May 2021 – Collinsville High School Latin teacher James Stark announced another stellar year for the CHS Latin program. “The tradition continues!” he proclaimed, “Collinsville High School Latin Students earned another year at the top of the National Latin Exam results.”
National Latin Exam
This year, twelve CHS Latin students placed on the National Latin Exam. Their placements are:
Cum Laude
Olivia Frawley (Intermediate Latin)
Magna Cum Laude
Isabel Perez (Beginning Latin)
Peyton Beeles (Intermediate Latin)
Claudia De La Cruz (Intermediate Latin)
Amber Vargas (Intermediate Latin)
Donald Thomas (Intermediate Reading Comprehension)
Maxima Cum Laude – Silver Medalists
Elliot Schusky (Beginning Latin)
Madeline Eversmann (Intermediate Latin)
Mason Foley (Intermediate Latin)
Ian Marlow (Intermediate Latin)
Aiden Kaufman (Intermediate Reading Comprehension)
Summa Cum Laude – Gold Medalist
Christopher Thilman (Intermediate Reading Comprehension)
In addition to the information above, one student took the National Roman Civilization Exam – a difficult exam on Roman culture and history – and earned a bronze medal.
National Roman Civilization Exam – Bronze Medal
Ian Marlow (Latin II)
Illinois Seal of Biliteracy Exam
This year, four CHS seniors earned Commendations of Biliteracy that will appear on their diplomas (two of which also earned Biliteracy Seals in Spanish).
In addition, seven juniors/sophomores scored high enough for commendations of biliteracy as well. These students will receive a commendation upon graduation, and they will be taking the test again next year to see if they can move up to earn the Seal of Biliteracy.
2020-21 in Summary
Stark ended his report by saying:
“That brings us to the end of this year’s Latin awards. While it would have been impossible to break any records with the pandemic, I’m still happy to say that among our Latin students we have 36 individual state or national awards for students’ academic and creative abilities demonstrated via ILJCL North Convention, National Latin Exam, and Biliteracy Testing. You can see all of these compiled here. We also have 2 graduating members of the National Latin Honors Society (with 16 more active members at the lower levels).”