TJCL State Chair Blog

Three or four sponsors have expressed some concerns over the fact that we've reduced testing to one single session before lunch.  (The past few years, it has been two hours before lunch and then an additional two hours after lunch.)  Reducing this to 2.5 hours means that the small number of students who wish to take all (or nearly all) of the exams may not have adequate time.

Why has this change been made? 

(1) Cutting out the second testing session allows us to expand our other afternoon activities.

(2) Teachers hate to proctor exams -- especially in a gymnasium -- and getting them to follow through on their proctoring responsibilities is often a problem.

(3) One single morning test session makes things much easier on the contest office (i.e., Jim Long).

(4) The main reason -- four hours is just too long!  According to Jim's stats, the average TJCLer takes just five tests each year, and 2.5 hours is more than enough time for this.
 
A couple of our Executive Board members feel that 2.5 hours should be the limit for everyone, but most of us agree that if the hard-core academic test takers really want to stay in the gym and continue testing through lunch, then we're not going to stand in their way.  The Warrens have graciously volunteered to proctor this extended testing time period.

Students who choose to do this, of course, will do so at their own risk of missing lunch entirely.  With the testing location just a stone's throw away (literally) from a couple of fast food restaurants, however, I don't expect anyone to go hungry.

The 2009 TJCL State Convention packet can now be downloaded in a single document:

We have decided not to offer track, field, and swimming events at the 2009 TJCL State Convention.  Chariot racing and informal ludi athletic events, however, are still on the schedule.

Why? Click here for a detailed explanation.

As the person primarily in charge of organizing this convention, this was ultimately my decision, and I take full responsibility for it.  The decision, however, was hardly a unilateral one.  First, I conducted a survey of all TJCL sponsors, and Olympika was selected as the least important event at convention.  Second, out of the 14 adults and students on the TJCL Executive Board, only 1 person voted in favor of keeping Olympika.  (It was not, incidentally, the Olympika coordinator.)  Third, this isn't exactly a new development.  Ed Long, for example, was seriously considering letting the axe fall on Olympika when he was State Chair in the 1990s.

When TJCL had 1500-2000 students at convention each year during the 1980s and 1990s, there were a lot of adults to work all of the events, there was a need for a big spectator-friendly event, and there was plenty of money to cover the insurance costs.  Last year, I don't think we even had 500 students at convention.  Olympika just doesn't make sense any more.

We are well aware, of course, that not every student can compete (realistically) in academic testing and Certamen, and we're still offering a wide variety of activities to appeal to a wide variety of students.  We want the convention to be a positive experience for all TJCL students, and I don't think this decision will jeopardize that at all.

 

I've posted the results of our initial membership drive.  Many thanks to all of you who met the deadline!

2008-2009 TJCL Chapter Membership List (Updated 11-26-08)

Remember that you can always add more members as the year goes along.  Just use the "Additional Members Form" in your membership confirmation packet.

For those of you who did not meet the deadline, it is not too late to join.  (A late fee, however, is now in effect.)  Please pay your dues by the end of December for your chapter to be eligible to attend the state convention.

The TJCL Executive Board has voted nearly unanimously to make the following changes to student election procedures:

1. The President may be from the some chapter as the President whom he / she succeeds.

2. Candidates for President, 2nd Vice President, and Parliamentarian must have attended at least one TJCL convention and one NJCL convention to be eligible to run for office.

3. The Secretary will be responsible for collecting community service reports from participating TJCL chapters.

Finally, the quorum issue was a big problem last year.  That is, so many schools did NOT attend the Saturday assembly that it was difficult for many candidates to reach the necessary 50% plateau (because it is based on 50% of the schools that have registered rather than 50% of the schools actually attending on Saturday).

If this happens again, we will go with a simple majority of the schools who vote on Saturday morning.  This should be a fairly obvious solution that already exists in the force majeure clause of Article IV, Section 5. 

We would also like to encourage sponsors to encourage their students to pre-file for office.  Hopefully getting the paperwork out well in advance of the deadline will help with this.
 

The TJCL Executive Board has voted unanimously to make the Torch (the TJCL's official newsletter) strictly an online publication.  An online Torch would have color and high-resolution photography, two things that would be much too expensive to reproduce in a printed hard copy sent out via traditional postal mail. 

Of course, newsletters such as the Torch are relics from an era devoid of web pages, blogs, e-mail, cell phones, and digital cameras, and we could certainly discuss whether it is still really needed at all.  Even in a high-tech age, however, I think that newsletters can still be informative and relevant. 

Above all, it is important to note that the Torch is a student publication, and it is ultimately the responsibility of the appointed student Torch editor to make it all happen.  Our current Torch editor is Hannah Lozano from Smyrna High School.  She would like to publicize as many local TJCL chapters as possible, so please send articles and photographs her way.

When should the TJCL State Convention be scheduled?

Out of 40 responses:

November - 2         
February - 3
March - 7
Early April - 10
Mid-April - 5
Late April - 13

Even though the last survey revealed a considerable amount of frustration about the usual springtime scheduling conflicts, this survey -- rather ironically -- suggests that very few sponsors would support a major change.  

Personally, I would be willing to give November a shot.  It's a relatively slow time of the school year, and there would be virtually no chance of severe weather (of either the winter or springtime variety).  One of the biggest JCL states, Virginia, holds their state convention in November, and the event is so popular that they literally have to turn people away.  With a mere 5% of our sponsors supporting this idea, though, it's probably not going to fly.

Incidentally, we are going to attempt to schedule the 2010 convention in Knoxville or Gatlinburg and the 2011 convention in Nashville.  I would like to have the next year's convention scheduled by the time of the current year's convention, so if you know of a good location or are willing to host, please let me know.

To promote Latin and build enthusiasm for classical studies -- 93%

(No other choice received more than one vote.)

2. Which factors have contributed to the decline in convention attendance over the years?

All factors received votes.  The only three NOT to receive votes in the double digits were the reverse bandwagon effect, inclement weather conditions, and lack of annual rotation.

The top four answers:

Expenses -- 26%

Scheduling conflicts -- 22%

Poor planning / organization on the part of the TJCL -- 19%

Too much paperwork / stress for sponsors -- 15%

4. Which event is most important to the quality / success of the convention?

Academic Testing -- 78%

Spirit Contest -- 7%

(No other choice received more than one vote.)

The top four answers:

Olympika -- 22%

Spirit Contest -- 19%

Publicity -- 15%

Skits -- 15%

Commentary:

(1) Spirit is certainly not one of my personal favorites, but it does give the students the opportunity to burn off some energy /  excitement, it costs the TJCL virtually nothing to administer, and the judging can be easily delegated to student officers.  I do think, however, that one single spirit contest is sufficient.

(2) The publicity contest may not matter to the students, but I think publicity itself is extremely important in respect to building and maintaining viable Latin programs.  This is something the late Barbara Hardin tried to get me to realize when I first started teaching.  It took a couple of years to sink in, but it finally did.

(3) I'm a little surprised that skits received so many votes.  Perhaps because teachers often have to put in long hours helping their students coordinate everything?  Perhaps because sitting through ten (mostly dreadful) skits as a judge can be a painful experience?  At any rate, the skits do allow students -- many of whom may not excel in academic testing or Certamen -- to work cooperatively towards a common goal, and they can be supervised / judged by just a couple of adults.  Therefore, I don't expect them to go away anytime soon.

(4) Last but not least -- Olympika.  Unlike spirit, publicity, and skits, this is an administrative nightmare.  Start dusting off your Theodosius jokes.