Students in the Oak Hall School Junior Classical League (JCL) recently competed at the 77th Florida Junior Classical League (FJCL) State Forum, winning the overall state championship in both the middle and upper school divisions.
According to an Oak Hall press release, 70 members of the school’s JCL took part in the state forum, which was held April 9-11 in Orlando. At the event, the students competed against close to 1,000 students from 50 public and private schools across Florida.
In addition to winning the overall state championship, Oak Hall’s middle school JCL students earned both the academic championship and the novice certamen (Classics quiz bowl) title for the second straight year.
Oak Hall’s Upper JCL students also claimed the academic championship in the high school division. Their intermediate certamen team qualified for finals and placed third, while the advanced team won the school’s first title at that level since 2019.
According to the release, this is just the second time in the 77-year history of the FJCL State Forum that a school has won both the middle and high school state championships in the same year.
Oak Hall students stood out when it came to individual events.
In the academic and creative arts competitions, the school earned 59 top-three placements, with 24 of those being first place. Additionally, of the 12 competitors who won both of their contests across academic and creative arts events, six were from Oak Hall.
The release noted that junior Cristian Spiguel captured one of the more impressive academic accomplishments at the state competition, winning the Academic Decathlon test for demonstrating exceptional knowledge of the Classics. Furthermore, senior Isaac Dixon finished his term as FJCL president with outstanding leadership, while juniors Grace Okun and Tanner White were elected FJCL parliamentarian and vice president, respectively.