SCRIBO Latin Composition Competition

Introducing SCRIBO, an International Latin Composition Contest!

Goals: This contest is designed to spur interest and excitement in using Latin for creative writing, provide teachers with high quality materials in Latin that they can read in their classes, and honor and recognize top work in Latin creative writing!

Entries: Original short stories, comics, and poems are accepted. Illustrations are encouraged but not required. Entries have a maximum of 1,000 words and a maximum of 10 pages.

Eligibility and Levels: Students of Latin in any grade, from kindergarten through college, may participate. Entries will be sorted into the following levels, which are based on length of time studying Latin and content of the course: exploratory, lower, and upper.

Classroom Integration: SCRIBO is designed to be as flexible as possible for easy classroom integration. You could offer a contest, assignment, or project from which you could choose and submit the best entries. This could be open-ended, connected to a cultural unit, or connected to your text's storyline!

Benefits: Participation in SCRIBO has the following benefits

• certificates for all participants
• medals with ribbons for the top 20% of scorers
• press release plus letter to the principal recognizing medal winners
• free CD of the top entries, including multiple entries per level
• ability to purchase full-color bound books of the collected top entries (plus inclusion in a raffle to win a free copy of this book)
• knowledge that your school is supporting the mission of Ascanius: The Youth Classics Institute to bring Latin and Classical Studies to our youngest scholars

Scoring: All entries will be judged by Latin teachers and professors who have training in Latin composition and/or oral Latin, using the following categories: grammatical and syntactical accuracy, choice of vocabulary, quality of work, audience appeal. Entries in the running to be in the top 20% will be scored by at least one additional judge. (Contact SCRIBO to apply to serve as a judge.)

Cost: $25 for 1 entry (or homeschool groups); $45 for 2-5 entries; $75 for 6-10 entries.

Registration & Submission: Register and pay by mail/online, including names, ages, and levels of student participants, no later than December 15, 2010. Receive an email from SCRIBO with identifying codes for all your participants, no later than January 1, 2011. Then the teacher submits all entries electronically in PDF format no later than January 15, 2011. Results, awards, and CD's should be in the mail by April 15, 2011!

Visit http://www.ascaniusyci.org/scribo for more information and to register!

Sponsored by Ascanius: The Youth Classics Institute, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

CAMWS Latin Translation Contest 2010-2011

The Classical Association of the Middle West and South Latin Translation Contest 2010-2011 is a competition open to advanced Latin students anywhere in the United States and Canada, who are either enrolled in secondary schools or attending homeschool. The contest is intended for students with at least three years of Latin, but superior second-year students are also eligible to participate.

Students must show an affiliation to CAMWS in one of three ways:

1. Their teachers must be individual members of CAMWS
2. OR their schools must be institutional members of CAMWS
3. OR their school libraries must subscribe to The Classical Journal.

Teachers should note that the examination must be administered by a school official other than the Latin teacher during the week of November 29-December 3, 2010. Deadline for registration is November 5, 2010.

The Translation Contest consists of a one-hour examination with an annual alternation of Prose and Poetry. This year's contest consists of a Latin Prose selection, as exemplified by Caesar, Cicero, et al. According to the contest rules, students should translate as literally as possible without violating English idiom and they should know the relevant vocabulary presented in Colby's Latin Word Lists. (A copy of the list is available to all contestants FREE upon request when registering!)

Writers of the ten most outstanding papers written will receive a $250 cash prize. An additional twenty outstanding contestants will receive a book prize relevant to classical antiquity. Meritorious examinations will receive letters of commendation.

There is a $2 non-refundable fee for each contestant entered.

To view copies of the most recent prose exams, you may visit CAMWS. You may also view a list of previous winners.

For more information, please contact: Robert White c/o Shaker Heights High School, 15811 Aldersyde Drive, Shaker Heights OH, 44120-2505, Tel. (216) 295-4200.

New Advanced Placement Latin Resource for Caesar

Christopher Francese, a professor in the Department of Classical Studies, Dickinson College, and a student helper have created a wiki-based commentary on the AP Caesar Latin selections. Based on older school editions, it also includes some digital enhancements (some vocabulary and mp3 audio, maps and tools).

Calling All Latin Poets!

VATES, the occasional journal of contemporary Latin poetry, is looking for contributions of original Latin verse. Electronically published and available free to anyone with an interest in new Latin poetry, VATES needs your submissions in order to continue its mission of promoting the reading and writing of new Latin verse.

Labor Vincit Omnia!

Check Out Laura Gibbs' compilation of Latin Labor Day proverbs!