Six Students Win National Recognition for Skills in Latin

Matthew Koppinger, Jacob Hornecker, Mary Billion and Michael Block. (Photo provided)

Matthew Koppinger, Jacob Hornecker, Mary Billion and Michael Block.

In late November, 14 students from Dr. Lorina Quartarone’s 211 (Intermediate) and 298 (Medieval) Latin classes participated in a national exam sponsored by the Classical Association of the Middle West and South. The exam involved translation of a passage the students had not seen before from Latin into English.

Within the two categories (advanced and intermediate), students could win either a cash prize, a book prize or a letter of commendation.

John Hayes and Matthew Goldammer. (Photo provided)

John Hayes and Matthew Goldammer.

At the advanced level, juniors Michael Block and Matthew Goldammer won letters of commendation. At the intermediate level, freshman Mary Billion won a cash prize, sophomore Matthew Koppinger received a book prize, and junior John Hayes and freshman Jacob Hornecker won letters of commendation.

Two hundred and fifty students participated at the college level from 30 colleges, and 736 students participated at the high school level from 59 schools. In all, students from 19 states participated in the exam. Eighty-three awards were given in total, which means that less than 8.5 percent of the participants received recognition. Tommies, accounting for less than 1.5 percent of participating students, received 7 percent of the total awards.