Two FWCD Latin Certamen Teams Win Area Tournament

On Saturday, February 13, FWCD Latin students in the Middle School and Upper School participated in a virtual certamen with other schools from across North Texas, with the winning teams advancing to the virtual state tournament on April 23 and 24. FWCD’s novice and intermediate teams advanced.

Certamen is a quiz-bowl type game, this year being played over Zoom, where teams of students each answer questions about Latin grammar and vocabulary, classical mythology, Roman history, and the daily life of Romans.

In the novice (Latin I/Middle School) division, the FWCD team of Nara Acuna Guba ’25, Chappell Carter ’25, Wilkes Head ’25, Andrew Lobo ’26, and Akshay Vasudevan ’26 took first place, defeating St. Mark’s School of Texas and Greenhill School in the final round.

In the intermediate (Latin II) division, Walker Gaines ’24, Matthew Lobo ’23 and Arjun Vasudevan ’24 took first place, defeating Covenant Classical School and John Paul II Catholic High School in the final round. 

Both the novice and intermediate teams will advance to the state tournament.

FWCD’s advanced (Latin III and above) team of Joaquin Castro-Balbi ’22, Reshma Niraula ’22, Kat Steele ’21 and Alex Volpe ’21 placed second. The team was edged out in the final by St. Mark’s, with Greenhill taking third place.

Congratulations to these students and their coaches, Upper School Latin Teacher Bryan Carlson and Middle School Latin Teacher Clint Hagen.