Every year, the National Latin exam is held worldwide for high school students to compete with other Latin students at their same level. It is an assessment to see how Latin students compare across the world. Students are honored with awards for their abilities.

Over 148,000 students were assessed in the exam this year, from all fifty states plus thirteen foreign countries—Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and Zimbabwe. The test is optional for Latin students, but they must be at their second level of Latin to compete. There is a separate exam for each level of the language so that students compete with peers of their equal skills.

Loy Norrix Latin teacher Barbara Felkel thinks the exam shows the value of the language and is very supportive of it. “The so called dead language is still alive,” said Felkel.

The 2012 National Latin exam recognized 21 gold medalists from Loy Norrix, three of them testing with a perfect score. These three were sophomores Darcy Billian and Michael Deaton, and junior Andrew Labadie. The other gold medalists include Beatrice Powers, Daniel Haw, Charles Noble, Adam Kemp, Grace Santamaria, Jillian Ko, Andrew Levy, ZariaStarfeldt, Thomas Rupp, MilanVelkoff, Emily Jackson, Macneal Lee, Eleanor McCormick, Nicholas Gaunt, Ryan Grover, Nils Miron, Matt Dean-Hall, and Louis Mitchell. Loy Norrix won more gold medals this year than any other year in the past.

Seven silver medalists were also awarded, including Eleanor Carpenter, Genevieve Perry, Laura Wielinga, Jordan Peterson, Jillian Elder, Elizabeth Lemmen, and Hunter Guild. Two magna cum laude (with great praise/honor) awards were given to Alex Blondin and Chelsea Lampp. Lastly, five cum laude (with praise/honor) certificates were presented to Calvin Balk, Sarah Stevens, Nick Thorngate, Alexander Bennett, and Denise Garay.

Junior Andrew Labadie is interested in Latin because of its use in everyday life. Along with winning a gold medal on the exam, he tested with a perfect score that he is proud of.

“It shows that our teachers prepared us very well and that I’m really understanding the language. It feels good to be recognized for it,” said Labadie.

Felkel has been teaching Latin to Loy Norrix students for over 30 years, so there is no doubt that she has skillfully prepared students for the National Latin Exam every year. She is tremendously supportive of the language and backing that schools across the nation—and world—have for Latin.

“Our school is very supportive of this national contest and pays the fee for each student. At Loy Norrix it’s good publicity for the study of Latin,” said Felkel.