizing state-wide events such as convention and certamen, and supporting Latin clubs throughout Virginia. Both students have also represented Virginia at the National Junior Classical League convention.
Throughout the school year, Latin students have spent their Saturdays attending “certamen,” a fast-paced trivia game similar to “It’s Academic” or quiz bowl, where teams across Virginia answer questions on Latin vocabulary, grammar, Roman culture, history, and mythology. APS Latin students competed in six certamen competitions this year, hosted by St. Stephens and St. Agnes School, Hayfield Secondary, BASIS DC, Flint Hill, and Thomas Jefferson High School. Arlington schools can be proud of our teams’ performances, having placed 1st, 2nd, or 3rd at these events 14 times in total against some formidable teams. Washington-Liberty also hosted their annual “disco” certamen for APS students, which included questions exclusively on mythology just for our budding Latinists in the 6th grade.
While many school-based celebrations were not able to happen this spring, the annual APS Latin festival, hosted by Yorktown High School’s Junior Classical League, happened in January. This year, over 150 Latin students from every APS middle and high school, many bringing friends and family, celebrated Agonalia, an ancient Roman new year festival. They enjoyed a potluck banquet, Roman games, gladiatorial combat, arts and crafts, and fortune telling. Clothing donations were organized by our VJCL Latin club members. This is always a wonderful event for students, parents and community members to share an evening of Roman culture and food.
Congratulations to all our students! We know you will achieve great things in the future, and we hope you will continue to enjoy Latin!
