The Latin club will attend the Texas State Junior Classical League (TSJCL) convention from April 8-10 at Alamo Heights High School in San Antonio, which has alternated hosts every year that the club has been going, though it was virtual last year. The competition consists of art events, public speaking and other games. The club attended the Area C convention on Feb. 26.

“Our area is decently strong,” Latin teacher and club sponsor Courtney Herring said. “We usually do pretty well at Area. We’re probably one of, if not the best, school in the area. We always have a lot of kids [qualify].”

Last year, the Area and State competitions were virtual. Very few of the Latin club members have actually competed in person due to COVID-19, because the club has more underclassmen than ever and fewer club members. 

“Unfortunately, everything was online last year,” senior and officer Olivia O’Brien said. “We didn’t get to go anywhere for it, but this is the first year I actually get to go somewhere. I think it’ll be great for us all.”

With fewer members comes other problems. In the past, there were as many as 80 kids going to state, but Herring is taking 16 students to state this year. 

“I think we’ll get first through fifth in some events,” Herring said. “Some other events are much harder than the others, though. We’ll definitely get some national qualifiers, we just might not have as many.”