TOWAMENCIN- Over the course of the last few years, North Penn’s Latin scholars have competed in the National Junior Classical League’s National Classical Etymology Exam (NCEE). The exam is designed to test a student’s ability to handle both Latin and Greek derivatives and their usage in the English language (NJCL). Of the thousands of students who participated in this national exam, 25 of North Penn’s very own scholars have medaled gold, silver, and bronze, implicating that they have scored above the exam’s national average score.

In order to medal Bronze in the intermediate Level (grades 9 and 10) students had to have a score of 29 or higher. In this level sophomore Olivia Marshall medaled bronze in her first year taking the exam. In the advanced level (grades 11 and 12), students had to have a score 31 or higher in order to medal bronze. Juniors Anissa Gardizy, Jacob Hillman, William Marshall, Rachel Wiener, and senior Eric Rhodes all received Bronze medals.

Silver medalist have an even higher standard to meet.  Students in the intermediate level had to obtain a score of 31 or higher. Sophomores Joshua Maier and Andrew Ramirez both earned a silver medal in the intermediate exam. To receive a silver medal in the advanced level, students needed to receive a score of at least 34. In the advanced test seniors Alex Goldberg, Carl Hamilton, Matt Krise, Nathaniel Maier, and junior Erin Spross all received silver medals.

Recipients of the gold medal, the highest medal that can be received, require students to score at least 34 in the intermediate level, and 37 in the advanced level. In the Intermediate level, Sophomores Evan Jones, Yeokyeong Kim, Puja Samant, and Emily Wiley all received gold medals. In the advanced level sophomore Brigitte Morgenstern, juniors Anoop Bhat, Tristan Misko, and Ximena Trejo-Mora, and seniors John Bogert, Ethan Konyk, and Christopher Sabanas.

In order to achieve the stellar results that were accomplished on the 2016 examination, the students have attempted to perfect their knowledge in the subject areas that they struggled in. Though they put in much effort, they managed to make the process fun by utilizing their  Friday afternoons in room B106 , better known as “The Temple of Learning.”

“We went to Latin Club a lot. What we usually do is we’ll take online test from the Florida State online tests. We also have packets that Mr. Rockey will print out for us. So he’ll print those out and they’ll have like the Roman roots, Greek roots, and we’ll go through them and just read through them and answer questions. Not only are we learning, but it’s kind of like a bonding thing too because we’re all Latin students so it’s an enjoyable time,” shared Konyk.

Having the opportunity to take this test has allowed students to challenge themselves, while sharing their passion for Latin and Greek with their peers.

“It’s kind of fun and competitive. The exams are really hard,” said Rockey. “There are not many people that take it that get a perfect exam score, but the students that participate don’t seem to care too much about that. If they get an award it’s great, but it’s mostly for the enjoyment of doing something that they enjoy together.”

The test is meant to challenge students; therefore, it is hard for them to know exactly what they will be tested on. Also, the test’s difficulty varies from year to year.

“When you go into a test like that, you either feel really confident, or you know you’re just going to be guessing for all of the questions,” said Konyk. “Most times you go in there and you’re like ‘I feel confident’ and you’re either surprised entirely by the test and you’re like ‘wow I guess I didn’t really know my stuff’ or you’re like ‘well I really did know my stuff and that was pretty easy.’”

Despite the exam being rigorous, students made sure to study the subjects that they weren’t as familiar with.

“While I was taking the test, I was feeling pretty confident because I knew the Greek derivatives that I studied because I don’t actually take Greek, so I made sure I knew the Greek derivatives. I was feeling good about that,” shared Bhat.

For a few of the scholars, being bilingual was an advantage that helped them make connections to Latin and Greek.

“Personally, I was thinking about the words that I already know both between English and Spanish, me being a bilingual person. It was a lot of just comparing the words that I could relate back into Latin,” shared Ramirez.

Ximena Trejo-Mora also felt that the most efficient way to study was to use the vocabulary she already had.

“What I like about Latin is that it’s the basis for every romance language, and etymology is the bridge between them. For the test I mostly just studied at home and connected words to Spanish,” said Trejo-Mora.

Although they scored high, the returning scholars hope to improve in their weak areas for next year. Trejo-Mora was one of the few returning scholars to take the test, and this time she hoped to learn from her experience taking the 2015 test. However, this did not come easily, she worked hard to see improvement in her results, earning her a gold on the 2016 exam.

“I’ve taken the test before but I only got bronze or silver before. During the test I was just trying to have fun and find out how much I’ve learned,” said Trejo-Mora. “I’m happy with my score but there’s always room for improvement.”

Many of the scholars will be returning next year and will have another opportunity to improve their exams; however, the seniors played a large part in the overall success of North Penn High School scores.

“I came into this whole year like ‘I really hope I get top tier gold and silvers for each of these exams’ because it’s my last year and you kind of want to make a big imprint and leave it with a big bang kind of thing. So I was kind of looking forward to that,” shared Konyk. Indeed, he was successful in achieving his goal.

Taking the exams allow the students to expand their knowledge. Though they put in a lot of work to get high scores, they get a lot out of it.

“You’re learning valuable stuff. It’s language, it’s word skills, it’s pronunciation,” said Rockey.

North Penn has participated in this exam for only a few years, yet, the students still perform top notch every time. In fact, the North Penn High School’s overall performance exceeded the national average in both the advanced and intermediate levels. The advanced level had a national average of 29 and North Penn High School had an average of 35. In the Intermediate level, grades 9 and 10, the national average score was 27 and North Penn scored an above average of 32. Across the board, North Penn scored an overall average score of 34.

“I would say this is the best overall performance,” said Rockey. “I’m quite happy with the overall performance.”

With their great performance, not only is Rockey proud, but so is the whole North Penn community. Every single student devoted their time to their education and played a part in the school’s success.

“It’s kind of one of those things where it’s like you realize the pride that you bring into the Latin community. Even though everyone else in the school might think you’re a total nerd, which we are, in your community you kind of walk around with your heads held high because you realize that you made the school look great, and when you see that the national average was significantly lower than the North Penn average, that’s kind of something you go around and kind of boast a little bit about,” shared a happy Konyk.