Mississippi Junior Classical League

It’s back! Bring your sturdiest, fastest, custom-made chariots to compete in this race.

In the interest of fairness and safety, the following rules will apply to the MJCL Chariot Races:

1. Each school may bring one chariot team. Each chariot team must consist of one rider and two “horses.”

2. All chariots must be registered in order to participate in the race.

3. Riders must wear helmets and kneel or sit in the chariot; bring your own helmet. Horses must wear shoes with laces. If a chariot crosses the finish line without its rider, it automatically loses the race.

4. Chariots should be entirely constructed by the local chapter and should not use any preexisting cart or carriage as a base (shopping cart, wagon, baby stroller, big wheels, wheel barrows, etc) without major modifications. Chariots must be drawn, not pushed across the course and may use no source of power other than the “horses.”

5. Chariots must have no spikes or sharp edges. The MJCL organizers reserve the right to refuse contest entry to any chariot or chariot team deemed unsafe.

6. MJCL, The Mississippi University for Women, and The Mississippi School for Math and Science are not responsible for any injuries to person or property sustained while participating in the chariot race.

Each local chapter may enter once in each of the following categories: boy’s costume, girl’s costume, couple’s costume. It is up to local chapters to decide how they will select their entries. Costume participants will be expected to model their creations at the opening assembly for judging and the enjoyment of all.

The 2019 MCJL costume contests will be:

• Hercules (boy’s costume)

• Athena (girl’s costume)

• Jason and Medea (couple’s costume)

**N.B. while every student is encouraged to attend in Roman dress, only those four students selected by their chapters as costume participants will be invited to the stage for judging.

Criteria for judging all costumes:

1. Authenticity

2. Attractiveness

3. Craftsmanship

4. Creativeness of interpretation

5. Overall effectiveness

Each local chapter may submit one T-shirt design for the T-shirt contest.

T-shirts should be:

• uniform for the whole chapter (though the whole chapter need not be wearing them)

• in good taste

Please bring one extra T-shirt (not on someone’s back) to be displayed for judging.

Criteria for judging:

1. appropriateness to the convention theme

2. creativity

3. design and artistic execution

4. overall effectiveness

The Spirit Stick, held since the last convention by the previous winners, will be awarded to the chapter that displays the most enthusiasm for all things classical. This enthusiasm should be displayed in their dress, cheers, posters, etc. during all of the general assemblies. The winning chapter will be responsible for returning the Spirit Stick to the State Chair at the following convention.

This will be a pub style academic trivia in which teams of 4 will answer worksheets of 10 questions on varying topics. These worksheets will be divided by level of Latin (I, II, and III/IV), though students are always allowed to compete at a higher level of Latin. The teams who miss the fewest will advance to finals which will be traditional Certamen style. All students are welcome to participate in the opening rounds.

Opening Round:

• Teams will be made up of 4 students of appropriate levels though students may compete in a level above their own. (i.e. a Latin I student may compete on a Latin III/IV team)

• Each school may only have one team in the finals per level and team composition is not

  allowed to change from the opening to the final rounds.

• The opening worksheets will be comprised of 10 questions per topic. Teams will be given 2-3 minutes per worksheet.

• Teams which miss the fewest number of overall questions will compete against each other in the finals. Third place will not play in the finals but will be recognized in the awards ceremony.

• Teams will win awards for fewest questions missed on the individual topic worksheets as well as the overall winners. If two teams both achieve the high score on a worksheet, then the team which turned in their sheet the fastest will be determined as the winner. A team which does not qualify for the finals may win an award for an individual worksheet score.

Final Round:

• The final round will be between the two highest scoring overall teams for each level (Latin I, Latin II, & Latin III/IV)

• Teams will be asked 12 questions which will be toss-up (no consultation between team members) worth 10 points and 3 questions which will be bonus (teams may consult) worth 30 points.

• During toss-ups, any student may interrupt the question by buzzing in. There will be no penalty/bonus for buzzing in early.

• During bonuses, teams may consult with each other but only the captain may buzz in and answer the question.

• Students/captains which buzz in may have a natural pause after being recognized to give their answer (about 2 seconds). Students must wait to be recognized before giving their answer.

• Winners of the final round will be the first place team and the team which did not win will be the second place team.

The 2019 MJCL will take entries in the following Graphic Arts contests: ​Posters, Drawings, Paintings, Models, Mosaics, and Photography.​ In the event that there are too few entries, we reserve the right to combine categories. Failure to follow the rules and guidelines of each category will result in automatic disqualification. All Graphic Arts contests are subject to the following rules:

1. Only delegates properly registered and present at the MJCL convention may enter Graphic Arts contests.

2. All projects must be the work of the delegate alone, have never been submitted to a MJCL convention before, be classically themed, and be in good taste.

3. Delegates may enter as many Graphic Arts contests as they wish but may have only one entry per category.

4. All Graphic Arts projects should be individual projects. Group projects cannot be judged fairly.

5. All projects should be clearly and securely labeled with a 3x5 card indicating the delegate’s name, school, level of Latin, a translation of any Latin present on the project, and the category in which the project is to be entered.

Guidelines for individual categories:

**N.B. The poster category has been subdivided this year. Please plan accordingly.

Poster: Miscellaneous

Posters may be drawn or constructed and should be of standard poster-board size or trifold presentation board size. Criteria for judging are

1. creativity/originality

2. degree of skill

3. design and color

4. accuracy/authenticity

5. adherence to Classical theme (need not be the convention’s theme)

6. neatness

7. adherence to rules

8. correct spelling and English/Latin usage

9. overall effect

Poster: Charts/Maps

Posters may be drawn or constructed and should be of standard poster-board size or trifold presentation board size. Criteria for judging are

1. creativity/originality

2. degree of skill

3. design and color

4. accuracy/authenticity

5. adherence to Classical theme (need not be the convention’s theme)

6. neatness

7. adherence to rules

8. correct spelling and English/Latin usage

9. overall effect

Poster: Illustrated quotation

Posters may be drawn or constructed and should be of standard poster-board size or trifold presentation board size. Criteria for judging are

1. creativity/originality

2. degree of skill

3. design and color

4. accuracy/authenticity

5. adherence to Classical theme (need not be the convention’s theme)

6. neatness

7. adherence to rules

8. correct spelling and English/Latin usage

9. overall effect

Drawings (color or black and white)

• Are two-dimensional and on one piece of paper or canvas.
• Must be securely mounted or framed
• May use drawing media including (but not limited to) graphite, colored pencil, soft pastel, oil pastel, ink, charcoal, scratchboard, marker, etc.

Criteria for judging are

1. creativity/originality

2. degree of skill

3. design and color

4. accuracy/authenticity

5. adherence to Classical theme (need not be the convention’s theme)

6. neatness

7. adherence to rules

8. overall effect

Paintings

• Are two dimensional and on one piece of paper or canvas
• Must be securely mounted or framed
• May use any kind of paint: watercolor, acrylic, tempera, oil, alkyd, etc. All paint must be fully dry before submitting to contest

Criteria for judging are

1. creativity/originality

2. degree of skill

3. design and color

4. accuracy/authenticity

5. adherence to Classical theme (need not be the convention’s theme)

6. neatness

7. adherence to rules

8. overall effect

Photography

• May be traditional, digital, or composite

• May be in color or black and white

• Must be securely mounted or framed

Criteria for judging are

1. creativity/originality

2. degree of skill

3. design

4. accuracy/authenticity

5. adherence to a Classical theme (need not be the convention’s theme)

6. adherence to rules

7. overall effect

Models

• Must be securely attached to their base

• Must be three-dimensional representations of objects, not pictures

• More credit will be given to projects with a majority of hand-made elements

Criteria for judging are

1. creativity/originality

2. degree of skill

3. design and color

4. accuracy/authenticity

5. adherence to Classical theme (need not be the convention’s theme)

6. neatness

7. adherence to rules

8. overall effect

Mosaics

• should be made on a firm background—no cardboard unless paper tesserae are used

• should be securely fastened to their base and neat in appearance (level, no background showing, etc.)

Criteria for judging are

1. creativity/originality

2. degree of skill

3. design and color

4. accuracy/authenticity

5. adherence to Classical theme (need not be the convention’s theme)

6. neatness

7. adherence to rules

8. overall effect

    

    

The 2019 MJCL will take entries in the following athletic contests: ​Boys’ and Girls’ Foot Races, Friscus Throws,​ Tug of War, and Quidditch-Roman style. Failure to follow the rules and guidelines of each category will result in automatic disqualification. All Olympika contests are subject to the following rules:

1. Only delegates properly registered at the MJCL convention may enter athletic contests.

2. All contestants and spectators are expected to conduct themselves in a sportsmanlike manner and in a spirit of fair play and fun. Any participant or spectator found to be in violation of this principle will be immediately asked to leave.

3. Cheering may be done only for the spectator’s schoolmates, and not against any other participating group.

4. Participation Limits
   1. Foot races - unlimited number
   2. Friscus throws - two boys and two girls from each school
   3. Tug of War - 8 member team, consisting of at least 2 girls. 
   4. Roman Quidditch - 6 member team, consisting of at least 2 girls. Rules for this game below.
5. There will NOT be separate Junior High and High school categories this year.

Roman Quidditch:
The playing field will be divided into two halves. In the middle of each half is a garbage can sized container which will be the “goal” for each team. One player from each team will guard their team’s goal and keep the other team from scoring; this player will be given a pool noodle to help defend. The other five players will try to cross the line and throw a ball into the goal. If a player is tagged by the goalie, he/she must go to “jail” which is a designated area of the playing field. A player in jail stays there until a teammate tags him/her out. At the end of a certain time or when a team scores 5, the game is over.

1. Divide the group into two teams, and place a trash can at each end of the playing field, and then go to your side of the field.
2. Then decide who gets the ball first.
3. You can not run with the ball. You catch it, stop, and throw it to another teammate. It is kind of like Ultimate Frisbee.
4. To score you must get the ball in your basket, or trash can.
5. You win by making the most baskets.