CONVENTION RECAP · Torch: U.S. · Fall 2020
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the first day of convention, the virtual scavenger hunt offered another forum for JCLers to share in a fun, vaguely-Latin-related experience with one another (read more about the activity here).
Testing began day two of virtual convention: forfeiting the usual mile-long morning walk to a testing location, delegates opened a new tab to arrive at the second contest session with tests on Reading Comprehension, Roman Life, Classical Art, and Mythology.
A day otherwise inspired by the muses, Impromptu Art, a spirit colloquia calling all artists, a live performance of the Odyssey in Song, and a virtual dance filled the schedule.
Appropriately themed “distance,” Impromptu Art challenged artists to create a piece within the hour. Kelly Brown of Louisiana, who earned a cum laude on her piece, describes the Zoom call as “amazing because it was just a hive mind of artists sitting quietly working, as the chairs talked in the background about the Disney movie, Hercules.”
The service colloquium offered a forum for students to work in harmony with one another on the creation of classically-themed coloring pages to be donated locally. The second service project occurred throughout convention as attendees wrote letters to their representatives, advocating for various causes.
Not forgoing the annual event, Joe Goodkin performed his Odyssey in Song, a song series retelling the journey of Odysseus, to a virtual audience. Author George O’Connor delivered two live colloquia, the first for teachers and the second for students, on his series of graphic novels, Olympians. Twenty-five
prerecorded colloquia entertained and enriched and were available throughout the week (and beyond), effectively solving the common conundrum for fitting so many colloquia in so little time.
Announcing the winners of the non-convention contests (types listed here), General Assembly II recognized Silver Platter recipient Mr. Little for attending 40 conventions. Delegates then attended the virtual dance, the final event of the night. Bringing a taste of what would have been nightly, in-person dances to attendees via Zoom, a DJ played classic pop and blared lights over Zoom.
The subjects of Greek Language, Latin Grammar, Roman History, and Mottoes, Abbreviations, Quotations began Contest Session Three and the third day of virtual convention. A second activity tested delegates' knowledge: the second-ever JCL Kahoot!, which will live in infamy, as all correct answers were the red option. Despite the technical error, delegates still experienced the JCL community between answering classics questions and the Zoom chat feature.
General Assembly III opened and, after a failed motion to adjourn, closed with video compilations of spirit submissions. The spirit videos featured the
student submission to
the daily spirit contests, with themes
ranging from Do-It-Yourself Spirit Props to lip sync clips to Prince’s "Purple Rain" and the Beatles’ "Golden Slumbers". Athena Davis, 2019-2020 NJCL Second Vice President, edited submissions into videos available below.
This convention created a plethora of digital content, including the digital promotion of Andrew Cahall’s (2019-2020 NJCL Communications Coordinator) minutes of General Assemblies, Jason Juang’s (2019-2020 NJCL Historian) 2020 NJCL Scrapbook, and Elizabeth Foster’s (2019-2020 NJCL Editor) latest issues of the Torch: U.S.
Q and A session, answering questions ranging from their favorite contest subject to if they ever had doubts in their abilities throughout their terms. With the knowledge of their terms, the 2019-2020 NJCL Officers lead colloquia for both local and state officers that evening.
Artists display their work after Impromptu Art
DIY Spirit Compilation (above)
"Purple Rain" and "Golden Slumbers" lip sync (below)