The fifteenth annual TJ Certamen was held this year on March 2 at Jefferson, hosted by the Latin Honor Society. Students from all over Virginia attended the event, with participants from 30 schools.

The word “certamen” in Latin means a “contest” or “struggle”, but today Latin students know it as a “quiz bowl” style Latin competition with questions involving the Latin language, Roman history, Greek and Roman mythology, and Roman culture.

The event was organized by the Jefferson “reges” (captains of the certamen team) juniors Ayush Viswanathan, Joseph Amsbary, and Emily Ye, as well as TJ Latin teachers Patty Lister and Christine Conklin. Also involved were coordinators Justin Han, Jungmin Shin, Aimee Feng, and Joy Chung, all juniors.

“Mrs Lister and Ms Conklin helped a lot, and the other LHS officers and certamen players did a lot with question writing, awards, and logistics in general,” junior Emily Ye said.

Many Latin students volunteered at the event, doing tasks such as registering teams and score keeping during rounds.

“My favorite part of the event was helping and making things as smooth as possible, as well as seeing how the older kids organize the event,” sophomore Jing Liu, a member of the Jefferson Certamen team, said.

“We have a few certamina coming up (UVA on 3/23 and State Finals in April), as well as a celebration for Rome’s birthday in late April. We also have Latin awards ceremony coming up in late May.” Ye said, referring to upcoming Latin Honor Society and Jefferson Certamen team events.