Salvete, omnes qui lego! Organized by the New Jersey Junior Classical League (NJ-JCL) every year and hosted at Princeton University, Certamen is a trivia-based knowledge bowl that gives students studying Latin at all levels a great opportunity to compete, learn, and show off their skills and education.
On March 10, 2026, Gateway Regional High School brought two competing teams– an upper and lower division– as well as two support teams.
Competing on the upper-level team for GRHS were Desmond McCue, Oliver Crumrine, and Jackson Harker, with Ace Smith and Madeline Leone as alternating competitors. This team was composed of Latin III and IV students (sophomores and juniors), meaning they’ve been learning Latin from Ms. Cross for four or five years now.
On the lower-level team, eighth-grade students Aubrie Ranieri, Deanna Khan, Joe Ollek, and Lillian Robbins showed Certamen what they’ve learned in their two enriching years of middle school Latin.
Also from Gateway came two Certamen support teams– Alora Anne-Robbins and Audrey Wood on Lower Level, and Alex Noble and Justin Paredes on Upper Level. The help was greatly appreciated in making the competition flow smoothly.
Optimus Discipulus Vincentur
Latin students from all across New Jersey can attend and either 1) compete in the brackets or 2) support the event through timing, scorekeeping, and spotting. Certamen quizzes students on Latin language, grammar, mythology, culture, heroes, and other classical topics that are covered by the Latin curriculum. A broad span of questions are given to competitors, so any and all knowledge is meaningful to how teams score!
Divided into Lower Level and Upper Level, competing students are then placed into a fair arrangement of teams, in three brackets: South Jersey, North Jersey, and Central Jersey. Points are scored across three rounds, and the team with the highest cumulative score at the end of the whole bracket is the winner.
On March 10th 2026, the winners of the annual Certamen knowledge bowl were as follows:
Certamen is a great experience for Latin students of all ages to learn more about the subject, demonstrate hard work, leadership, and knowledge, and support the NJ-JCL and the study of classics in such a modernized world.
Gators at Princeton!
Middle school student Aubrie Ranieri is very dedicated to learning Latin and attended this year’s Certamen to compete on the lower level. She described Certamen as being a great experience as a student, and when I asked her what the most exciting parts were, she reported back that, “In my experience, the most fun part of attending Certamen was definitely exploring the Princeton Campus! The architecture is beautiful.”
“I really enjoyed befriending people from other schools. It may have been a competition, but at the end of the day we all said congratulations and good job.” (Ranieri)
Another competing student, Madeline Leone, also enjoyed Certamen quite a lot. Last year, she participated as a support duo with Ace Smith, but after seeing how exciting the competition is, she decided to step up and test her own knowledge. The two participated as alternates this year, switching back and forth between rounds.
“What I really think is fun is just being quizzed on something for fun and playing against people who know the same types of things you do. Like, language wise, and about Roman mythology.” (Leone)
On the environment and atmosphere of Certamen, Madeline commented, “…Even if we lost, or the other team lost, it was still fun and nobody was being a sore loser.”
Students also report a love of the free muffins, juice, and breakfast Ms. Cross provided the morning of Certamen, as well as loved getting to miss school all day to attend the event.
The Gateway Latin program is led by Ms. Cross, who teaches all levels from 7th-grade Latin to AP. She has been attending Certamen and bringing students along for countless years, and finds it to be a very enriching experience for students looking to make connections in the NJ-JCL, meet like-minded individuals, and expand their horizons on the broad topic of Latin education.
When interviewed about her favorite aspect of Certamen, Cross explained, “My favorite part of Certamen is simply spending time with other people who love and appreciate Latin – my students, my friend Mrs. Barrett who helped chaperone, and the other Latin teachers from all over the state of New Jersey who made this event possible.”
“Attending Certamen gives my students the chance to test their knowledge against students from other schools. We are a small school at Gateway and my students find it exciting when they realize that they are part of a much larger community – that there are LOTS of people out there who recognize the value of a Classical education and want to push themselves to be the best they can be. It also makes my students feel accomplished whenever they answer a question correctly, especially when the question is more obscure and they know the answer because they chose to complete a project on that particular myth or monument or ruler. It gives them ownership of their learning and makes them proud when they recognize that they are the expert on that particular topic.” (Cross)
The Gateway Latin club will continue attending Certamen in future years at Princeton, studying to enhance their knowledge, and meeting after school to share a common love for language and mythology. The beloved trip had so many more participants this year!
Gateway will also be hosting this year’s NJ-JCL State Convention on Saturday, April 25th! The convention consists of projects, contests, chariot racing, and other fun and enriching cultural experiences focused on Latin. Students interested in joining the Latin club or attending Certamen or other NJ-JCL events should contact Ms. J. Cross.
