FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: Lia Mote
lmote@hccsa.org
Hill Country Christian School of Austin
(512) 331-7036
Fax: (512) 257-4190
WWW.HCCSA.ORG
Why This School Encourages Toga Parties
Hill Country Christian School of Austin Latin Team Advances to Nationals
Last weekend, while baseball bats were hitting baseballs and runners were on their marks in track meets, another type of team was competing in Dallas. Yes, for some members of this team toga wearing was a possibility. The Texas State Junior Classical League Convention (TSJCL) took place at Southern Methodist University showcasing the top Latin and Classical students in the state for a chance to advance to nationals. This “toga party” gets little to no coverage in the newspapers; evening news or neighborhood sports reports, but easily rivals the energy and excitement of a great athletic competition. With Texas divided into five areas, and each area having a strong showing, the competition among 200 of the brightest students in Middle and High School was intense.
In the end, the combined Central Texas Novice Certamen team (comprised of 3 Hill Country Christian School of Austin (HCCSA) students and 1 St. Andrews School student) won their division, thereby advancing to represent the Novice division for Texas at Nationals. Separately, HCCSA Middle school students, grades 7 and 8, placed 3rd in the Novice Division Academic Sweepstakes, and the HCCSA High School, while represented only by five students, placed 10th out of 25 high schools in the state. These students from small private schools in Austin created a formidable team who in the end won 1st place and will compete in the National Junior Classical League Competition in Sacramento, California at the University of California at Davis on July 27th.
The Certamen competition is a quiz bowl style contest over topics such as Latin, Greek, Roman history, civilization and mythology. Other HCCSA Latin students competed in Academic Testing and Latin oratory earning enough cumulative points to win 3rd in Sweepstakes in the State. HCCSA showed its academic strength in the classics by winning the Middle School/Novice Certamen Division, by coming in 10th out of 26 schools in the High School Certamen Division and by placing 3rd in the overall sweepstakes division over all of Texas. This achievement is significant since this is only Hill Country’s 2nd year in Classical competition. This strong showing is truly a testament to the work ethic, and dedication of the students and the superb team of coaches.
Central Texas (Austin) took four out of the five top spots in the Sweepstakes awards with St. John’s of Houston placing 1st and Austin schools filling the next top four spots. 2nd place was Clint Small School of Austin, 3rd place was Hill Country Christian School of Austin, 4th place was St. Andrews of Austin, 5th place was St. Gabriel’s of Austin.
Great individual showings of Hill Country Christian School of Austin include: Aidan Aanestead – 1st Place on all tests scored, Jonathon Mitchell (Team Captain) 1st place on all tests scored, Christian Johnson – 1st place – Roman History, Courtney Boorman – 1st place – Reading Comprehension, Adam Kelly – 1st place, Jack Horton – 1st place – grammar, Dacien Barnes – 1st place – Greek Derivatives, and Justin Andrews – 1st place – Advanced Reading Comprehension and Poetry Level 3
Coaches for the HCCSA team were Madalyn Roth, Erin Valdez , and Jeff Shoup. A great partnership was formed with Nathan Michaud – St. Andrews coach who worked with the Certamen Team as well. Now, HCCSA has its sights on California for another “toga victory party” at Nationals.
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Hill Country Christian School Austin is a Christ-centered, Classical, College-preparatory school in northwest Austin and is a ministry of Hill Country Bible Church NW. www.hccsa.org
