1ST VICE PRESIDENT
PUBLICITY
Publicity is a crucial aspect of JCL that is important to increase membership and overall communicate the message of JCL.
Examples of Publicity include:
1. Togas(lots of togas)
2. Pie-Eating Contests(North Gwinnett High School)
3. “Caesars vs. Senators” (North Gwinnett High School)
4. Grape Eating Contests (Walton High School)
5. Arm-Wrestling/ Rock-Paper-Scissors Tournaments (Walton High School)
6. JCL Flyers
7. Partaking in the National Classics Week
8. Bookmarks
9. Websites
10. Fundraisers
11. Community Service*
12. Social Media
13. A LOT more!
An annual state and national contest is held that allows schools to showcase various events that have taken place at the local level throughout the year. Clubs are required to document these events throughout the year and compile them into a Binder that is to be judged at the state and national level. Promoting publicity is a key component to the JCL, so much so that we devote an entire executive office to it.
Publicity is a key part of the GJCL. The JCL is devoted to fostering the classics and sharing its relevance with all. Publicity and outreach is our way of communicating with the rest of the world. Like previously mentioned, there are a variety of ways in which a JCL chapter can reach out to its community.
There are many in-school activities that draw people in not only from Latin Class, but also from the general school populace. In my home delegation, Walton High School, we have many different club traditions. We always have a grape-eating competition which is interesting just to watch. We also have other activities like secret Santa. Any successful activity shows that the JCL is not only about learning the language but also about forming a family with your fellow students. At our school, we start Latin in the 8th grade. If you stick with it for your whole high school career, that’s 5 years of your time: half a decade and nearly a third of you entire life. Those people that you share class with for that time is your family as much as your best friends are your family.
The key to publicity is to show that Latin is not a dead language studied in the dusty rooms of a dark library but in fact alive and well with modern day advocates who aren’t afraid to not only scream at the top of their lungs for spirit but also read and translate the ancient writings of Caesar and Vergil. Whenever someone is passionate about a subject, that enthusiasm is contagious. If we had a megaphone big enough, we’d convince the entire world of Latin’s relevance. But alas, we don’t. That’s where community activities like local fundraisers or exposure in media comes in.
In this day and age, we can’t beckon our friends, Romans, and countrymen to the Forum to hear a rousing speech, but we can reveal to as many people as we can the vivacity of Latin scholars. I urge all of you to reach out to local establishments. At Walton, one of our members created a tutoring program with a school in downtown Atlanta. Our high school students would go down and tutor people in Latin. Events like these not only help the community, but also show that Latin is about reaching out to connect with others.