When most people think of high school language classes, Spanish and French are the first ones that come to mind. Although Latin is a less popular language to take in high school, it offers many benefits to taking it and Reagan has a thriving Latin program.

One aspect of this program is Reagan’s Latin Club, led by Latin teacher Danetta Genung. This club meets on the third Thursday of each month from 3:45-4:30 p.m.. Students who join the Latin Club automatically become members of the North Carolina Junior Classical League and the National Junior Classical League. These organizations sponsor high school Latin competitions in art, academics, and athletics.

“Reagan’s Latin Club offers students numerous opportunities for academic enrichment, service, creativity, and fun,” Genung said.

Along with the Latin Club, Reagan has a Certamen team. According to the NJCL website, “Certamen is game of fast recall of facts about classical civilizations and its peoples, languages, and cultures.” Events where these competitions take place are called “Conventions,” and there are two types of contests, Open Certamen and Competitive Certamen.

Open Certamen is an opportunity for those without previous Certamen experience to participate in Certamen at a friendly and fun level. Competitive Certamen is Certamen at a competitive level, and there are three divisions, Novice, Intermediate, and Advanced. Reagan has only an Intermediate and Advanced team. The Intermediate team includes Latin 2 students, and the Advanced team includes Latin 3, Latin 4 and AP Latin students.

Certamen allows those who play to get a better understanding of the Latin language and culture, and builds connections between teammates.

“Characterized by friendly competition, Certamen offers us a chance to look deeper into the study of classics,” senior Kaylene Lu said. “It connects us with other people around the state who share the same love of Latin.”

Both of Reagan’s Certamen teams, Intermediate and Advanced, qualified for the regional championship during the semifinals on March 24. On April 1, UNC Chapel Hill is hosting an overnight NJCL event for the second round of the regional Certamen championship. Although both teams lost in the first round of regionals, they will still be able to participate in the other events, such as  arts activities, including a skit and advanced National Latin Exam tests in topics such as mythology, for which prizes and awards can be won.

“The Reagan Certamen team has served as an excellent way to both socialize through extracurriculars and also better our grasp on the Latin language and classical culture,” senior Jacob Barker said.