STATE UPDATES· Summer 2022 · Torch: U.S.
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by Alexandra Hulse
Salvete, JCL! On March 18th-20th, 2022, Louisiana JCL hosted its state convention at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana after two years without an in-person convention. Students competed in activities such as spirit competitions, Olympika games, academic tests, Certamen, and creative and graphic arts contests, achieving so much that they nearly depleted the Louisiana JCL's entire supply of award ribbons! Whether delegates returned home with ribbons or not, every student took home memories and many a passion for JCL. The state chairs and newly elected LJCL officers, along with JCL members from all around Louisiana, have recently been preparing for national convention and cannot wait to welcome y'all to Lafayette!
by Elise DeRosby
It is officially spring in Maine, and that means we are getting ready for a convention! This will be our first in-person convention since the fall of 2019, so the stakes are high to make it a good one, but really, we are just excited to meet fellow JCLers from around the state for the first time. State officers held a meeting a couple of weeks ago at Camp Mechuwana, where our convention will be held later this month, and this was the first non-Zoom meeting for us, too! A lot of fun events are planned for our two days together, including karaoke, cribbage, a morning “marathon”, and movie night, which will of course follow the theme of the convention, “musicals”. JCLs across Maine have been assigned their musical and are preparing to show up in style. Chants are being taught and spirit is being spread to those who haven’t attended a convention before, and those kids make up a pretty large portion of the state! A lot of new faces and energy are going into the spring convention this year, and we look forward to seeing it all!
by Jaimin Shah
The two state events that New Jersey held during this Spring have been the Cooking Night and spring Certamen. During our virtual State Cooking Night we made both Cacio e Pepe which is a Roman pasta and a Roman cake. Everyone enjoyed chatting while making these dishes, although the Roman cake was more of a struggle for everyone to cook, we all had a good laugh from the failed attempts and mix ups. The pasta was more of a hit as most people were able to throw together their extravagant Calcio Pepe pasta. It was overall a unique experience to socialize and crack jokes at the smoking pots and toasted cakes while enjoying one another’s company. Moreover, The Spring Certamen consisted of trivia from various topics such as Latin, Greek, and other classical civilizations. During this virtual event students were placed in breakout rooms by team and state and JCL officers, state and JCL officers were scorekeepers, timers, and spotters. Certamen is a highly competitive but also engaging event in which students may display their understanding of ancient civilizations, languages, and cultures. Certamen's major goal is to push each other and learn to compete as a team while still having fun and enjoying time together. Furthermore, the two New Jersey State events held this Spring brought all of our New Jersey schools together from all over the state to compete but also laugh and spend time with the new friends we made from all of these different schools.