CAJCL 2022 CANDIDATE SPEECHES
First Vice-President
|
Salve! My name is Louise Morr and I am a junior at Saint Francis High School in Sacramento. I am running for the office of CAJCL First Vice President because I am passionate about CAJCL and want to expand our community. I have experience that I believe qualifies me for statewide office. I am the current CAJCL Convention Co-President and have experienced the process of planning and running a state convention, from which I have gained many skills that would benefit a First VP. I currently volunteer as a Camp Director for Camp Nefesh, a non profit summer camp for refugee children. I work year round to plan camp programming, fundraise, coordinate volunteers, and train counselors.The organization and communication skills I’ve gained from Camp Nefesh would serve me well as First VP. If elected, I would recruit underrepresented communities to CAJCL and reconnect with chapters who left during Covid-19. |
My name is Anthony Valencia. I am an athlete and a scholar where I have found my place in JCL because of the idea of having a sound mind as well as a sound body through track and science. I find Track relaxing and fun especially when cooperating with other people in relays. SCRAM was one of the first events—apart from track meets—that gave me the opportunity to compete in a more scholastic environment which I find special. Science has been especially exciting to me because it favors those who are curious, and JCL has allowed me to express my curiosity and meet other like-minded people. I want to run for this First Vice President because I want to give back to people who may feel a similar connection to the classics but are not a part of JCL and expose them to countless opportunities that will be memorable and fun. |
Second Vice-President
salvēte! My name is Ingrid Luo and I’m running to be your next CACL Second Vice-President. I’m currently a junior at Sage Hill, and I’ve been in JCL for three years, transferring my burning passion for the classics into certamen, Kahoots, and many more of the exhilarating events our conventions offer. Along my journey of learning classics, I reached the realization that JCL is not only about knowledge or accomplishments, but also an open and committed community with compassion and social responsibilities. My main goals as the Second Vice-President are to continuously promote the spirit of collaboration, trust, and teamwork throughout our service activities. My extensive leadership involvement in JCL and service projects have allowed me to develop strong critical thinking capabilities and build up effective communication as well as problem-solving skills, which will enable me to keep our JCL members consistently engaged and united while serving our communities.
Parliamentarian
|
My name is Kieran Chung (they/he), I'm a junior at Harvard-Westlake, and I'm running for the position of Parliamentarian. Since joining JCL in fifth grade, I've attended three SCRAMs, four state conventions, and one national convention, and I'm also involved in Certamen. Outside of JCL, I'm the president of my school's GSA and a co-chair of our diversity committee. One of my goals as Parliamentarian would be making board procedures (i.e., Robert's Rules of Order) more accessible. I hope this will encourage newer members to attend Open Forums and even prepare to run for office in future years. I also want to increase communication with local school and chapter leaders. If the Parliamentarian could communicate with a few representatives from each chapter, those representatives could announce opportunities and dates to their local school clubs, obtaining the interest of students who may not otherwise have considered running for office. |
Salve! My name is Sofia Perez-Lanza and I am a junior at St. Francis High School. I really enjoy Latin and I plan to continue studying Classics in college. I’m a firm believer in inclusion and I’m a member of the JCL and SCL Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. If elected to Parliamentarian, my primary objective would be to make the state board as welcoming as possible by focusing on outreach. For example, I would create a google slide presentation explaining the positions on the board for all students in the CAJCL. Since I have had such an amazing experience on the board, I would like all students to have the same opportunity to run for state office no matter what school they come from. If you have any questions or would like more information about my ideas, feel free to contact me at [email protected] |
Secretary
Salvēte! My name is Annika Porteous. I am a current junior at Menlo School, and I am running for the position of state secretary. I have been studying Latin for the past three years and have absolutely fallen in love with the JCL community and all that it has to offer. I have served on the Menlo School’s chapter board as historian last year and as secretary this year. My experience in these roles has really helped prepare me for the responsibility and dedication required for this position. I have many new ideas on how to streamline the CAJCL transparency and organization including the implementation of an application called Trello and the addition of a pop-up question box on our website. I would really cherish the opportunity to help the board and give back to CAJCL for all the fond memories and community it has given me.
Historian
|
Salvete! I’m Trisha, a sophomore from NorCal running to be your Historian! I’m honored to run for CAJCL board because, ever since I started taking Latin five years ago, JCL has offered me a vibrant group of friends with whom to celebrate shared nerdiness. I want to highlight JCLer personalities through continued social media campaigning and a whimsical scrapbook. As vice president of my school’s JCL chapter, I lean into the community by supporting peers at Ludi’s and Certamen practices. With experience as a journalist, I focus (get it?) on human connection when I’m taking photos. My passion for fashion and love-hate relationship with InDesign have helped me experiment with thoughtful layouts that elevate what’s on the pages of my school paper. As your Historian, I’ll provide a record of JCL’s “new normal” with a loving lens on the people who make this organization so deeply bonded: vos omnes—you all. |
Salve, mihi nomen est Rini! I’m a 9th grader at Saint Ignatius College Preparatory and am running for the position of Historian. Being Historian means to be like the preserver of the past, so we can go back in time and smile at memories. JCL was always very vibrant before the pandemic, and even through the pandemic, but post-pandemic, when we all get to be together again, I want to capture the beauty of JCL through a special scrapbook! Community has always been very important to me, especially since I love to make new friends all the time! Communicating with others is a rich way to help compile all the different perspectives from students all over California to create a diverse and memorable scrapbook. I hope to capture the joy JCL brings not only through art, but through video, where I can record all the smiles in this scrapbook! :) |
Webmaster
Patrick Galligan Menlo School My name is Patrick and I am a sophomore at Menlo School. I have been taking Latin since sixth grade and have been a part of JCL for all five years since then. This year I am running for the Webmaster position on the CAJCL board. This position would combine two of my favorite subjects, computer science and Latin, and would give me a chance to give back to the JCL community that has done so much for me. If I were appointed, I would hope to improve and maintain the CAJCL website (introducing new features such as a calendar) and submit the website to the national JCL website competition and win. |
Yoyo Li Sage Hill School Salve! I am Youyou (Yoyo) Li from Sage Hill School, and I am thrilled to be a candidate for the CAJCL office of Webmaster. This is my fourth year in the Junior Classical League, and I’ve held various leadership positions such as Aedile, Praetor, and Consul. As a freshman in highschool, I’m revisiting my role as co-publicity chair. Recently, I have been working on outreach to middle schoolers to spark interest in JCL and Latin. Since stepping into my first Latin classroom, I have fallen in love not only with the Classics, but also the people I am around. I want to help others discover the beauty of Greco-Roman antiquity and break the stereotype that “Latin is a dead language” by infusing modern aspects to this timeless topic. I hope that as Webmaster, I am able to help people have the same passion about Latin. Gratias! |
Nuntius Editor
Tiffany Chang Harker School I’m Tiffany, a junior at the Harker School, and I’m running to be your next CAJCL Nuntius Editor! Since attending my first state convention in sixth grade, I have fallen in love with the JCL—I love the organization for its wide array of events and its diverse community. As Nuntius Editor, I hope to give back to the JCL through meaningful visual storytelling that captures the diversity and versatility of its members. Specifically, my goals are to broaden our coverage and create a more cohesive look to our publication. From my three years of experience in journalism, I’m confident that I have the outreach and design skills necessary to succeed in this position. I hope to be able to serve you all next year—maximas gratias! |
Amith Vasantha Homeschool Salve! I’m Amith Vasantha, a high school junior. I’ve been passionate about Latin since I was 12, when I taught myself Oxford Latin for beginners before I even started Latin at school. I’m proud to be an NJCL Honor Society member. I have participated in numerous NLE exams and earned several gold medals, besides being a Medusa Mythology Exam and NCEE gold medalist. I love to write in my journal and express myself at my leisure, and I worked as editor-in-chief for my school yearbook. My vision is to continue building on the excellent foundation laid down by past Nuntius editors. As Nuntius editor, I intend to expand readership, use social media to connect with new readers, and spread the news about Nuntius. I look forward to this wonderful opportunity to serve the CAJCL community, amplifying the voices of its members through Nuntius and forging great friendships with fellow members. |