This story was submitted by middle school Latin teacher Lisa Masoni.
At the National Junior Classical League Convention every summer, delegates elect seven students to lead the organization for the year, including planning and running the next year’s convention. It’s rare for a single state to field four officers in a row, but California has just achieved that milestone, and all four are Harker students.
Rising junior Ameera Ramzan was elected as 2025-2026 Communications Coordinator, after holding that same office at the state level this past year. They follow Felix Chen ’25 (2024-2025 editor of the NJCL’s Torch magazine), Trisha Iyer ’24 (2023-2024 Historian), and Rupert Chen ’23 (2022-2023 first vice president). In addition to fulfilling his duties in helping run convention, Felix won (or lost, depending on your point of view) the officers’ Coin Craze donation drive, raising the most money for a brain injury foundation. His reward was serenading the entire convention from the stage as they waited to be dismissed to dinner after the final assembly.
A total of 13 Harker students, accompanied by Lisa Masoni and Nik Slivka, made up more than a third of the California delegation. They spent the week on the campus of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, participating in contests in four categories (academics, creative arts, graphic arts, and Olympika/Ludi), as well as attending assemblies and colloquia, and cheering for the state in spirit events. Individual achievements are listed below.
The Eureka, the Harker JCL newsletter edited by rising sophomores Shreyas Karnam and Jacob Chung, placed first in the nation after placing second last year. Harker also won two publicity awards: first for in-school display, and third for overall publicity portfolio.
Reyansh Malla and Ethan Weyn, both rising frosh, played on the California Intermediate Certamen (quiz bowl) team, which qualified for semifinals by placing seventh. The California Advanced team, including rising sophomore Shreyas Karnam, also placed seventh. Rising junior Leo Zhang played on California’s second advanced team, and rising sophomore Zahra Syed played on a wild card team.
Individual Awards (top ten placements):
Felix Chen ’25, Level 5+, in academics: fourth in classical art, sixth in reading comprehension poetry, eighth in ancient geography, eighth in Hellenic history.
Yehong Fan, rising grade 9, Level 2, in Olympika swimming junior boys: first in 100 m. backstroke, second in 200 m. freestyle, fourth in 100 m. freestyle, fourth in 50 m. breaststroke, fourth in 50 m. backstroke, fifth in 50 m. freestyle.
Victoria Ho, rising grade 10, in academics: 10th in reading comprehension prose.
Shreyas Karnam, rising grade 10, in academics: first in Roman life, second in Hellenic history, third in Greek life and literature, fourth in classical art, seventh in reading comprehension prose, ninth in Latin vocabulary; in creative arts: second in essay.
Joshua Lin, rising grade 8, Level 1, in Olympika track and field junior boys: fifth in marathon, eighth in 400 m., eighth in 800 m.
Reyansh Malla, rising grade 9, Level 2: in creative arts: fifth in sight Latin reading, seventh in slogan. In graphic arts: fourth in weapons and armor, fifth in sculpture, sixth in large models, seventh in digital art, eighth in chalk/pastel, eighth in constructed charts, ninth in greeting cards, ninth in mixed media, 10th in charcoal, 10th in colored pencil, 10th in constructed maps; in Olympika junior boys: fourth in discus, fourth in shot put, fifth in 100 m. backstroke, fifth in 100 m. medley, ninth in 50 m. breaststroke, ninth in 50 m. freestyle.
Ameera Ramzan, rising grade 11, Level 4, in academics: 10th in reading comprehension poetry; in graphic arts: fourth in impromptu art.
Ryo Sugaya, rising grade 9, Level 2, in academics: ninth in Latin literature.
Zahra Syed, rising grade 10, Level 3, in academics: 10th in Latin derivatives; in creative arts: third in Latin oratory, eighth in sight Latin reading prose.
Ethan Weyn, rising grade 9, Level 2, in academics: third in ancient geography, third in Greek derivatives, fifth in classical Greek, fifth in Greek life and literature, seventh in Latin literature, seventh in Mottoes, eighth in classical art, ninth in reading comprehension; in creative arts: first in sight Latin reading, fourth in dramatic interpretation, sixth in essay, ninth in Latin oratory, ninth in slogan; in graphic arts: third in sculpture, fourth in chalk/pastel, fourth in games, sixth in computer-enhanced photography, sixth in illustrated quotations, sixth in pottery, seventh in large models, seventh in mosaics, eighth in drawn charts, eighth in colored pencil, 10th in drawn maps, 10th in watercolor; in Olympika track and field junior boys: fourth in high jump, 10th in 400 m.; 10th in 800 m.
Leo Zhang, rising grade 11, Level 4, in academics: sixth in reading comprehension poetry, eighth in Latin literature, eighth in Latin vocabulary; in creative arts: 10th in sight Latin reading poetry; in Olympika: first in Ludi chess.
Demi Zheng, rising grade 11, Level 4, in creative arts: second in English oratory, third in sight Latin reading.