C AVETE APES

Beware The Bees

Building on last year’s momentum, the Certamen team warned everyone to “beware the bees” ( cavete apes ) as they toured the Mid-Atlantic region, earning accolades at each of this year’s competitions. A Latin quiz-bowl competition, Certamen tests students’ knowledge of classical mythology, language, art, and history and led by Magister Jeff Snow, the Mighty Bees held their own in a highly competitive season.

This season, the team competed in Baltimore, Virginia, and along Maryland’s Eastern Shore in addition to traveling to Yale University and later Harvard University, where they participated in the Harvard Certamen.

There, Johanna Pitts ’23, Claire Seligson ’23, and Liam Digges ’23 won all three of their rounds, earning first place three times over while defeating Dover High School and Brookfield, who qualified for the final two semifinal spots.

Meanwhile, Esme Ivory ’23, Chiara Bovio ’23, Vivien Wang ’23, Caroline Makowka ’23, Will Carnell ’23, and Graham Gill ’23 claimed 11th place and sandwiched two second-place finishes around a victory over Boston Latin and Philips Exeter.

Calvert's combined total of 770 points for the two teams placed Calvert fifth behind Harriton, Philips Exeter, Brookfield, and Boston Latin, only two of which compete with middle schoolers.

"The students made their presence felt and established

Calvert as one of the more talented teams this academic year," Snow said.

Earlier in the year, three teams of Calvert Middle Schoolers competed in the Virginia Junior Classical League (VJCL) Kickoff competition in late October, with the Eighth Grade teams claiming first and fifth place in the Competitive Novice Division. The competition included 41 teams and over 100 students from middle and upper schools, and Calvert was one of only two schools representing Maryland.

Johanna Pitts ’23, Claire Seligson ’23, and Esme Ivory ’23 took first place in the Competitive Novice Division with a total of 545 points – indicating that they accumulated more than half of all possible points. Chiara Bovio ’23, Vivien Wang ’23, and Julianna Ishii ’23 also excelled and claimed fifth out of nine teams.

Also notable are the victories from Vivien Wang ’23 and Claire Seligson ’23 in the Maryland Junior Classical League’s Oreo coin contest. In this online contest, students were tasked with designing and carving Roman coins out of Oreo cookies, and the MDJCL community voted on their favorites. Vivien and Claire claimed first and second place, respectively.

Three teams of student scholars represented Calvert at Gilman School in February, for the Lupercalia Certamen, and each team claimed a top-three spot in their division, including one first-place win at the Intermediate level. In the Novice division, Chiara Bovio ’23, Esme Ivory ’23, and Vivien Wang ’23 claimed first place while Caroline Makowka ’23, Will Carnell ’23, and Graham Gill ’23 earned third.