(Courtesy/Ms. Bening and Carolina M.)

Jeopardy, puppets, and tests: what do all these things have in common? Well, if you answered  “things found at an Ohio Junior Classical League (OJCL) forum,”– I’d not only be surprised – but you’d be right!

On Saturday, September 28, Academy hosted more than 60 Latin students for this year’s OJCL Fall Forum. While the event is part academic conference, Ms. Bening, the coordinator for the Fall Forum, described it as “akin to comic-con. People are in costume, and there’s a lot of silliness!” 

The event features four competitions: Academic tests, Graphic and Creative arts, and Certamen, a Jeopardy-style team trivia game focused on Latin grammar, mythology, and all things related to the classical world. 

In addition to these competitions, this year’s Fall Forum brought, as Mrs. Bening describes, “a rock star in the Latin world” to CA’s halls: Magister Craft, a Latin teacher from North Carolina, dedicated to recreating archaeological sites in Minecraft. From the streets of Pompeii to a 1:1 recreation of Augustan Rome, Magister Craft uses Minecraft to make the classical world more accessible to students, one block at a time.

The OJCL’s Fall Forum is the precursor to the state and national forums held in the Crowne Plaza in North Worthington and at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Participation is open to all CA Latin students who want to get involved.