Youngest Daughter has decided to join the "Junior
Classical League" at school. In
reality it is the Latin Club. We got a
notice that she should show up on Tuesday at 6:45 PM for 'initiation – Roman
attire required.' Good thing I have
plenty of spare old sheets. By a
miracle, we also had safety pins in the house.
The parents were not invited to the initiation ceremony.
The Junior Classical League is very popular in our school
district. I could not understand the
allure – stand around dressed in a bed sheet and say "E Pluribus
Unum" and "Ipso Fatso"? So the day before the ceremony I asked my
daughter, "What is going to happen at this initiation ceremony?" She said excitedly, "Well, for one
thing, there is going to be a slave auction!" I choked on my tea as I protested. She pulled out the latest Info Sheet, which
she had not yet showed to me.
(An aside – we are always pestering our children to give us
the coveted Info Sheet, which tells us when to be available to provide
transportation, and what our child is required to bring. But it is like pulling teeth to get them to
surrender these documents in a timely manner.
I am still waiting for the Info Sheet from my son on the latest band he
got into, which in the past has required driving an hour each way to rehearsal
every Saturday in November. I thirst for
a carpool arrangement for this.)
Sure enough, the JCL Info Sheet said, "You could win
$20 toward a personal slave at Saturnalia." But I think the real attraction is that the
old members ("old" here means the 15- to 18-year-olds) were
instructed to bring 'fancy desserts – no chips or Oreos'. The Info Sheet further promised "cake!
And a super exciting surprise for you at the end!"
I am afraid to ask what happens at the Saturnalia
event. Middle school students + Roman
debauchery doesn’t sound like a healthy mix.
But perhaps we won't get the info sheet in time.
When she came back from the initiation ceremony, she had a
little bag around her neck. She said it has rocks in it, which symbolize her
membership in JCL, or something like that.
Personally, I think a bag with garlic cloves in it would be more useful. She said they ran out of cake before she got
there, but she had pie instead. Also, they had a skit contest, which she won,
and shared her prize of candy with her friends.
So, readers, have you ever been to a Saturnalia? More importantly, do you have trouble getting
the Info Sheet?
2 comments:
Cute how little changes over the years, isn't it?
No Latin clubs here, but my kids are usually very good about their paperwork.
Ha! Emma has gotten so good with her paperwork that she sometimes returns it before I've had a chance to fill it out! (and write the usually-required check)
Communication consists of a "yellow envelope" --neon yellow-- that comes home with your child every Weds. Sometimes she forgets to take it out of her bag and (thinking I've been incredibly efficient) she takes it out of her bag Thurs morning at school and hands it back in.
Saturnalia and middle school doesn't really sound like a good idea :-)
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