Citrus Valley’s Junior Classical League attends the 2019 SCRAM Festival

By PAYNE ANTHONY

On Nov. 9, the 2019 Southern California Regional Amici Madness festival hosted scholastic activities on ancient Greek and Roman culture, history and lifestyle. (Pixabay / Pexels)

Salve! Citrus Valley’s Junior Classical League is a club that studies all things classics such as Latin, Roman and Greek mythology and the overall sordid history of the ancient world. Every year the club attends the annual Southern California Regional Amici Madness festival (SCRAM), which is run by the state jurisdiction of JCL. 

The festival requires that all participants take a minimum of one academic test and one workshop. These academic tests cover all areas of interest but mostly pertain to the Latin language. On the other hand, the workshops mostly cover ancient history or aspects of ancient Roman and Greek culture. Beyond these requirements, there is a myriad of fun activities to partake in such as a scavenger hunt or Roman speed dating. 

This year, SCRAM took place at Sage Hill High School in Newport Coast. The day started with the opening ceremony in which the day and all of its upcoming events were introduced. Next, participants were ushered to the academic tests, which are described as inherently tricky but really only for edification. 

Then the most significant event at the festival began to take place: the Open Certamen. Open Certamen is a trivia game that challenges its contestants with questions that directly correlate to their Latin level (i.e., AP Latin students would be placed into the advanced Certamen rounds).  This event is highly competitive, both in competing and watching the Open Certamen.

After Open Certamen finished, it was time to eat lunch. Lunch was catered by In-N-Out, so naturally, the lines to get food were incredibly long. Following lunch, there was a slight lull in activities, so many people went to partake in the year’s service project.

This year, the service project was writing letters to active duty members. One participant made a “cootie catcher” with different compliments for the soldiers. After the service project, the active workshops began. 

The three active workshops were Roman cooking, Roman graffiti and the history of Greece. The Roman cooking workshop had a live food demonstration with tasting. The Roman graffiti workshop gave students a chance to create their own graffiti in Latin. And finally, the Greece workshop taught authentic Greek dances. The conclusion of these active workshops brought an end to the festival.

With countless events and activities to partake in, the festival was both a fun and scholastic event. Participants expanded their knowledge of the ancient world enjoying interactive games, cooking and quizzes. The only drawback to finding the time to do it all.

Salve!

Lea este artículo en español aquí: https://laplaza.press/2020/01/15/el-junior-classical-league-de-citrus-valley-asiste-la-2019-festival-scram/