Certamen

Certamen is an oral competition that tests students’ knowledge of Latin and the classical world. Students will be given questions on the Latin language, derivatives, mythology, Roman history and civilization. The format for Certamen is similar to College Bowl. Teachers are responsible for selecting teams from each school. Names of Certamen participants should be given to Alice Mulberry (Elementary Certamen) or Dawn Strauss (High School Certamen) the morning of the Olympics. You may contact the appropriate teacher for further information in advance of the event.

Elementary School Certamen

4th Grade Certamen and 5th and 6th Grade Certamen

1. In the 5th and 6th Grade Certamen each school will be asked 10 questions for a total of 20 questions per round. In the Fourth Grade Certamen each school will be asked 7 questions per round.
2. For 4th Grade Certaman there will be no audience, but each team may be accompanied by one adult in the contest room.
3. Each question will be worth 5 points.
4. If a team cannot answer a question, the other team may answer correctly for an additional 3 points.
5. All questions will be written separately on index cards.
6. There will be a 30 second time limit in which a question may be answered.
7. The judge will toss a coin to determine which team will go first.
8. Each team should have a captain.
9. The captain will pick the cards for his/her team at the beginning of each round (without looking at the questions).
10. Only the captain may answer for his team (after collaboration with his teammates).
11. If a team members says an answer and does not allow the captain to answer, the first answer given out loud will be accepted, correct or incorrect.
12. The judge may not repeat a question more than twice for any one team.
13. Team members will not be allowed to use any textbooks or notes of any kind even in the holding room.
14. The judge will have the textbooks from which the questions have come to verify any discrepancies.
15. The audience will not be allowed to applaud or cheer during the round. All applause will be held until the end of each round.

7th and 8th Grade Certamen

This year teams of 7th and 8th graders from Lenart and Beaubien will compete against 7th graders from Kenwood Academy for three rounds played according to high school rules with buzzers.  The questions will be high school Latin I questions.

High School Certamen

1. Teams of up to four players each compete through three rounds of questions.
2. Toss-up questions are worth ten points and bonus questions worth five points each.
3. When a toss-up question is being read, any student may interrupt the reader. At that point, he must give an answer to the question IMMEDIATELY. If that answer is incorrect, no one else on that player's team may answer the question. If another team has volunteered to answer, the question will not be repeated until that team has given its answer. If the second answer is incorrect and there is still a team that has not volunteered to answer, the question will be read again in its entirety.
4. A team that correctly answers a toss-up question earns the right to answer two bonus questions.  If the first bonus question is missed, the team still has the right to attempt to answer the second.
5. It is a strict rule in Certamen that team members may consult only when answering bonus questions .A team may ask that a bonus question be reread. Bonus questions must be answered with a reasonably short period of time -- about fifteen seconds.
6. Members of the three teams with highest scores will receive ribbons, and double points in the Sweepstakes competition.