On Oct. 27,Loyola High School of Los Angeles was transformed into a Roman forum for the day for the Junior Classical League’s SCRAM, the acronym for Southern California Regional Amici Madness. Indeed, over 750 amici, Latin for friends, from 28 schools from California and 1 from Nevada competed in academic competitions and gladiator fights, and toured different attractions.
The theme of the mini-convention was ‘The Forum Loyolae,’ transforming the Loyola Campus into a Roman forum. New additions included a model of a Roman public bath which attendees could enter and pretend to use. Temples to the various Roman gods were located throughout campus, involving sacrifice demonstrations at the Temple of Jupiter and love notes at the Temple of Venus.
Other unique events involved naumachia, Latin for a mock naval battle, in which students competed by playing inner tube water polo. During lunch, students tagged the graffiti wall with various Latin quotes. At the “Rent-a-Roman” students “sold” themselves to other students for the rest of lunch with the profits being donated to the California JCL scholarship fund.
Though SCRAM placed more of an emphasis on friendly matches than fierce competitions, competitions were nevertheless heated. In athletics, a coalition of Westridge and Loyola students beat Palos Verdes Peninsula in volleyball 25-23. In certamen, the academic quiz bowl games in which teams of four are pitted against each other for questions on Latin and Rome, Woodbridge High School’s team took first in the advanced level. In Impromptu art, where students are given various supplies and limited time to make a masterpiece, a student’s model of Pandora’s Box took first place.
Loyola earned the honor of hosting SCRAM when senior Frederick Muth was elected to the office of Southern Representative at State Convention last March. Planning for the event began at the end of the 2011-2012 school year. Since the summer, students have helped by writing exams, planning ideas, creating props, promoting the event and taking care of registration and costs.
“SCRAM was one of the best experiences. Running it gave me new insights into responsibility. It taught me that sometimes I have to accept my responsibilities and not always try to have fun for the sake of others,” said Harrison Nuzzi, a junior at Loyola High.
Julian Silerio, also a junior, expressed a similar idea. “SCRAM was at times chaotic, but it was really satisfying to be hosting an event of this magnitude.”
